Goldenpass to Luzern

On Wednesday we were up early to take the Goldenpass train to Luzern.  This is a special panoramic train that goes through the mountains to Luzern.  We had to change trains twice as the train went from a standard track to a narrow one.  On the way back we took the regular train that goes through the rolling hills between the mountains.  It was overcast and rained off and on, but that didn't stop us from enjoying the fall colors.

Couple of pictures from the Goldenpass train.

The first time Aaron saw the large bales of hay wrapped in white plastic, he said, "mom, look at the big marshmallows, can we get some!".

We finally arrived in Luzern and walked through the rain to our hotel.  After we were settled and a little dried off we headed out for dinner at Valentine's, which had great Italian food.  We were also in the part of Switzerland that speaks German, so the little French I know wasn't going to do much good here.  Over half of Switzerland in German speaking, but with its own dialect that may as well be a different language than the German language.

Famous walking bridge in Luzern.

We were off to the transportation museum since it was still overcast and raining.  Annie and I only stayed until lunch and then we were off to explore Luzern and the shops thanks to the guys!  It was more window shopping, but fun to look around.  The kids had a great time at the museum going inside trains, planes, and checking out all the hands on activities in the center court.  The kids could ride on bikes, scooter, pedal cars.  They also went to a movie on Alaska, which Aaron slept through and the girls didn't care for since they had a hard time listening through the headphones that translated it into English.

Aaron taking a look under the train.

The girls checking out the front of the train.

All in all it was great to have Papa and Nana here to show them our home and the surrounding areas.  Friday and Saturday we took it easy as they got ready for their trip back home.  Well, I should say we stayed home while Sydney was at skating camp and Annie and I were busy in the kitchen getting dinner and cake ready to celebrate Aaron's 4th birthday.  Wow, we are officially through the baby/toddler phase and diapers are a thing of the past!  He pretty much skipped the preschool phase with our move to Switzerland.

Aaron blowing out his candles.

Saturday the guys took the kids to get their skis for the season.  It is very reasonable, yes, we have found one thing that is reasonable, to rent skis for the season.  Of course, it doesn't include the lift ticket, but we will take what we can get.  Their winter season is much like summer in Minnesota, but instead of heading to the cabin in the summer, they head to an apartment in the winter.  Next year we hope to rent someplace for the winter so we can leave all our ski gear and just drive their for the weekend.  We plan on exploring the slopes around us to figure out where we want to rent next year.  So I have a shopping cart when I walk to the grocery store, I am expanding my scarf collection, and we are geared up for the season - I guess we are adopting the "when in Rome...".  Oh yeah, we also made fondue and raclette for dinner so Papa and Nana could experience some traditional swiss food.  I think with the 5 month mark around the corner we are starting to feel more settled and at home.

While the guys were off with the kids, Annie and I headed down to the market and walked along the lake to the Olympic Museum.  We didn't go in as we were killing time until a souvenir shop opened after lunch, but Annie was able to enjoy the scenery and sculptures along the lake.  It was a great last day before they headed back home on Sunday.  I think the kids were looking forward to some down time as much as they were looking forward to being back in their own bed.

Lauterbrunnen with Papa and Nana

We have two one night trips planned during Papa and Nana's stay.  On Sunday we all packed up into the car and headed to Lauterbrunnen again, except this time there will be blue skies even if a little chilly.  On our way we stopped at Ballenberg museum, which the kids and I have been to, but didn't see the same sections.  It was absolutely beautiful with the fall colors!

Making cheese over an open fire and large pot.

One of many pictures of the fall colors.

Kids stopping for a some fun on the swings.

Aaron getting ready for the carousel.

Girls waiting for the old carousel where the animals don't go up and down.

Quick pic of Papa and Nana.

Rude family picture before heading to the hotel.

After a couple hours at Ballenberg it was off to the hotel for a good night sleep before heading up to Schilthorn in the morning.  We stopped at a pizzeria for dinner and were scolded for not having a reservation since we had a party of more than 5.  Yet another rule we forgot about and were quickly reminded of.  After a great breakfast with scrambled eggs and bacon it was down to the cable car to head up the mountain.  We took 3 cable cars and a train up to Schilthorn to take in amazing views of the valleys and some lunch before heading home.

One cable car and train down, heading to the other side of Murren to the cable car.

Looking back down in the valley.

The building to the left is where we take the final cable car to Schilthorn and the moon still visible on the right.

We made it to the top!

The birds flew very close in hopes of some food.

If you look beyond the ridge you can see we are above the clouds that have settled in the valley.

Heading back to Lauterbrunnen, Randy and kids decided to take a closer look at the valley.

Waterfall back in Lauterbrunnen.

Schilthorn was at just under 12,000 feet and we all felt the high altitude.  We ate at the revolving restaurant, which was also in the opening scene of James Bond 007 "On Her Majesty's Secret Service".  This time we had reservations and had a table right next to the window.  It was a great trip and just amazing views!

On Tuesday, the girls went shopping in Annecy for Aaron's birthday, which was Friday.  It was a quick trip, but nice for some girl time, shopping, and lunch.  I still have a way to go with my French, but I feel more comfortable getting out and about and manage my way with the limited French I do know.  Oh the comfort in at least being able to say, "je parle un tres peu du francais." (I speak very little French)!  As Sydney keeps reminding me, I still sound like an American and am not pronouncing things correctly, but at least I am trying.  This is all while Sydney and Hailey have that little French accent down and sound like little French kids!!  I just keep reminding her that I am American and she will just need to keep reminding me or she can just start talking for me : )

More to come on the rest of their visit.  They should be safe at home now and we are getting stuff done before Randy heads to the states for 2 weeks and I have a girlfriend coming to stay for 10 days!  I think I will need to add travel agent to my resume when this is all said and done.

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!