Self-pampering

The cold air and exercise took more out of us than we realized: both Dennis and I were done in this morning, tired and achy.  And clumsy: we dropped and broke our coffee pot this morning.  And since the stores are all closed on Sundays, we were well and truly out of luck.

There was only one thing to be done: we made today's outing a trip to Google, where the coffee flows freely.  And so does the ice cream.

We'd originally planned a trip to the ice rink or the mountain, but I'm so glad we changed our plans.  Just the little walk to Google was enough to numb my toes, and Joey looked just miserable, tucking his gloved hands in his sleeves.  Alex and Ella were just fine, though, hopping in circles around us and darting here and there as we walked down the street.

We took a slightly longer route because we wanted to get some takeout lunch from a restaurant that my brother Billy recommended.  (He'll try to tell you his name is Bill, but it isn't. It's Billy.)

Uncle Billy, dancing with his niece, when Lady Gaga
came through Tacoma.

Billy travels a lot: he's a sound engineer on musical tours, currently with Lady Gaga's.  Unfortunately, she came through Zurich a month before we moved here, so I don't think we'll get to see my citizen-of-the-world brother this year.  It's a pity, because the kids adore him. As do I.


And he has excellent taste. The restaurant he recommended is called Wagamama, and it was, easily, the best food we've eaten since we moved here. The chain is Britain-headquartered but found worldwide, including three restaurants in Boston.  So, Dan and Erin and Todd, if you're reading this, go! Check them out!

The kids burned off their energy on the firemen's poles and the game rooms.  I proved to Dennis, once again, that I am not to be trifled with when it comes to air hockey, and Joey had his first ping pong lesson.  He giggled and said "AWWW!" each and every time the ball went past him, and he even managed to score a point on his old man. When he hits, he hits hard.

And then I discovered the best thing of all about Google, better than the coffee or the ice cream or even the unlimited pinball....they have a library!  With books in English!  Purring, I took three home with me.

Not that we have any time to read.  It seems like Dennis and I are spending all of our free time trying to navigate quirky hotel reservation websites.

Or perhaps it isn't the fault of the the websites.  Dennis brought home an armful of local beers this weekend, and we've been, er, educating ourselves on them over the weekend. And they don't call me half-pint for nothing.

Slowly, though, we're starting to lay our plans for the year.  In April we're going to travel for ten days: we don't have our exact itinerary picked out, but we're at least going to Paris, Versailles, and Disneyland, and then up to Bruges.   In early June, just before our birthdays, we're going to go to Ulm, Legoland, and, as an early birthday gift to ourselves, Munich.  And we're going to try to visit somewhere warm and beachy in the summer--we have our eye on a kid-friendly resort in Croatia. We'll take long weekends over the kids' five-week break to some of the closer cities: Strasbourg, Geneva, Milan.

But we're still looking for suggestions if anyone has any!