2021 in Review

[Previous years in review: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013]

Like last year, this year was also quite intense!

We actually moved twice. The first time, we drove half-way across the country and settled into an apartment. Then, at the end of the year, we moved into our first house. Between there, we did many activities in the greater Connecticut area in the winter/spring, summer, and fall. We also visited Nate's family in Nebraska during the summer. Finally, I visited San Diego on my own in December. 

For once in a long time, we didn't leave the country where we resided the whole year! I guess that's the difference between living in the US and living in Europe. Chase slightly added to his state count with Pennsylvania, bringing it to 10 (MA, CT, RI, NY, NE, CA, NV, IA, IL, and PA). I guess we also drove through Indiana, Ohio, and New Jersey but I am not going to count those, yet. His continent (3: North America, Europe, and Africa) and country (13: USA, Switzerland, France, Spain, Morocco, Ukraine, Great Britain, Mexico, Italy, Poland, Sweden, Austria, and Denmark) counts stayed the same. 

In terms of crafts, I made a few earrings. Now that we're in this house, we can get back to some home improvements, so I will be sure to post about those next year. I am also still spending quite a bit of time finding birth parents for adoptees using DNA, probably helping about 10-12 people this last year. Other things I wrote about this year include: growing plants indoors (next year, we have a huge backyard to grow so much more!), new family photos, and Chase turning 7. 

As always, here is an Instagram collage of pictures from the last year. I don't use Twitter anymore, but I do still post on Instagram every now and again, which you can follow here. 

Happy 2022!

Christmas in our first house

At the very end of November, we bought a house here in Fairfield. We spent a few months this summer looking at houses (in this crazy market), but were lucky enough to find the one we wanted in the right neighbourhood and price in the beginning of September. This triggered the second move in two years at Christmas time. At the same time, as mentioned in the last post, my parents were also moving and actually moving into the apartment we were leaving! So, we had a stressful time logistically managing getting all of our stuff out while getting their stuff in (before they arrived since they were driving cross country again). Somehow, between working full time, we managed to get everything done and settled enough to host Christmas at our new house. We even had Katya come visit for a few days before Christmas! With my parents nearby, my brother visited for the holiday period, staying with us. This is the first time we've all been together for this time of year since maybe 2016? 

We are really enjoying this new house (even with the broken dishwasher and the fix-ups we've had to do -- more on that later) and after 8 years, we can finally get back to the original title of this blog. :)

Saying goodbye to San Diego (for now)

Right after our offer on the house we bought was accepted (see next post!), my parents decided that they wanted to move to CT to be nearer to us for a while. Therefore, at the beginning of December, I flew to San Diego to help them clean out their house of our stuff that we've kept there for the last 15 years. I recycled almost all of my school work and most of my brother's. I donated lots and lots of things while packing boxes for the few things I wanted to keep (crafts, mostly). It was incredibly tiring and long, but my parents spent way longer dealing with all their stuff. 

What was fun is that Olga was planning to be in town right around the same time and Sakina flew down to join us. For a fun day, we got some lunch at the revamped Del Mar Highlands, got some ice cream at the new One Paseo, and got some coffee at the new UTC. It was great to be all together again (something we haven't done since Sakina's baby shower in 2017). [I also made them take some stuff to Goodwill, the library, and the recycling :) Moving is a stressful process!]

One of the pictures we took had us in exactly same order as we were in the picture we took in Japan in 2015. I added our latest picture to the one before. I think we haven't changed! 

Exploring Fall in CT/NY

[Previous local activities: summer in CT/NY/RI, winter/spring in CT]

Autumn/fall in New England is the best! It is one of the things I missed about the east coast while living in Switzerland. 

1. Corn mazes. I am pretty sure I spent the last many years psyching Chase up for New England corn mazes. What's even cooler is that both Olga and Boris & Laura live within driving distance of us, and decided to come for two separate weekends in October to relive our glorious corn maze years. It is only fitting that the last time I wrote about a corn maze (before Chase), we had done one with all three of them. 

The first weekend, Olga joined us for a really tough corn maze at Treat Farm in Orange, CT. We spent 2 hours walking it and still didn't finish it (only finding 4 of the 6 places that we needed to solve the puzzle). Afterwards, we drove over to Beardsley's Cider Mill in Shelton, CT to get cider donuts. It was great!

A few weekends later, Boris and Laura joined us for a corn maze at Plasko's Farm in Trumbull, CT. This maze was much more our speed and we easily finished it and found the answer to the riddle. We also grabbed some ice cream and cider donuts right there at the farm. It was fun catching up with Boris and Laura, who we hadn't seen since Denmark. 

2. McKinley Elementary Fair. Chase's elementary school has a yearly fundraising event where they have a full fair at the beach for the community. After the corn maze with Laura and Boris, we headed over there and enjoyed the rides. Chase found a few friends from school and they ran around going on rides on their own. It was fun to see him so happy with his friends. 

3. Halloween. Chase experienced his first American Halloween this year. He wasn't a fan on dressing up until maybe last year, but was the perfect age to enjoy the festivities this year. He decided to dress up like a witch (after we watched Hocus Pocus with Olga at the beginning of October). He went trick-or-treating with two friends in our building in the neighborhood around his elementary school. He got a huge haul of candy, most of which he didn't eat and is still sitting in our candy bowl. 

4. Escape Rooms. This is something that is not limited to the fall, but is something we did quite a bit once it got colder. We have now done three at Escapology (two of them with my parents) and one (just Nate and I) at Escape Rooms CT. It's not cheap, but a challenge we enjoy and with so many possibilities around us, there are still so many left to play!

5. NYC. It has somehow not been written in this blog, but Nate and I had a tradition during our years in Cambridge to go to NYC the weekend after Thanksgiving. We were able to reinstate that tradition this year, just taking the train into NYC and staying for a few nights. We went to Aladdin on Broadway, checked out Times Square, Rockefeller Center, and Hudson Yard. We spent many hours at the Museum of Natural History, and Chase was incredibly impressed to see Starry Night in person at the MoMA. Overall, a fun time in NYC which was possible because 5-12 year olds can now be vaccinated so Chase had one shot and two weeks (now he's fully vaccinated and we're both boosted). It was our first time in NYC all together since Chase was there when he was 3 months old (and got his first two teeth!). 

6. Another fun Christmas/December activity is seeing the Nutcracker. The CT Dance School was holding performances at Fairfield University -- very near us -- so we went. While Nate wasn't a big fan, I thought it was fun to expose Chase to this Christmas tradition. 

Latest Family Photos

 [Previous family photos: 2018 just us, 2018 with more family, 2016 just us, 2015 just us]

Since it had been a few years since we took family photos, I wanted to have some done here in CT. I contacted a local photographer and we went to a nearby part in New Canaan to have these taken at golden hour. I really like how they turned out with the sun. Even though it was September and the leaves had not changed, the sun makes the leaves look like they are redder and yellower than they really were. 

Update: we used these photos in our Christmas card, in which I misspelled "Christmas" as "Chrismas" and none of my proofreaders (my mom nor Nate) noticed. My brother did notice and then Chase was very concerned I had ruined Christmas. :)

Growing Plants Indoors

In Switzerland, we were growing some plants on our balcony -- especially cilantro and mint. In this apartment, we didn't have any outdoor space, so we switched to growing plants inside. We started off with these three cactuses that we got with Olga at Terrain (in Westport). We replanted them into these cute ceramic containers and watered them every week or so. 

In the spring, Chase planted some sunflowers, some Zinnia (seeds leftover from the Migros promotion last year), and a few others. The sunflowers and Zinnia took off and took over! We had to replant them quite a few times. Chase enjoyed watering these plants through the spring, summer, and fall, and they provided a green corner to our living room. 

Update: we moved the cactuses to our new house where they now sit by the kitchen sink that gets a lot of sun. They have definitely grown a lot since first being transferred to these ceramic containers!

 

Exploring Summer in CT/NY/RI/PA

[Previous local activities: winter/spring in CT]

Summer brought us vaccination, better weather, and more open museums, which we explored on our own, with friends, and with my parents. My parents drove cross-country and stayed for two months nearby, spending some time with Chase during the week and with us on the weekends. 

1. The beach. I know this is repetitive from the winter/spring but Chase just loves the beach. Other than our beach in Fairfield, Chase had fun exploring Silver Sands State Park (in Milford) and Sherman Island State Park (in Westport), mostly with my parents. He collected seashells, watched hermit crabs, and even saw some crabs. On one weekend, with my parents, we took the ferry from Bridgeport to Port Jefferson, Long Island, and then drove to Fire Island. It was very cool and a completely different type of beach than what we're used to here at the Long Island Sound. 

2. Mystic, CT. Olga and I went to Mystic at the beginning of summer after a hike in Groton at Bluff Point State Park to check out the downtown, get some pastries at Sift, and have dinner. A few months later, we went back with my parents and Chase to see the Mystic Aquarium and the Mystic Seaport Museum. CT was having this great program this summer where each child and one accompanying adult would get in free to many museums all summer long. We definitely used that program quite a bit this summer, being able to visit lots of places including those in Mystic. The Aquarium was great, but the Seaport Museum was much bigger and more interesting than we imagined, so we didn't leave enough time for our visit. Mystic is definitely a place we could have spent a longer time! 

3. EverWonder Children's Museum in Newtown, CT. This is a museum Chase went to with my parents... twice. He loved it so much. 

4. NYC. Olga and I ventured into NYC this summer: walking lots of miles to/from Central Park, seeing the new skyscrapers and Hudson Yard area, going to the MoMA, eating yummy food, and enjoying the city. We even passed by Nate's building, which at that point he had not been to yet. The train was super convenient from Fairfield so we made it an easy day trip. 

5. Lighthouse boat tour. On July 4th itself, we took a lighthouse tour to/from Norwalk to check out the lighthouses out on the Long Island Sound. We enjoyed the nice weather and cool islands and lighthouses. Unfortunately, the lighthouse on Sherman Island is still closed due to COVID so this was a nice way to see what we could from the boat itself. 

6. Walks and minigolfing. We had a few visitors in the area over the summer. First, Nate's parents visited us for a weekend at the beginning of summer. We explored Fairfield and went to Norwalk for mini-golf and walking around the pier/beach. I am not sure why I have absolutely no pictures of their visit but we enjoyed having them here and showing them around our new town. Later in the summer, Katya visited us from New York and pretty much ended up having the same itinerary (beach in Fairfield, golfing in Norwalk) plus adding in the MoCA in Westport. Finally, Megan was visiting her parents nearby, so I got to meet her for a walk/hike in Branford Supply Pond Park. Glad to see and hang out with all these visitors!

6. Connecticut Beardsley's Zoo in Bridgeport. Still taking advantage of the program that let each kid and one parent in free to many attractions in CT, we went to the Zoo in Bridgeport with Chase and my mom. While not as big as the San Diego or Omaha zoos, it was quite nice and had a good variety of animals. 

7. Dinosaur State Park and Wadsworth Falls State Park. Towards Hartford, there is a cool museum that has tracks from real dinosaurs and explains how dinosaurs roamed around CT. After that museum and a short walk there, we went for a longer hike at Wadsworth Falls and saw both the small and large waterfalls. It was a bit mosquito-y but Chase had a lot of fun categorising and taking a picture of every single mushroom he encountered on the way. 

8. Providence, Rhode Island. For Labor Day weekend, I took the train to Providence to hang out with Olga and see Katie & family. Olga and I kayaked in Wickford to Cornelius Island and walked around it. Then, we went to Narragansett and had amazing Lobster Rolls. Finally, we drove to Massachusetts for some ice cream. We also walked around downtown Providence and checked out the cute town. 

9. Fairfield Museum, Yale Museum of Art, Dudley Farm Museum, a trip to the Poconos in Pennsylvania, and probably more! As I mentioned earlier, we really took advantage of the free museum ticket offer and visited quite a bit of places, especially with my parents. We also took a weekend and went to the Poconos, stopping by a resort and water park. It was great to have them here this summer to explore CT to the fullest! We also got to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary with them at the start of the summer... something we did 5 years ago for the 30th in Switzerland! 

Beaded earrings

This year, I wanted to get back into some crafts, so I started off making some more beaded earrings. Having a Michael's close by to Chase's after-school place made it easy to go get more craft supplies to make these. 

The first ones were incredibly simple and just a string of cool chevron beads that I got. I just interspersed the black and gold ones to make three rows that hang down. I don't usually wear gold-colored jewelry, but I really like the way these look and wear them with black clothing. 

The next one was from this tutorial. It was fun to get back into some more intense beading like I had done many years before. 

The last set of earrings took a long time and used brick stick. Since the first one (one the left) took me so long, I decided to make the second one a bit different for some variety. I used a few different brick stick tutorials including this one. 

Finally, as Chase had been collecting many seashells (and may with holes), we also assembled seashells into keychains for him and his friends. Not quite earrings, but still beading-adjacent. :)

Visiting family in NE

Even though we were able to see Nate's immediate family in December for Christmas (in between our move), due to the pandemic, we didn't want to risk seeing the rest of the family. Unfortunately, Nate's grandfather passed away in January at the age of 90. Since that was the height of the pandemic and we had literally just moved, we couldn't come for the funeral. Nate's grandmother scheduled a celebration of life in Omaha for the summer, and made it into a bit of a family reunion, renting a huge house for the out-of-town relatives to stay and planning lots of family-time. 

We really enjoyed seeing everyone after many years. We had a birthday celebration for Tindra, a baby shower for Melissa and Daniel (who, unfortunately couldn't come at the last minute due to COVID), and lots of hang-outs at the house. We also went to the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium and some Medieval mini golf together with the family. 

Chase turns 7 (still during a pandemic!)

[Previous Chase updates: 6 years, 2nd year of school, 5 years, starting school, 4 years, 3 years, 25-32 months, 2 years, 15-20 months, 1+ year, first four months in Cambridge, data analysis from first 2 months, first few months]

After having lived pretty much his whole life in Switzerland, Chase adjusted quite well to school and life in the US. We toyed with the idea of having a party, but since the pandemic is still going and the children are not yet vaccinated, we didn't want to take that risk. Thankfully, a few other kids have had birthday parties, so he's been able to interact with friends outside of school a bit. His main challenge in school has been reading in English (something that he obviously didn't do in his French school in Switzerland). He has improved a lot and should be ok by the summer. Other than that, he seems to be doing great with everything else. 

Chase's birthday this year fell on the first Monday of Spring Break. Nate and I took the day off so we could spend the whole day together going to the aquarium in Norwalk. Chase not only adores the beach and seashells, but also loves all sea creatures. He had a great time there. We opened presents on Zoom with the two sets of grandparents in the evening. One present was the game Sequence, which he is amazingly good at and regularly beats us at when we play. 

The other thing that happened to Chase this year (in May) is that he finally had surgery for his eyes. We knew that he would have to have this surgery around this age (I talked about the issue a few years ago here and many pictures feature his eye patch that he wore for a total of 5 years), but it snuck up on us quite quickly! The surgery itself was quite intense as Chase couldn't (wouldn't?) open his eyes the whole first day. But, he quickly recovered after that and seems to be doing quite well. He still needs glasses because he is far sighted (unrelated to the strabismus itself) but his eyes in the pictures after this are looking straight and coordinated. 

Exploring Winter/Spring in Southern CT

Having moved to CT in the winter and in COVID-times, many museums were still closed and outdoor options were limited. Having said that, we have been able to do some activities outside. Thanks to Olga visiting a few times, we also were also able to go for a hike and explore around New Haven. 

1. The Fairfield Beach. Even in the cold, Chase has been obsessed with the beach. It has so many seashells, which he enjoys finding and collecting. 

2. CT Audubon Society Museum. While the museum was closed due to COVID, the sanctuary was a nice place to walk around, even in the winter. 

3. Hamden Sleeping Giant State Park. This was a fun hike up to this tower. There was some snow on the ground, but the weather was great and we enjoyed it. 

4. Geocaching around Fairfield. Many great geocaches got us exploring around town. 

Fairfield Apartment

Having lived in multiple apartments (first in Cambridge and then in Switzerland), we easily settled into this one in Fairfield. There were a few things that were nicer about this apartment compared to the others. First, it was brand new. Second, it had two bathrooms!! This is something neither of our previous apartments had. Third, after using communal laundry in the basement for the past 6+ years in Switzerland, we finally had laundry in our apartment again. 

Overall, it has been very functional and convenient for us. The building also has a nice rooftop terrace and a gym that Nate and I both frequent. 

Somehow, we don't have any photos of our bedroom. Oops!