A Visit from the Grandparents

We've all had a fun-filled, busy week. Myrna got a visit from her grandparents and awed them with all her new tricks. They arrived last week, with a bag full of scavenger hunt items in tow, as we'd persuaded them to bring over winter clothes, a new ipod, peanut butter and the next wave of Myrna-sized clothes that she had received as gifts. Myrna took the company in stride, and after a few days she stopped with the "are you still here?" looks. She became more and more comfortable over the course of the week and, by the end, she was really thriving on the attention. But even on the first morning, she just needed to check that her parents were still around, before settling in and enjoying some morning coffee with her grandmother.
We had fun touring around the Freiburg Altstadt - taking them to the Markthalle for lunch, where Chris has his night job as "Die Swinger"
We ended the tour at the Schloßberg Biergarten with a panoramic view of the whole city, and Myrna showed us all just how powerful she is (she finds that this is best accomplished by standing on a table and roaring).
The next day Chancellor Angela Merkel was in town, so we left the crowds of Freiburg and headed to Colmar, France for some general sight seeing.
Later in the weekend, we made another getaway, enjoying a small hike in the Schwarzwald.
Myrna had her first bike ride along the Dreisam River on Sunday, thanks in part to her grandfather who pulled her. She seemed pretty excited to get in, but maybe it was just too exciting, as she slept the entire ride.
The last adventure was to Bern, Switzerland - Myrna, Chris and my first trip to Switzerland. The trip doubled as a chance for us to visit the Swedish Embassy to pick up our new residence permits.
We quickly learned that Bern is not included in "Europe on 10 USD (or EUR) a Day," but we enjoyed the sun and the scenery all the same.

Not only did Myrna get a week of double (or triple) attention, but she started so many new things. Her proficient stomach-flop has now been replaced with a real deal up-on-all-fours crawl. She's also pulling herself up with any piece of furniture or person she can get her hands on. She has perfected the art of being a doll at restaurants, eating at the table with the adults, and she learned how to steal her mothers bread, inhaling even the hard heel of the loaf. Too much stuff to write about, so we'll leave you instead with a new photo album of our week, where you actually might see a picture or two that don't include Myrna.