Sesame Workshop has nothing on us

 It's almost here, people!  Are you ready??

Poor Dennis got slammed with the same cold that Alex is slowly healing from, so he extended his vacation, staying home on the couch.  But the kids compensated for Dennis's fatigue: so happy are they to be home, with their toys, that they woke up and started cleaning the house...and did other, various preparations for Mother's Day. 


Even I have my limits: we scarcely left the apartment today.  Ella did play outside a little a jumprope that the Easter Bunny gave her.  To my surprise, the jumprope plays a perky little tune each time it's turned.  That bunny and I are going to have words.  But Ella likes it so much that she ran the counter all the way up to a thousand jumps.


But she spent most of the day playing with the software update on her favorite iPad app.  She's a little concerned that Joey is going to have trouble with his language since he's surrounded by Schweitzerdeutch, so she made a series of educational films for him, to teach him his numbers, letters, shapes, and colors.  Or at least that was the excuse she gave me for spending most of a happy day playing and drawing on the iPad.  I've heard some sad things about the defunding of PBS lately, but at least we still have Ella Geels.  I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that the movies are really long and many, but here's a taste:

Watching big sister's movies. Luckily, Joey was
very gracious in his appreciation.

Meanwhile, Joey and Alex brought me a serious stack of books, about ten high, including the complete stories of Harold and the Purple Crayon, and they wouldn't release me until they were finished.  At the end was Alex's favorite, Mr. Small. It's his favorite because onetime I wasn't paying attention and confused the voices, giving Mr. Small a big, deep voice, and his kindly neighbor a tiny, squeaky voice.  I haven't been allowed to read it any other way since then, and I can't make it through two pages without Alex nearly falling off the couch in mirth.


As we were driving through Zürich yesterday, nearing home, I started getting a little nervous.  After being gone for so long, would I remember how to get around?  Bus and tram numbers tend to jumble together in my brain, and I had an uncomfortable feeling that I'd spend a couple of weeks boarding buses for going in the wrong direction. 


We decided to end our lazy day with a movie night with one of the half-dozen movies we'd missed in the theaters that Grandma and Grandpa and brought for us in that glorious duffle bag, and I planned to feed Dennis's cold with a tex-mex feast.  Despite my fears, when I ran out to the store to pick up dinner it was as easy as can be, walking to the corner, finding the bus waiting for me, and, two minutes later, getting dropped off a block away from my store.

Hausfrau that I am, I call thats city living at its finest.