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

I seem to be catching up from early December. This cannot be unblogged because it was an exciting moment in the Kolb household.  The second weekend in December our friends Nick and Kima along with their cute kids Ben and Erin made there way to Bern for a fun time of visiting and of course eating. Nick and Kima live in Zug which is about an hour and a half from us (I previously posted pics of when they came back in August).

Kima offered to bring dessert for our meal. Nicholas had been traveling all week in Bogota and was arriving the night before coming to visit. Never once did I even consider our dessert may be from Bogota. When people ask what we miss from Bogota it is normally our friends and some of the treats like Rausch cookies and Myriam Camhi triple chocolate cheesecake. Nick and Kima came with a bag of surprises that contained, you guessed it, Rausch cookies and Myriam cheesecake!   They were amazing! We all sat a little speechless as we ate every crumb of cheesecake, including scraping the sides of the container! Thanks for the fun treats Nick and Kima! Brought back fun memories of Friday night take away and Wii competitions!

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