We enjoyed a very lazy first week of summer and then Sydney was off to skating camp for a week. It is hard to believe how much she has grown up and that she was off to her first sleep away camp. She had a wonderful time and we were counting down the days until we could see her and hear all about her week. She refused to take our prepay cell phone, so there was no communication for the entire week!! Here is a little program she did with her skating friend Maeva. She also showed us her new routine, but I will save that one for when she competes : )
The day after we picked her up, The Haars arrived from Cedar Rapids for 2 weeks. Hailey was bouncing off the walls as this meant her best friend from CR was here and they were going to have a 2 week sleepover! We mostly did sightseeing around here, but did go to Wengen for one night and Paris for two.
Our first outing was taking the boat to Château de Chillon, which was Annie's must see during their visit to Europe. It was a beautiful day and fun to get close to the other side of Lake Geneva, or Lac Leman, and France.
 |
| Aaron loved watching the motor turn the paddle wheel on the boat. |
 |
| Kids and I with Chillon in the background. |
After Chillon we took the train into Montreux so Chris could see the Freddie Mercury statue. Our next stop was the Gruyere region where we stopped at the Gruyere cheese and Callier chocolate factory. The endless tasting room was the favorite part of the day for everyone!
 |
| Annie and Hailey pose for a quick picture. |
It was now time for our first overnight trip to the Oberland Bernese region which includes Interlaken, and the valley separating Jungfrau and Schilthorn mountains. We stayed in Wengen on the Jungfrau side of the valley since we planned on heading up to Jungfrajoch or Top of Europe at 11,332ft. The weather was going to be very questionable, but with this most likely being the only time Haars will be in this area we decided to make the best of it. We took the Goldenpass on the way there which is more scenic as it goes up into the mountains rather than directly.
After getting checking in we were off for a short hike before Randy joined us for the rest of the weekend. It was a dreary day, but off we went. We took the cable car up for our hike, which allowed us to take all modes of public transportation in Switzerland - boat, bus, train, and cable car.
 |
| Kids ready to head up on the cable car. |
 |
| Quick stop at the playground before heading off for our hike. |
 |
| Kids exploring the mountainside. |
 |
| The kids adding the the rock sculpture. |
After a wonderful meal and our first meal out since Haars arrived, Melissa and Chris had experienced just how expensive things are here in Switzerland. Although, it wasn't as much of a jaw dropper as what happened before dinner!! As we were waiting for Randy's train and keeping the kids entertained, they asked if they could go back to the store to get some colored pencils for some activity books they got at the train station. Chris gave Lizzy 30 and I gave Sydney 40 so they could each get a small pack. Well they came back for a big pack of ~85 colored pencils. Well great, that should keep them busy. I ask for the change and Sydney hands me 20 cents. Where is the rest, well there wasn't any they just paid 69.80 CHF for colored penciled, now they were watercolor pencils, but oh my goodness, those must be some pencils!! Fortunately all we could do was laugh and protect them with our life and I trust the Haars still have ALL the pencils and keep them locked in the safe : )
The next morning we were off to Top of Europe and Jungfraujoch. It was a 1 1/2hr train ride and conditions were not going to be good.
 |
| Sydney was deep in one of the books the Haars brought from the US! |
We finally arrived around lunch and after our tummies were full it was time to head out into the winter wonderland. As you can see from the pictures, visibility was poor, but we had fun playing in the snow in the middle of July!
 |
| Looking back at the mountain. |
 |
| Kids coming up the ramp after their first sledding (or sledging) run. |
 |
| Randy making Aaron give it one try. |
 |
| Aaron loved it and went with mom as Sydney led the way. |
 |
| Aaron tried to bring the snowball home and there were tears shed when the last little piece melted inside! |
There was also glacier we could have walked on, but as Melissa and I were watching the kids a couple came up and said someone slipped and fell through a crack in the glacier. I had a pit in my stomach and hoped he was ok and they would find him. They sent someone out on skiis and harness and started to bring in some equipment. After awhile they closed the area, but my thoughts were still with him and hoping everything would turn out ok. As we were waiting for the train there was a lot of commotion and soon they were bringing someone through on a stretcher. It was great to see that they found him and he seemed to be ok. On our train ride down we sat next to the couple and they said the rescuers said he was lucky to have survived. It was a young threesome that was backpacking through Europe and guess he will have quite the story to share!
 |
| He fell where the person in the background is, you can also get a fell for visibility. |
Even with the bad weather, there was still a not to do and see at the top.
 |
| Heading into the Ice Palace. |
 |
| There were many ice sculptures and of course a character from Ice Age. |
 |
| Quick family picture before heading inside. |
 |
| Things clearing up a little as we head back down to Wengen. |
 |
| Looking back at the valley with a waterfall on the right middle. |
 |
| You can barely see toward the left the cable car we took when we went on our short hike. |
We headed back to Wengen and Lausanne where we had one day to unpack and repack for 2 nights in Paris, which I will continue with in my next post.
