Not so sure about the name...

Lukas was staying with his grandparents when we were at the hospital for Marieke's birth. After Marieke was born, grandpa told Lukas that we had the baby & that it was a girl. Lukas was OK with that. Then grandpa told Lukas her name was Marieke. Lukas' response: "No, I don't think so."

The next night I was talking to Lukas on the phone from the hospital wishing him a good night: "I love you Lukas. I hope you have a good night."

Lukas: "I love you mom. I hope you....... can still change her name."

Marroni!!!!

Beginning in November, "Heisse Marroni" (hot chestnut) stands would pop up all over Zurich and be a fixture on the street corners til March. For about 5 francs you'd get a little paper cone filled with hot, roasted chestnuts. It seems that people either love roasted chestnuts or hate them. We were definitely in the "love 'em" camp - even Lukas. We'd get a coneful just about every other day.

When we moved back to the States, it was just one more of the things that we missed about CH. So I was practically giddy when I found out that there was a chestnut tree farm less than an hour from our house.

We headed out on a beautiful sunny day, got instructions from the owner of the orchard & then donning thick leather gloves to protect our hands from the prickly shell of the chestnut - set out for our picking. Chestnut "picking", it turns out, isn't really picking off the tree, but gathering chestnuts off the ground. Since these orchards are planted on hills, we were scrambling up & down looking for the biggest chestnuts - it feels like a kind of treasure hunt & it is easy to get carried away. As we were leaving we met a family that had picked $80 worth of chestnuts. I asked them what they were going to do with all of them & they said they had no idea - they just overpicked!


The best chestnuts seemed to be on the steepest slopes

Most of the people out picking were Asians & Europeans - I guess chestnuts are more prevalent in those cultures. Strangely enough, there were also ALOT of pregnant women out there too (myself - 8 mos along - included). It was quite funny to watch all these women trying to make their way up & down the steep slopes.

Anyways, a fun beautiful fall day. And we are getting pretty good at grilling the "heisse marroni" just like in Zurich.......

Halloween

When we asked Lukas what he wanted to be this Halloween, without hesitation: Monster!

So Rob & Lukas sketched out what Lukas wanted that monster to look like: Big, blue, with horns, 18 eyes, 42 arms & a long spikey tail. Then, on a Saturday morning, father & son headed out to the fabric store to buy the fabric & supplies. Over the next few weeks, Rob was at his sewing machine in the evenings, bringing the monster to life. Although, we pared down from 42 arms to 4, I think it turned out great & Lukas was thrilled!

Halloween was a balmy night this year & while we thought that the fur costume would be great for keeping him warm - he was one sweaty monster! It didn't deter him from hitting lots of houses - trick-or-treating was definitely all about the candy this year!

The Wiggers family goes trick-or-treating.

The monk costume was an attempt to hide a 9 month bump.

The mummy costume was a last minute get-up.

Later we realized that Inga was a "father" and Rob a "mommy". .....ha! ha!