The Chinese Nightingale

Tobias has just appeared in his last Montessori school play. Their theme for the past several weeks has been Asia and the culmination was the story of the Chinese Nightingale. Tobias was a clockmaker and Connor was a frog. Because we were away on our Krinau vacation for several weeks, the boys missed out on a lot of practice. Tobias said his lines perfectly and Connor, being the only frog, had to hop around and say the Swiss version of "ribbit", which is "Quauk". He was quite resistant to this so we got him to say "moo" instead!

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Our last hike

Our last hike of this vacation was to the very top of the hill behind our rented house. Fritz, Tobias, Connor and I made the 1.5 hour trip uphill to the top where we found my favorite restaurant for Wurst-Käse Salat. This is a typical cold salad made of lean sliced sausages, Gruyere cheese and a delicious creamy sauce. Sounds weird now that I am typing this in, but it really is very good....and so typically Swiss.

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Hiking with the boys

On the day that Ruth and Urs went back home, Fritz and I took the boys for a hike in the hills by our rented farmhouse. It was a HOT day and we took some winding paths through fields and ended up at a wonderful restaurant with yet, another fantastic view. We ordered ice cream and iced-tea and spent some time watching the young calves in the field running back and forth. I love to hear the chiming of the cowbells!

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To the bottom

Tobias and Connor love to ride their scooters, so you can imagine the fun we all had riding "mountain bike" type scooters down this mountain. Yet again, we took a cable car to the top and had some lunch, walked around a bit and enjoyed the views. Then Fritz, Urs, Tobias, Connor and I rented some scooters and took off to the bottom. It took us about 20-30 minutes to get to the bottom and the scenery was stunning, as it usually is in Switzerland!

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At the top

Nearby Krinau was the mountain called "Säntis". We took a VERY LONG cable car to the top and spent the day walking around the different areas and eating a delicious lunch at the restaurant at the very top. The kids (and I) were very impressed and the day was wonderful.

Unfortunately, the clouds rolled in while we were up there and blocked out most of our view, but it was fun anyway. The temperature at ground level below was in the mid 80's Farenheit and as you can see, there was snow at the top.

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Sliding with the Schlegels

On another day, we went to this summer "toboggan" run. We had to take a cable up to the top of the hill and then slide down the metal chute. Connor kept yelling "faster, faster"! The kids wanted to stay all day long!

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Visiting the cows

On one of our day trips, we visited a Chocolate factory. The kids were impressed and there was chocolate everywhere! We weren't permitted to take photographs, but on the way back to Krinau, we stopped at a family-owned restaurant for some cured bacon and coffee. There was a fantastic view directly across the street from us and since we sat at the picnic tables outside, we decided to pay the cows a visit!

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Vacation in Krinau

We've recently returned from our most recent vacation in Krinau, Switzerland. We rented this wonderful OLD farmhouse for our third time now and we just love it there! Fritz, Ruth, Urs, Tobias, Connor and I spent the first week going on short day trips. Urs and Ruth went home and Fritz and I spent a relaxing second week with the kids.

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Wet Down - Swiss Style

When we heard that Allschwil was going to have a Wet Down (a festival celebrating the fire department's brand new truck), we knew we had to go! It was a HOT day and there was plenty to do. The boys got to spray targets with hand pumps, win prizes in the "Tombola" (Swiss version of a raffle), climb on fire trucks and police motorcycles, ride a bicycle through an obstacle course, try on some of the equipment and then we settled down for some Bratwurst and French Fries! What a great day!

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It's About Time

Our favorite place in summer!

The public pool is now open and the weather is thankfully heating up. As far as I'm concerned, the hotter the better! Although the kids are still in school in the mornings, we plan to spend many afternoons and weekends at the glorious public pool which is within walking distance from our home.

We normally pack up the bikes with rafts, towels, lunch, sun cream and everything else in the house that we can fit in our bike trailer and ride over to Bachgraben pool for some swimming and lounging. Ooooooh how I love summertime!

Tobias learned how to swim last summer and will be taking another course at the public pool this summer so he can earn another badge for his beach towel. Connor has no fear of getting dunked and last weekend ran to the edge and jumped into the deep end without a second thought! Luckily when he popped up, he was able to hold onto the side of the pool and I grabbed his arm from where I was watching on the sidelines. I'm not sure this little incident has made an impression on him, so we will have sign him up for lessons as soon as he is old enough!

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At the Fair

Stickers Galore!

Melissa and I had a very successful day at the International School Fair! We had a table set up for Cards and Candles and came home as two very happy girls.