Switzerland Day Four

Are you tired of the day by day account of our vacation? Be glad you don't have to come over and watch the slide show!

On Day Four, we took a ferry ride to a larger city, Interlaken. We needed to buy Nils new pants since we only packed 2 pairs- one was dirty (see snow and mud reference, yesterday) and the other had a broken waistband. Rather than drive half an hour to the city, we drove 10 minutes to the port and took an hour and a half ferry ride there and back. Because of the ferry timing, we had only about an hour and a half to find trousers in a town we knew nothing about. Stress! Yes, we did end up getting some pants.

Of course Jay had to wear his rain pants (rubber overalls- what are they called in English?) and wellies on the boat because that is what sailors do, Mama.

On our ferry back, we were lucky (co-incidence!) enough to catch a paddle boat back. The kids were mesmerized by the machination of it all. We were lucky- it was the most beautiful day of our whole trip and we spent three hours of it cruising a crystal clear lake. Does it get any better? (See Day Five! Ha ha ha!)

Day Three

Day Three we found ourselves in a national park a only ten minutes away. We actually went back to it a few days later for a picnic. We didn't know what to expect, just that there were some waterfalls there. We drove in and decided to park pretty early into the park. This is very unlike us, we like to check things out first and then stop. But the kids seemed excited, so we went to check out the river.

A great, gushing river! With mini falls and lots of rocks to throw, it was great for the kids. We put their wellies on and took them down.

Later on, after a lot of puddle jumping, snail inspecting, and pebble (and stone!) throwing, we got back into the car and headed towards the waterfalls. It was definitely a hike to get there, but worth it! Jay climbed the whole way himself and Nils did about half. That's a lot since it was steep, uneven and Nils was cranky since he was getting tired for his nap.

Kindergarten Update

When I picked Jay up from Kindergarten today, his teacher told me that he shared his vacation story with the class. (Everyone gets to do this when they go away). He said "we went to Switzerland and I got to drink water!" Of course, the teachers thought it was funny but they wondered- does he never get to drink water? On the contrary, he has never been a milk drinker until we went to Switzerland and juice, except one glass at breakfast, is banned. So all he gets is water! What he meant was that he got to drink water straight from the river....

Swiss Holiday Day 2

We had only a couple of wishes for our Swiss vacation: a cable car ride (Michael), to visit a farm and buy real, unprocessed cheese (me), to go on a boat ride (Jay), to throw stones in gushing rivers (Nils) and to visit a cave (rainy day backup). We got to do all that and more.

On day 2 we went on a gondola ride. More specifically, we took a big circle and rode a train up a mountain to a cable car. Then we took an 8 minute cable car further up the mountain. From there we took a half hour gondola ride back down the mountain to another set of trains and finally back to our car. Whew! Nils was so wiped out by the end that he fell asleep in Michael's arms on the train.

The train ride was cool- the tracks have teeth so they can grip the cars when they go up the mountain. I am not so good with heights, but I still wanted to do all this (the big trip was my idea). I was a little worried that I'd lose my breakfast, but I made it! There's a photo of me holding Nils before the cable car even leaves the station and I have a nervous smile on my face. And cable cars are huge- it is not easy to rock them. Imagine my anxiety as we approached the half hour gondola ride! By the way, this is one of the very few photos that you will see of me on this blog!

There's also a photo here of Nils looking like "Oh damn, there go mom and dad trying to cram some culture in me again."

Of course, as soon as the kids saw snow they ran for it. But it's muddy snow and Nils lost a shoe right away and got mud all over his sock and pants. Our house had a washer, but no dryer, and we didn't have too many pairs of long pants with us! And only on day two....

Swiss Part I

There are so many photos and stories to share that I have to break this up! We just got back from Switzerland on Saturday. We went to the Berner Oberland, by the Thuner See (Lake Thun) and Interlaken. We had a cute little house that had a great view of mountains, the lake and, of course, cows. Here's the first set of photos. I think they are all from our first day and the morning of our second.

Knights (Dare I Say D&D?)

When did I become the type of person that goes to medieval festivals on the weekends? Since I gave birth to two boys who LOVE knights and dragons. To Nils, every church we see is a Ritterburg, or knight's castle. Anyway, if I start dressing up for these things, please find me a therapist! We went to a festival (ha ha Lin!) and the kids were excited to meet a real knight (ha ha kids!) and see all kinds of medieval stuff.

Of course Jay is not allowed to have toy weapons, so he was the lame kid who brought a stick and used it like a sword. He doesn't really mind these kinds of things usually, but tht day he really wanted us to get him a sword. We would have settled for a shield, but he chose ice cream instead. Here are some photos.

May Day II

It was May Day here again and we watched the Maypole getting raised and took Nils on a horse ride. Not a pony ride- horse. He had (like last year when he was only 17 months old!) get on the biggest horse possible. Jay didn't want to this time around.

I don't have as many photos as last year. The Maypole is essentially the same, as were the bands, foods and Maibowle, a light wine punch that is served at the party every year.

Take a look at last year's entry and see how much they've grown!

http://stuehrenbergs.blogspot.com/2007/05/may-day.html But don't hit the links for the vidoes- I cancelled my MySpace account and the old links no longer work. Sorry! When I get around to it, I'll repost them in there.