Crazy Hair Day

School is a-winding down here with only 2 more days left. I'm not sure if I'm more excited or sad. I'll have to wait until after the first week of summer break to make a verdict.

In the meantime, the boys are enjoying all of the madness that accompanies the end of the school year- class picnics, treats, movies...and crazy hair day. This was held in Sam's school last week, and Andrew about had a fit when he realized that he would be the one taking Sam to school on the tram (So what if I made him look like a girl?). Fortunately for Andrew, Sam blended in just fine with all of the other international students and their crazy hair that day.

Sam and his boys- Fletcher and Enzo- on the tram to school.

Luke also wanted in on the action, so before we left to get Sam I did up his "do" as well. Unfortunately for me, Luke was the only kid with wacky hair on the tram in so I had to endure lots of stares from the reserved Swiss.

The Garden

The lush gardens are often the first thing people notice when they come to Switzerland. The Swiss are amazing gardeners, but it also helps that the entire country is on miracle grow. Take my flower garden for example. Here is what it has looked like during the last 5 months:

February
These little beauties started to pop up everywhere.

March/April
Tulips sprung up like crazy and all of the trees started to flower.

April/May
When the tulips went away the irises came.

Then the peonies... it was like some beautifully orchestrated floral symphony.

June
Which brings us to June. Most of the perennials have since left (not the roses), but if you look closely in the picture below you will see a new addition to our yard. Something added by my own hand...

... a vegetable garden.

About a month ago I planted my first vegetable garden, and I hated it. It was way too much work. (Who knew??) My biggest problem? The watering and the weeding.

BUT, I am happy to report that as time has gone by, the garden and I have come to an understanding. Actually, Switzerland and I have come to an understanding. It has been raining here like crazy, which means that I rarely have to water my garden. Plus, some of the plants are starting to yield produce, which is much more exciting than I expected. Another fun thing is that we have discovered that most of the trees in our yard are fruit bearing trees. We just spent the last two weeks feasting on cherries, and the other trees are bursting with growing apples and peaches (at least I think they are peaches). We also have grape vines and a raspberry bush growing.

And now for the million dollar question: Can ANYONE tell me what type of tree/plant this is?

The Rhine Valley

Andrew and the boys had two days off last week so we headed up to the Rhine Valley for an overnight stay. The Rhine Valley (located in Western German) is peppered with castles, and with our boy's affinity for all things medieval, we decided it would be fun to go. We stayed along the Rhine River, which within a 45 mile stretch, has about 20 major castles on it. The placing of these castles was done with the purpose of taxing river traffic, and often the castle Barons would place a chain in the river, preventing boats from passing without paying the self imposed tax. Selfish, but it resulted in some pretty cool castles for us today.

Bacharach, Germany

We stayed in Bacharach, and if anyplace screams "story book Germany" this is it. Aside from it's beauty, it is a very relaxed village which is a huge plus for me.

The hotel where we slept was the original castle wall.

We took a little cruise to St. Goar which is an hour upriver.

I don't know why, but Afton didn't seem to appreciate the castles as much as the boys. Maybe if one were painted pink we would have seen some enthusiasm.





I really try hard to keep my kids quite while are touring, but it is next to impossible to do when we are touring a castle. While we were visiting this castle the boys were madly dashing around and at one point I heard one of them yell, "THIS IS AWESOME!!!" I had to smile that time.



We saved the crown jewel- The Burg Eltz- until the very end of our trip. Just look at that shot below, how awesome does that place look?



Unfortunately, this is what the Burg Eltz looked like when we arrived...



As you can see they are doing some major restoration work, so most of the castle was covered in scaffolding. Now, for those of you flooded with pity for us, don't worry. We plan on going back once this castle is restored to all of it's glory.

The upside is that there was a beautiful hike to get to the castle. It was a nice ending for our little getaway.

And baby makes 6. Whoa.

For those of you who weren't told by my dad 2 1/2 months ago, who don't get my father-in-law's monthly letters, who aren't on facebook, and who don't see me in person, I am pregnant.

As for the answers to the standard questions I have been receiving:

• I'm due on November 6th.
• So far I've been feeling good.
• I love my Dr and feel comfortable delivering here.
• No, this child will not be a Swiss Citizen (you need to have a Swiss parent for that).

Everything has been going smoothly, and we are excited to add another little tyke to our brood. My Swiss OB visits differ from my US ones, in that rather than listening to the heartbeat and measuring my belly each time, they just give me an ultrasound. During my 12 week visit they said that the baby looks like a boy, and during my 16 week visit they said that it looks like a girl. I'm gonna go with "alien" because that's what the baby looked like in the 3-D ultrasound. Has anyone seen one of these where the baby looks normal?

The Jungfrau

When Andrew's parents were here we ventured to the Jungfrau, also known as "The Top of Europe". As mentioned earlier, we made it about halfway up to the town of Wengen (this was planned). My brother, his wife and Andrew, however, made it to the very top this last Saturday. They took 4 trains to get there, and from our door it took them 4 1/2 hours to reach their destination. Looking at the pictures and based off of their description though, I would say that it was worth it (even with the intense sunburn that they all received).

There was a large tour group that dominated the place, so Dan and Andrew just decided to join in on their fun.

My brother, the crow whisperer





Kristin, inside of an ice cave

Dan and Kristin left yesterday, and with all of our company gone, this house feels empty. We had such a wonderful month with all of our visitors, and now we are going through withdraw!

Paris...just the 3 of us

Is there anything more romantic than a couple spending the weekend together in Paris?

How about adding your sister into the equation.

My brother (Dan) and his wife (Kristin) are currently visiting, and last weekend we- My brother, my SIL, and I- headed to The City of Lights. Actually, our entire family was supposed to go, but once Andrew visualized our children in Paris, he suggested that I join Dan and Kristin by myself. What a brilliant man I married.

This was a lovely trip- for many reasons, but the top 5 are:

1. Rather than driving, we took the train. 166 Swiss Francs and 3 1/2 hours later, we were in the center of Paris. Completely effortless.
   
2. I was able to travel with only ONE backpack and only had myself to worry about.
   
3. I did not bring a camera!! Kristin took all of the pictures, and I think that may have been the best part of the trip.
   
4. The Louvre. I was able to go into the Louvre and I still have a high from it.
5. I was able to spend time quality time with Dan and Kristin. Thanks for making it a great trip you guys! We love you and had so much fun!
   

As for the rest- here are the pictures. As you can see the weather was perfect, and no, my sister-in-law is incapable of taking a bad picture. It boggles the mind. Fortunately I love her.

The Arc de Triomphe



I previously never understood the hype of the Arc de Triomphe. It is an arch surrounded by a massive traffic circle- big deal. But in person, oh boy, it is marvelous. And magnificent. And I loved it. We also loved watching the madness that was the 8 "lane" circle surrounding the arch. We waited and waited to see an accident, but somehow one never happened.



The Eiffel Tower
We took a night cruise on the Seine and were able to get some great views of this site. We also discovered that at night the tower lights up with millions of glittering lights for 5-10 minutes each hour. I thought is was so cool!



The Louvre
I've been dreaming of going to the Louvre since my teenage years, and I really can't remember the last time I felt so giddy (Ok, it was when Andrew told me they built a Cafe Rio in Maryland). It was wonderful and I still feel like I am in high from viewing all of the exquisite art.








Me, Kristin and Mona.
We had to elbow some Italian tourists to get this shot, so I hope you appreciate it.

Orangerie Musuem
This museum houses two large oval rooms which are made up of 8 massive Monet Water Lily paintings.



Luxembourg Gardens



Sacre-Coeur
This is a stunning basilica, but I found the inside borderline creepy. While beautiful, there was a priest giving a sermon while hundreds of tourist walked around browsing the gift shops.



enjoying some fine French cuisine



Notre-Dame
Out of all of the city views we had, the view from Notre-Dame was my favorite. I loved those gargoyles! I also thought the bell which is featured in the Hunch Back of Notre-Dame was pretty cool.





We were able to see lots more, but those are the biggy sites.