(Another) Solo Trip to the US

[Previous solo trips to the US: 2019 #1, 2018, 2017 #2, 2017 #1, and solo-ish 2015]

As happened in 2017, I had another banner year in 2019 with two solo trips to the US. I didn't particularly plan it this way, but as there was another wedding coming up (this time Genny and Ryan's, who had visited us here in Switzerland earlier this summer!), it made sense for me to go. I had booked the tickets way before we found Nate would be in Boston for the semester, but he planned to come back to Switzerland at that time anyway to see Chase, so I ended up going on the trip. I spent a good chunk in LA hanging out with Sakina (and Sophie), in San Diego seeing my parents and other friends (while doing quite a bit of work because I was taking an online class at the time!), and in the LA area for the actual wedding. It was such a great time to see my parents (and Sonia, who happened to be in LA at the same time!) and reconnect with high school, college, and grad school friends!

In San Diego, my parents and I went to Julian (where I haven't been in many years), and spent some time at the beach. 

With Sakina, we went to the La Brea Tar Pits, the Getty, the Skirball, and did these super fun virtual reality adventures. We also made lots of jewelry, watched movies, and had super yummy food. 

All dressed up at the wedding! I hadn't seen some of these people in over 5 years!

Paris, Nantes, and Kiev

[Previous trips to France: Paris, Lyon]
[Previous trips to Ukraine with Chase: Summer 2019, Spring 2019, Winter 2019, Summer 2018, Spring 2018, Summer 2017, Spring 2017, Summer 2016, Spring 2016, Summer 2015]

In October, I had a conference in Nantes. Since Nate was not around and it happened to have been during Chase's school and daycare vacation, I decided to bring Chase with me. Before the Mon-Tue conference, I decided we could do a weekend in Paris. We had a great time exploring Paris, seeing the Eiffel tower, walking through the Jardin de Tuileries, going to the Orangerie (which was mostly under construction), seeing the rebuilding of Notre Dame, and generally walking around.

In Nantes, we had an afternoon to explore the city, going to the Machines de l'Ile (which is a workshop and demo of huge, working animals and machines!) and checking out the Nantes castle (which had a moat!). 

Finally, we flew out of Nantes and landed in Kiev, where we spent a long weekend with family. We finally went to the coffee shop (Big City Cup) below my grandparents' apartment which opened probably a year to a year and a half ago. Chase got to go to his cool play place and ride a robot thing, play with his cousin uncle on a playground (!!), and have a great meal with all of the family. We might have been to Kiev a lot this year but it's always so nice to go and see family!

Chase's 2nd year of school

[Previous Chase updates: 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]

This late August, Chase started his second year of school. To finish off the school year in early July, they had a celebration with a performance where the children did routines and sang songs together. This was done in combination with the other 1/2P class in the same school and the 3P and 4P classes down the street. Since Chase transitioned from 1P last year to 2P this year, he stayed in the same classroom with the same teachers and the same students that were in 1P before. There are all new 1P students and even two new 2P students that moved from somewhere else, so plenty of new faces and friends. Overall, Chase still likes school but sometimes has temporary annoyances like a craft that's taking too long or not being able to play with his friends freely as much as he wants.

End other year performance in July. In the middle, Chase is taking a picture with his best friend in his class, who was in 2P last year and transitioned to 3P this year. They still see each other at lunch and around town. 

While they don't do any formal math in school, Chase started writing out equations. At first, he was using equal signs to denote pluses and he had numbers backwards (both mirror image and tens/ones switched). In a few short months, he got much better and started writing much larger numbers -- although still not always using equal signs correctly. He is now much better and loves to write out equations and numbers in general. 

First day of school pictures!

They start doing letter sounds in his school now but aren't quite reading yet. Chase has been very resistant to reading in general. As a 5.5 year old, he is very stubborn, which makes parenting incredibly difficult. If he doesn't want to do something -- go outside, eat the food I have cooked him -- he gets very annoyed and will hold his ground. It takes a lot of patience and talking/convincing to make him acquiesce. 

5th Annual Summer Trip to Ukraine

[Previous trips to Ukraine with Chase: Spring 2019, Winter 2019, Summer 2018, Spring 2018, Summer 2017, Spring 2017, Summer 2016, Spring 2016, Summer 2015]

This summer, we had a extra special trip to Ukraine because my new cousin (Chase's uncle cousin) was baptized and the date happened to fall on my dad's birthday. So, we had a huge family celebration! We stayed at a villa with my aunt and uncle and some of their friends who also had kids Chase's age. They played super well together and explored the property. Chase even caught his first fish! Other than that, we spent time hanging out at the summer house (where Chase got a new big boy bike) and some time in the city (where Chase visited the play place that is near my grandparents house, which has high ropes and roller blading, and went to his first professional sports game). As soon as we got home, we got Chase a big boy bike here in Switzerland which he has been riding every weekend since. Overall, it was a fun and relaxing time!

At the baptism

Lots of fun activities

Family time at the summer house

Cheering on Dynamo at his first game

Berlin

As we did last summer, Nate and I took a solo trip this summer to Berlin, thanks to my mom watching Chase while we were gone. We had a wonderful time there exploring, eating, and just hanging out. We visited many museums (Alte nationalgalerie on Museum Island, DDR Museum) and other historic sites (Brandenburg Gate, Berlin Cathedral, Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Reichstag). We ended up learning lots of history and spending lots of time reading up on things via Wikipedia. A fun, educational, and relaxing trip!

L: Us on a boat ride on the Spree; C: Alexanderplatz World Clock; R: Checkpoint Charlie

L: Brandenburg Gate; R: Berlin Cathedral

Views from the Berlin Cathedral including the TV tower (R)

Reichstag

Trips Around Switzerland (Part VI)

[Previous (day)trips from/around Switzerland: Part I, Part II, Part III, with Olga, Part IV, Lyon, Part V; and Activities Nearby]

After Nate's parents visited, my mom was here for a few weeks to take care of Chase, still on his daycare vacation. During that time, we had time to go on a boat ride on the lake, have drinks by the lake here in Morges, and celebrate Swiss National Day. We also spent a weekend going to Zurich together. We had been to Zurich once before as a day trip, but it was nice to have a bit more time to explore. There, we checked out the churches for the view (Grossmünster) and the Chagall stained glass windows (Fraumünster). We did quite a bit of walking to various parks and squares, and also took a boat on the river and lake, in the middle of the rain. It was quite an adventure!

Sights of Zurich from Grossmünster

Boat ride on our lake 

Drinks in Morges (L: by the lake; R: at Bloody Cat)

Trips Around Switzerland (Part V)

[Previous (day)trips from/around Switzerland: Part I, Part II, Part III, with Olga, Part IV, Lyon; and Activities Nearby]

This summer, for Chase's daycare vacation, we had the treat to have Nate's parents both here for a week. His mom had previously visited on her own (mentioned here but not well documented...whoops), and they had also visited together, but it had been a few years so it was very nice to host them here today. We rented a car for a few days and had the chance to go to Gruyères, as we had with them (and others) before, and Grindelwald. Grindelwald was a new experience for all of us, and it was awesome! I definitely recommend it! We took the cable car up to First and walked around a bit up there, enjoying the Cliff walk and the sights of the glaciers. The weather was perfect up there as it was way too hot down at elevation (Nate's parents visited us during the hottest week of the summer!). We had a drink and played a game up on the observation deck, and then took the cable car back down, stopping to play some mini-golf in Grindelwald itself. We also had the chance to explore Lausanne (Olympic Museum and the Cathedral) and Morges a bit with them!

In Gruyères, visiting the main village. We also visited the château (seen in the right picture a bit) and the chocolate place not far away. 

Up at First doing the cliff walk and posing together. The weather was perfect!

In Morges and Lausanne (C; visiting the Lausanne Cathedral and looking over Lausanne and the lake). My mom had arrived on the last day that Nate's parents were here so we were able to take some pictures all together.