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In a nutshell- we have been spending the past 2 and half ish weeks with my family (Rick, Diane, Henry, Katie) and as of today, January 8, Katie is still with us. This was definitely good for me. I was in serious need of fraternization and time away from my lovely littles. I think having my family around didn't bother Kenny too much and maybe allowed him to get a little more studying in? maybe?
So here are the highlights:
My folks took over the basement apartment so they were right handy. Kids especially loved that.
Dinner in an Alpine restaurant (pretty high up). Restaurant is located in a house/barn/school (all connected a la Swiss style) They still have a hog and piglets around for...ambiance... In the evening, they do a show where they fake the electricity going out and then bring lanterns to your table so you can experience old timey Swiss living. It was really tasty and fun.
The toilet! Once you moved the lid, it was a regular working toilet. This one was a 2 seater.
Traditional Appenzell singers
Making Sugar Cookies and Eggnog
'Nog. We were able to invite Andrea and her family and our friends from Israel over for eggnog. Most everyone claimed to enjoy it. I discovered why i never care for it- the whiskey! Just rum is just fine.
Jackson and Johanna LOVE these jammies- thanks Grandma Debbie!
Our tree. really a great idea with so many littles and so very little space.
A note on Swiss Christmas: Advent really features big here. So much so, that Christmas isn't really geared up for until the 20th probably at the earliest. Obviously Advent is preparation for Christmas, but putting up trees and decorating doesn't seem to happen until just before Christmas Day. Decorating is much more low key- a real tree with a few decorations- MAYBE electric lights, quite possibly real candles. And I get the impression that they are more likely to leave the tree up beyond Christmas, possibly to Jan 6, Feast of the Three Kings and the traditional 12th day of Christmas.Feast of the Three Kings is celebrated with Dreikonigkuchen (Three King cake) a sweet roll with a small plastic king in one piece. The person who finds the king gets to be king for a day and the bakeries include a crown with the purchase of your rolls. They had this at kindy and Jack got to be king!
Skiing at Flumseberg
45 minutes in, Katie took an awesome spill (me watching: "Ohmygodohmygodohmygod"). Did a real number on her knee- no docs for her though. Ms. PT knew they wouldn't be able to do much more than she could.
I went to get ski patrol, took one step up on slippery surface and fell and twisted my knee. Much more minor than Katie's, but I opted out of skiing for the rest of the afternoon. :(
My injury did lead to taking Jackson out on skis. He did pretty good at french fries, but needs to work more on pizza. (Skis parallel and snow plowing). Kenny remained uninjured and got to ski a bit more on his own. Everyone else hung out in the cafeteria. The Swiss expect that if you are going to a ski location- you WILL be skiing. There was absolutely no other place to hang out indoors.
Swimming at the Santispark
Something I've wanted to do with the kids since we found the place. A bunch of mostly indoor pools with water slides. Had a bit of a scare where I thought Jackson was drowning at the bottom of a water slide. But otherwise, it was a really nice time.
Interesting set up- Dressing area is completely coed (with little private dressing stalls) except for the showers (which you can pretty much see into as you walk by) and the toilets.
Trip to Vienna
We traveled to a new country, and saw a lovely city. Dad spent 10 months in Vienna as a student so he acted the tour guide (along with family friend Lukas Knoll) and showed us a couple of favorite haunts.
We then ventured on to St. Georgen, Austria, Lukas' hometown and location of his family's Mill. We spent time with Lukas' family and checked out his mill. The latter was a special time for Kenny- he's really missing work.
We also took an afternoon to do something not so fun, but very worthwhile- visit a former Concentration Camp at Mauthausen. So important to bear witness to this atrocity. It was a very appropriate day for it- cold, gray, bleak.
We rang in the New Year with the Knoll's. Okay, we spent NYE at their house, I'm not sure if anyone made it to midnight other than Katie.
The real tree with real candles. Just after the lit a sparkler hanging from a branch.
7 hour(!!!) train ride back to St. Gallen.
I would much rather be on a train for 7 hours than a plane. *yay* flight back home...
Day trip to Zurich with everyone but Kenny.
Classes began again Jan 2, so he had to miss out :(
We took a bus tour (not the smartest idea with kids aged 4,2, and 6mos) We also took a boat ride on Lake Zurich- I think this was actually public transportation and we simply stayed with the boat for it's entire route. But it did allow us to see Mistletoe Mountain! This is what Johanna calls EVERY mountain. I think we were actually looking at the Alps. I enjoyed the stained glass windows by Marc Chegall in the Fraumunster (Church of our Lady).
At the end of the day, Dad, Mom and Henry said good-bye and stayed in Zurich in order to catch their flight back to the States
Week with Katie
I wish I could say we did more extra fun stuff, but Jackson was due back at kindy on Monday and really I think the kids (and I) were ready to get back to a normal routine. With Katie around, I was able to grocery shop alone, go to my Bible study without infringing on Kenny's study time, and Kenny and I were able to go out one night. Katie and the kids participated in lots of games, painting, pajama partying. Katie also took the opportunity to do a day trip to Munich.
It took me all week to write this-it's now Friday and we have snow again! What a cruel joke- no snow the whole time my family is here and as soon as they all depart, the snow comes back.
Here is what Eli is up to now!
Yes, he did that himself. It's about all he does any more.
exploring avocadoes
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