The lake in the fall

Today, we took a daytrip to the lake to close down the cottage for the winter. That means making sure that not too many mice and other animals will enter the cottage while we are not there (it is not winter-proved and would be way too cold to be there in the winter). The actual work was done was quickly and we had time for some fun at the lake. We even ate our lunch there. And of course Andrin had to take a little swim in the lake :) Fortunately, we were prepared and had some spare clothes with us.
On our way home, we visited Opa Jumbo, recovering after another surgery. Thanks for hosting us, Opa Jumbo!

Bigna all ready to hit the road. She climbs in her car seat as soon as we pull it out of the basement. 

So fun, puddles ... 

Andrin took his tractor to the lake with him. 

Andrin's waddling walk after he fell into the lake. 

A glimpse

Just a glimpse into our everday life ...

Bigna and Andrin drawing together. Love how Bigna is laying with her feet on the couch and see how Andrin is holding the crayon perfectly ... (crab pinch, he calls it).

Bigna loves music and loves to sing. 

Showing off some of Mami's birthday presents.  And happy that Opa and Oma are finally back from Croatia. 

Enjoying some birthday cake. 

Building a dinosaur zoo, as Andrin loves to call it.  

Firemen scene right in our dinning room area ... Andrin got some firemen tape from his godmother. 

Maybe there is still some hope for Bigna and her fly fishing career?

Traveling in style

As of today, Andrin and Bigna are able to travel in style, thanks to Gotti Sara! Andrin was so excited as he has been wishing to get a trailer for his new tractor.

Hide and seek

At the moment, playing hide and seek is on the top of the lists to do at our house. Andrin loves to hide and even loves it more when we are looking for him. Sometimes, he will tell us what we have to say and where to look before we actually find him :) And Bigna just goes with the flow, even counting herself and hiding with her brother.

Hiding underneath our bed. I love how Bigna actually sits there pretty comfortably ... 

Our top ten ... uuuups ... eleven

Clemens has had this idea to develop our most favorite pictures from Oregon for quite a while (actually, ever since we came back which has been over a year now :) But somehow, we never got around to tackling this work. Now, Clemens spent hours looking at pictures, lost in memories, and he came up with a selection of 50 pictures that we narrowed down to eleven pictures that we got developed on a special deal. Well, what do you think? Our ten ... no, eleven, most cherished memories ...

The Oregon Coast. 

Crater Lake with Shiprock in the distance. 

Painted Hills. 

Horseshoe bend at North Umpqua. 

Our home for our time being in Eugene. 

Deschutes River. (John fishing all "almighty" salmonfly hatch:)

Oregon venturing at the Oregon Coast near Florence (he was about 1 3/4 years old).

The McKenzie. 

Oregon Coast. Our last trip as a family of two. Two weeks later, Andrin joined our family!

Waterfall on the McKenzie. 

Crater Lake. 

Babies...

What do you think about your own baby talking about having a baby in their tummy? I know, hard to wrap your head around this one ... But I guess we have to do some growing up here ... and quickly ... Our baby is not a baby anymore (even though she also is not big enough to technically really have a baby :)! The other day, Bigna surprised her brother and mother at the lunch table with the announcement that there is a baby in her tummy. We think that her statement was prompted by the fact that she got to spend some quality time with her beloved aunt that is expecting her first baby (yeah, Mami will be an first-time aunt soon!). It is amazing how Bigna is able to express herself verbally more and more. She constantly talks about Papi not being around. About the fact that she does not want to go upstairs and that we should just leave her downstairs ... There is not a day that she discovers a new word. The other day, it was apple juice ...