British Open

Randy's friend from General Mills, Mark Hindman, made good on his promise to visit and arrived a few days after we returned from London.  They headed to Montreux Jazz Festival to enjoy some live music along Lake Geneva.  I joined the guys one night since Randy and I had tickets to see Prince.  It was an excellent concert!  It was interesting to watch the crowd as it seemed more subdue that it might have been in the US.  I don't know if it was due to language, age of crowd, culture, or just where we were standing.

Mark, Randy, and I getting dinner before Prince.

Randy and Mark headed to Scotland on Wednesday to watch the British Open.  They had a great time catching up over a couple beers and watching the British Open.

Randy and Mark out on the town, not sure if it is Montreux or Scotland for the British Open.

Mark and Randy at the British Open.

Randy had such a great time paragliding with Tony in June, he convinced Mark to also give it a try.  It was a beautiful day and they went along Mont Blanc in France.  The winds were in their favor as Randy was able to ride them higher up to get some great views of Mont Blanc.

Mark getting ready for paragliding.

After Mark headed home, we had 3 days to gear up for the Gammon's visit and a week in Tuscany.

London - 4th of July

We met up with Randy in London to celebrate the 4th of July.  We weren't exactly in the US, but we were somewhere English was spoken and nothing like celebrating our freedom from Great Britain in London!  We stayed in an apartment close to Hyde Park so it was easy to get around via the tube.  We spent our first day, 4th of July, taking in the sights on the Big Bus and getting dinner at Hard Rock Cafe.

London eye with Big Ben in the background.

Big Ben and London Eye in the background. 

Happy 4th of July from Hard Rock Cafe.

Hailey and Aaron stopping to smell the flowers.

Hailey and Aaron playing around in Hyde Park.

The next day we headed to The Tower of London, which can be a little gruesome in certain parts since it was known as a place of torture.  We tried to steer clear of them but did walk quickly through one part that had all the torture devices on display.  We kept it short and didn't say a lot about what we were looking at but it was a little more challenging with the older two that could read.  The girls were interested in the crown jewels and Aaron was very interested in all the weapons they had on display.  This was probably one of the first places we toured that Aaron was interested to the point we had to drag him out.

Kids ready to see The Tower of London. 

Kids having fun on one of the cannons.

Kids with a guide at The Tower of London.

Sydney and Hailey outside the Crown Jewels display.

We stopped for a picture of London Bridge before meeting up with some friends from Minneapolis that happened to be in the London the same time we were.  There were many concerts taking place at Hyde Park and our friends from Minneapolis happened to have two extra tickets to Jon Bon Jovi.  I was not comfortable leaving the kids in the apartment on their own so Randy took Sydney to her first concert.  They both had a great time and while Sydney enjoyed herself, she said it was too loud when they were close to the stage.  Her first concert was seeing someone that mom and dad listened to growing up and is a big name in music industry, but to her it was listening to live music in Hyde Park.

Kids and London Bridge.

We met up with the Kleve's, friends from Mpls, that happened to be in London the same time we were.  Our kids had never met one another but it didn't take long before they were playing in the park.  They made up their own game which was a cross between cricket and baseball.  Aaron also had his own pit stop on the way to first base and some rules were made up as they went, especially when it was adults vs kids.  The kids, or Mind the Gap, team won against the parent.  It was great to catch up with them and spend the night in the park together.

Aaron, Hailey, Joe, Matt, and Sydney.

The next day we had tickets to go on The London Eye.  We purchased our tickets ahead of time so we didn't have to wait as long in line.  It was finally our turn to head into a capsule and see London from above.  The views were great and air conditioning was an added bonus.

Getting a view from above on The London Eye.

Big Ben and Parliament from London Eye.

Kids enjoying a ride on the eye.

Sydney taking a turn behind the camera.

We also made it to Buckingham Palace to see changing of the guard.  It was neat to see the pop and circumstance, but I couldn't believe the number of people there to witness.  The crowds were 3-4 people deep and everyone was vying for a position to see the action.

Buckingham Palace - changing of the guards.

We also stopped by M&M world since we thought the kids would love it from the last time we were there without kids.  They were amazed by the wall of all the different colors of M&M's.  We selected an assortment of M&M's and made our way out to find a place for an ice cream treat.

Kids with the green M&M.

What better place for an ice cream treat than the Haagen Dazs restaurant.  We each ordered our own dessert and I don't think there was anything left except for Aaron's smoothy.  Our sweet tooth, Sydney was very excited for her selection and just wanted to get the picture taken so she could dive in.  Hailey our healthier eater opted for fruit flavored ice cream.

Who is ready for some yummy dessert at Haagen Dazs Cafe?

It was a great weekend in London, but it was time to head home.  Sydney was off to skating camp the following week and I had few days before our next guest arrived.  

Grandpa & Grandma visit

My dad and Jan arrived at the end of June and planned to do some exploring on their own, see the end of year program at school, and then we would all head to Zermatt.  Hailey's godfather came for a couple days shortly after my dad and Jan arrived so it was a full house but a great time having them here.  Dad and Jan headed to Venice for a couple days while the kids were in school.  We also explored Lausanne and the other usual stops such as Gruyere, Callier Chocolate factory, and Chillon castle.  My dear step mom, Jan, enjoys conversations so coming here where you don't find a lot of English was an eye opener.  She was very excited when she met Sydney's friend Sofia, who is from California and speaks English.  Oh those little things in life ; )

Before the end of year show the kids and I took Grandpa and Grandma to Champéry, Switzerland so they could watch Sydney skate.  It was a beautiful drive up in to the mountains and they enjoyed not only the drive but being able to see her skate.  She worked very hard and even landed her first axel for Grandpa, who went inside so he could focus on watching her.  It was a successful trip and we all celebrated by stopping at McDonalds for dinner.  The girls enjoyed helping Grandpa order and putting their French to use.  Friday was spent watching the end of year school program and time at the school for food and see their exposition celebrating 100 years.  It included pieces of art from Pompon, Renoir, and Dalí.  One of Renoir's that was on display was The Thinker.

This year Sydney was awarded the Prix de Camardarie, which is the friendship prize.  While she was proud, she acknowledged that the merit prize Hailey received the prior year was a bigger deal.  The merit prize is based on work ethic and results decided by the teachers versus friendship and decided on by their classmates.  She is mature beyond her years.

Sydney and Emma giving part of the presentation on the history of Champittet.

Aaron in his part in the middle looking out into the audience.

Hailey's bubble gum song.  She is in the middle standing in a pink shirt.

We officially have survived the second year of school and all three kids have totally integrated and should not need additional French support next year.  The same can't be said of mom and dad's French, but we manage just fine and always have one of the girls just in case.

With school officially done, it was time to start our summer travels.  We headed up to Zermatt to hopefully see the Matterhorn if the weather cleared up.  We headed up in the rain and hoped the weather forecast would come to a reality with the sun making an appearance.  We woke up to partly cloudy skies and by the end of the day the weather was great.  We took the train up the mountain to Gornergrat to get a great view of the Matterhorn and the glaciers.

Matterhorn peaking through the cloud.

Matterhorn

Hailey having fun in the snow, the last weekend in June.

Sydney's turn with the snow.

Aaron and Hailey writing their names in the snow.

The kids admiring a bird that was not afraid and looking for food.

Small chapel.

Kids having fun on the Swiss cow with Matterhorn in the background.

On the train ride down we decided to hop off and grab some lunch up in the mountains with an excellent view of the Matterhorn.  It was a bit chilly but the sun kept us warm and the kids had fun running around while we finished eating.

Dad at our table enjoying the scenery.

The kids and I headed to London at about the same time Dad and Jan were flying back to US.  Randy was in the UK for work so we decided to join him so the kids could see London.  Dad and Jan were kind enough to take the kids out and about in Lausanne so I could get packed and then we all headed to the airport to say our good-byes.