Have you missed seeing

These cute little faces? So sorry to have kept you waiting...
Happy new year!

eating is always an adventure....

Happy New Year!

And Merry Christmas!

Family greetings with Thomas Jefferson!

And we still are getting beach days!

I love sleeping headlocks!

Nitrous makes a happy girl...

winter swimming fun!

♥

and from afar... Switzerland on Christmas Day. Wish we were there...

Two!

Two front teeth that is! Yep, our little guy is moving up in the world. For the past two weeks he's been busily pushing up some chompers so he can move on to real food. Bread that is.

And if you're interested to know, this little 'big' guy can sit unassisted now. Big skills happening here! And not to leave the girl out, she's been honing her snow man building skills with the oodles of firm precipitation we've been having of late. We have decided that adding pine needles to our creation will help him live longer. Kind of like Frankenstein. And instead of smoking a pipe (dad wouldn't let us borrow his) he chews on a sucker... it's just as bad a pipe right? So, here is our hard work... enjoy!

First day of School!

First day of school, First day of school, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!
W. started the kindergarten year on August 19th this year. She goes every morning for five days a week. We thought that be immersing her in the German kindergarten she would be able to learn the language faster. And guess what? She is!

Zeeland, NL

A little over two and a half hours is the Netherland coastline called Zeeland. It is a beautiful little beach spot, perfect to spend the afternoon with your family. The water was warm enough to wade and swim in, and the sand was perfect for basking; as long as you brought some shade! We enjoyed clear blue skies and a cool breeze. The ice cream man even made a little money off of us... yum, cold ice cream on a hot day! After our outing on the beach, we traversed over the dyke and filled our bellies with the biggest pot of mussels J. or I had ever had set before us. W. had her normal 'juice and nothing else' and T., well you all know what he eats!

Here's a little information about the place if you're interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeeland

And more photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=136524&id=758239743&l=47e7eb0d90

3rd time is a charm....

Today was the day- three years ago a beautiful princess was born. She didn't have any hair nor could she eat solid food but it was love at first sight for all of those who saw her.

After time, she learned how to walk and talk and demand. She grew some hair and and attitude- and today you no longer see a princess... but a little diva queen. Here's the story of her third birthday...

W. awoke this morning only to rushed off to kindergarten in a new skirt and her 'fancy' sandals. When we arrived, every one knew it was her Geburtstag (birthday) and a special birthday hat was made for her. Several songs were sung in her honor and birthday cupcakes were shared all around. She was in the spotlight and loving it. The whole class was invited to play out of doors for 45 minutes; sand digging was commenced as well as teeter tottering and running at top speed screaming. Fun for all...

Lunchtime provided a quick snack followed by visiting and presents from friends- and then this thread was continued after siesta. We spent the afternoon planting seeds in the garden, digging the dirt and reading books.

After a super quick dinner we rushed off to the ice cream parlor to meet some friends and enjoy some treats. Again it was play, play, play then bite of melty ice cream then play some more. By the time the diva queen was taken to the tub for her daily bath, she was brown from head to toe- but how else would you want to end your 3rd birthday day?

Thank you to all that sent packages and phoned- W. had a wonderful day because of you!

Here's the link for todays photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=saraharcher7&target=ALBUM&id=5324990081469186257&authkey=Gv1sRgCLLf8afJ2_fXXw&feat=email

Oregon

So, it’s been a while. We’ve been out and about, and I’ve left you in the dark- no posts, no emails, nothing. It’s like a relationship that’s gone sour, but I’m here to do my best to make it sweet again.
It’s been over a year since W. and I have seen the US, and we were feeling a little homesick, and a little lonely for the company of our family. Lufthansa had a pretty good deal on tickets from Frankfurt to Portland, so we took them up on their offer, and headed out west- 13 hours west, to visit Oregon.
W. did wonderful on the plane. She is still two- and only had a slight bruise from bouncing off the seat onto her head, but we made the trip will little incidence. We were greeted with a warm welcome by Nana and Papa at the airport and whisked off back to my childhood home. For two weeks we were able to relax in the company of friends and family. We visited the Salem carousel, ate at Taco Bell and took the dogs to the park. W. and I had a great time- especially when shopping and W. had Nana wrapped around her finger. Can you believe that W. has a new spring wardrobe from the three shopping outings she took with her grandma?!
W. and I also had a visit to the hair stylist. Now that she’s almost 3 we decided that it was finally time for her first hair cut. (She now finally has some hair to cut!) She did wonderful- she was told that she was the princess, and she loved the pampering. After the cut was finished, she wanted another! I too had a hair change- I’ve wanted to donate my hair for a long time to Locks of Love, http://www.locksoflove.org/ : and my hair was crazy long- so I did it! W. and I are both very happy with our new appearances.
We also needed to visit family in Idaho, so we hopped on another plane and were able to sojourn at Great-grandma Noni’s in Twin Falls for a few days before heading out to Homedale to see our friend Helen. In all, we were in Idaho for a week- rode horses, saw lots of cows and I reconsidered my retirement choices. I forgot how cold the desert can be!
Back to Oregon for 10 more days to catch up on zoo life in Portland, check out all the restaurants that we missed the first time, and fill our bags with ‘American’ things before heading back home. We had a wonderful time in the states, and we really enjoyed being able to spend so much time with our friends and family. It was very difficult to have been gone from Daddy for a month, but we were fortunate to have good long distance and SKYPE.
Since we’ve been back, we’ve been trying to get back into our routine, and settle in for the little BOY who is to be joining our family in July. Now that things are settled here, expect to see more travel posts!

Yet another monistary visit

What do you do on a lazy rainy Sunday? Well if you're an Archer living in Europe, you visit a Trappist brewery. Today happened to be our lucky day, and being only an hour and a quarter drive from fine beer prompted us all to load up in the Subaru and head over to Belgium. Once there we enjoyed delicious sandwiches at the monastery cafeteria, and of course Achel beer- both the blonde and brun for those interested. They also have fantastic soup and soft serve ice cream which W. can attest for. There is a small wooded area with trails, and horses pulling buggies in the street. The monastery property is located in both Belgium and Netherlands, so you really can be two places at once! We weren’t able to tour the grounds- but we did see a couple of monks. What a treat for a Sunday in Europe!

And because I didn't bring my camera with me, here are some shots of W. practicing the backstroke in the tub. Enjoy!

Summer fun

Wow, the time is just flying by. I can't believe that it's already August! Only a few short months and the weather will turn and for most of us that will mean sweaters and mittens and steaming mugs of deliciousness. However it is still summer and we are enjoying the spoils of the season. As a family we haven't been 'doing' too much of anything, so we decided we needed to go some where. Luckily we live in such a place where there's plenty of some where’s to go. We really haven't done too much camping since W.'s birth, and so it was decided that now is as good of time as any to go. Off we were to one of our favorite countries; Belgium. Where not only do they have rock climbing- which I've been jonsin' to do, but they have beer.

My first tip that something might be amiss is when we drove into the campsite, and I didn't see any other toddlers. We searched for the perfect campsite by driving in a circle around the park, and choosing one of the three available remaining spots. W. was a great helper while we set up camp. She was in charge of driving the parked car, and is now a master at using the horn, much to the annoyance of her mother. And it wouldn't be camping if there wasn't an abundance of food. J. found a comfy seat in the tent and proceeded to teach W. how to feed him. She is now a master at opening the cooler and rooting for junk food. They both seemed to love this, and who am I to discourage father-daughter bonding?
Sleeping with a two year old is not really my idea of a good time. All night you're getting kicked elbowed or having your blankets removed. Not withstanding the physical discomforts, as a mother I am constantly worried that something might happen while W. is asleep, and I won't know about it. So when she is lying next to me, every time I move, I need to check on her. Sleeping on the ground affords many of these opportunities. But the real obstacle camping with a toddler is getting to the sleeping part. Saturday was very exciting for W.- so much to see and do that she didn't take a nap. (Not for a lack of me trying to convince her to take one) So by 8pm, I thought that she would be exhausted. NOPE! Being in a tent is awesome, and who in their right mind would want to sleep? Finally at 10pm her little eyes shut, and soon after mine did too.

It seems in Europe you need to belong to some sort of mountain climbing club to be able to climb the rocks. So unfortunately we were left on the sidelines admiring the boulders from afar, but we've got a pretty good idea of what to expect for next time. In Belgium almost all of the land is privately owned. In order to climb, you need to get the land owners permission, and pay a fee. However the countryside is beautiful and the rocks are enticing, so we'll be back...

We did however check out the Chimay monastery and sample all of their delicious beers and cheeses. This is one of the nicer Trappist monasteries that I’ve been to. If you’re ever in the area, check them out, you’ll be glad that you did. http://www.chimay.com/en/intro_58.php

Here's a few parting shots from when we came home, and were putting our supplies away. (Many days W. pretends that she's a cat. She'll meow and make slurping noises like she's licking something. As you can see, she is also taking on other feline characteristics!)

To Belgium and beyond!

So we did it. Today we took an epic adventure, and we made it home intact. What is this nonsense you may ask? Well, I will tell you. Coming to Europe my dear husband and I decided that we were going to become bike riders. Not just your every day hop on and stroll through the neighborhood kind of riding, but people who ride their bike to places. Ever so slowly-for me, and not so slowly for my husband- who by the way is very quick on the bike, have been building up our stamina.

Now to put this into perspective, I think my stamina is the one who needed the building. So almost daily, when the weather permits, I've been trailering W. over the local hills. To the base, to a friends house, to the park. Where ever we needed to go, that we could reasonably ride our bike to. J. on the other hand has been steadily riding his bike EVERY day to and from work- about 8km one way since January. So you see, it is now July, and we should be able to do more then a quick outing.

Belgium. This is where I thought it would be fun to go to. To get there, we had to cycle through the outskirts of Germany, and then traverse through Holland over the bridge and through the woods to Belgium. What a cool way to spend the day! Finally looking at the logistics, we figured that we would drive to Belgium- Massik, and then ride home from there. Somehow we'd figure out a way to get the car back. After an hour and a half of riding, we all decided that we were getting pretty hungry, and stopped at the local train station, 10 minutes from our house. It was a great setting to finish our goal. We rode 30km today, and through 3 countries. How many people can say that they did that this weekend?!

Post script: Here's a few pictures from last weekend. W. and I went to the neighbors house to ride their horses. We both loved it. I can't believe how lucky we are to have such great people living by us!