Freedom Fries

dimanche 2 septembre 2012

Summer in Switzerland

In between trips, we did have a little bit of time to hang out at home. Summer vacation here started on July 6 with the Fete du Chene, a celebration in our village including a parade and community party afterward.

We celebrated Bastille Day in France on the 14th of July

And the Swiss national day on August 1, complete with fireworks and a bonfire.

We spent lots of days at the Nyon pool, which appeared to be the communal gathering place for all pregnant women in the region

We went to watch the spectacle every week we were around at Signal de Bougy

And while there enjoyed the animals and the playgrounds.

We went and did the ropes courses at Signal de Bougy a couple of times

And it all came to an end with school beginning again on the 27th of August. I can't believe Jonas is going to the big school with Jaxon now! We really had such a great summer. I had quite a bit of work to do, but figured out that I could get a whole lot done when I took my computer to the pool/lake/park with me and let the kids do their thing. I felt like I needed to take advantage, as pretty soon that type of freedom for me will be coming to an end... Seven weeks seemed like the perfect length for a summer break. We had a couple of good trips, a visit from grandparents and lots of local activities, so we never got bored. I have to say, I kind of miss having my little buddies around all of the time, but they are happy to be back in school.

samedi 1 septembre 2012

Last day in Berlin

Leaving our hotel

Breakfast in Alexander Platz. We realized that wasps were happy to share our breakfast there, as well.

We decided to finish our trip off with a trip to the Jewish Museum Berlin. It seemed appropriate to finish up out trip their. Jaxon in the Axis of Holocaust.

We played some more hide-and-seek in the Axis of Exile

This is the "Fallen Leaves" memorial dedicated to the murdered Jews. These metal faces make an absolutely horrible noise when walked on, so clearly the kids loved it.

Putting pomegranates on the tree.

Learning to spell in Hebrew

Once again, our media deprived kids. They could have spent all days watching this old clip.

We finished up our day before heading out to the airport at an American Diner. This time we didn't have to go to the neighboring pizzeria to top off.

Daniel's Birthday

Daniel turned 31 in Berlin. We started the day at the Natural History Museum to see the largest dinosaur skeleton ever assembled. Daniel's birthday wish come true. Okay, so maybe it was more for the boys.

Certificate stating that this is the largest assembled dinosaur.

Watching the history of the universe in 120 seconds on the ceiling.

Afterward we headed over to a late lunch/early dinner to celebrate. We went to a nice Turkish restaurant that came highly recommended, but it ended up being a fairly disappointing experience. While the food was tasty, the portion sizes left something to be desired; I mean, really, did they have to skimp on the rice of all things? The stuff is just filler. It is always a bummer when you drop some cash on a meal and after have to go to the neighboring pizza joint to top it off to feel satisfied.

Next we went to the DDR museum which was all about life in the former East Germany. It was fun and very interactive for the kids.

Our media deprived kids, we could hardly drag Jonas away from this cheesy communist era kids entertainer.

The kids especially loved playing in the cars. This one was belonged to an "elite"

To continue Daniel's birthday celebration, we headed to Tropical Islands the next day. It happens to be the world's largest indoor water park (fact-checked on Wikipedia) and claims the world's largest indoor rainforest. Oh, and the big bubble it is in is the worlds largest structure without support pillars.