Wägitaler Lake

We decided to picnic today at Wägitaler Lake. This is a comfortably rural mountain lake that Rob takes on his "usual" climbing bike route. We actually went biking as a family all around the lake the week before. However, I threw out my back doing it (at 5 1/2 months pregnant), which ended bike trips for me -- until after this baby comes. The backdrop is gorgeous -- bleached white cliffs surrounding green pastures. It's hard to hear the sound of anything here but jingling cowbells.

We set up this family photo -- but forgot to cut out Anna's camera!

Mommy and the girls.

Checking for fishies.

Smile at the camera girls!

Here's a shot of my almost 6 month pregnant belly. It gets bigger much more quickly with each pregnancy! I'm already ready for it to be over.

Throwing rocks into the lake with Daddy.

Bertie the Bear

Anna Claire attends two different pre-schools -- one is in Swiss German, the other is biligual English and High German. Confusing -- but she is getting ready to start kindergarten next year in Swiss German. And she loves it. Her "English school" sent her home recently with the class pet -- Bertie the Bear. She got to read to him, feed him and take him everywhere. Anna took him to her favorite play spot -- right down the street from our house.

Grandma and Grandpa: Guten Morgen Zurich!

We spent Monday morning wandering around Zurich with Grandma and Grandpa. The nice thing about Zurich is that the main sites can easily be seen in a morning. And the city is so pleasant and clean to walk around. The girls just loved all the attention they received from both Grandma and Grandpa.

Looking across the river at Fraumunster. (Excuse my missing umlauts.)
Don't move, girls, it's a long way down!

Yet another carousel!

Grandma and Grandpa: Einsiedeln

On Sunday, we did a little "pilgrimage" with Grandma and Grandpa to Einsiedeln. It's a Catholic pilgrimage spot only 20 minutes away. Apparently, in 964 A.D. when they attempted to create the original monastery, he was halted by a heavenly voice insisting that God had already consecrated it. They were doing a service inside, so we didn't get to see much of the sumptuous interior (rare in the mostly Protestant Switzerland). Mariah and Anna, however, still really enjoyed climbing around the steps.

Hi guys!

Grandma and Grandpa: The Jungfrau

Grandma and Grandpa are here! My parents stopped in for a quick visit after touring the Baltic states. The girls were ecstatic to see them. Over the weekend, we took a trip to the Jungfrau, for the first time since we've lived here, believe it or not. We took a cable car up to Gimmelwald and walked around, enjoying the peaceful grassy hills and spectactular views.

1-2-3 Swing!

In front of the Jungfrau (obscured by mist).

Grandma and Grandpa.

Here's a peek through the clouds.

Mariah stopped at every watering trough to wash her hands.

No trip is complete without some swinging time. . .

. . .or sliding time. This slide was actually almost scary for adults -- really long and fast.

Down the hill with Daddy.

Bye Bye KaRynn

We said goodbye to KaRynn today. It was a sad farewell. After driving to the Geneva airport in the wee hours of the morning, the girls were not quite sure what was going on. But they were definitely upset. We are really going to miss KaRynn!

Mariah is in the background making her sad face.

Fun with KaRynn

Ever since KaRynn arrived, the girls have been having lots of extra fun. KaRynn entertains them non-stop. They are really going to miss her when she leaves. Below are photos of fun times with KaRynn. Most of them were taken by her. (She's a great photographer.)

Fairy dress-up time.

Pretty in pink!

I'm the pink sleeping fairy. . .

Puzzle time!

I'm hiding!

Peek a boo!

Me too!

Peek a boo!

KaRynn was somehow able to convince Anna to let her do her hair. A miracle!

Pretty girl!

Bathtime with KaRynn

The girls have had such a fun summer with KaRynn. They really loved it when she gave them baths. They would stick out their tongues so that she could spray water into their mouths, then splash all over the place.

Splash. Gotcha!

See the beautiful twist that KaRynn made.

I get the mohawk!

Time to get out! I've got my "papillon" (butterfly) towel.

And I'm the froggy!

Day Trip to Liechtenstein and Austria

One of the benefits of living in Zurich is that Liechtenstein and Austria are only just over an hour away. So we thought we'd add a few more countries to KaRynn's list (and mine -- Liechtenstein was a first). Liechtenstein is a tiny country, only about 25km long, with a population of around 32,000. It actually has open borders with Switzerland, which handles most of its foreign affairs, but is still quite a distinct country (which one would know if one had a bank account here -- better secrecy rules than even Switzerland). It has a king with power to dissolve Parliament, which he has even used recently. This is a close-up of the king's castle on the hill. No tours are allowed because the king really does live there. (After Liechtenstein -- we drove across the border to Austria for lunch -- and made it back for naptime!)

Running around in the garden in Vaduz (the Liechtenstein capital).

Let's play chase!

At the Seebad

Yesterday we decided to visit one of the "Seebads" (lake swimming areas) on Lake Zurich. Almost every community has one -- and they usually have lots of fun playthings for the kids there. Lake Zurich is actually quite warm and clean. They say it's so clean that you can drink the water. Although, I wouldn't. KaRynn went for a swim. (I tried this later -- and it was great!) This Seebad had a wading pool with fountains, a waterslide, sandpit, swings and a beach area. Here are the girls "pumping" water.

Anna Claire goes down the waterslide.

I can go down it too! Woah! "Scawy!"

Watch Daddy do it. It's not so bad.

Padding along the shore.

Swinging with Daddy.

Wading with the whole family.

Today, we found another great place. It's a park with the longest slide I've ever seen. They would never have something this fun/dangerous in the U.S.!