Family Reunion

We are settling in for the night after a fun, but exhausting family reunion. Cole, Ava and I had been under the weather with colds before we left. Traveling, swimming, and being on the go for 72 hours has not helped us to recover quickly. BUT...it was so worth it! We had a blast catching up and the kiddos had such a good time playing together. Loved {mostly} every minute!!!

I am emotionally exhausted, after an unplanned family conversation on the way home. Let's just say it's time to be real. I hope that the exchanged words will help us get to a new place.

Thankful for a wonderful weekend overall :)

That time we went to Switzerland twice in one day...

Day 15 -

I thought we'd be home by now. Nope.

We were on the plane, after a two hour delay, and it was delayed again, and again. Then we were asked to de-board. That's the short version. Of course Ava was sleeping by the time they wanted us to get off the plane.

We realized pretty quickly that we were not going to make our flights from Philadelphia to GSO, so I waited in line (for over an hour) to get rebooked. They put us in a hotel tonight at the airport, and gave us lunch, dinner, & breakfast vouchers. The best part was having to re-enter Switzerland through passport control, since we had already technically left the country.

Lots of crazy things happened today, but all in all, we're happy to have a warm place to sleep, food in our bellies, and each other. Despite spending 7 hours in the airport, today was a good 'last day' do over.

Oh, and the airport has a family space (aka playroom)...amazing!!!

Looking forward to being home tomorrow. Not so much looking forward to the flights, but that's a package deal, and I'll take it if it means I can have my bed to sleep in.

Thankful for the blessing of spending time with my family.

Our last day...

Day 14 -

It has been two weeks of little sleep, lots of new food, and exploring new cities. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Except today.

Jeff and I were not on the same page today, and it made for a very frustrating day trying to pack up, steal one last day of family time together, and make it to another city.

I packed in the morning while Jeff took the kids down to the lake. When he got back, we took the train to Lausanne (a 30 min ride :/) and had lunch. It was a delicious lunch, but we were all in bad moods. No good. We took the train back to Montreux, loaded up with all of our luggage, and boarded the train again...to Zurich via Lausanne (yep, the same path we had taken there and back already was the start of our trip...poor planning on our part!).

We made it 3 stops past Lausanne, and the train "went caput" as someone loosely translated for me when I tried to find out what was going on. Apparently this just doesn't happen here, so many passengers were mad and upset with the train workers. We had McDonalds and waited for the next train. We had an extra hour of train travel. Not the best thing when we were already stressed and not being so nice.

We made it to Zurich and our hotel. It had curtains! And a big bed (well, two twin beds pushed together, but I could roll over without touching Jeff...lol). We had a short dinner in the restaurant of the hotel and headed to bed, since we had an 8 am airport shuttle.

Coughing and screaming...

More or less, that's what today consisted of. Ava has been coughing on and off pretty severely this trip, but nothing too alarming until today. A few times the cough has been lasting for a while and she can't get ahead of it. This morning, she screamed for what seemed like forever when she couldn't turn the kid stroller around. Each time she would go as far forward as she could, and when it would stop, she would scream. Then she continued screaming on and off through what would be nap time. But, alas, she was a perfect angel when Daddy got home. LOL. Not.

Day 13 -

With the threat of rain all day, I was leery to go to far from the apartment on foot. We took the train this morning to La Maison Ou Verte and the kiddos were able to play for a couple of hours. We picked up some croissants for lunch and made our way back to the apartment. We had a quick, disorganized lunch and attempted nap time. Key word: attempted. Ava slept for a few minutes. Cole and I laid down. Ava woke up. Cole still was not asleep. Ava screamed. Cole fell asleep. Ava woke up for real. Cole woke up for real. Crappy naptime right there :(

So, we thought Jeff would be done with work early, but alas, he had to work until after 5, so we ran a few errands on our own. We bought chocolate (LOTS of it!) and began to prep for the travel tomorrow and the flight home. We stopped at the park near the water in Montreux and let Cole play and slide while Ava snacked in the stroller. I was fully convinced it was going to pour down rain any minute. Nope.

We took the train to meet Jeff and rode it again back to the apartment. We had a little down time before dinner, in which both kiddos were relatively well behaved children. Dinner was at the "Oriental" restaurant (translation: Persian/Iranian/Turkish). It was a delicious, but long meal. Both Cole and Ava were exhausted by the time we were done with dinner at 9:30 (wait, I was exhausted too!). Brian was a good sport to put up with us for this trip and especially on our nights out to dinner.

It's hard to believe we are starting our trip home tomorrow (heading to Zurich to stay closer to the airport for our Sunday morning flights). It has been an exhausting two weeks, but such a blessing to have this time to travel and spend lots of one on one time with both Cole and Ava. Praying for an uneventful flight home and lots of smiles and laughs (as opposed to screams and cries!).

The homestretch...

We are enjoying our last few days here, as we also begin to look forward to some of the comforts of home (a bigger bed, air conditioning, and a clothes dryer - okay, so that last one is just me, but it's been rough hanging our clothes each day!). It's hard to believe we've been here almost two weeks, but we have kept busy and seen many new places. Such a wonderful reprieve :)

Day 11 -

We went to the park in Vevey Wednesday morning (aka a train ride for Cole). The kiddos had fun in the nice weather. On the way back to the apartment, we went to the grocery story to pick up a couple of things. Turns out, our 'usual' escalator was not working, and I didn't think to walk back the other direction to the elevator. So, I walked several extra blocks and up quite a hill to get back to the apartment. Just glad I didn't have anything perishable. It was stinkin' hot. But maybe that's because I was grocery-toting, baby-wearing, and stroller-pushing uphill. LOL.

After a three-way nap, we geared up to head out to La Maison Ou Verte (my saving grace most of the days we have been here). The kiddos played until Jeff met us after work, and we took the train back to Montreux for dinner. A series of we-were-gonnas happened next. We were gonna eat at the oriental restaurant (Middle Eastern food), but Brian didn't join us and we couldn't make out what was on the menu. We were gonna go to McDonald's, but we had just had that the day before. We decided on a food truck type meal because we were gonna let Cole play on the bounce house slides that were set up (though he decided not to after all). It was gross. So we agreed on McFlurries to end the night :)

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Day 12 -

On Thursdays (and Fridays), La Maison Ou Verte is open from 9-11 in the morning, so the fact that the kiddos were both up early worked out. We had breakfast and took the train to Vevey (noticing a trend here?). After we played, we found a place to buy stamps, picked up some croissants for lunch and headed back to the apartment. We finished up the postcards we were writing (one to themselves with their handprint drawn on it, and one to each of the grandparents), and stamped them so they were ready to go out this afternoon.

After nap, we took the train to La Tour De Pielz. First stop was the mailbox. Cole dropped in our postcards excitedly. Then we went to the Swiss Museum of Games. It was a neat museum of the history of many games (though in French/German, so I couldn't read it!). It was cool to see all of the collections of old games, from Mancala to Roulette tables.

There were several outside games set up, like the oversized chess board and pieces. But Cole wanted to play on the playground :) One thing I've noticed here is that the playgrounds are not 'safe' like ours at home. They have merry-go-round-ish things, and tire swings, and slides that are tall. It's so much fun to see Cole challenged and he really enjoys it too. While we were trying out the merry-go-round, I told Cole to hold on, but he let go and fell off the first time. He got right back up and tried it again, this time, holding on for dear life ;)

We ended up leaving the playground when some kids were throwing dirt. I know kids will be kids, but other kids were crying because it was in their eyes and the last straw for me was when the kid threw it on Cole's back. I think I might have actually yelled at him (all I said was "Enough!", which he probably didn't understand, but he knew I meant stop). As we were walking away (and Cole wanted to stay), I tried to explain that the kids were being mean and that's why we were leaving. He insisted that "they were not being mean, they were being polite!" Ha. We had a little talk on our walk about mean, nice, polite, rude, etc.

We stopped at the park near the lake in Vevey to play while we waited on Jeff for dinner. Ran into someone who has been at La Maison Ou Verte most of the days and was able to chat with her for a little bit in English. Theresa is an au pair for a family with three kids. It was cool to hear a little about her experiences (she is from Germany and will go back there after she is done with this job, until she decides where she wants to go to college).

Dinner was a crap-shoot. All we wanted was something quick and local, and I wanted crepes. I couldn't read the crepe menu well enough to decide that we wanted dinner there, so we planned that for dessert. We went to a burger place by the train station, sat down, got the kids settled, ordered a water and a coke and waited for the menu. Nope. They don't serve dinner till 7. It was only 6:30. So we loaded up our stuff, and the kids and walked around a little before settling on McDonalds. Honestly, it was delicious. The crepes were delicious too!

Jeff took care of the kiddos for a few tonight so I could have a little much-needed break. And somehow it's already time for bed. Where does time go?!

(a 'selfie' of the three of us...not an easy feat!)

One more day here in Montreux...

And of course there's McDonalds...

Day 10 -

It's Tuesday. We're finally figuring out our way around, and beginning to wrap up our visit at the same time. Jeff would really love to live here part time, and I think I could manage that! It's just beautiful, all the time.

This morning, we took the train to Vevey and played at a few parks. At the first park we were at, the streetsweeper came by, and seemed to be chasing us. It was like the scene from Snow Day where the snow scraper is chasing the kids. LOL. Cole and I agreed that we'd try a different park. At the park by the lake, he was able to play with some other kids, and I think he really has needed that. We are looking forward to preschool next week, so that he has time with other kids (that speak our language).

We met Jeff for lunch, at McDonalds, none the less. It was delicious and greasy and a taste of home...all at the same time. I'm glad we've been eating really healthy for the most part (minus all the chocolate), but the splurge for lunch was nice. It also gave us some extra time to talk at lunch, since it cut out the walking time to another restaurant.

After lunch, we took the bus back to Montreux and all of us napped. We napped long and well, since there was a good breeze that cooled off the apartment. I think we've all been having trouble sleeping because it is warm and stuffy. By the time Ava woke up (Cole and I had already been stirring a while), it was time to go meet Jeff for dinner. Jeff heard that City Burger had good kabobs, so we gave it a try. Not quite what I expected, but not bad either. They had a delicious profiterole desert, with lots of chocolate.

We decided to see how far we could walk back toward Montreux, knowing that the bus was an option at any point. We stopped at the fork in the lake and had someone offer to take our picture (Yes, please!), and then at a few parks along the walk. Both Cole and Ava enjoyed the time to play and relax with Daddy (I did too!). About 2/3 of the way there, we hopped on the bus since it was dark and getting late.

What a nice night, just strolling around (literally) and enjoying the view and each other. <3

Monday...

Day 9 -

Well, it's Monday. That about says it all. Monday in Switzerland is still Monday...

We had a good day overall, just feeling like Monday had it out for us :P This morning, we didn't have any plans, so I knocked out a couple of loads of laundry. A couple of loads here equals less than one load at home. And, we can't figure out how to work the drying portion of the all-in-one washer/dryer, so I dried the clothes on the balcony. Thankfully, I don't think any of our underwear went flying over to the train station.

Jeff had forgotten his headphones today, so I loaded up the kiddos to get out of the apartment and take them to him. He gave me shotty directions to get to the place he was, so I used the Find My iPhone app. Though it took me to a Nestle building, he was in a different Nestle building, so when I left his headphones there, he was not able to go get them :(

(The wrong Nestle building!)

While we were out in Vevey, we found a neat little park and I let the kids (mainly Cole) play on the playset. I was so proud of Cole for going up a wood and chain stairway. It took a lot of balance and coordination and he did it! We had chocolate croissants from a corner bakery for lunch, and headed back to Montreux for a nap. Two trains in one morning (and two more to come)...Cole was loving it!

After nap, we took the train back to Vevey and visited La Maison Ou Verte for the kiddos to play, after picking up the headphones from the wrong building (ha!). Jeff met us there after work and we let the kids play again at the park area until Brian could join us. 

All of us went to dinner at Chez John. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. The meat is served seared on a marble slab that has been heated to 500 degrees. So it literally cooks on the marble, bite by bite, right in front of you. Ava was a little loud through dinner, but all in all, it was a great dinner and a good end to the day :)

It's the weekend (in Switzerland)!

Day 7 -

Finally, a day that Jeff is off to explore with us! Today we visited a town called Interlaken, which was a little over 2 hours by train. It is a ski town, so there really wasn't a lot to do, but man, it was beautiful. I mean BEAUTIFUL! We watched paragliders land (which, by the way, Cole must be thirteen to do...at least that's what we told him!), ate lunch at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant where they didn't take credit cards or speak ANY english, and saw several old churches.

To end the day right, we took a different train back (on purpose), but then ended up on the Golden Pass, after following the instructions of the train worker, instead of switching trains in Spielz (sp?). It took us an extra hour to get home, but the views were absolutely breathtaking from the train. We zigged and zagged all through the mountains, so much so, that the floor was still moving when we got to the apartment last night.

We knocked out some leftovers for dinner and had a little chocolate for desert. It was a great end to a great day!

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Day 8 -

It's Sunday, and apparently daylight savings happened here last night...lol! When we got up this morning, I checked my phone for the time and went about my morning getting ready. An hour later, Jeff asked what time it was, and when I checked my watch, I told him my watch was doing something wonky because it was an hour off. A little while later, he realized his watch was an hour off.  That's when we figured it out! We knew it hadn't happened yet (because there was only 5 hours time difference from home, instead of the usual 6), but had no idea it was happening today.

We took the trains to Broc (Montboven to Bulle to Broc Fabrique) to see the Callier Chocolate Factory. What a treat that was! They had a short tour that we really enjoyed explaining the origins of chocolate (back to the Aztecs/Mayans), and had a chocolate tasting room. All of it (well, almost all...I don't like mocha), was delicious. And it happened to be "family day", so we got bread, hot chocolate, and an extra free chocolate bar for each of us. Awesome.

After we left the chocolate factory, we took a short train to Gruyeres, to see La Maison Gruyere (the cheese factory). We had lunch at the cheese factory - fondue and a meringue/cream desert, followed by a short tour of the cheese factory. Cole was able to play outside on the playset for a few minutes before we caught the train back to Montboven, to head back to Montreux.  Ava was a little cranky, but then she fell asleep most of the train ride. The views were again beautiful.

We are enjoying Chinese take out tonight from Bejing Town, supposedly the best Chinese food around.

Thankful for a great weekend and lots of time to spend together :) Monday is coming all too quickly!

Busy day!

Day 6 -

It's been a full morning here! We got up and had breakfast, then hit the train for Vevey. We went to La Maison Ou Verte until they closed at 11am. Then I was trying to think of a way to entertain the kids for a while, so we walked down to the lake. We found a fun little park when we first got to the lake, but Cole was hesitant to play. It was shaped like a shipwrecked boat. So we walked a little further to the big park area and Cole played for a few, but he was not being nice, so we kept walking.

We picked up lunch from a little bread shop, and caught the bus to Montreux. This was definitely a lengthier travel time, but it was Cole's first bus ride. He loved it. And he especially loved not having to get off for a while :) Once back in Montreux, we went to Migros, the grocery store, to pick up a couple of things for dinner (and chocolate, of course!). We are having penne with meat sauce and garlic bread for dinner. After dinner, unfortunately, Jeff is heading to Lausanne for drinks with the team he's been working with. It may be a long night. LOL.

So thankful for a fun day and my two little loves (and my one big love, too!) :) The Swiss wine and chocolate are a good end to a great day ;)

Bonjour et Au Revior

I'm learning French. LOL :) A few days late, since we're already here, but it's fun! I'm using an app called DuoLingo and it's very interactive and engages you in the learning process through your smartphone. It even has you say phrases and corrects you if you're wrong. It's refreshing to learn a new language.

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Day 4 -

I decided to get out in the morning instead of staying in, but it was still a little too chilly to play at a park. So I went to the Food Museum (Alimentarium) with Cole and Ava. We had a great time learning (a little) and playing (a lot - they have a cute kids corner area). It was not what I expected; it was much better laid out and more interactive than I thought it would be. We had planned to meet Jeff for lunch, which didn't work out, so then we were going to come back for lunch. As fate would have it, on our way out of the museum, another mom was talking to her daughter in English!! So I said hello and we introduced our children.  Her 8 month old was named Eva (pronounced Ava!). Too funny. We stayed and had lunch we Amy and her two kids (and her adopted mom, Pat). It was a chaotic meal, but it was so nice to have a little conversation in the middle of our day.

         

(above: left, Cole @ Food Museum scanning food barcodes; right, exhausting afternoon!)

Breakfast for dinner sounded really good, so I picked up a couple extra things at the corner market and started cooking as Ava went down for her nap. Cole fell asleep on the bean bag with his arms propped behind his head. Brian joined us for dinner at the apartment. We had French toast, bacon, eggs with cheese, strawberry compote and cream, and fruit. Oh, and wine. Who doesn't like wine with breakfast? :)

Day 5 -

We mosied around the apartment for a while before we got moving to go to La Maison Ou Verte. So when we got there at 10:30, we only had a few minutes for the kids to play. They are only open 9-11 on Thursdays and Fridays. I met another mom there, Catherine, who was very kind and had kids of similar ages. We talked for a few and I was able to help her with a back carry in her carrier. That was kinda cool. She invited us to a park, but it was far enough away to need a car to get to it. Not today :(

Instead, we took the funi (funicular - aka cable train) up to the top of Mt. Pelerin and Cole and Ava played at a little playground up there. Cole loved the funi ride more than the playground. We all loved seeing Daddy for lunch! Jeff was able to bring us sandwiches and we ate together (quickly, since the train time ate into lunch time) and rode the funi down together. It was a beautiful day to be on a park overlooking the Swiss alps.

(above: left, first funi ride; right, the playground with a view!)

Tonight, we walked around in Montreux and walked along the water some. It was a breathtaking sunset over the lake. We had dinner at a restaurant called La Metropole. The food was wonderful. The kids did okay, but it was really too late to be out to dinner with the. We are wayyyyyy of schedule here. Oh well :)

Right now, Ava is asleep. Jeff is snuggling Cole, I am writing this, and we are all exhausted. But filled with thankfulness for this blessing of time together. Filled with love <3