Almost done packing!

The packing is almost done! There is a box coming from Sierra Trading post today, the girls need hiking boots, and I need a small bike pump for the stroller tires, but other than that we are pretty much done.  I have camping headlights, children's tylenol, brown sugar, a combination lock for school, slippers, even a few Christmas gifts.  I hope there can't be much I've forgotten.

So, what do a year of supplies look like?  It's not as much as you might think.  We were very lucky to find the perfect apartment.  The owners have been incredibly friendly and generous, even to the point of offering to leave some toys for our little ones.  So we really don't need anything for the house.

I don't think this is so bad for six people for a year. We didn't exceed the baggage allowance.

More practice

E and I had a horrible time last night trying to add a facebook link.  He can do it, but only in a complicated way I can't understand so I'd never be able to extricate the code  It looks like I need more practice.  So today's job is practicing images and a jump break.  To make it more fun (for me, at least) I'm going to do a top ten wish list of things I'd like to see or do in Switzerland.

jump break!

Prepping

Finding a place to live has been pretty frustrating.  The agencies that handle furnished apartments seem to allow just 90 days' notice for ending a lease, so they might not know what is available until the middle of June.  Also, some of the places which are advertised as free aren't, and they won't be.  Add to that: it is a tight market, we are a family of six, and we won't be vacating in time for apartment owners' Christmas and ski vacations.  So I am trying to focus on what I can do.

I've already made a list of things we would like to do, including when we should probably do them.  And I have tried to estimate costs and expenses.  I've gathered what I can from the packing list, and know what we still have to buy (ski clothes, hiking boots, back-up stroller tires, prescription sunglasses, etc.)  Oh, and we need to buy luggage to carry it all.  I even have a list of household things we should bring like brown sugar, chili powder, and duct tape.  Again, though, listing what we need is at odds with creating a budget, and therefore not entirely satisfying.

So, knowing I'm going to do a blog, I thought I might start now.  It's a good thing I did!  I have fallen behind technology - maybe irreparably.  When my grandparents couldn't program their VCR clock it was unbelievable to us, but kind of cute, because it was understandable.  They grew up with ice boxes, filled by a guy who drove a horse drawn cart.  They deserved a break.  But having my three year old watch me fumble with an ipod, sigh, and say, "Please I help you, Mama?" is just wrong.  I can't spend the next fifty years like that.

I hope I can learns as I go along.  I have a lot of plans.  I'd like to write about the places we visit, with links and pictures.  I will have to get a flickr account, or something.  I'd like to include maps of our hikes, probably using google earth unless I get a better suggestion.  I'd really like to use the Swiss Mobility app, but that would mean having to figure out a phone.  But it will be worth it to have hiking maps!

http://map.wanderland.ch/?lang=en&route=all