May Day Spring Report

In our last post (from March), we were hoping that Spring was coming soon. Well, I think it has finally arrived after lots of rain and some cold weather. Today is May 1, which is a public holiday here in Basel and much of Europe (Labor Day). We're recovering from a 15-km family hike with friends -- we enjoyed a very green hike with beautiful weather.

And since our last post, we traveled to the US for Easter. It was special to be with family for an extended time, especially to meet the newest member of our family, our nephew Fritz. The boys are already proud cousins and can't wait to teach him things like high-fives and soccer. We caught up on all things American while there including movies, sports and food. (We tried Five Guys burgers for the first time, and the boys are still talking about it.)  I must admit that it was hard to fly back to Europe after such a great time with family.

Easter Egg Hunt

stork artwork by Landon

But now that we're back, and spring has sprung, we're outside more. We find the snails are back in the garden. We've also noticed storks building their nests atop chimneys and steeples. In fact, Landon is observing some storks that have moved in outside his classroom window. Also, strawberries are in the supermarket (from Spain); I find that it is difficult or more expensive to buy off-season fruit here. And there is considerably more bike traffic during commuting hours in the last few weeks.

We have other bank holidays to look forward to over the coming weeks, and I'm thankful that we can take advantage of some long weekends to do some more exploring. Although, I'm afraid that where we're headed next still has snow...