Springtime in Lausanne

Grandpa reads with Tern and Auke

Tern is at the age that walking is impossible. His preferred methods of mobilization are skipping, jumping and running. His energy is unending,  his creativity in play is amazing, and his sense of direction astounds. He can tell us how to get to every park by bus knowing the bus number and where to find each bus stop. Auke is stringing words together in phrases in English! His first phrase was "bus coming".

 We have been here this time for only one week but already it feels like a month. This week has meshed seamlessly with the first three weeks and we are getting to know our surroundings.

Spring is in full bloom in Lausanne. The forsythia blooms  have come and gone as have the cherry blossoms. Tulips are on the wane and violets and wisteria are out in force. There are many community gardens here and I have begun to see individuals our there turning soil and planting. Each year Jed has a city garden in two large planters which hang off his deck. He has grown many herbs, raspberries, strawberries and tomatoes. 

The children's train in Pully
 Jed, Auke, Tern with Wendy Shapiro, Tyler & Robbie

Yesterday he took me to his wonderful  local garden store. We bought compost to replenish the soil and plants to replenish the ones past their prime. Last week Tern and I pruned and cleaned out the dead plants. This week it is Steve's job to install a dripper irrigation system and my job to plant our plants.  

When at the garden store I could not resist making my own kitchen garden so I bought a couple of planters and herbs, tomatoes, and strawberries. It has been a long time since I had a vegetable garden of my own. Hopefully our visa will come through and I will be here to taste the results.

Sunday in Pully Port Parc

We signed up for a gym today. It has lots of classes, a great weight room and all the amenities. It takes 15 minutes on one bus to get there. We start officially tomorrow. We also had our first French lesson today. Our teacher is a young woman with three young children who teaches in her home. She has an au pair who attends to the youngest who is not in school while she teaches us. She is very professional and we are comfortable learning.  We hope to be fluent by the end of our time here. Tern is helping with pronounciation and vocabulary. We will do our homework.

 We have signed on to the English speaking expat website and we are getting emails for hikes none of which we have been able to attend yet. Weekends are family time and we have a chance to catch up with the kids. We have a couple of irons in the fire regarding our visa. Steve seems to have been offered a job at IMD. He has yet to be contacted with the details so we await confirmation. Our appeal for a visa extension is still in the system and we await that decision also.