Week by week 15

(October 4-10). The first week without my mom around (yes, me alone with 2 kids!) was better than I had expected. We all survived. The CD player did not survive but we did. I also must admit that I did not take a single pic of John-Luke this week. I know, my whole point was to take pics of him each week. Well, I missed one. My excuse is that it was my first week as a mama of 2 with no help during the day. But I did manage to take some pics of James playing in his bubble bath.
Don't worry, I don't think I made that mistake twice. I have pics from all his other weeks of life.

The Cow Festival

On October 3rd, before the break of day, I dropped my mom off at the airport to fly home. Then I went home and went back to bed. Then....we got up to see...the cows come down from the mountains at the St. Cergue Cow Festival (not sure if that is an official name but that is what I'm calling it). It rocked!! They make a super big deal out of the whole thing. There are numerous cow festivals all over Switzerland but this is the one that is closest to us. They decorate the cows with flowers and HUGE bells.Then they parade them down the road with no barriers between the cows and the people (keep an eye on your little ones). There was poop all over the place and noise and food and friends. What else could we ask for?
Check out the video. The cows were really right in front of us and it was super LOUD. James was totally enthralled!


Watching the cows parade.
There was a "band" of cow bell players. They each carried an enourmous cow bell and went clanging down the street with an ancient old guy waving the Swiss flag behind them.
James got his own cow bell. Can you tell he is super excited? Actually, Brian was probably more excited about buying it for him.
They had the big horn blowing people do a little concert. (It is late and I can't remember what these are called. Swiss horns?) Anyway, it was cool.
They had some traditional Swiss dancing.


We had a bit of lunch with our friends and played at the park. They also had a parade of their tractors and then set them out for the kids to climb all over them. James liked that part a lot.
John-Luke slept most of the time!
I ran over a mega pile of poop with the stroller (not on purpose) (Brian cleaned it up). They also had some ponys and cows out for everyone to come look at. James petting the pony.
And they had a few kiddy rides set up that James could not resisit and Brian couldn't say "no."
Needless to say, James was asleep about 3 minutes after getting in the car. Yes, that is Swiss chocolate all over his face!
We will definitely be doing that festival again next year! It was a blast!

Murren...One year later.

On my 31st birthday (September 25) we attempted to go to Murren, Switzerland for the weekend. We made it about 3 miles from our house before we were stuck in a mega traffic jam and, on top of that, we got rear ended. Yes, someone actually hit us while we were going 1 kilometer an hour. Seriously. Needless to say, we turned around and went home with the intention of giong up the next week. Don't worry, "Beamy" (our car) was already hurt from being rear-ended back in July. Besides, how much damage can really happen at 1 kilometer an hour? Beamy is now fixed up good as new.
The next Wednesday, we (my mom and I) got the kids loaded into the car just before nap time and set off for Interlaken to fetch Brian (who was at a training) on our way up to Murren. As you can see, James slept most of the way. I admit that I did buy him fries to keep him happy until he fell asleep. It worked a bit too well. I was always proud that my kid had never fallen asleep in his food (I am a mega sleep stickler). Now, he has. Or at least he would have if he had been sitting at a table. I couldn't believe he fell asleep with a fry in his mouth. But it sure made the 2.5 hour ride with my mom much more pleasant. We enjoyed some beautiful scenery and good, adult conversation almost all the way there. When we got to Interlaken we decided to park and go to the store to stock up on some fruit and snacks for James and, more importantly, to do a bit of shopping. My mom was able to get a few things for her grandkids back home (and for my kids too) and we met up with Brian at around 5.
We then headed up to Lauterbrunen where we parked our car (you can't drive there) and took a gondola up to a train that took us the last of the way up to Murren. My mom was already amazed by the scenery around bend in the road but she hadn't seen anything yet! This is a view from the gondola looking out at the Jungfrau region mountains. The weather was awesome!!!
Here you can see where we came from.
We got to the hotel and got settled in (James and Brian watches some cows being milked) and then we put the kids to bed! When the kids are in bed then the adults play! There is a nice little restaurant in the hotel and we had a lovely dinner of Rosti (Swiss version of hashbrowns) and some chocolate fondue for dessert. Here is my mom enjoying her fondue. She really was in heaven with all the great Swiss chocolate. Can you tell?
The next morning (Thursday) we woke up to another beautiful day! We decided to head up to the Schilthorn to get a bird's-eye view of the region. A view from our hotel room.
And another one. I wish y'all could really appreciate it. You really do have to see it to really know what you are missing.
James hitched a ride on Daddy's shoulders rather than sit in the stroller.
My mom was amazed that there were still flowers blooming in October.
We found out from our local (well not local anymore) friends that our Migros card (like a Kroger or Smith's card) was good for one free ticket up the tram to the top. We used it for my mom's ticket and since Brian and I have half-price cards that get us a 50% discount on all (well, almost all) trains and trams and gondolas in Switzerland, it was a relatively cheap excursion too. Instead of over chf250 it cost us about chf70 to get there! Me and the John-Luke at the top.
Like I said, It was a beautiful day!
And quite clear.
My mom with the view.
James checking out the view and tasting the railing. Yes, James still eats anything he can get his hands on (except poop, thankfully). He still eats dirt, rocks, sticks, and apparently railings.
Brian, with the Johnny-Lu, is showing how not cold it was. I think it was 8C which is about 45F. So cold, but not frigid.
A self-pic with my mom.
Last year, (the exact same weekend) we (Brian, James and I) were here. It was a crystal clear day but it was freezing and there was tons of snow! Check it out here.
John-Luke decided to take a nap. This was while the rest of us enjoyed hot chocolate in the rotating restaurant up there.
Who do you think likes hot chocolate more? James?
Or my mom? I'm not sure but they are definitely related. Hot Chocolate (or cold chocolate milk or any form of liquid chocolate) is my mom's favorite food. She could live on it alone and be totally happy! Not an overstatement at all.
John-Luke woke up a happy little camper.
After the hot chocolate, we headed back down to Murren for lunch at the Stagerstubli Restaurant. My mom and I went ahead to order the most amazing cheese and mushroom fondue while Brian took James to play at one of the parks.
James is now into the DIY (do it yourself) phase of life. Here he is dipping his own bread in the fondue.
Then we headed back to the hotel for our daily nap. Love the daily nap! James and Brian playing "sack of 'tatoes."
Basically, Brian throws James over his back like a "sack of 'tatoes" and then pulls him back. James really thinks it is loads of fun.
After our nap. We took another gondola ride. This time we went down a bit. To the tiny little village of Gimmelwald. More flowers blooming.
Gimmelwald has what we affectionately call the "cheese hut." Me and the "cheese hut." It is a tiny hut where they have a bunch of cheese aging and which you can taste and buy. It is aptly called "Alp Cheese." My mom's second love in life (after liquid chocolate) is cheese. Can you tell? Look at that smile. She really could live happily ever after in Switzerland.
Brian and John-Luke waving to the camera.
James striking a pose. Brian and John-Luke posing in front of the cheese hut. Even I had to duck to make it through the door.
A view of the mountains across from Gimmelwald.
James doing his boy stuff. He found some logs to conquer.
This is what Brian looks like when he is traveling with his "peeps." For a look at him when he is without his peeps check here. Yes, we stopped to play at the park here in Gimmelwald too. James coming down the slide.See the cliff? Murren is on top of it. Yes, that is where we were staying. Now you know why it is a bit hard to drive there.
A closer look.
That night we had another amazing meal (while the kids slept). My mom and I shared a schnitzle and Brian had the most amazing Rosti with chicken that I have ever had. (I picked it out for him). We also had another round of chocolate fondue and hot chocolates. Why not? It isn't every day that we are in the Swiss Alps after all.
Friday we decided to take the funiculaire in Murren. It is called the Almendhubel. A funiculaire (for those who don't know) is a train that goes up a very steep mountain using either cogs or cables. It was steep.
At the top. A lovely little playground for kids. James quite enjoyed it. Coming down the slide.
On the see saw with Daddy and Mommy. He thought that was great fun.
Angel baby!
We also had lunch there. James had a schnitzle with noodles and the rest of us had Alplermakaroni. It is heavenly! The Swiss version of macaroni and cheese. It rocks! Don't you love the view?
We ate here last year too but it was so snowy that we weren't able to enjoy the outside seating. Our view while eating.
After lunch we went back down the mountain, checked out of the hotel. Took the train back down to the gondola which we took back to our car. We then drove back to Interlaken (for a tiny bit more shopping) and back to Geneva. This is my mom right before we left. Her sentiments were that Murren is her new favorite place in Europe. We had an awesome time!
There is a reason that this place is so highly recommended in the travel books. The next morning my mom flew home to Utah and we went to the Cow festival (but that is for another post).