Autumn Holidays 2016…

i know this is an extremely belated post. We have been back at school for 4 weeks now. i have tried a few times over the last few weeks to get this post written but somehow it never happened. So this week i decided that it has to be written and it got moved to the top of the ‘to-do’ list.

Our autumn holidays was the first 3 weeks of October and while it was not as exciting as last year’s, it was still fun-filled and we managed to do a fair bit.

In the first couple of days, we focussed on getting some housework done. Tobias then went off with one of his best friends to a nearby waterpark, Bernaqua, for an afternoon. The next day, we met up with some friends from Niderwalden at the Toni Zoo for lunch and a lovely walk around the small but well-kept zoo.

One of the highlights was the Foxtrail! We did this scavenger hunt type game around the city of Bern. We did have rather high expectations after reading great reviews. But it was a bit of a let-down. A few of the instructions were not well written, so we got confused and turned around quite a number of times. The helpline was not as helpful. But i think it was because this was originally meant to be worked out in German and being English-speaking meant we understood the instructions differently. We had also expected to learn more about the city as we chased the “fox”. However, there was little write-up to learn from at all. What was expected to take us 2.5 hours, took us 3.5 hours. Oh my, my feet were nearly falling off.

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Top Left: One of the clues, Top Middle: This tunnel took us ages to find, Top Right: Another clue, Bottom: Such a lovely view of the Aare!

It was not a great experience but it was not all that terrible. We did see parts of Bern we would otherwise never venture into and walking along the river was lovely. i can see that it can be quite fun for an adult group of close friends. But we had children with us so such long walking times with very little rewards of learning or anything else made it difficult to justify the costs.

After all that walking, we took it easy and took in a movie the next day. ‘The Secret Life of Pets’ was a great movie and we loved it. Even in German, the story came through nicely as did the funny bits.

As it is our tradition, every year in the first week of October, we attend the Suisse Toy Fair! This year saw us spending more time in the electronic games section (E-games) and it is no surprise as this has been the trend. There was even an entire hall devoted to LAN gaming! Tobias has said he might try and see if he can register for entry for that next year… hmm… this mama doesn’t quite like that idea.

Tobias had a great time in a pallet gun game. He had to queue for about 45 minutes but he thought it was worth it. And it did look like loads of fun.

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Top Left: LAN Gaming, Right: Trying out VR, Bottom Left: Pallet Gun Game

We also put in some practice in our squash game. And watched yet another movie, ‘Miss Peregrin’s Home for Peculiar Children’, which we absolutely loved! Definitely going to get the book!

In between all that, Tobias cooked a dinner of stewed meatballs and a breakfast of healthy blueberry donuts. We also painted our dining area wall a bright sunshine yellow!

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Stewed Meatballs for dinner, they were yummy!
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Delicious Breakfast!
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Our spot of sunshine in the house 😉

On top of that, we hosted 3 guests; Tobias’ best friends stayed for a night, another friend who just had an operation came to stay for a night too and another friend stayed one night as well.

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i took one of our guest on a walk on top of Weissenstein, the mountain behind our place. We were well-rewarded, don’t you think?

So as you can see, we were busy those 3 weeks in October!

syc

Charity Auction for Andersen… Miracle of Adoption Christmas Campaign 2016…

So we are a week into the MACC (Miracle of Adoption Christmas Campaign), ANDERSEN‘s adoption grant has grown by US$126. We have 10% of our target amount. THANK YOU all who have given generously.

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Andersen, 9 years old, waiting for his forever family.

On Tuesday, i started a Charity Auction for ANDERSEN on Facebook. If you have Facebook, please follow this link to the auction and take part there.

If you do not have Facebook, don’t worry because i will be posting the auction here as well so that those without Facebook can take part too.

To take part in this auction, simply comment below with the name of your chosen item/s, together with your email address and your bid. i will keep you updated the gallery below on the progress of bids every 3 days.

Starting bids have been suggested. Please bid in increments of US$1, no cents please.

This auction runs from 8 November to 29 November.

Winners will be notified via email and payment and postage will be arranged via email also. i will bear all postage costs.

Please help me make this a very successful auction by sharing it with all your friends.

Please click on the pictures below to get details of each item.

Do remember you can also make purchases at Angel Crafts Shop, where 50% of all sales goes to ANDERSEN‘s grant.

Thank you very much.

syc

Miracle of Adoption Christmas Campaign…

It is 1st November 2016 and it marks the start of the Miracle of Adoption Christmas Campaign!

What is the Miracle of Adoption Christmas Campaign (MACC)?

Well, last year it was called Angel Tree. The new name is so that it is immediately clear what this campaign is all about.

Every year, Reece’s Rainbow runs a Christmas season campaign to highlight some of the special needs orphans they have listed on their advocacy website. The aim is to raise awareness, as well as to raise US$1000 for each child listed on this particular campaign.

This year, i have teamed up with Sydney to advocate for ANDERSEN this Christmas season!

Meet my MACC child, ANDERSEN!

andersonANDERSEN is a sweet 9-year-old who is said to be “all boy”; he is active and full of life. He loves to dance and sing. Being a curious boy, he also asks lots of questions and is a great eater who favours sweet fruits. His special need is his Congenital Heart defect, for which he had surgery when he was very young.

He sounds like a lovely child who simply needs a loving family to bloom into a wonderful young person. But his medical condition and his orphan status put him at a disadvantage and if he remains where he is, he will not have all the opportunities he should have.

So please, help ANDERSEN; Share his story, Pray for him and Give to his adoption grant on Reece’s Rainbow this festive season. To give to his grant, click on his name or picture.

My very first fundraiser is, of course, at Angel Crafts Shop, where 50% of all sales will go to ANDERSEN‘s adoption grant for the months of November and December. So start shopping!

Sydney and i will have other fundraisers upcoming so stay tuned!

Thank you.

syc