three kings day

we celebrate the 6th of january with the three kings cake. it's more a sweet bread than an actual cake and in one of the seven dough balls there is a hidden king. whoever picks the piece with the king gets crowned king/or queen for the day.

peas godmother and me both LOVE three kings cake and share (at least) one every year on the 6th of january. this year we didn't get away with just sitting pea in his chair and eat the cake. we had to share...

and now guess who was crowned king (i wasn't even tempted to write "for a day"...)...

driving home for christmas

we spent this years christmas and new years eve in the uk and decided to drive over instead of flying. since we had to take loads of stuff there and back and needed a car there to visit family and friends we thought this is a good idea. also it turned out to be cheaper than flying.

we heard many stories about road trips gone wrong with little ones and we decided to expect the worst... but against all odds it turned out really really good and pea was being a super baby!

we spent lovely days at granma and grandpa's house and of course pea got spoilt rotten... but he enjoyed every second of being with them (and "helping" granma in the kitchen...) and it was nice to make some new memories.

of course he got his very own christmas stocking which was unpacked first thing in the morning...

one of my happy places is brighton and it was magical returning there with my family after a really long time. we had the best day with perfect weather!

and of course we went for walks at the seafront with granma and grampa!

after we spent new years eve at chris's brothers place it was time to head back home after two lovely weeks with lots of family time!

christmas decorations

although we wont be here this christmas i wanted to decorate the apartment as two friends spent christmas there while we were away and also because i just like it...

so while pea was napping i put the tree up and decorated it. he was really surprised when he woke up and saw the tree with all the lights and baubles.

as i didn't have time to make a proper advent wreath i just made a simple one which i really liked in the end!

trip to manchester

we were invited to the wedding of two very close friends in manchester and spent a few lovely days there.

as chris flew in directly from the us, pea and i flew out with a friend. i was very glad i wasn't alone with him as he is NOT SITTING STILL. thankfully we had some space next to my seat where he could stand and after he fell asleep i was able to make him a little bed on the floor.

our pre-ceremony selfie in our tiny hotel room...

we love a liftie... :)

samichlaus with nani and nonno

as chris had to go to the us for work we spent samichlaus day with nani and nonno. we went to the christmas market in the village they live and were excited to meet samichlaus and schmutzli and get the traditional samichlaus bag filled with cookies, nuts, mandarines and chocolate. also there was a very cute merry-go-round pea enjoyed with his nonno and an organist he was fascinated with.

after the market we went to a café to warm up again and pea was happy to find a kids corner with dolls to play...

singing christmas tree & first glimpse of samichlaus

one attraction in zurich before christmas is - apart from the glühwein and christmas markets - the singing christmas tree. on a vertical stage that looks like a christmas tree choirs sing carols wearing red hats. we were really excited to take pea this year as we thought he will like it a lot... he wasn't too sure about it to be honest.

 as already explained last year samichlaus is coming on the 6th of december in switzerland. this year we saw him even earlier at the singing christmas tree but pea felt a bit uneasy about it and just wanted to get away (chris seemed to like it though).

november

yes... it's gonna be a lazy all-month-in-one-post again. i have to admit i underestimated the pre-christmas month and didn't find any time to update the blog...

happy movember everyone!

the amazing indian summer lasted for quite a bit into november and we enjoyed many nice walks in the sunshine and very unlike temperatures for swiss november.

also we finally went back to the zoo and hoped to see the penguin walk. unfortunately we missed it but pea didn't mind that the ones we've found were only made of plastic.

eventually the weather got colder and we had an excuse to wear all our nice warm clothes...

i always wanted to learn calligraphy and was very lucky to attend a course here in zurich! although i still need a lot of practice i was able to use what i've learned to decorate our chalkboard for a brunch  (and i was really happy how my french toast bites turned out!) and a raclette evening we had with some friends.

i got invited by one of my best friends to spend a wellness weekend in austria! we had a fabulous time and got pampered every day. of course i missed my boys but they had a nice time without mami and sent me pictures from everything they did. as the christmas lights got lit on the main shopping street in zurich they went to see it and sent me this (note the socks instead of gloves on peas hands...).

as the roof or our house got renovated we had a mobile crane on our street for a few days. pea was very excited and spent any minute he could sitting on the windowsill...

and now on to the last month of the year...!