Taylor

The Taylor Swift concert was amazing, as expected! Katrina and I hitched a ride with Jeffrey and Danielle. TS's Reputation tour and Pink Beautiful Trauma are probably the best two concerts I've ever seen. If you ever have the opportunity to go, you should.

And this mom doesn't get out much, especially events that involve staying up past midnight, so today was a bit of a struggle. :)

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34!

September 26th is my birthday... every year, another trip around the sun :)

Ross did an awesome job of getting the girls involved in the bday preparations, wrapping presents and making cards and a cake.  I mean I think Claire had trouble sleeping the night before MY birthday because she was so excited. Super cute.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, I felt so special day!

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Switzerland: Lucerne

The weather in Lucerne was rainy but it honestly didn't slow us down too much; it felt just like Alaska :)

Ferry Ride the first day, check out these clouds

Lucerne's most recognizable landmark, the "flower bridge". it's wood and actually caught fire in the 90's and was almost destroyed. 

In the bridge are sequential murals, telling a story. most were destroyed in the fire

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Switzerland: Matterhorn Landscapes

Oh the big views you get when you're up high in the sky!

If you look close you will see that this is giant glacier.

Here's a close up shot, look at those layers of ice pushing down the valley.

We did some "Ridge Hiking" for about a mile, there were some sketchy parts but we had Matterhorn views!

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Panzanella Salad

New Recipe Alert!

Earlier this week I made an Ina Garten Panzanella Salad and it was a hit... not so much with the kids but definitely for Ross and I. I loved the simplicity of all the fresh, colorful ingredients in this salad. If you can surmount the chopping, then it's quite simple. Don't skimp on the basil, it adds color and flavor!

As I was snapping some food pictures I hear "CHEEESE" and look over to find Paige Renae just smiling ear to ear. Cuteness.

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Switzerland, Vevey to Zermatt

I've been reliving our trip every time I look at pictures :)

These are the cows with giant bells, way up high on the mountain.

After a couple days with Emily and Chuck in Cully (French) we took the train east to Zermatt (German). Gooten Morgan! Can you say Matterhorn?

This is a serious mountain. People come from all over the world to attempt the climb, many do not make it.

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Must make a lot of Pasta

Claire Story:

We were parking in front of Jeffrey's apartment complex, getting the girls out of the car.  there is a big power plant of some kind in the distance with a smoke stack billowing with steam...

Claire: "Wow look at that, are those big clouds Daddy? Coming out of there?"

Ross: "No those aren't clouds, that's steam"

Claire: "Oh. They must make a lot of pasta"

Without a flinch Claire moved on to the next topic. Meanwhile Ross and I were just cracking up- marveling at this little person who questions everything, yet doesn't question enough. 

Love. 

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Swiss Alps

Hiking is one of the things I miss the most about Alaska. There were so many great hikes within 30 minutes of our house. Well let's just say now we have to go a bit farther... Maybe not all the way to the Swiss Alps but definitely more than a couple hours!

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Switzerland: Family Hike

I do not know any French, nor is it an intuitive language. I had this thought multiple times when I responded "Si" instead of "Wee" while in Switzerland.

We did a nice hike with Ross's cousin, Emily, and her family (Chuck, Macy, and Madeline) the second day of our trip. Emily works for Nestle and they have been Switzerland expats for a few years, just toughing it out. Rigggght :)

Two memorable parts of this hike were 1. the drive up the mountain on a single lane two-way traffic road and 2. the cows all over the mountain with big 'ole bells around their necks, filling the air with wind chime type melodies.  Oh and we thought we took the "easy" path but we took the "hard" path... that whole French language barrier thing again... :)

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Carwash Crew

Our little carwash crew has been disbanded! These pictures were taken back in May, but I just rediscovered them.

Anyway a lot has changed since then, Paige is two and Gigi & Pop Pop now live in Ohio... My car is regularly more dirty now :).  They're going to have to do a guest blog post for us and tell us what life is like there.

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Cheerios

Has everyone read the Consumer Reports article which describes trace amounts of weed killer found in Cheerios? what?! I didn't put too much thought into the whole thing until I saw the girls eating Cheerios for afternoon snack at school. :(

This also got me thinking about organic versus conventional growing, particularly with produce. I found this quick read article that suggests what to spend the money on, if you can. For us, it's made a huge difference that Costco now stocks so much organic produce; makes it much easier to buy larger quantities for a more reasonable cost per pound. Anyway, see the list below if you too are interested!

The 2018 Dirty Dozen Food List

According to the EWG, the following conventional fruits and vegetables have the highest levels of pesticide residues (5):

1. Strawberries: Conventional strawberries consistently top the Dirty Dozen list. In 2018, the EWG found that one-third of all strawberry samples contained ten or more pesticide residues.
2. Spinach: 97% of spinach samples contained pesticide residues, including permethrin, a neurotoxic insecticide that is highly toxic to animals (6).
3. Nectarines: The EWG detected residues in nearly 94% of nectarine samples, with one sample containing over 15 different pesticide residues.
4. Apples: The EWG detected pesticide residues in 90% of apple samples. What’s more, 80% of the apples tested contained traces of diphenylamine, a pesticide banned in Europe (7).
5. Grapes: Conventional grapes are a staple on the Dirty Dozen list, with over 96% testing positive for pesticide residues.
6. Peaches: Over 99% of the peaches tested by the EWG contained an average of four pesticide residues.
7. Cherries: The EWG detected an average of five pesticide residues on cherry samples, including a pesticide called iprodione, which is banned in Europe (8).
8. Pears: Over 50% of pears tested by the EWG contained residues from five or more pesticides.
9. Tomatoes: Four pesticide residues were found on the conventionally grown tomato. One sample contained over 15 different pesticide residues.
10. Celery: Pesticide residues were found on over 95% of celery samples. As many as 13 different types of pesticides were detected.
11. Potatoes: Potato samples contained more pesticide residues by weight than any other crop tested. Chlorpropham, an herbicide, made up the bulk of the detected pesticides.
12. Sweet bell peppers: Sweet bell peppers contain fewer pesticide residues compared to other fruits and vegetables. Yet, the EWG cautions that pesticides used on sweet bell peppers “tend to be more toxic to human health.”

In addition to the traditional Dirty Dozen, EWG releases a Dirty Dozen Plus list that contains 36 more fruits and vegetables that have high levels of pesticide residues, including hot peppers, cherry tomatoes, snap peas and blueberries.

Full article HERE

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Cousins

This jet lag thing is for real y'all! Here's a cutie cousin picture (May 2018) to help us all dive into hump day of this short work week!

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