Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Monday, August 23, 2010

Coretta's First Day of Fifth Grade!








Soluthurn, Swizerland: Day Trip

Saturday, we decided to take a trip to Soluthurn, Switzerland. Random choice actually, but we didn't want to sit at home all day and weren't interested in going swimming. It is approximately an hour away from here, and is a very cute village. Once we were there, we parked the car and walked around and discovered an old bell tower you can climb to the top and see beautiful views of the city. Geno, Nick, and I made our way to the top (yes Geno did it all by himself) and the views were breathtaking. Geno loved being up so high. He even commented that he could see birds on the roofs of the houses.

Once done, we made our way down the spiral staircase, until we reached the four huge bells in the tower. All of a sudden,they all start clanging, so loudly we had to cover our ears. Thinking that the bells would cease soon, we stood there in anticipation. They just kept going and going. It felt like twenty minutes. This is when the bell tower assistant came and got us and told us to wait upstairs until they stopped. Once down, we made our way back through the city by the river and drove home just in time for a neighborhood barbecue.

Brunnen Boat Ride with the Andrews Family

Sunday, being a beautiful and sunny day, we decided to drive to Brunnen, a quaint little mountain village, and take a two hour boat ride. We decided to call Geno's best friend Cameron, to see if he and his Mom and Dad wanted to join us. We then went to pick them up, piled in the car and drove the 30 minutes to Brunnen. Once parked, we walked to the huge outdoor playground and allowed the boys to get rid of some of their energy before boarding the boat. Nick went to figure out the tickets, and we boarded around 2 pm. Nick had bought us first class tickets so we could sit on the top if the boat which has the best views. Once seated, we ordered some beers and orange juice for the boys and enjoyed the scenery and the sun. I can think of a lot of worse ways to spend a Sunday. Sunday is a day of rest, isn't it?

Monday, August 16, 2010

Daughter-Father Hike to Stoos














Coretta and her father decided to take a daughter-father hike to Stoos and they had a great time. Stoos is approximately 30 minutes from our home in Hunenberg, which is great. Once there, they paid for the gondola up and started their four hour hike. Coretta brought hiking poles because in certain areas the trail is hard to see, and there are many steep hills and ridges to walk. She and her dad would stop along the way and have some snacks, and at the end, they were able to swim in an underground pool overlooking the mountains.


National Swiss Day


National Swiss Day takes place on August 1st every year where they celebrate their country and pride. It usually starts out early with the farmer's brunch, then fireworks at night. This year was our first time actually going to the farmers brunch, and it was great. They had food produced locally by the farmer such as eggs, bacon, rosti (swiss style hash browns), cheese, yogurt, fruit, and drinks. It was all you can eat, which is not very common in Switzerland or Europe for that matter.

The kids were able to get their faces painted and listened to some traditional Swiss music. We will definitely be doing this again next year.

Sattel Outing with the Family


























The other weekend, we decided to head up to Sattel, which is approximately thirty minutes away. Although it was raining, it was better than sitting in the house all day. Once there, we made our way up the gondola to the mountain and decided to have a snack in hopes that the rain would cease.















After our snack, the rain had ceased, and we paid for the children to jump around on all of the inflatables up at the mountain. At first Geno was somewhat careful, just walking inside
the inflatables, and then later began running and jumping in them with no fear whatsoever.















Coretta's favorite were the endless trampolines surrounding the area. She is really in her element when she is out in nature jumping in a trampoline.


We then went for a hike in the mountains where we
crossed a suspension bridge that overlooked the river, mountains, and trees. Me, being afraid of heights, did not expect that we would be up that high, or that underneath my feet would be visible adding to the realization that I could probably die if this bridge were to break. Adding to this feeling, every time you walked, it moved and swayed, adding to my fright.




We then decided to take some time and ride the tobaggon run which is an aluminum slide down the mountain. This was my first time trying this and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So did Geno, being his first time as well, shouted "Woo Hoo" on every twist and turn. Great way to spend a Saturday!

Geno is Potty Trained!













Geno is successfully potty trained and it only took three days for him to master it! After many weeks of frustration and anxiety of where to begin, Geno finally decided that it was time for him to make the next big plunge into being an independent toddler.

He is very proud of his accomplishment, and even was able to go a whole day at school without any accidents.

Geno is a BIG boy now!

Geno's First Day of School 2010













Geno had his first day of school at Children's World in Cham today. We chose to switch schools for him because we wanted a true montessori approach in a bilingual environment.

Although he was hesitant for me to leave when I dropped him off, and excited to see me when I picked him up, he loved his first day. In Geno's words and with a thumbs up, he stated, "School is super!"

Monday, August 2, 2010

Mommy and Geno Hiking Adventure to Pilatus

This weekend, Geno and I decided to go on a hiking adventure to Mount Pilatus. We woke up early and were out the door by eight o'clock and waiting for our train by 8:59 am. We chose Mount Pilatus because we heard that they had the steepest cogwheel train up to the mountain, and I thought Geno might enjoy that. After taking two trains and the cogwheel train, we made it to the top and decided to hike on the wanderweg.

Geno especially enjoyed the cave like passageways where water would actually drip on you from above. At times, the rocks were quite slippery and we needed to be careful as we climbed. Geno loves mountains, this I am sure.

We spent four hours hiking up on the mountain, having lunch, and sharing our crackers with the black birds that surrounded us. Geno loved the accordian music especially and chose to break out in dance as the below video will show you.

Great bonding time with my boy.