Zermatt and the Matterhorn

Back in August Brian decided we should head up to Zermatt and see the Matterhorn.  I got us a room at the International Youth Hostel there (totally recommend for families since dinner and breakfast are included and you can request a family room and crib if needed).  We drove up to the farthest town that allows cars (can't remember the name of it right now) and then took a train up to Zermatt.  Regular cars are not allowed as they would never be able to make it around the tiny and very twisty streets.
We decided to go Friday afternoon and made it to the hotel just in time for dinner and to check out the sun setting behind the Matterhorn.  The next morning we had breakfast and took our bags to the train station to put them in a locker for the day.  Then we decided to take 2 different lifts up various mountains to get different views of the mountain.  The first lift was further away but had a better view of the mountain.  At the top of the lift there was a lake with a playground there for the kids to play with.  We stayed there for a couple of hours and let the kids play while we enjoyed the view and the beautiful weather. 

Zermatt (and the Matterhorn) are notoriously prone to overcast weather but we were blessed to have the most clear day ever!  It seems to happen to us most places we go.  We bring the awesome weather with us.  After the first lift we descended again to Zermatt, had some lunch and found another park to let the kids play in.  After that we put the in their backpacks and they promptly fell asleep.
Then we took a second lift that took us right up under the Matterhorn for a close up view.  The kids woke up and played at the lake that was up there.  We spent about an hour up there then came back down and slowly headed through town on our way back to the train station.  We bought a few souvenirs to take home and caught a train back down to our car and made it home late that evening. 

It was a super quick trip and we ended up missing church the next day because the kids didn't wake up in time (we had decided to come back Saturday just so we could make it to church but it ended up being too much for the kids anyway).  We had lots of fun and (if the weather looks good) we totally recommend it to everyone.  Can you get over that beautiful blue sky?  It was amazing!!