Another Week in Zug

Not really anything new to report about our second week in Zug. Westin and I have kind of fallen into a daily schedule - workout, reading lesson, and errands (like grocery shopping - which happens twice a week) all take place before lunch. After lunch, we head out for the afternoon (usually the lake, park, or pool - we discovered a GREAT pool in Baar that has a kids' pool, a diving board pool, a splash pad and a water slide). 


Westin is doing pretty well with the reading lessons. We are now two weeks into it and I feel like it's starting to click. After completing his first full week of reading lessons and his daily responsibility chart, he picked ice cream as his treat. 

Tomorrow's treat for another week of 100% completion on the chart, he's picked hot chocolate. He really wants hot chocolate. 

After ice cream last week, we played baseball at the park and fed the ducks.

I've also discovered that I'm the only person in town with a jogging stroller. Not kidding. I haven't seen a single person jogging with any kind of stroller. Period. I even get some weird looks when W and I are out together... however, those looks may have something to do with the way Westin is dressed in the morning when we go out for the runs.

He just wants to be comfortable and look like a baseball player at the same time. No harm in that.  (Take note in the picture on the left - two different socks and two different shoes).

We've discovered a great running path through some farm areas in Zug. Here are a couple pictures of the route.

Westin could literally stay in his pajamas all day if I let him... and would also be shirtless 24/7 if he had his way. Here he is with a cereal box that we had turned into a golf hole, which then turned into armor.

And another morning dress-up moment - another baseball look.

At least this time he has a real baseball shirt on!

I wish I had some pictures of the pool to share, but it's too hard to take my camera around as we're in and out of the water. But it's definitely a place we will be frequenting throughout our stay. 

Here are a few from an afternoon by the creek.

Yesterday we spent the day in Luzern (which I'll post about later), and today we had a relaxing day at home, watched some Olympic events, and then took an afternoon stroll to the lake where we stumbled upon this big outdoor sports expo.

So we're getting more and more settled into life in Europe. I'm still missing my measuring spoons (baked for the first time today and it was so frustrating to convert everything and have to guess on teaspoon measurements). I'm also missing my KitchenAid, my blender and some other kitchen luxuries from back home... but we're getting by just fine. 

I've been expanding my collection of vegetarian recipes. Since meat is so expensive, I've only cooked it a few times. We've made Friday night our pizza night, and Saturday is the only night we eat out. Eating out is one of the most expensive outings for us. Dinner last night was $60 for pizza and pasta. Nuts. They clearly don't believe in value meals here...

This Wednesday is a big Swiss holiday (like their 4th of July), so Ryan has the day off and we're looking forward to enjoying some local traditions. And hopefully next weekend we'll make it over to Bern, the country's capitol. 

Looking forward to a week of trying some new activities - found a mini-golf course here in town (W is SO excited), might also venture over to the Zurich zoo this week or next, and there's another lake front beach I'm hoping to get to via the local bus. 

And before I go for the night, here are a couple great Westin moments from the week:

-We were kneeling down before bed to say prayers one night and right as I started, Westin said in a whisper, "wait, mom, I have to tell you something." He then grabbed my face and whispered into my ear, "I love you." (Best moment all month!)

-While watching the bikers do their tricks today, Westin said to me, "mom, when I grow up I'm going to do that and you're going to come watch, ok?"

-At the table during lunch Westin started laughing for no apparent reason. I asked him what he was laughing about and he said, "Oh nothing, just something George did. It was really funny." (He's a big fan of Curious George)

-As we were walking up to the desk at the pool to pay, Westin jumped out of his stroller, ran up before me and said to the lady, "Hi, we'd like tickets to the pool. One for my mom and one for me. Okay?" 

-He insists on me being his announcer for just about everything - baseball, soccer, jumping off the diving board. It usually goes something like this (in a sports announcer's voice, obviously), "Up next, number 27 for the Dodgers, it's MATT KEMP!" or "Up next with his famous canon ball jump is Westin Rich!" In fact, when I didn't do the announcing at the pool the other day, Westin proceeded to announce himself before he jumped off the diving board. 

There's not a day that goes by that I'm not laughing out loud at the things Westin says. Some days are longer than others, and I miss our friends, but I know I'm so blessed to get all this one-on-one time with my little guy.