I am playing a bit of catch up today. We have been enjoying Spring so much that we are using most waking moments on the weekends to be outside.  A couple of weekends ago we decided to head to Emmental for their hot air balloon festival. We asked our friends Nick and Kima (South African friends…we met in Bogota..living in Zug, Switzerland now) if they wanted to join us. The weather was amazing.  After arriving to the location where we saw signs for the festival we learned that the balloons had landed early in the morning and that there would in fact be no balloons to see. OOOOKKKAAAy. Now that our little boy has been deflated. We decided to take a walk down to the cheese factory. We of course hit up a bakery on our way and stopped for a little snack. Followed by a nice picnic in the grass. Basically we were together for a couple of hours and ate most of the time! It was so fun to see the kids playing together and to catch up a bit. Thanks Nick and Kima for being good sports about the non-festival of balloons. Most friends would have been pretty annoyed to have driven so far.

pretending there is a big, beautiful balloon attached to the basket

sweet Erin

the boys were rewarded after being good travelers with popsicles on the porch.

The next day, Sunday, we were invited to a picnic to celebrate one of Jackson’s buddies birthdays. The picnic was at the Bern Rosengarten that overlooks Old Town. It was another beautiful day. The kids enjoyed running freely while the adults enjoyed picnicking and chatting. A highlight for Jackson was that the big fountain had a bunch of frogs swimming in it.

On Saturday we took parents to get a glimpse of some sun and the mountains. A cloud seemed to have settled into Bern and was having a hard time lifting. Since we arrived everyone tells us that on cloudy weeks the key to sanity is getting a little weekend time above the clouds. They were right. We drove from cloudy Bern with zero mountain views and arrived about an hour later at a mountain paradise.

We rode a gondola (not my favorite) up the mountain and first got off to check out Gimmelwald. Seth loves to follow Rick Steve’s lead. There wasn’t a whole lot going on in Gimmelwald besides chalets and a mini me cheese cottage. We bought some snacks there and walked around the tiny village. Then we got on the gondola again and rode up to the ski town of Murren. It was so much fun to see everyone getting around using sleds, skis, etc. We were the smart ones that tried to push Owen in a stroller. Next time we are renting a baby sled all the way!

We had lunch at a little restaurant. Most of us ordered hot ham and cheese sandwiches. When they arrived it was more like a hot ham and cheese sandwich covered with an entire plate of rachlette-type cheese. It was so yummy but my oh my it’s a good thing we got some walking in that day!

We took in amazing views, watching parasailers brave the cliff-side air space and watched the skiers fly down the mountain! It was truly above  the clouds.

our trusty guide

cheese shop

Owen took cues from the Swiss babies. when it was approaching naptime he threw his chubby arms out and passed out! Next time he will be in the sled!

Loved this cute vintagy looking poster for a boutique in town

In early December I was invited to go on a girl’s getaway to celebrate my dear friend Leigh’s 30th! She had invited a group of her friends from Germany and asked if I would come along. I was honored! We headed out on Friday afternoon and Seth graciously dove in as SuperDad and kept the boys until Sunday afternoon when he and the boys joined us! So I got to have Friday night, Saturday and most of Sunday just with the girls. We ate and chatted and ate some more, shopped a little at the Interlaken Christmas market, drank hot wine, ate some more! Each of us took on a meal and it was really fun because everyone got really into their meals. We ate like queens all weekend and I am confident my pants were tighter when we left the chalet. It was such a fun time of celebrating Leigh and getting to know her sweet friends!

I missed the memo about wearing skinny jeans and tall boots. I have since gotten with the program and got some skinny jeans to go with my boots! Sheesh, someone should have told me sooner!

Katy Jo unexpectedly got to tag along for the girls weekend and was such a pleasure! She was a great sleeper and such a sweetie!

this was the view of the mountain directly in from of our chalet. Stunning!

Bo, Leigh and Katy Jo.  We are enjoying every chance we can to hang out while we live so close!

The boys and Seth came up on Sunday night to join in on the fun. We stayed in the chalet until Tues morning when we headed back to Bern. Unfortunately, we had no idea that Owen had a double ear infection. He didn’t sleep more than 20 mins at a time the first night and the second he was up screaming ALL night! Despite the ear infection and sleepless nights we enjoyed being on our first getaway as a family of 4. We sat by the fire, sipped hot chocolate and champagne and enjoyed each others company. We hope to go back someday when everyone is healthy!

carpenters workbench in a little shop we went in

We had kind of an extended Thanksgiving this year. We spent Thanksgiving Day in Bern doing untraditional things like eating Chinese food and walking around downtown looking at the windows all decorated for Christmas.  I will be honest holidays away from home are not something I look forward to. By the afternoon I was knee deep in self-pity and if my tired brain is remembering correctly my sweet husband had to basically say that he wasn’t going to want to hang out with me and take me to dinner if I didn’t cheer up. It is a weird lifestyle to begin with most days of the yr but I find holidays to be the toughest.  But by the time we had some dinner and took in some holiday cheer downtown things were looking up. On Friday we headed up to Kandern (not sure if it’s actually up but we headed there) for the weekend with Bo, Leigh and Katy Jo.

It has been a surreal experience for me each time we are with the Bowen’s on this side of the ocean. I always hoped to live near Leigh when we were both grown up and were married with babies but never thought it would happen. After going through all of the jr high, high school and college journeys together it is fun to continue the journey in closer proximity.

Here are some pictures from our Thanksgiving celebrations both in Bern and Germany

And now off to Kandern…it was a snowy day so we were a bit nervous about the roads. They were clear and it was amazing to do a roadtrip in a winter wonderland!

Friday night Bo and Leigh had arranged for some students from BFA to watch the kids so the grown-ups could go out to dinner! It was a much-needed night out!

pumpkin soup!

so maybe walking the icy hill with a loaded stroller wasn’t the wisest of decisions

the finished bird…best yr yet. Maybe we have finally gotten the hang of it.

I attempted a turkey roll for Jackson…he wasn’t as impressed as you would expect!

our spread

Bo had a broken foot but was a good sport about hosting a crowd!

Jackson waited all week to use the turkey napkin ring he had made at school. The time had finally come! He was so proud of his creation!

Owen had a wonderful first Thanksgiving..he wasn’t so sure of the strawberry bib that KJ lent him but he loved the food!

We had a wonderful weekend and arrived home on Sunday afternoon in time for Seth to shovel the driveway and Jackson to get some rosy cheeks! Followed by a round of hot chocolate!

Let the holiday season begin!