Swiss Family C

Paris Trip

Seth and I decided to take a quick trip to Paris last week. It was a four day weekend so we were able to take the TGV up from Basel on Thursday and shoot back on Sunday...

 

We left Basel just before lunch and were sitting in our rented Parisian apartment by mid-afternoon...

 

We stayed right near my original apartment in Paris - in the 5th arr. - right at the bottom of Rue Mouffetard. It was a cozy little spot with a view over the St. Medard church, two cafes and a fountain...

 

 

There was also a good view up rue Mouffetard - a bit noisy with the market starting early in the AM and stragglers out at night until 2 or 3AM...

 

After settling in and buying a few groceries to stash in the kitchen (major advantage over a hotel...) we were off and up rue Moufettard. First purchase - a beret for Seth. He has always wanted to walk through Paris with a beret....so for 4 euros we made the dream come true.

 

Then it was off to see the sights -

The Pantheon...

Notre Dame...

 

The next day we were up early to see the Eiffel Tower - Seth has always wanted to see it - and gasped when he walked around the corner and caught sight of it...

 

I was a bit shocked by the lines...but we waited for an hour and a half and made it to the top (which had been closed by the time we got down due to the high number of visitors)

 

 

Then after a lunch break and a rest in the apartment we were off the Jardin des Plantes for a quick walk and a crepe. Then we tried North African food for dinner - Seth like the mint tea best. And finally a late evening trip up the Arc de Triomphe.

 

This gave us a great view of the Eiffel Tower...

 

Of course every single day started with a coffee and hot chocolate...

Either at the bar -

 

Or sitting outside -

Seth made it his quest to meet as many dogs as possible...

 

The highlight of the trip was probably playing in the Jardin du Luxembourg.

Seth climbed in the playground...

 

And loved chasing his rented boat around the Octagonal Lake...

 

Then there was the relaxing and people watching...

 

 

By day four we were pretty tired out - it was a busy long weekend with lots of exploring and eating different types of food...plus staying up late. But we had a wonderful time in Paris. All of the pictures from the trip are on flickr.

I shall return

Just over 10 years ago I moved to Paris. Can it be that long ago? It was early May 1999. It seems like a world away. And although it wasn't easy - and wasn't what I expected - I knew that I'd return to Europe to live...and here we are. But I haven't been back to Paris since Emily and I left our apartment in late 1999 (hmm..anyone confused...living with another woman while married???) Although the program  I signed up for wasn't exactly as advertised Emily and I had a good time and will always have the experience of living in Paris.

This time I am going with Seth and staying right in the 5th arr. right near my first apartment. I had a good luck/bad luck situation when I lived there - great neighborhood - horrible accomodations!! I was rescued by Emily and moved to the 16th arr. into a wonderful place for the remainder of the year. She was also able to leave some luggage behind at her old place... Anyway. It will be fun to show Seth the city. I am so much more comfortable with this trip compared to our 'boys trip' last spring when we went to London. I know Paris - plus we are taking the train and staying in a one bedroom apartment. So easy.... I can't wait to see his reaction when he gets there!

Happy Birthday

The blog is now 3 years old! Imagine that - three years ago we started this to keep track of our move to Switzerland. Things have been quiet lately - maybe a combination of being settled and busy. It is amazing how much life has changed for us in so many ways... I wonder what things will be like three years from now. I'll be over 40 and the Seth will be 9 and Fiona will be nearly 7...

Luck of the Irish

Seth came storming in the house the other day - DAD! DAD!!!! I FOUND A FOUR LEAF CLOVER!!

You see - here they don't use any pesticides or chemicals to kill "weeds" - so our yard is full of clover, dandelions, wild flower, etc... Nice to look and and fun for the kids but OH so bad for the allergies. That is another story.

So I checked it out - it was in fact a four leaf clover - he was so excited. He ran back outside with his friend happy as could be. I went out a few minutes later and my neighbor said she asked him what he was going to wish for. Seth said - just for everyone around the world to be happy and get along. That was it.

I went to get the clover from him so we could press it in a book or something only to learn that he had throw the clover back into the grass so someone else could find it... I like these rare selfless moments.

Oh, how times have changed...

So, I was reading Fiona a bedtime story tonight, Nurse Nancy (1st printing, 1952).  Actually, she wanted to read it to me.  So she started with the front cover, pointed to the girl and said, "This is Dr....Suess."  Then pointed to the boy and said "And this is the nurse."  Once she opened the book, the story pretty much went like this: 

"Dr. Seuss went to school for a really long time and then she became a doctor.  She didn't have anything to do, then the boys came in and one got a cut.  Dr. Seuss needed to clean it and put him to bed.  Then the Mommy hugged Dr. Seuss and told she was the best Dr. in the whole world."  The end.

I just had to laugh since in 1952, the thought of the girl being the "best doctor in the world" would probably have not even occurred to any girl reading this story.  Times really have changed.  :-)

Holidays

We are in the heart of holiday season here. Today is May Day - we have the day off. We have a couple more long weekends coming up this month. And of course who could forget the 5 day Easter weekend...Great news for us as we celebrated Easter on Easter Monday (we traveled on Easter Sunday) The kids had the annual egg hunt in the back yard.

 

 

 

 

Of course it wasn't too hard to find the eggs this year - just Seth and Fiona were hear for the egg hunt. This year seemed to be filled with Easter celebrations - school just wouldn't stop. We made Easter bonets, boiled eggs, hunted for eggs, rolled eggs, etc...  The kids enjoyed it. Well - Seth did. Not sure what Fiona thought of the egg hunt at school. She found it a bit overwhelming - and being the smallest in the class her egg take wasn't so great.

It is also birthday season - the kids seem to have more friends with birthdays in the spring.

One recent party featured ponies...

Fiona seems happy enough - odd considering the smallest cat will cause her to hide and scream and cry... She is not an animal lover.

Then the pony moved:

 

She got down REAL quick. Animals are for eating not riding or playing with. That is her mentality. When Fiona is hungry she will often see an animal like a cow or rabbit and say - let's just tear the skin off and eat it!!! True carnivore

Seth liked the ride - he has done it before and he doesn't fear animals. It is so strange what certain children fear. Fiona fears animals and when we leave her unexpectedly - she also stays close to us when we are in public. If she knows she is going to be without us separation is fine - play dates without me are not a problem. Seth on the other hand doesn't really mind when we disappear or he walks away from us in public - always has. BUT he has such anxiety leading up to separating from us - he is better now but at 3.5 years old it was nearly impossible.

We have also had time for some relaxation at the salon this spring...

 

And playing with friends...this is Fiona with Evie and her wonderful hat!

 

The garden is coming along...

 

 

The allergies have been quite severe this year as well - for me anyway. My eyes were red, puffy and watering for about 3 weeks - after numerous trips to the doctor and several medications things seem to be under control... The weather has been wild - going from cold in March to super-warm and now to rainly and cool with a bit of sun here and there. The kids (especially Fiona) are insisting on wearing summer clothes now.

The kids are getting geared up for summer - a week in Ireland with grandparents and then a week in France with friends...plus soccer camp for Seth and then 2 weeks of kids camp for both Seth and Fiona.

 

The Hills are Alive...

Going back in time once again....

We took a week off at Easter to see the sights of Salzburg Austria - it is within a days drive (5 hours or so) and seemed like a fun place to see with the kids.

Aimee and I were in Salzburg once before - in the rain - for just a few hours. And I was very sick. This time though we had a week and a place to stay - and the most perfect weather I have ever seen.

We found a nice looking place on the Internet - turns out it was the third floor of a large house just outside Salzburg. Three bedrooms - plenty of space and the Altmullers. A lovely Austiran couple who rent the place out to families. Very kind people who enjoyed our energetic kids - as it turns out they have grandchildren in America and loved speaking English with our kids. We were well taken care of and given plenty of advice - our wood fired oven was filled every night and they even let us use their dining room and washed the dishes - it was great.

The house was in a small village about 30 minutes outside Salzburg.

View from the house...

 

Here is a shot of the Kachelofen - kept us warm. The Altmullers kept it full of wood at all times!

The village...

 

The owner of the house even walked us to the local farm to collect Easter eggs - it was a real working farm with livestock just off the kitchen...

 

Fiona enjoyed checking out the eggs more than the animals on the farm...

 

Then there was Salzburg - a great small city. A bit touristy - but still fun for all of us.

 

We were able to get up to the Fortress.

 

Also got a feel for the churches in town...

 

Hit some great audio tours...

 

That one was at Mozart's Residence... we also saw his birthplace. The highlight in the city might have been Hellbrunn Castle. It is an amazing castle - well the castle is OK - but the grounds are filled with gardens and grottos that contain trick water fountains. It is by guided tour only - so you don't get too wet. But Seth did find a way to get pretty well soaked...

 

Best to go on a hot day...

We also visited the Open Air Museum. Some nice local buildings preserved in a great museum. A fun walk for the kids... Really a great setting.

 

We enjoy this sort of museum and this was one of the best we have seen.

Then there was the food -

Sacher Torte was a favortie...

 

Every afternoon - an Einspanner - espresso with milk and whipped cream.

And of course strudel -

 

Since we were staying outside the city we were able to spend quite a bit of time in the lakes region just outside Salzburg. We visited a number of small villages - including Hallstatt a nice village with some amazing views of the lakes and surrounding mountains.

 

 

Then there was the Sound of Music tour! What an experience... If you have seen the movie - it is a must. So goofy - but so good - it even pokes fun at itself and the movie. It confirmed that we are NOT tour bus people - but we had a good time laughing and singing along. Seth even got up in front of the bus and sang for us. Typical Seth - it was great.

  

(note the curtain skirt)

 

 

 

 

I have put hundreds of other photos up on Flickr!

Visitors

Well - I need to get this post in so I don't go a month without a post... I am up on the 3 year anniversary of the blog and it is getting slow! We have been so busy and sick and busy and other things....

Over a month ago we had a great visit from Aimee's sister and both of her children. It was wonderful. The kids loved seeing their cousins and Aunt - they played cards and had fun. The cousins had a good time - I hope - even though it was a bit of a quick trip. They were able to see most of Switzerland in just over a week.

We had them up in France at the Haut Koenigsbourg Castle...

 

And took the gondola up to Waserfallen...

 

 

We had plenty of lunches out - and the visitors saw plenty of museusm. We even took the ferry ride!

All of the pictures from the trip are here.

Quick trip to the Alps

It seems that we may finally be able to travel as a family.... Questionable as we drove in some terrible traffic from Basel to Blatten last Saturday. Actually our destination was Geimen- just a dot on the road up to Blatten - which itself is actually just a tiny place in the alps as resorts go...

The trip started with a fair bit of traffic - Saturdays are always hell. This is the day that rentals switch over to the next set of guests... And this is the high season for skiing. So we spent about 5 hours on the road - double what we expected...with a child that pees every few hundred meters...

Finally we reached Kanderstag on the North side of the Alps - Simon (our GPS voice) told us to "board the ferry"

 

As you can see it wasn't quite a ferry - it is one of the train transporters that whisk cars under the Alps. A bit odd - unsettling actually - I tried hitting the breaks to slow us down every once in a while. Did nothing.

But then we were there - in the canton Valais (Wallis). I put the German link up - we were in the German speaking section. Valais a canton in which there are both German and French speaking sections....we were thankful for the German lessons this past weekend. 

After a little drive we reached our rental chalet for the weekend...

 

We were pleased to find it after a bit of confusion...

You see - I found this place on the internet a few weeks ago - we decided to book it and voila... BUT It wasn't quite that simple.

First we realized that the owners spoke NO English. Ok - we have some German... but not enough to realize that we had to pay for the sheets. Then we were told to call a man named Arthur and set up an appointment to get the key...

First try - wrong number...our fault. Transposed a number when copying it from the email...

Second try - wrong number again! Right town though - so the person who answered the phone actually knew the owner and the caretaker but couldn't put it all together. Long discussion about her husband who is a real estate agent who could help but wouldn't be back from Zug until late...etc. etc... And of course this is all in broken German... This time it turns out the owner sent us the wrong number - by one digit.

Third try - ARTHUR WILL EXPECT YOU.

Of course as we drove up Art (he was more of an Art than an Arthur) was hanging over his balcony looking for us.... In the past I have come down hard on the Swiss for being a bit cold...must be a city thing. Everyone we met on this trip went out of their way to make us feel welcome. This wasn't an English speaking tourist area like Verbier or Zermatt - just an alp with some snow fun.. Art had two phrases in English - thank you and have a nice day (which he used at 7PM). It was so nice to use our German a bit and have it appreciated. Turns out Art worked in Basel for 40 (or 14 - remember this was all in German) years as a tram driver and was happy to welcome some fellow Baslers (I'll get into specific tram lines when we go back..I know the 14, 3 and 11 so well) - I am sure we can have some great conversations about the different stops) He was a bit distressed that we were missing Fasnacht - but hey - he was missing it too...

We settled in quickly and the kids were out in the foot or so of snow...

 

Seth rolled around in the snow and sledged a bit with Aimee while Fiona and I focused on snowmen..

   

Of course her hands got a bit cold...

 

But you can't make the snowman's face with mittens on!!!

It really was a great place with plenty of space for us - and some great views...

 

 

After a night of rest it was off up the hill to Belalp for some real sledging (sledding, tobogganing, whatever you call it - it has become sledging to us because it is different here...more professional or something)

After getting the lay of the land we had a rental ticket for two sledges and were on a gondola to the top of a fairly steep hill - most of the other people were going up to ski or snowboard....we were on board for the 7km sledge run. At the top we almost missed the sledge pick up - but thanks to the help of some friendly Swiss we were able to figure out the system... And then we were ready for the plunge..

 

 

It was a fun with ride with some great views...

 

  

Of course we had to pause a few times on the way down...

 

 

Not far from the top we hit what will be known as Fiona Hill...

 

That is half of it - the less steep half. Now I have been know to take a toboggan down a hill...maybe a sled. I loved it as a kid. But I wasn't quite prepared for this. The sledges we rented were great - nice metal and wood - but they took some getting used to... And with a 6 year old in my lap it was rough. But about 15 minutes in I was feeling good and hit this drop at a pretty quick pace. As we rounded the corner and I couldn't stop so I yelled HOLY S#@(. OK - there was some more thrown in) Seth even said "I have never heard you use the f and s words together!!!" It was fast and rough.... and there weren't too many guard rails on this route... note:

 

So I dug my feet in and we were OK. But then I thought of Aimee and Fiona behind us....

 

That was Fiona after the wipe-out on Fiona Hill... It took a while to get her going again - she finally got back into and loved it by the end. I now know why the kids wear helmets when sledging here...

We stopped for a nice lunch in Tschuggen on the way down the sledge run - just parked them and walked in. It was either that or skis...

 

Aimee and I each sampled a Rosti and had a sip of weissbier.

We finally made it down the hill and back home for a raclette dinner at the chalet...

Of course what did we do the next morning before driving back to Basel - went back up the hill to go for another sledge run...

All the pictures are on flickr.

Fasnacht 2009

After two years of Fasnacht - the annual carnival in Basel - we decided to opt out this year... It is a great time - plenty of fun for the kids. But it is a bit overwhelming and we decided that a long weekend in the alps would be a bit more fun. There are three days of festivities so we won't miss the whole thing... and of course there was the parade at Fiona's school...

 

 

Her class had the theme 'cheeky monkeys'They have been reading different stories - the 5 cheeky monkeys jumping on the bed being a favorite... It was great. Very fun for the kids and so cute. Fiona has been to the parade before - to watch her brother - but never as a participant!  

Winter fun

We spent some time at the Lange Erlen animal park the other day - fun place for the kids to see a few animals and hit the snow.

 

Fun little place here in the city with a few deer - sheep and other animals. Had a quick lunch at the restaurant and then off to see the animals...

Then the kids found snow..

 

 

These are called snow angels..just letting you know in the event you have never seen this before. A number of Swiss gathered around to watch the kids do this - I guess it is a rare sight here.

And of course another way to keep the French away...

 

Those smoking frogs... Am I the only one seeing the un-pc-ness of this sign? Come on - we are right on the border. Please - why not a wild boar, cow, sheep, whatever... but a frog.

We also went back to MUBA - the home goods show in Basel...the kids had fun with the free milkshakes -

 

 

School news...

It has been a few weeks - quite a bit has happened.

Seth lost another tooth.. this time at school. It was all wrapped up and sent home.... but it somehow got lost on the way.

Seth had a bit 100 days party at school and presented his 100 days project - a treasure box decorated with 100 jewels and filled with 100 stones...

 

then 100 snacks!

   

He was happy...

 

School is going well for everyone. Seth is getting into the reading game - Fiona can write her name. For the most part I am happy - they have lots of friends and are learning a thing or two. Everything I expect from kindergarten and preschool... We get the occasional note about a scrap here and there but the kids are coming home with fewer stories of playground fights... I don't remember fighting at all - I guess we let loose after school with the neighborhood kids.... it all seems to be working out OK. They really couldn't have a better school environment.

I walked over to a farm with Seth's class the other day! Sounds nice - yes it is cool to have farms everywhere - but it looks like most of the area is being developed - I hope the farmer holds on... It was fun for the kids - they were able to see some animals, milk a cow, check out the tractors...very fun day for the kids...

 

 

And the biggest event of the school year - Fiona started BALLET!!!

 

She has been talking about this for years - yes she is three - and yes it has been years. Come to find out there is a dance class just after Fiona's that is for big kids - so Seth tried it out with another boy and they had a great time...the activity years are starting!!!

What is going on in America?

I know - financial meltdown, new president...etc...

But when I read something like this...

I have no idea where we went so wrong. How does this happen? I worry that my kids won't know about baseball or the like while we spend our time in Europe - but the longer I can shelter them from crap like that story the happier I am. Seriously. Why?

Heart of the winter

We are in the heart of the winter now... Much colder than the last two winters - still not much snow - but cold. The fireplace has been going...

 

The Tinguely fountain downtown was frozen for a couple of weeks...

 

It is much more impressive in person - you see this is a fountain with all sorts of moving parts that spray water. So - as the water is spraying it freezes. Quite a sight on a sunny, cold, winter day.

The kids have been indoors quite a bit - so Fiona has turned her attention to ballet.

 

 

 

We took a quick trip to Riquewihr in the Alsace this weekend - to find most of it closed....but we had a nice lunch and some time to wander around the town.

 

   

We all enjoy the colorful houses in the Alsace - Fiona probably more than anyone. She wanted to move into this pink house...

 

 

The colors are truly amazing -

 

It is a bit of a tourist town - but it is empty in the winter - and has an interesting feel to it. Fiona loved lunch - had hers plus my "pizza" (actually a tarte flambe with bacon, onion, potato, and cabbage)

 

And of course the kids have been cooking up a storm...

Burns supper

Aimee and I were able to participate in our first Burns supper last weekend... what fun. We have some friends from Scotland who live here in Basel and they organized a great party in honor of Robert Burns. More a reason to get together eat Haggis, drink whiskey and recite some Burns.

There is quite a form to follow. The haggis was presented...

 

Then there there was an address to the haggis, during which the host stabbed open the haggis with a dagger that he concealed somewhere below the kilt...

 

Then we all had our bit of haggis (not bad - especially when doused in whiskey and dipped in HP Fruity) followed by chicken wrapped in bacon (the backup in the event that the haggis was awful). I have never had haggis before and it wasn't bad. Apparently this was a very good haggis according to our Scottish friends. Interestingly it was prepared by a Swiss butcher who was originally from England and of Malaysian heritage - he had lived in Scotland for years and enjoys making haggis in Switzerland.

So the evening continued with much poetry and whiskey...

 

We did our part reading My love is Like a Red, Red Rose. Things continued from there. The most interesting poem read was Cock up your Beaver - about a boy and his hat. I guess I'll just leave it at that. 

Mouth news

Some big news from Seth...he lost his first tooth!

 

Now this was a tooth that was loose (or wobbly as he says) for a while. We were out having lunch - and it disappeared. Apparently he took a bite of a fleischkase sandwich (on a big crusty bread) and thought his tooth was a piece of bone. (look at the description of fleishkase and you'll understand) So he put the tooth on the table (not knowing it was a tooth)...as we walked away he realized his tooth was gone. We assumed he had swallowed it - a quick sweep of the table and we found the tiny tooth. The tooth fairy came and Seth is now 2 francs richer.

Then it was off to the dentist on Friday -

 

Seth had his first actual filling - he had major surgery on his teeth years ago and was under general anesthesia for a number of fillings and root canals - but this was the first in-office DRILLING. No novocaine - he was super brave and did an amazing job. Even stopped talking for about 15 minutes so our dentist could do the work....

Fiona got checked too - no major problems like Seth except for her bite

the dentist just said to get some good orthodontic insurance.....

Good advice?

Paul and I got this in our email box today. Usually these things are rubbish, but this was truly hilarious.  Enjoy!! 

HOW

DO YOU DECIDE WHO TO MARRY? (written by kids)

You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming.

-- Alan, age 10

No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you're stuck with...

-- Kristen, age 10

WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED?

Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by then.

-- Camille, age 10

HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED?

You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids.

-- Derrick, age 8

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON?

Both don't want any more kids.

-- Lori, age 8

WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE?

Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough...

-- Lynnette, age 8 (isn't she a treasure?)

On the first date, they just tell each other lies and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date.

-- Martin, age 10 (isn't he ready for the world of dating?)

WHAT WOULD YOU DO ON A FIRST DATE THAT WAS TURNING SOUR?

I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns.

-- Craig, age 9

WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE?

When they're rich.

-- Pam, age 7

The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that.

-- Curt, age 7

The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them... It's the right thing to do.

-- Howard, age 8

IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED

?

It's better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone to clean up after them.

-- Anita, age 9 (bless you child)

HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF PEOPLE DIDN'T GET MARRIED?

There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there?

-- Kelvin, age 8

(I like this kid)

And the #1 Favorite is ...

HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK?

Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a truck.

-- Ricky, age 10 (He'll be married forever)

Philosophy by Fiona

Okay, just so you don't think that Fiona never has wonderful pearls of wisdom, I thought I would share a funny conversation we had this evening.  Tomorrow night is Museum nacht. A very exciting night where all of the museums in Basel stay open until 2am!  It is a lively night with tons of things to do, as you can imagine.  Seth is a huge museum lover so he is thrilled as this is the first year we are going to go as a family.  So, the plan will be to go to our neighborhood Lebanese restaurant (the kids love the kebabs) and then off to the Antiken museum for Egyptian jewelry making, the pharmaceutical museum for "Make your own handcream" The Natural history museum, etc.  Needless to say, Seth is beside himself with anxious excitement and anticipation.  Fiona?  Well, let's just say that when I mentioned it to her tonight and said "doesn't that sound fun?" Her response was "Uh, no.  Shopping.  Toy shopping.  I like toy shopping."  Something tells me she will be going home with one of us after she fills her belly with richly spiced meatballs from Aladdin. 

They are never boring.  That is for sure!

Spontaneous Adventure!!

 For the first time EVER, we finally were able to wake up in the morning and spontaneously decide to pack our toothbrushes and a change of clothes and go out into the countryside for some exploration in the snow.  We had no reservations anywhere, but we figured we could find something once we got to our destination or, worse case, just come home (we were planning to go to Appenzell which is only about 2 hours away). 

Well, we mentioned this to the kids after breakfast and they were ecstatic.  They got to play their "Packing Game" for REAL!!  So, they scurried around the house packing this and that.  After a little bit of QC, we finally got the car packed (for our 36 hour adventure) with 2 toboggans, snow pants, one small bag for mom and dad and four bags for the kids!  But everything fit and we were off!  Once in Appenzell, we traveled to a small guesthouse I had seen quickly on the internet the night before (it was top choice to try as it mentioned it had an indoor pool on their website). 

Well, it ended being secluded on the top of a very big hill with tons of snow and forest.  Beautiful!!  They had rooms available at an unbelievably cheap rate and within 5 minutes upon being in the town, we had accommodations! 

We ended up not even leaving the guesthouse for the entire rest of the day as they had an abundance of sledding hills and walking trails, a small indoor pool that the kids LOVED and a small restaurant that provided a hot meal in the evening. 

View from our sledging spot

 

Seth enjoying the snow

 

Fiona attmepting to walk in the snow

 

Snow snacks

  

Aimee and Seth going up the hill

 

View down to the guesthouse from our sledging spot

 

Cozy little restaurant...

 

Fondue for dinner....

 

Cow bells at the inn

 

There were no TVs in the rooms, but that was fine as the kids stuffed tons of games into their bags (maybe they knew??) and we had our DVD player as well.  So, all in all, it was a splendid day and the fact that we were now staying overnight allowed us to plan an additional adventure the next day!

So, after breakfast (included in the price of the room!) we set off to Appenzell. 

Not overly impressive as it was quite touristy, so we took a brisk walk around and left within 35 minutes.  Then we went off to the Appenzell Show Dairy where we watched the cheese making process and had a great lunch. 

We were given vouchers for the Appenzeller history museum next door after lunch so we also took that in, which was lovely, but they did have a very impressive collection of cowbells and local art.  and a pink cow...

 

During the course of the day, we found out our evening plans in Basel had been canceled, which was disappointing, but then we realized that we had a few more hours to spend on our adventure!!  So, while going out of town, Paul mentioned that St. Gallen was supposed to be beautiful and had one of the oldest and most ornate librariesin Europe.  So, in the spirit of our spontaneous weekend, we pointed the car in the direction of St. Gallen and within 15 minutes were trying to find parking on one of their old, cobblestone streets (never a stress-free event in our family).  But, we were actually successful very quickly and ended up with a spot right outside the cathedral.  A quick walk in the beautiful grounds got us to the Abbey library, begun in 850 AD.  It apparently has the largest collection of Irish manuscripts in Europe (including Dublin) and an actual mummy! It was a VERY small library but really impressive and totally worth the side trip.  A quick walk through the equally impressive cathedral ended a splendid weekend!!

 

Here are a few pics.  The rest are on flickr!        

Philosophy by Seth

All of you who know Seth know that he is definitely a handful, but thankfully, he enriches our lives with some philosophy and thoughts that I needed to capture before I forgot. 

Yesterday, he had a funny tummy, which is never great, but at least it gives us some rare time where he actually sits still.  So, we were cuddling on the couch reading Highlights (Thanks Grammie and PopPop!!) and the back page was full of word puzzles that we were deciphering.  Basically, there would be a puzzle to describe the first half of a famous saying and we would have to figure out the end.  We got to the one that supposed to say, "The early bird catches the worm," but as we were figuring out "the early bird..." I asked Seth what he thought the end of that saying was and he comes out with "catches no poultry?"  What?  "The early bird catches no poultry?!"  I laughed and laughed and asked him why he thought it was that.  Well, apparently, his dad was reading him a story about the American Revolution the night before and Benjamin Franklin was apparently quoted as saying "A sleeping fox catches no poultry" and he got mixed up.  Hee!hee!

Then, today, Seth and Fiona were playing very nicely with Playmobil.  They were, not surprisingly, packing the playmobil figures onto several buses because they were going on a trip (a very popular game at our house).  Well, Seth suddenly stopped and said that he needed to go upstairs to get more people and luggage.  But, the Egyptian playmobil didn't need luggage because they were using all of their Canopic jars and were all set. 

At least we have these things to laugh about when he is stamping his feet and screaming his head off...