A weekend at home
At one point, we had thought about going to Lugano this past weekend. After all, it was a three-day weekend (yesterday was Labor Day in Switzerland), and we haven't spent any time in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, and we can only take short trips by car and/or train at this point, so why not? But after spending a long Easter weekend in Bavaria, followed immediately by a week of fun during Dave's visit, we decided that we all (Grady included) could use a quiet weekend at home. A weekend in Basel is not a bad thing, especially now that spring weather is (finally) here, but it does seem a bit unusual for us not to be taking advantage of a three-day weekend with some travel!
Perhaps the most exciting thing was that Kirk managed to stay away from work and not go into the office for the entire weekend! That is quite an accomplishment... if we are in town over the weekend he almost spends one of the days in the office. I suspect, however, this may change once Baby arrives. (Or so I like to think...)
On Saturday, we made our way back up to the Baby One store in Gundelfingen. The trip was just as much about stopping at our new favorite German restaurant as it was about baby shopping! It was a successful trip, with a delicious (and heavy) (and cheap) German lunch, followed by making two key purchases at Baby One. We bought a changing table/shelving unit/bath (all in one, if you can believe it), and, lo and behold, a glider chair! As I was testing it out at the store, Kirk asked "Do you think we should buy two so that you can have one as well?" As we've written before, Kirk is very excited about having a baby so that we have an excuse to buy a glider. Unfortunately, it didn't all fit in our car, so we still have to go back and pick up the already-purchased glider with a friend who has a bigger car. The sales woman at Baby One was nice enough to offer to send it to a Baby One store that is just across the border (which doesn't normally carry gliders) so that we don't have to drive an hour to pick it up.
The highlight was Sunday was a trip to the zoo! I frequent the zoo and have an annual pass, but Kirk has only been there once before. It's a nice zoo. Of course, Kirk likes to make snide comments like "Well, it isn't the San Diego zoo", but not everyone can be so lucky to grow up with the San Diego zoo in their backyard! For a city this size, the Basel zoo is just perfect. As we've mentioned before, the Basel zoo is supposedly known for its breeding program, which means there are always lots of cute baby animals. Our hope was to see the 2 baby lions, who were born in December and only recently made their public debut, and sure enough, we got to see them curled up sleeping next to the big adult lions. It was a beautiful sight, especially for an animal lover like me. We saw lots of other animal babies as well, including a giraffe, a gorilla, a chimpanzee, and lots of baby pygmy goats. 'Tis the season, I guess!
Kirk already wrote about yesterday's excitement at the farm open house. It was definitely one of those "only in Switzerland" events. I was amazed at the number of people who were there-- families and old people alike. At noon, the line for food was a mile long! They were grilling sausages and pork steaks, plus selling salads and drinks and yummy desserts. I had a pair of Wienerli (little sausages that could maybe be compared to American hot dogs, but so much better) served with fresh farm bread, homemade apple cider, a berry tiramisu for dessert. Nothing better than sitting at a Swiss farm (in our neighborhood!) on a sunny day eating a good lunch with friends.
Other than that, we spent some of the weekend continuing our "nesting" (or at least I did...), getting together with friends who we haven't seen in a while, getting caught up on Sopranos (we only have 2 episodes left!!), relaxing, and going to our final prenatal (antenatal) class. I guess that means we're supposed to be prepared now. Is anyone really ever prepared for childbirth?!
So not the most exciting weekend, and not the most exciting post, but hey, considering our traveling days are over for a few months, this is as exciting as it gets! I'm off to the gym to float my big belly in the pool for a while. Feeling weightless is a good thing these days.
Perhaps the most exciting thing was that Kirk managed to stay away from work and not go into the office for the entire weekend! That is quite an accomplishment... if we are in town over the weekend he almost spends one of the days in the office. I suspect, however, this may change once Baby arrives. (Or so I like to think...)
On Saturday, we made our way back up to the Baby One store in Gundelfingen. The trip was just as much about stopping at our new favorite German restaurant as it was about baby shopping! It was a successful trip, with a delicious (and heavy) (and cheap) German lunch, followed by making two key purchases at Baby One. We bought a changing table/shelving unit/bath (all in one, if you can believe it), and, lo and behold, a glider chair! As I was testing it out at the store, Kirk asked "Do you think we should buy two so that you can have one as well?" As we've written before, Kirk is very excited about having a baby so that we have an excuse to buy a glider. Unfortunately, it didn't all fit in our car, so we still have to go back and pick up the already-purchased glider with a friend who has a bigger car. The sales woman at Baby One was nice enough to offer to send it to a Baby One store that is just across the border (which doesn't normally carry gliders) so that we don't have to drive an hour to pick it up.
The highlight was Sunday was a trip to the zoo! I frequent the zoo and have an annual pass, but Kirk has only been there once before. It's a nice zoo. Of course, Kirk likes to make snide comments like "Well, it isn't the San Diego zoo", but not everyone can be so lucky to grow up with the San Diego zoo in their backyard! For a city this size, the Basel zoo is just perfect. As we've mentioned before, the Basel zoo is supposedly known for its breeding program, which means there are always lots of cute baby animals. Our hope was to see the 2 baby lions, who were born in December and only recently made their public debut, and sure enough, we got to see them curled up sleeping next to the big adult lions. It was a beautiful sight, especially for an animal lover like me. We saw lots of other animal babies as well, including a giraffe, a gorilla, a chimpanzee, and lots of baby pygmy goats. 'Tis the season, I guess!
Kirk already wrote about yesterday's excitement at the farm open house. It was definitely one of those "only in Switzerland" events. I was amazed at the number of people who were there-- families and old people alike. At noon, the line for food was a mile long! They were grilling sausages and pork steaks, plus selling salads and drinks and yummy desserts. I had a pair of Wienerli (little sausages that could maybe be compared to American hot dogs, but so much better) served with fresh farm bread, homemade apple cider, a berry tiramisu for dessert. Nothing better than sitting at a Swiss farm (in our neighborhood!) on a sunny day eating a good lunch with friends.
Other than that, we spent some of the weekend continuing our "nesting" (or at least I did...), getting together with friends who we haven't seen in a while, getting caught up on Sopranos (we only have 2 episodes left!!), relaxing, and going to our final prenatal (antenatal) class. I guess that means we're supposed to be prepared now. Is anyone really ever prepared for childbirth?!
So not the most exciting weekend, and not the most exciting post, but hey, considering our traveling days are over for a few months, this is as exciting as it gets! I'm off to the gym to float my big belly in the pool for a while. Feeling weightless is a good thing these days.
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