Pretty Sunday for a Bike Ride

A brief post now, to balance the long one before...

We woke to sunny, warm weather and decided today was a great day for a bike ride. I brought the bikes up from the basement and took them to our terrace to assemble (very nice to have a place to do that kind of thing). The bike shop back in the US had done a nice job of taking them apart as far as necessary, but no further, so it was pretty easy to put them back together. A bit over an hour's work for all three, followed by lunch, and then we decided to head out for a ride with LGG on the Trail-a-bike attached to my bike.

We rode out to the Katzensee, twin lakes set in pretty countryside about five minutes' ride from our flat. There were lots of people out - hikers, bikers, skaters, horseback riders - so we took it slowly and just enjoyed the views and the sunshine. After about an hour, we turned back by a different route, this time through the woods on a small hill near the lakes. It was a nice quiet ride.

We ended up passing a bathing and picnic area at a small beach on one of the lakes. LGG saw it had a nice playground, so we stopped for a while so she could run around. We ran into one of LGG's kindergarten classmates and they played together building sand castles while ZMG and I met her classmate's parents and several of their friends. They were kind enough to invite us to sit with them and we passed a pleasant half-hour chatting in German and English about life in Zürich and the States, kindergarten, kids, and so on. After a bit, it was time to go and we literally had to drag LGG away with promises that we could return soon, and yes, we could have her friend over to our place to play.

(Side note: I was thrilled to hear LGG both call her classmate a friend and want to have that friend over to our flat. She really likes her school here, and meeting new kids helps ease her sadness over missing her friends back in the US, but LGG is still shy with other kids. Hearing her actually making friends is really wonderful.)

Another brief ride back and then it was time for showers, dinner, laundry, and watching a little bit of The Simpsons with LGG before putting her to bed. Overall, a very nice relaxed day.