Brady's Expanding Vocabulary - Part 2

I realized immediately after posting the first vocabulary list, that I had forgotten some very important words that Brady already knows:

Real Word - Brady's Version
Note: You will find a lot of examples of consumer marketing at work

Stinky - Stinkuuh
Elmo - Elmo
Chicken - Chi chin
Nice - Nie
Excuse Me - Moome
Baby - Baby (Sometimes used for yogurt...the yogurt we gave him in the US is "Yo Baby" which has pictures of babies on it.)

The funny thing about Brady's use of "Excuse Me", is that he says it when other people sneeze, cough, burp, hiccup, etc. However, he doesn't seem to know to use it when he does these things!

New Words/Phrases:

Arm - Ahm
"Here You Go" - "Erego" (all in one)
Cheerios - Eerio
Grandma - Mamoo (hot off the presses...this was used on both Grandmas yesterday!!!)
Boo boo - Injury (or in mom's case - moles)

Brady pointed at a mole I have on my arm and for some reason I told him it was a "boo boo". He then proceeded to point out about 5 other moles I have on my arm and neck that I didn't even realize I had and exclaimed proudly, "boo boo!" Maybe he's going to be a dermatologist when he grows up.

And Brady seems to be using Mama and Dada more now...although I'm still not convinced he's talking about either me or Bill!

Scrap Pink - Scrapping for a Good Cause

I ran across an article in one of my scrapbooking magazines several months ago about Scrap Pink. This is an event sponsored by Scrapbooks etc. and Susan G. Komen for the Cure to help raise funds for education and research about causes, treatment, and the search for a cure for breast cancer. Usually this is hosted by a scrapbook store, but I thought this would be a great opportunity for some of my friends and me to get together and have a fun day of crafting!

I ended up renting out a room at the American Women's Clubhouse and had 7 women show up. Since most of the attendees ended up not being avid scrapbookers, I had decided to make greeting cards. (Especially since there really isn't a good selection of English greeting cards to be found in Zürich.)

Here is the selection of cards I designed (with serious help from Splitcoast Stampers and the Stampin' Up Idea Book/Catalog) and had the group make. We also made a 2009 calendar with interchangeable months - that can be displayed by hanging with the string or with the magnets that are on the backside.

I created various giveaways for the group as well. I made drink toppers that contained iced tea mix (inspired by toppers my friend Linda made at one of her events last year). I had been wanting to use that idea for a LONG time!!!! I also made small candy boxes for each participant. I handed out a flyer on breast cancer detection as well as a Scrapbooking Supply and Idea sheet. I had so much fun just designing and making these cards and giveaways!

We had a TERRIFIC time sharing a girl's day out. And to top off the fun, we raised $130 to donate to Susan G. Komen organization!!! I can't wait to do this again!

For more information on Scrap Pink, visit: www.scrappink.com

And you think gas prices are high in the US?!?!

Still on the theme of the high cost of things here in Zürich, I thought I would post some thoughts about gas prices. On our trip to La Gruyere last weekend, I took the following photo:

Wow! Less than half the $4 per gallon you see in the US! Whoops ... the above prices are for CHF/liter of gas. LITERS!!!! Since there are nearly 4 liters in a gallon, the price is actually about $6.50 per gallon here in Switzerland (for the lowest octane gas). YIKES!!!

We've been lucky to have lower gas prices in the US versus those in Europe. Even though the US government & states levy high taxes on gas, they are nothing in comparison to the taxes on gas over here. Maybe that's one of the reasons demand has gone up almost every year in the US. (OK...I'm off my political soapbox now.) Good thing we only use the car for small weekend trips! We've only had to fill up about 4-5 times in Zürich since mid-April. I know a lot of folks have seen the below photo, but in the spirit of the gas price discussion, I thought I would post it:

A Day in the Life ... the Coyles dine out in Zürich

This past week was a busy one, and I'm excited to finally have some time to catch up on blogging. More to come on many items...

One of the biggest questions we usually get about our experiences in Zürich is, "How are the costs of things?" Well, I decided to post the details of our food experiences today to give you all an idea of things:

Breakfast:

In the States, we always liked to go out for breakfast on Sunday mornings. We usually went out for bagels at Pennington Bagel, or would get some other breakfast treats at Panera Bread. Nothing extravagant, but good nonetheless.

In our neighborhood in Zürich, everything on Sunday is totally closed. So, imagine how excited I was earlier this week when I saw a new bread place had opened in our square that would be open on Sundays. We figured this would be our version of Panera in Zürich.

We walked over this morning and both Bill and I had a continental breakfast. Mine consisted of orange juice, hot tea, and a basket of assorted breads with butter/jelly. Bill's breakfast had coffee, a soft-boiled egg, and a basket of assorted breads. Although very good and filling, our breakfast grand total came to 35 CHF (which is roughly $31).

Coffee Break:

We met up with a prospective babysitter today at the Starbucks in the center of town. While waiting to meet her, Bill and I both had coffees. Grand total 13 CHF (which is roughly $11).

Lunch:

After meeting the new babysitter (we are excited about our future date nights!), we walked over to the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) to grab some groceries. (Neighborhood grocery stores are also closed on Sundays here in Zürich, but the stores in the train stations stay open on Sundays.) After grabbing our groceries, we had a hankering for a good old-fashioned American hamburger...so we visited the Burger King in the train station. Here's the breakdown:

1 chicken nugget kid's meal, 1 double cheeseburger, 1 regular cheeseburger, 2 orders of onion rings, and 2 sodas: grand total 37 CHF (roughly $32).

Grand Total

So, grand total for 2 smallish meals and a coffee break in Zürich: $72

This doesn't even include dinner! From this breakdown, you can see why we don't eat out too often. We've gotten good at making our own picnic lunches for when we go sightseeing, so we don't have to buy lunch out.

Brady's Expanding Vocabulary

Brady still is not walking (and hasn't seemed very adventurous over the last few days as I've tried to get him to take those first few steps on his own.) However, his growing vocabulary has just amazed me. Here is the list of the latest and greatest:

Real Word - Brady's Version
Cat - Maw (his version of Meow)
Bubble - Bubble
Baba - Bottle (or cup or anything holding a drink)
Keys - Key
Hi - Hi (all purpose greeting)
Uh-oh - Uh-oh (used when things drop or move out of eyesight)
Mimi - Anything with buttons (elevator buttons, light switches, etc.)
Cereal - Ereal
Banana - Nana
Blueberry - Boobear
Dog - Woof Woof
No - No-no-no (yes...he repeats it several times...don't know where he got that.)
Cookies - Cookee

Pirate noises and lion roars also make the list of oft repeated "words". We are both a bit depressed that "Mama" and "Dada" don't make it to the list. He has said them before, but I don't think he uses them repeatedly and with context. Boooooo!

More updates as we have them!

Sunday Picnic at Zürich Uetliberg

After having survived a week of chilly/rainy Zürich weather since our return from the States, we decided on a short outing this weekend. We travelled by train 20 minutes from Zürich's main train station to Uetliberg, Switzerland.

Brady enjoys making fish-faces while on the train.

This is a mountain just on the border of Zürich, from which you have amazing views of the city and lake. Although today was a bit overcast, we still had beautiful views once we reached the top of the mountain after about a 20 minute hike.

From this photo, you can see where Lake Zürich starts (in the middle-left of the photo). This is where the Limmat River joins the lake. We live in the general-vicinity just east of the start of the lake. This photo was taking facing east, so look just a little bit over the top of the lake in the photo - and that's our "neighborhood".

Even with the overcast weather, the top was still relatively crowded. And there were even a couple of para-gliders enjoying the day. I cannot believe how close these guys got to us on the top of the mountain. My question is this: how do you get down when you're done?

After surveying the views, we walked a few feet from the top of the mountain and ate a picnic lunch we brought. For those foodies out there, we had salami, two types of cheese (Manchengo and Rahmkӓse), homemade hummus (yes - homemade...how awesome is that!!!), toasted pita bread, and olives. It was spectacular. Below is a picture of the view from our picnic table.

Lastly, after walking back down to the train station, we had about 20 minutes to kill before the next train was due. They had a cute little playground right next to the train station. We enjoyed some teeter-tottering before catching the train back home.





The afternoon was tons of fun...and while I write this, my two boys (Bill and Brady) are taking mid-afternoon naps!

"And go get yourself some cheap sunglasses"

This ZZ Top classic song came to mind after we took this photo during our summer vacation in the US. We bought these baby sunglasses for Brady at Target and although he loved them, he always tried to take them off after only having them on for about 5 seconds. This was actually one moment we caught on camera before he ripped them off again. Mom's sunglasses are relatively "cheap" too, having been purchased at TJ Maxx. :)

We're back!

Hello again everyone! We are now back in Zurich - coming back yesterday to a very rainy/very chilly town. It was a good flight, Brady slept really well and so far the jet lag hasn't been horrible. Knock on wood...Brady should be back on schedule tomorrow.

Our summer was very eventful. We attended 2 weddings and 1 vow renewal ceremony. We went to Nag's Head (our yearly beach event) and we did lots of shopping. It was also a very eventful summer for Brady - full of milestones. He is just about to walk (he stands independently and can walk behind toys), but has yet to make his own steps without the aid of toy or parent. He had his first haircut. And he is now saying a few words and actually knows what they means. (He pointed at a bottle of bubbles today and said, "bubba".) He can say bottle, blueberry, uh-0h consistently and has definitely gotten the knack of "hi". He is really cute. He is also pointing at things and exclaiming when he likes it. (birds, planes and thermostats - actually anything with buttons usually get this treatment) He had a great summer, spending time with his grandparents and other relatives. He is just so cute when he is learning something new. He gets so excited and has such a joy for life and learning.

We will post some photos and new posts soon. But for now, just wanted to let everyone know we were back!!!! Hope you all had a great summer too!