Fall Holiday

Right now the boys are currently enjoying time off from school for their "fall holiday". This is a week and a half long break, which Luke's teacher informed me was very good "because the children have already been in school for 7 weeks". Really? When I was in school we didn't get a long break until Christmas.

Were I not extremely pregnant we would use this excuse to go on a long trip like everyone else here... BUT with D-Day looming near we chose to stay close for a 3 day getaway. We spent our time down in Southern Switzerland and Northern Italy (all about 2 1/2 hours away). This area of Switzerland is known as Ticino and uses Italian as it's official language. We're still enjoying the company of Aunt Coco (although her time here has been flying by!) and it was a lot of fun to have her join us.

Day 1 was mostly spent in Bellinzona, Switzerland. This is a beautiful village with three medieval castles all within walking distance to each other. We only made it to two, but I was quite proud of myself for hiking up to that second castle.

This was our first time staying at a hotel in Switzerland (well, the first time we paid for a Swiss hotel). What we discovered is that Swiss hotels are extremely pricey- especially for a family of 5. After coming to terms with the prices, I found a place a little less expensive then the rest, but way, way, way off the beaten path.

One of our friends to greet us on our way there...

As you can see, we had stunning views, but to get to this hotel we had to go up the side of the mountain on a single lane road meant for two way traffic. This would have been ok, except for the insane local drivers. Honking is essential when driving up there. I took the picture below literally 5 minutes before we encountered one of these drivers. Andrew had to swerve a bit which resulted in a popped tire and stranded family in the middle of nowhere.

Parked and waiting for assistance- thank you cell phones.
We eventually all made it safely back to our hotel and a new tire was purchased the next day.



Day 2 was spent in Bellagio, Italy. Bellagio is located on Lake Como and is a wonderful little gem packed with charm and character. Colleen and I decided it would be a perfect place to spend a weekend sans kids and husband. A girl could do some serious shopping there. We still managed to do a little shopping even with the kids and husband.

You have to look hard, but Colleen and I couldn't stop laughing at the woman shown in the picture below. My kids were climbing on a wall and this lady looked as if she was going to keel over and die watching them. The wall looked pretty ordinary to me, so I'm not sure what she was so worked up about.

The next stop was to the Swiss Miniature. This is a little park filled with replicas of all the big castles and cathedrals in Switzerland. Andrew was so excited to go there which for some reason cracked me up.

Above- Sam and Luke standing in front of "Basel", Andrew and Colleen in front of the Castle in Thun.

Day 3, our last day, included a stop in Locarno, Switzerland. It was a little chilly that day, and after our stop we were happy to head back home! It was a great trip, and hopefully our last before this little girl decides to grace us with her presence.