Rude Hotel opens for our first guests!

Thursday had finally arrived and the kids were very excited to go pick up Papa and Nana at the airport.  They are our first visitors and we were all looking forward to seeing some familiar faces from home.  We have a fun 10 days planned, which also coincides with the kids fall holiday.  They are officially on break until November 1st.  The kids were in school Friday so for the first day we went walking around Lausanne and taking in some of the local sites.  Here are a few pictures from Lausanne.  

Randy, Tony, and Annie heading over the bridge to the Cathedral.

The Cathedral in Lausanne.

The Cathedral bell tower.

Heading into the Cathedral

Stained glass window from the inside.

Looking back towards the organ.

The Lausanne castle, which is very small compared to other castles.

Even though it was cloudy and there wasn't a clear view of the lake, it was nice to get out and see more of Lausanne.  We took the bus down to Bel-air so they got to experience public transportation as well as how steep the city is.  Annie got to experience this first hand when she went to the grocery store with me Friday morning.  It was a nice casual walk down, but was a little more work getting up the hill.  After our stroll through the city we had to head back to get the kids off the bus.  It was a great first day!!  Saturday we took it easy in preparation for our trip to Lauterbrunnen on Sunday, which will post shortly.  I will post our adventures separately so they don't get too long, stay tuned.

Election time

It is election time here in Switzerland and much like the US, it brings out all the ads for the candidates.  Mind you, we only see the print ads since we don't watch the local channels for obvious reasons, which would of course be, we still can't comprehend French!  Even if we could, they talk so fast I would probably still be translating their first sentence when they had already said 4-5 more.  From what I have read and heard, Swiss have a very high turn out at elections and they are expected to read up so they are making an informed vote.  Each canton, or state as we call them back in the US, is very independent from the Swiss government as well as other cantons with regards to taxes and their budget.

Back to the ads that are very interesting and hope the kids aren't seeing or translating, since I am not sure yet what they say.  One of them has a huge black foot with immigration in big letters.  Nothing like making me feel welcome!  I believe these are not meant for us legal and tax paying expats, but still makes me think and wonder if and how the story is different back in the US.  The next two I am not sure if they are part of the elections and are too graphic for my comfort level to share on this blog since the girls have friends from the US reading this.

This past weekend we went to Knie Circus under the big top.  It was a wonderful show and the kids had a great time.  Afterwards we went over to some friends for dinner so the kids could play.  They were all very tired by the time we left.  Here are a couple pictures.

Girls enjoying some cotton candy at the circus.

Poor Aaron, we need to find him some boy friends.

The kids were very tired after a long day!  The car ride home was only 10 minutes.

Winter must be on its way...

After this week, the kids are on holiday until November 1st.  They have a week or two off every 8-10 weeks, so we will have to get organized and start planning some vacations because I don't think staying home is an option.  Papa and Nana are coming tomorrow so we will spend our first week exploring with them and will see what the second week brings.  We can't wait for them to get here and are looking forward to their stay!!

Swiss schools

We are clearly back into the reality of managing everyday life with 3 young kids.  Posts are not as exciting and I actually need to think about what to post vs posting about an outing.  I have shared some of the cultural differences and thought I would discuss Swiss schools since I am faced with one of the differences today.  In general, the Swiss culture teaches independence at a very young age.  Yes, you may say we do the same back in the states, but not to the same degree as here, just trust me on this one.  Here are some differences I have noticed.

• Most kids walk to school and many walk by themselves as young as 5 and this includes their 2 hour lunch since most schools don't have cafeterias.  Fortunately the kids school does have a cafeteria so they aren't coming home over lunch.  Although Sydney is not real fond of the food they serve and bringing cold lunch is not an option.  I am not sure how much it helped when I told her that if she wasn't so picky it wouldn't be a problem and maybe this is how she can expand on the food she does like.  Everyday as Aaron and I wait for his bus there are a lot of kids walking to school which is across the street from us and while some have parents walking them there are quite a few who are walking on there own.
• As you have read, Aaron is in the equivalent of AK (or pre-K) back in the states.  Now, I only have experience at one school, so this may be uncommon, but that school had bathrooms in the K room for the little kids to use.  Aaron has to go to the bathroom by himself and take care of business from start to finish.  I won't get into the details, but I don't know how an almost 4 year old will manage getting himself put back together after taking care of "bigger" business.  When he finally goes at school, it will be very interesting.  He has had several of "those" accidents at school, but is finally getting things figured out after meeting with his teacher a couple weeks back. Last week he even started saying some French!  Way to go Aaron!!  It is all part of the transition and him being in school for the first time where all he heard was Charlie Brown's teacher (WHAA WHAA WHAA WHAA)  since it is French.
• Now to the reality of Swiss school.  A few weeks back a note was sent home from Hailey's teacher asking the parents to let the kids get ready completely on their own in preparation for their trip to Les Martinet, which is a chalet about an hour from here in southern Switzerland.  The school takes all the kids up there for field trips as part of their academics.  Aaron has gone for one day and this week it is Hailey's turn.  She isn't just going there for the day, she is going for 3 nights and won't be home until Thursday!  So here we are again, taking the girls to the bus with Hailey's suitcase trusting she going to get to where she needs to go and doesn't forget anything or get lost.  Ugh, I thought is was hard putting my 3 year old on the bus for the day, but now I am putting my 6 year old on for a  field trip for 3 nights!!  They have yet to ask for volunteers to help with field trips, not that I would be of any help since I don't know French.  I am not sure how if parents actually go on field trips, I am sure they do, but I have yet to see it for myself.  Whenever I see a classroom out and about in Lausanne, there are usually only 2 teachers managing a class of 20.  I have even seen teachers take an entire class on public transportation and they were all very orderly and well behaved.
• The kids get out of school every Wednesday at noon, which is much needed after a couple of full days and in preparation for the last two days of the week.  As mentioned previously, they girls catch their bus at 7:05 and are in school from 8:10-3:45.  Aaron catches his bus at 8:15 and is in school from 9:10-3:45.  The bus drops them off at 4:15 so it is a long day and we are usually off to the rink for Sydney's skating. 

Vineyard along Lake Geneva.

The other day the topic of accents came up with Sydney and she wanted to know about the English accent and why it isn't normal like our accent since we both speak English.  Here is one of the benefits of living somewhere else as you soon learn that things are different rather than not normal.  I think she got there as we talked about the different accents within the US alone so hopefully she notices the difference and not that they aren't normal like us : )  It will be very interesting to see how the kids feel about living here when more time has passed and they have settled in a little more.  There are still tears of missing the old school, friends, neighborhood, etc.  I think I have heard them all by now, but hopefully they start getting further apart now that we have hit the 4 month mark!

Kids enjoying lunch out on the terrace with their shades.

Another picture from our trip to Lauterbrunnen.

Lauterbrunnen - Day 2

The weather on Sunday was worse than Saturday with a light rain drizzle and heavy cloud cover.  We decided to escape the elements and see Trummelbach Falls.  I am not sure how much we really escaped the elements since the falls provided us with a misty rain.  The falls contain 10 glacier waterfalls, most of which can be accessed by a tunnel lift, which we decided to take on the way down.  Not sure what we were thinking there.  We were told it was the equivalent of climbing 4 floors in a building, which was not the case and I ended up caring Aaron up much of it.  The Trummelbach drains the glaciers of Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau at a rate of 20,000 litres of water per second.  It was absolutely amazing to see how the water has worn away the mountain over time.  Hailey was a little scared of falling so kept back against the mountain for most of the views and was very happy when we were back at the bottom.

The railing was not the safest by US standards, but seems to be standard for Europe.  It was basically 3 horizontal pipes running along the stairs and platform, so Aaron could have easily slipped through.  Very similar to the electric fences running along the hiking trail from Saturday.  The kids will definitely learn about risk and making decisions to avoid getting hurt while we are here or I will be a nervous wreck and become a "wino" as I calm my nerves.  Here are some pictures and video from the falls.

This weekend we headed to Annecy again for some shopping and were successful is saving enough money to pay for the trip!  The kids also enjoyed a meal at McDonalds, so they were happy.  I have started running if you can call going twice started.  I didn't enjoy it back in the states, but maybe it had to do with the scenery since I am running along Lake Geneva here.  I have a friend who is running in the Lausanne 10k and I am trying to get up enough courage to join her.  It would be a good thing to do before a milestone birthday is here for both of us.  Will keep you posted!

The kids only have 3 more weeks of school before fall break which is 2 weeks long and includes a visit from Papa and Nana.  Let the countdown begin!!

Lauterbrunnen - Day 1

It was a long weekend and we decided to head to Lauterbrunnen for one night.  Lauterbrunnen is in the Junfrau region near Interlaken and a short 2 hour drive.  It is absolutely breathtaking with the mountain views and waterfalls.  The largest mountain, Jungrau is ~13,000 ft and we planned to head to the top to enjoy some fun in the snow.  Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate so will head back for a trip to the top.  After checking into our hotel we headed for the cable car and train up to Murren, which is up the mountain and cars are not allowed.  This is also where another family from Champittet happened to be staying so we joined them before taking the funicular up to Allmendhubel, which is ~6,200 ft.

Allmendhubel is where the children's adventure trail begins.  The children's adventure trail is about at hour hike back down to Murren with several stops for the kids to play.  One of them included a zip line, where all the adults gave it a go as well.  The biggest thing we had to be aware of were cow pies and electrical fences that would run right along the trail.  There was a section the kids named the cow pie museum because they were everywhere.  The views were absolutely beautiful!!

Lauterbrunnen from our hotel room.

Funicular train to Allmendhubel.

Kids waiting for the train to head up the mountain.  Aaron was in heaven with 3 other boys.

Sydney and Ryan having fun on the see-saw.

View from first park before we start the hike down the mountain.

Quick family photo.

Aaron's first time on the zip line.  He wasn't so sure, but ended up going on it a few more times!

Which way to Wanderweg?

The last park before heading back to Murren.

The kids had all the sheep "baaing" by the time we left.

Back in Murren.

I will post day 2 later so this blog doesn't get too long.  Before I close, Sydney gave us the opportunity to figure out the Children's Hospital, which happens to be down the street from us.  She had skating camp on Monday and did not want to go.  After much discussion, she finally went and asked that I stay the entire time, which was 3 hours.  I think she is a little overwhelmed with school and skating.  She has 20 hours of French every week, plus homework every night and then she goes to the rink a couple times where she is the new girl and can't get to know the other girls because she doesn't know the language.  I can totally relate to how she feels, but we have all come a long way since June!

It was a good thing she had me stay.  She fell and hit her chin on the ice and ended up with 4 stitches.  I was quickly reminded that this wouldn't have happened if I didn't make her go to skating.  Randy took her to the ER per Sydney's request.  She is definitely daddy's girl!  I think Sydney gave me one more vote for "worse mom of the year" award.  Although, I think I got a sympathy point back when I hit my head on the corner of the car door when we were leaving and have a big goose egg on my forehead and a small cut.  The trip to the ER was pretty efficient and the Dr was great.  Sydney informed me he spoke, Italian, Russian, German, French, and English and is quite the artist.  He drew an awesome cartoon character on the back of her certificate for bravery and courage.  We can officially cross that off the list and now know the drill for the Children's Hospital, I just hope we don't need it again!

We aren't in the US anymore...

This was from last week, just took me awhile to finish and post.

So I am back from my morning walk down to the grocery store.  They stores open at 8am so after Aaron gets on the bus I head down to the grocery store.  I am converting to some Swiss ways, one of which is taking a cart when shopping.  I have included a picture so you don't imagine something really crazy that your Grandma might use.  This one you can even pull on the back of your bike so I can ride to the store.  The only problem is I would have to ride it back up the hill and walking it is enough of a challenge right now.

With the kids in school and our adventures are slowing down a little I thought I would share with you some of my observations of living in Switzerland.

• Smoking - I still can't get over how many people smoke over here.  It isn't uncommon to see a mom smoking while pushing a stroller or around the kids.  Given how "green" it is and everyone walks, bikes, and hikes, you would think smoking wouldn't be as socially acceptable.  It is even allowed in outside seating areas at restaurants.  One of the big employers here is Philip Morris and I don't think they have a problem with sales over here, that is if you can afford to buy them.

• Physically active - I have mentioned that there is a lot of walking, biking, and hiking over here, but I am amazed at how many people bike up the hills.  Before moving here I would not have been able to comprehend the hills and if you look at one of my first blogs and see the picture of the drive way to our house.  Imagine that incline going all the way down to the lake, the only way to avoid a hill is to walk parallel to the lake, but even then you will eventually hit a hill since the streets need to connect at some point.  When Randy goes running or biking down by the lake, he will run down but takes the bus back up the hill.

• Attire - I don't understand how women can where heals on all the cobblestone.  I definitely would have rolled an ankle or broken the heal.  It is also more formal over here and I am not talking suits.  You will rarely see anyone in the store with workout attire, which is pretty normal back in the states.  In the summer it is dresses and skirts, shorts aren't worn very often either.  Guess I will need to go shopping when we are back in the states in April!  Jeans are ok, but they are dressed up more.  No jeans, tshirts, and tennis shoes.  I guess it is time for me to grow up when it comes to getting dressed outside of work, that is when I worked outside the home.  Not only are they more formal, but that also applies to when you are talking to one another.  I am madame and you are to use the formal "you", which is vous until you are good friends.

• Dogs - You see dogs everywhere, in restaurants, on the bus, in the grocery store.  I can't believe how well behaved they are.  They just sit under the table and you barely notice them.  I have yet to see a dog begging for food or being hyper in a restaurant.

• Toilets and public nudity (and I am not talking about topless beaches) - As I have mentioned, they aren't around every corner and there are many that just have a hole to relieve yourself and there may be one toilet in a stall.  The girls usually wait until we find a real toilet, but we will see how long that lasts.  I think Sydney is already adjusting to the freedom Europeans have of changing in the public.  Both girls are getting more comfortable with getting a dress on after swimming, but still make sure they are covered up for the most part.  However, Sydney is less worried about changing in the skating locker room.  I hope that continues for her and she isn't so self conscious when changing in front of other girls.  Most girls don't wear a top when swimming until they are 10 or so.

Here is a picture from morning rush hour in the sky from a couple weeks back.  The picture was taken before 7 in the morning when the girls we getting ready to catch the bus.

I think I have mentioned the other ones and will sign off for now.  We just returned from Interlaken and will be posting our trip in the next day or two.

Monster trucks

Before I get to the monster trucks I thought I would catch you up since it has been awhile since I have posted.  The kids are back in school and I spent my first week home in French Immersion for 3 hours plus 1-2 hours of homework everyday.  That left just enough time for lunch and a quick trip to the grocery store before getting the kids from school and Sydney to the rink.  It is so good to finally be able to learn some French, but boy it sure isn't coming easy!  Not only do I need to remember the words, but is it feminine or masculine, then conjugating the verbs and hope I pronounce it somewhat correctly.  I tried to tell the bus driving I was going to pick up the kids from school and it must have been real bad since he gave the that look and resorted to hand signals and numbers.  Not to mention the phone call I received from the receptionist translating for him with more questions.  The icing on the cake was when he came to find me at school yesterday and asked one of the ladies I was talking to if they knew French and English so they could translate.  Ugh, I love feeling so helpless and hopefully I don't loose track of a kid in the mean time ; )

It is starting to get cooler, but it was a nice day last Saturday so we headed to the pool to meet Rachel and her girls.  We went to Aquasplash again and here are some pictures from the diving boards.

Randy going off the 5m.  When you go off the one at the top (10m) they blow bubbles in the pool to break your fall.

Hailey on the lowest one (1m).

Sydney going off the spring board.  She went of the higher one above her before, but for some reason couldn't get up the courage to go off it today.

I ended Saturday with a night out with Rachel.  Randy volunteered to watch all the kids so Rachel and I could get out for some girl time.  We went to this fabulous Thai restaurant where we both had a different shrimp dish, it was delicious!!  Randy gets big kudos for watching 5 kids on his own AND I didn't even ask him!!!!

On Sunday, Randy took Sydney and Aaron to see the monster trucks.  It was overcast and hopefully the rain would hold out for them.  They had a great time and Aaron has said a number of times that the monster trucks were really cool!!

Sydney and Aaron waiting, with ear plugs in!

Just the right size for Aaron.

Sydney's turn.

It started raining after they got home so great timing!!  Hope everyone back home had a great labor day weekend!!!