Photo Ops

I wish I had a picture of...

• the man buying 45 cartons of cigarettes in front of me at the store today. (He had them all conveniently stacked in piles of 3, so it was easy to count.)
  
  
• me, handing the bus driver a huge handful of coins (for him to sort out), because I couldn't understand how much he was telling me to pay.
  
  
• the old man on the bus wearing black pinstriped jeans, a purple and white plaid dress shirt, purple scarf, BIG purple aviator glasses, white dress shoes, George Micheal cross earrings, and lots and lots of gold bling. Did I mention that he was OLD?
  
  
• our entire family squeezing into our apartment elevator (including the double stroller).
  
  
• us driving our minivan in and out of our parking garage which is approximately 3 inches wider than our van.
  
  
• the strained, perplexed look I give people when they continue to speak Swiss German to me (even after I say that I don't speak Swiss German), and then expect an answer.
  
  
• the Christmas candy displays and advent calenders I saw in the grocery store last week (mid October!). I even saw trees with lights on them in Germany today. I refuse to believe that they are already preparing for Christmas here!
  

I DO have pictures of...

• Swiss television programs! Most nights one can flip through the channels and find Swiss singers dressed in traditional garb, walking through the country, singing folk songs. Is it any wonder that I am now addicted to Desperate Housewives- the one show that is consistently shown in English?
  

• the black and brown combo. I don't get this!!! EVERYONE, and I mean everyone, wears black and brown together. At first I was horrified, but now it looks normal. PLEASE HELP by telling me that black and brown is not an acceptable combo!
  

• the Basel Fall Festival. This began last Saturday and lasts for two weeks. The plazas and squares all around town are filled with amusement park rides and street venders selling things like crepes, brots and caramel apples. It is quite the sight!

The day Halloween was saved

Dear Grandma Walker,

We got our package today, and you single-handedly saved Halloween for us! We have been playing "super heroes" all afternoon, and our mom is going to have a tough time getting us out of our costumes to go to the grocery store. She might just have to take us dressed in them. THANK YOU SO MUCH! We love you!!!

Love,
Batman, Superman and Supergirl

According to Luke, super heroes are mean and scary

The kids checking themselves out in the mirror...

Rowe Visit: Part 2

Sunday morning went a little something like this...

We were sleeping at a hotel in Salzburg, Austria, where we met Merry, Jack and Truman the day before. At 5 a.m. (yes, 5 a.m.) Andrew called a taxi so that he could catch a plane to Canada for work. Sometime around 5:15 (still a.m.) I hear a loud banging that wakes me up. I think it is one of the boys banging on the radiator, and I keep telling them to knock it off. I finally wake up enough to realize that the noise is coming from the window. I look out and see Andrew poking our 2nd floor window with a long pole he found outside. It turns out that when he went outside to get something from the car, the hotel door locked behind him and his luggage was locked inside the lobby. I was nice enough to go down in my jammies and open the door for him.

Later that morning (by later, I mean at 8 am) I had the kids bathed and dressed for church. I also had us all packed up and checked out of the hotel. At that point I was feeling pretty proud of myself. I found the church without any problem, but when we arrived we found an empty parking lot and a little note saying that it was stake conference.

To quote Andrew, "we perfected the art of dysfunction" this past weekend.

To back it up though, Andrew took off work on Friday so that we could spend the weekend in Salzburg with the Rowes (with him cutting out on Sunday for work). The drive from our house took 6 hours and to break up the trip we stopped in Liechtenstein and Innsbruck. Andrew had been wanting to drive through Leichtenstien (is this country even on the maps?), and I'm pretty sure it was only because he wanted to keep saying the name "Leichntenstien". I didn't complain, because honestly, the drive to Salzburg through the Austrian Alps was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life. I tried to take pictures while we were driving, but they didn't even begin the capture the beauty surrounding us- it was overwhelming.

Our weekend is now over and our friends are back on plane to Maryland...booo! I also don't have any pictures with the Rowes in Salzsburg because by the time we met up with them I was a little photoed-out. I promise they were there though...

Vaduz, Liechtenstein
(now checked off of Andrew's bucket list)

Innsbruck, Austria

Salzburg, Austria
I loved Salzburg! I loved the architecture, the history, and the feeling of this city (it was very mellow- although this may have been because not many tourist were there). I've only seen The Sound of Music once or twice, so that was lost on me, but we had fun visiting museums, the city castle, cathedrals, Mozart's birthplace, and the home he grew up in.

This is inside Mozart's childhood home. I wasn't supposed to take pictures, but I snapped this one of Sam when the guard wasn't looking. I'm a rebel, what can I say.

The Salzburg Cathedral (below) was where Mozart was baptized and served as the organist for 3 years. When we visited someone was playing one of the four organs- it was pretty cool.

I love how this baby zonks out when she needs to sleep-

Rowe Visit: Part 1

Our good friends Merry and Jack are visiting and it is exciting times here in the Willis household. The best part is that they brought their 6 year old son Truman with them, who also happens to be one of Sam and Luke's BFF's. Merry and Truman arrived last Thursday, and on Saturday we met up with Jack (already in Germany for work) in Munich. We had to head home last night so that Andrew could go on a 3-day work trip today, but we'll be meeting up with them this weekend in Austria.

Yes, I realize that this blog is turning into a travel log. Sorry about that.

Colmar, France

Hello Lover...
(I'm not exaggerating when I say that a plane ticket
would be worth it just for this)

Munich, Germany
There is a ton of history in this city, and two days really only gave us a little taste of it. Andrew and Jack were able to go on a Third Reich tour and we also toured some museums and cathedrals containing art, Bavarian royal jewels and skeletal remains.

Neuschwanstein Castle
My head is still reeling from all of the murals and ornamentation that I saw inside this castle. We weren't allowed to take pictures on the inside, so you'll just have to take my word for it. That King Ludwig might have been crazy, but he had some mighty fine taste.

Hohenschwangau Castle
This was the castle where Ludwig II spent his childhood and lived until he had Neuschwanstein built. The two castles are close to each other, although we didn't realize that until the fog cleared up in the afternoon.

Lausanne and Montruex

Lausanne and Montruex, you stole my heart. With a sweeping panorama of the Swiss Alps, Lake Geneva, tropical vegetation, and endless miles of vineyards, I could not imagine a more romantic destination.

Too bad Andrew and I had to share it with the children.

Kids in all, we had a fabulous time. It took us a little more than 2 hours by train to reach Lausanne, and from there another half hour to reach Montruex. This is the French speaking part of Switzerland, and on an interesting side-note, we found the people there to be a little more friendly then their German speaking counterparts.

Once in Montruex, we toured the Chateau de Chillon. The kids enjoyed the castle dungeon best, which was pretty cool as it was right on the water. I was a little nervous when we were in the tower overlook, and once again my legs locked up and I had a shooting pain in my upper thighs! (My fear of heights only seems to intensify when my kids are with me.) After the Chateau tour we took a ferry boat back to Lausanne where we toured around the city. I loved this city (which is known as the "Riviera") and can't wait to return!

Chateau de Chillon

The entrance to the dungeons

One of the key hole windows

The view from the highest room, in the tallest tower...

Lausanne