Iris Gardens

A few weekends ago we visited this Iris Garden at an old chateau near Morges. Since irises don't bloom for very long, there is really only one or two weekends that the gardens are completely in bloom.



We enjoyed walking around with our friends Timo and Claudia and their daughter Lea (who Analise calls Ailee - kind of a backwards form of Lea). Claudia was pregnant at the time but has since given birth to a little boy named Lukas.

The weather happened to be very hot and humid that day - but at least the sun was shining! This has been a rather rainy summer.














Pit stop to feed an burp the baby. Poor little guy was a ball of sweat in his stroller.




Analise really enjoys holding hands and walking with all of her friends - even when it's against their will. She really wanted to hold "Ailee"'s hand so when Lea didn't want to Analise was a little upset. She settled for holding mine and Claudia's hands instead.




The rainbow of color and the smell of the gardens were really spectacular - it was like walking through a Van Gogh painting.























Our little smiley gal . . .









and our little smiley guy!

Annecy

Ok, these pics are from a few weekends ago too - but I just found them again. We visited Annecy with Deb and Alan - about an hour drive from Geneva.
It's a really beautiful old city with lots of canals and one of the clearest freshwater lakes in Europe.
It was fun to walk around, eat lunch outside and see the beautiful mountains - I would definitely recommend a visit.





















By the end of Pa and Ma's visit Analise was pretty good at calling for the "Man" to bring her "pie" aka all dessert - mainly ice cream. It's cute, except when she starts yelling "man, man!" across the restaurant.









This is what you get when you ask Analise to smile. It cracks me up every time.









Late lunches are fun for some . . . but not for others. She was a trooper - but missing naps are no fun.









Walking by the boats . . .

In Training

We have T minus 21 days until the packers come and 24 until we fly. To that end we are training Analise on headphones. For the first couple of episodes she didn't put her hands down - such was her amazement.
You may notice socks with the sandals - she refuses any other shoe at the moment, but with cold tempuratures last week she needed something warmer - so we compromised by wearing socks with the sandals. Whatever works dearie.





Even when she's just playing she want to have the headphones to watch "cai-yee." (That's Caillou)

















And from the peanut gallery . . .





Thanks to my friend Michelle for the little overalls. I didn't think anything could be as fun as baby girl clothes . . . but I could be wrong.
The little mover rolled over this morning from his tummy to back and quite surprised himself and us! (thankfully he was on the floor). One this is for sure though - he loves to move!

Red Carpet

Strangely, I was the only one taking pictures of these beautiful ladies on the red carpet - lucky me!









Analise loved the merry-go-round and silly mommy got to ride along - umm, I didn't love it as much . . .











Eli is showing off his muscles.












Big sister reading stories to her little bro . . .









"Now pay attention here Eli - "

Poolside

Well, we've been back for awhile already - but I'm still imagining lounging by the pool . . .









Keeping Analise occupied - out of the sun -was quite a task, but emptying Grandma's purse provided endless enjoyment. Also, Grandma entertained Analise by painting her toenails - her first pedicure!





I love it when they do this . . .














just enjoying the sun . . .










diva?
umm, not quite -
I spent more time rinsing sand out of her mouth than off of her feet. Something about the texture was too much to resist . . .