Hailey's Godfather visits

Hailey's godfather, Tony, was in Europe for work and was able to visit for a couple days.  Randy and Tony headed to the Bernese Oberland area of Switzerland.  This area includes Interlaken, Top of Europe, and Schilthorn, the peak in the opening scene of the James Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service.  This was also the area Tony and Randy visited while on their post college European tour.  They were able to find the campsite they stayed just a few years ago and had a great time reminiscing the good ole days.

Tony and Randy above the Lauterbrunnen valley.

Randy has been wanting to try paragliding in The Alps since we arrived and he convinced Tony to give it a go with him.  They were up bright and early to head to Interlaken to meet up with the guides and up the mountain to take off and glide back down through the valley.  They weather hung in there and they had a great time!

Tony with his guide and Lauterbrunnen valley in the background. 

Tony taking a turn driving with a spectacular view of the valley.

Randy getting ready to take off!

Randy with a rock wall in the background, seems a little too close for me!

Randy and the valley below.

Randy taking the controls.

Hailey playing chess with her Godfather.

While the trip was short it was great to have Tony visit and catch up.  It has been two years since we saw him last.  Randy has seen him when he was back in Mpls for work, but it has been awhile for the rest of us.  While he was he Tony told us they were expecting another baby.  William Thomas Wagner arrived yesterday so that just confirms I have some catching up to do on the blog over Christmas break.

Father's Day at Legoland

We decided to make one last trip to Legoland to put those annual passes to use.  What better time to go then Father's Day weekend where the boys could overindulge in rides and legos.  The boys are two peas in a pod with their love of Legos and Star Wars!  The weather was great and Aaron is now big enough to go on all the rides he wants to.  He even went on the big roller coaster!  He was a little scared at first but once we got going he was laughing the whole time.

Aaron and Yoda

Aaron dressed as a nights while the girls go on a ride with Dad.

Hailey my cooking helper with Mr Chef

Aaron testing out his driving skills, fortunately we are a few years away.

Hailey on a lego sized course where they could earn a "license".

Sydney doing her best to get her "license" too.

We let each of the kids pick a carnie game they could try once where no one came home a winner.  The next day the Sydney wanted to try the ladder one more time with her own money.  We tried to convince her it was a waste of money as no one ever wins those games, boy did she prove us wrong.  She made it to the top and was the proud winner of a large stuffed tiger.  Ugh, what are we doing to do with that huge thing and will it fit in the car!

Sydney proudly rang the bell!

Sydney and her prize.

Hailey's game was a fishing game where the numbers were added up and then she could choose her prize based on the total.  While she didn't win the biggest one, I was more than happy with her success as it was easier to carry and would surely fit in the car.

Hailey proudly holding her prize.

Aaron wanted to play basketball and we convinced him it was better if daddy played as he would have a better chance of winning.  Well, Aaron, or should I say, daddy, won and we were the proud owner of another big stuffed animal.  Double ugh, how are we going to fit two huge stuffed animals in the car with our stuff.

Aaron and his stuffed dog.

We all had a great weekend and we managed to get everything in the car for the ride home.  We had a few days before Grandpa and Grandma arrived and only two weeks left of school!!

17th Anniversary in Barcelona

For our 17th wedding anniversary we were able to farm out the kids to some great friends and spend the weekend in Barcelona.  Randy had a conference near Barcelona so I joined him for a couple nights before heading back home.  It was a great weekend of relaxing taking in the sights at our own pace and eating whenever we wanted.  Oh to travel sans enfants!!  Don't get me wrong, it is great traveling with the kids and seeing things through their eyes, but a trip without kids is much needed for mom and dad and the kids.

Our only must see tourist stop was La Sagrada Familia.  It is the Basilica of Barcelona and designed by architect Antoni Gaudi and has much work remaining before it is complete.  It is absolutely amazing with all the beautiful stained glass windows and columns that look like trees.

Front of church with some of the different facades.

Randy in front of La Sagrada Familia.

Spires with colorful tops that are hard to see.

Inside looking towards the back with the tree like columns and stained glass.

Close up of  the back.

Stair case going up one side of the church.

Beautiful lighting with the sun coming through the stained glass.

The alter

Now that our one tourist stop was complete it was time to wonder through the city and take in the sites and do some shopping.

Band operated by someone riding a bike to produce the power.

We decided to make one more stop to see more of Antoni Gaudi's work.  We headed to Güell Palace which is a mansion Gaudi designed for Eusebi Güell, and industrial tycoon.  The detail in the work was just amazing and we both enjoyed the audio guide!

Dining room with ornate chairs and ceiling.

Rooftop with colorful ventilation.

We also made our way to the port where we happened to cross when they were opening the bridge to allow a boat through.  There was a market set up and we stopped for some appetizers and beers before heading out for our last dinner in Barcelona.

Open bridge letting the boat through.

We had a great weekend of exploring, shopping, and eating but we were ready to get back and see the kids!  They had a great time at their friends house but time to get back to the grind of work and school for one month before our guest filled summer starts.

Prague

The kids had a 4 day weekend in May so we headed to Prague, Czech Republic.  We decided to take the overnight train from Lausanne and had 5 of the 6 beds in our cabin.  We hoped the 6th would be empty, but it was not the case going or coming.  On the way to Prague our 6th passenger was a college student who was meeting up with her boyfriend a couple hours before Prague and she was pretty much only in the cabin to sleep.  There were 3 beds on each side with the girls taking the top and the boys on the middle two.  The kids and I fit without any problem, but Randy could have used a few more inches so he struggled to get a decent night sleep.  After getting cleaned up and ready for the day we made it to Prague around lunch time.

Aaron all snuggled in bed.

Hailey is fast asleep.

After getting checked in we headed out to find something for lunch.  We pretty much roamed around to get our bearings before turning in for the night.  The next day we headed out for a private tour of Prague with our guide Bianca.  Our first stop was to the funicular train to head up to Petrin hill with a lookout tower that looks like the Eiffel Tower.  Upon our arrival we learned that the train was not working so we would need to hike up the hill.  It took us a little longer but the kids were troopers and we made it.

Almost to the top with Prague in the background.

Prague from Petrin Hill.

We took the elevator up the lookout tower or Prague's mini Eiffel Tower.  The views were spectacular.  Afterwards we headed to the Prague castle and happened to be there during changing of the guard.

Hailey with one of the guards at Prague Castle.

Changing of the guards at Prague Castle.

We grabbed some lunch at a nice little restaurant before continuing on with our tour.  We walked through the Wallenstein Gardens where the was a wall of artificial stalactites.  It was a massive wall and quite a contrast to the beautiful flowers and fountains found throughout.  The kids had a great time finding all the different faces and animals that were part of the wall.

Large wall of artificial stalactites within Wallenstein Gardens.

How many faces can you find?

From the gardens we headed to Charles Bridge which is a pedestrian only bridge and has several statues of saints.  It is said that rubbing the sign of each saint will bring things such as health, luck money, etc.

Hailey rubbing one of the signs.

We then made our way back to the hotel stopping at a couple other places along the way.  Prague has one of the smallest "streets" and it pedestrian only for obvious reasons and has it's own signal.

Hailey and Sydney walking up the smallest "street".

After a walk on the smallest street we came upon this sculpture called Proudy of two men peeing on the other side of Czech Republic.  We were told it is two Czech rivals peeing on the other side.

Kids with the Proudy sculpture.

One of the bridges with locks around old town.

The end of tour was walking through Old Town to check out the Astronomical Clock tower.  It was first installed in 1410,  which is the third oldest in the world and oldest one that still works.

Prague Astronomical Clock.

The second day was perfectly planned.  It was a rainy day and we had plans to make jewelry.  Prague is known for their glass beads, so what better thing to do but learn about their history while learning to make jewelry.  Even the boys joined in and made bracelets.

Picking out their colors for the bracelets.

Sydney and Aaron's bracelets.

Sydney showing off her bracelet.

Prague from Pitrin Hill.

We finished the rainy day with a late lunch and movie.  We rarely to go movies in Switzerland because of their cost and/or missing the original version of English so we like to treat ourselves if there is a movie we want to see while traveling.

Prague street with beautiful arch walkway.

Sydney and Hailey walking the streets of Prague.

Hailey sneaking a hug from Sydney, she looks thrilled, doesn't she??

Our train ride back was uneventful and the 6th bed was used by an older German man who did not speak any English and Sydney was not confident enough with her German to use it, so it was a quiet ride when everyone wasn't sleeping.