Week by week 46

(May 9-15). This is going to seem like a huge post--and it is--but most of it is pictures. I promise not to be too wordy.
This week we decided to take advantage of a long weekend and headed up to Germany and Austria for a bit of sightseeing and family fun. We drove in the afternoon from Geneva to Reutte (Austria) and checked into our hotel. It was a beautiful drive and you would not have known that Johnny was in the car at all. James made himself heard many times.
The next morning we headed over to Bavaria in Germany to see Mad Kind Ludvig's castle! A.k.a Neuschwanstein castle. It was awesome. (This is the castle that Disney based Cinderella's castle on at Disney World). Here we are just jumping out of the car.
We decided to strap Johnny onto me because castle's are notoriously not stroller friendly. He did okay but it wasn't his favorite like when he was little.
When you visit the castle you are obligated to see both castles. King Ludvig's castle and his Daddy's castle (Hohenschwangau castle--say that 5 times fast). A family pic from Daddy's castle looking toward Ludvig's castle. You can just see it in the background peeking out of the clouds.
And then we entered the castle but since no one can take pictures in these cool places we are going to just cut to after we exited the castle. Yes, this is just after we exited the castle. Johnny was ready to be out of the sleepy wrap big time. He got out and was very happy about it.
Another view of Ludvig's castle from Daddy's castle.
Running down the trail on the way to Ludvig's castle. Did I mention that you have to hike to these castles? (Not a super horrible hike but enough to get your blood pumping if you are lugging kids and diapers and such).
A view from the bottom up at Daddy's castle.
Close up.
Then we took a bus up from the bottom to the very top to see Mary's Bridge. It is this crazy, tiny bridge spanning this super deep gorge but with an awesome view above Ludvig's castle. Self picture as we did not take the kids onto the bridge. We just took turns going out.
Ludvig's castle from Mary's bridge.
Again but you can get a better view of the surrounding area. Amazingly beautiful!!
Then we hiked down from Mary's bridge to Ludvig's castle for our tour. This is a view of Mary's bridge looking back up from Ludvig's castle. Unfortunately you cannot really understand how high it is until you are there. It is really high.
A view back to Daddy's castle from Ludvig's castle. He really had an awesome view!
The front of the castle with my boys.
Again with just me and Bubba. It is a pitty that the castle was never finished. Poor Ludvig only lived there for 100 days or so (perhaps a bit longer but it wasn't very long). The parts that were finished were amazing. I can't even describe it. He had a waterfall and a cave built in there. His bedroom took 14 woodcarvers 4 years to finish (or was it 4 woodcarvers and 14 years?). He also had running water in his bathroom (a big deal back then) and an awesome kitchen. This is a little excursion that I would highly recommend to anyone.
On our way out it started raining and the clouds started really rolling in. We were just in time! And both the boy's fell asleep on the way back to the hotel but transferred nicely to their beds.
As you can tell from the pictures, our hotel was freeeeezing!! Seriously. Fog on the windows in the morning and everything.
The town that we stayed in was full of painted buildings. All the buildings had elaborately painted facades. It was fun to walk around and see them all. This was the most "modern" facade that we saw.
Most of the buildings were pained more traditionally. Funny how they put the architectural details in with paint. So if you don't have these details yet you want them, well, just go ahead and paint them on!
The next day we headed out to Innsbruck, Austria (about an hour away) to do some nature walking/exploring with the kids. We took a lovely little walk with the kids to a "lake" (it was more of a pond).
We explored all around. James was very excited about all the sticks.
The pond.
Brian and James and Johnny found minnows in the water.
And they trapped a few in a tiny bottle (and let them go).
James trying to get the minnows. Good thing he wore his rain boots.Me and Johnny on the trail.
Then James decided that he was cold and wanted to go back. He learned that keeping his hands in his pockets helps.
Walking back out of the woods.
Our last morning we spent checking out Innsbruck. We went to the castle, took a horse and buggy ride and did some shopping. James got a toy.
He also got to climb to the top of this bell tower. He is currently obsessed with bell towers and believes that he lives in one with Jesus. (I'm pretty sure that he thinks they are all temples and that since the temple is Jesus' house that means he lives there with Jesus. Not shabby logic for a 2 year old).
View from the top.
Brian and the boys up top.
Just Brian and a happy little Johnny-Lu.
James on the way down. He insisted on jumping down the stairs and since we did a lot of stair climbing in the castles and hiking and such I was pretty tired. Also, trying to prevent a kid from jumping down tiny stairs to his death is really hard on your shoulders.
At the bottom.
A mosaic facade that we passed on the horse ride. It was really cool. This facade is entirely made with mosaic tiles! I have made some mosaics and this would be an enormous amount of work.
Me with Johnny in the buggy.
After this we drove home. Johnny again was an angel and James a bit of a devil at times but we made it and it was an awesome trip even if it was short.

Week by week 45

(May 2-8). We were in morning this week. Not a single picture until the last day. We missed our visitors so much! Can you tell which of my kids is a camera hog? (Yes, we often chill naked in the apartment).

Week by week 44

(April 25-May 1). On April 27, Johnny turned 10 months old. It is hard to get a kid that age to lay still for a photo with a stuffed animal. And to stretch out so we can properly see how big he is getting. During the last few days of my sister's visit we stayed close to home. We visited les bains de Paquis which is a public swimming area that sticks out into the lake. There is a little place that is separated just for little kids and there is also a very convenient, good and cheap restaurant where the plat du jour (plate of the day) is only CHF12 (a really good deal). It was too cold to swim so we just let the kids play on the pebble beach and in the sand boxes that were there. We did have lunch as well. I want to go back there but it just hasn't been warm enough this summer to get out there. Look at the beautiful views of Lake Geneva and of the city too. We also went to Parc des Evaux which is a huge park about a 15 minute walk from my house. During the summer there is a little train that runs and a place to play. There are also lots of soccer fields and even a proper track (a real quarter mile). We went with my friend Mimi and her kids. James' very favorite person (besides family) is Mimi's daughter, Holli. They usually get a long great.
Just an example of a normal time at my house with 2 busy boys. I'm constantly being "wrestled" and "loved" and "snuggled". It is fun.
My sister went home on April 28th. I almost cried on the way home from the airport. It was a sad day. James kept looking at all the airplanes for days after that and wondered if "Wu Wu" was on them all. Thanks for visiting, Wu. We had lots of fun with you and Ry Ry. Come again!

Week by week 43

(April 18-24). This was a huge week. We went on a lot of outings and a weekend trip. We started with a day trip to Annecy, France (it is about an hour away in car). It is a beautiful little city that is right on a beautiful lake. We took a boat ride and then wandered along the canal in the old town. The flowers were out and the lake was beautiful but a bit hazy. James was so excited to be on a boat. He could not resist ringing the bell on the boat over and over again.We also headed out to Yvoire, France via boat from Nyon (on lake Geneva about 30 min. drive). The kids loved getting to see the boat and Wu loved seeing the town. We kinda got stuck as the posted boat schedule was for the weekends and we went during the week so we missed one boat and had to wait almost 2 hours for the next one. Overall, it was another beautiful day.
I also decided it would be a great idea to take Wu to see Gruyere. This is the most charming little town that sits upon the top of a hill surrounded by some amazing scenery. And it has an old castle fortress to boot. I let Britt take a look at the castle all alone and I took the kids on a walk and down to see the old church and cemetery. James wants to live in a bell tower really bad (he pretends that he does) and so he wanted to get into the bell tower of the church really badly. Unfortunately, we have yet to find a bell tower that is open to the public. Poor kid.
Gruyere is well known (world known) for its cheese that is used heavily in fondue. True Gruyere cheese is only made in this area of the world. They are very proud of it. They are also known for their "Creme double de la Gruyere" (Gruyere double cream). It is the thickest cream I have ever seen. It is poured over meringue and fruit is added on top. My sister said it is the BEST dessert she has ever had. I have to say that it really rocks and if you get the chance to try it, do not say no! We got all the fixings to go and made it that evening after the kids were in bed. It was a tiring but great day.
On Friday, we headed to Luzern (in the German speaking part of Switzerland) for a night. Brian and James took the train and Wu, me and the two babes took the car. It was super fun! The weather could not have been better. We took a trip on a boat around the lake and took a train up one of the mountains to get a great view. The kids also enjoyed a huge lakeside playground and feeding the birds in the water.
Luzern is known for its charming little town and for its super old (dating from the 13th century) bridge that is still standing today. I totally recommend checking out this lovely little Swiss city.
At Bois de la Batie park near my house.
On Sunday (after church) we decided to head out to Jardin Botanique and to the lake for the afternoon. We took the bus to the garden and hung out there for a while (it was totally packed as the day was nice and the flowers were lovely). After chilling in the garden for a while, we crossed the street to the lake and walked along the side like many other people. Then we took another boat across the lake and took another bus home from that side of the lake. The Jet d'Eau (jet of water) was on and the lake was very beautiful.
We also played at the park when we had some small amounts of free time. This is the smile of the week!
Phew! What a week! No wonder it took me so long to get this post together!