Swiss Open Air Museum

Today we went to visit the Swiss Open Air Museum near Interlaken. I've wanted to visit this for awhile. Rob was in the U.S. so I thought I'd take Mara and the kids on a fun outing. The museum is a huge collection of traditional Swiss homes from all the different regions of Switzerland. There is so much to explore there--we need to go back! Here we are at the pottery shop.

Anna and Mariah at the woodcarver's shop.

One of the houses had a little built-in forest complete with elves -- just for kids.

The view behind us was breathtaking -- but the kids didn't seem to care.

Of course, the girls could not pass up the chance to go on a carousel. Maybe I should write a book on the carousels of Europe. I'm becoming an expert.

Gotta Go to Rapperswil

No one came come to our town without taking a little boat trip across the lake to Rapperswil. This time, we took Mara and Anna and Mariah had a great time showing her around.

Best friends!

Looking down from the castle/church area into the town.

Daytrip to Glarus and the Walensee

Rob went on one of his crazy long bike rides today so we met him along the way, in the town of Glarus on the acquablue Walensee. We devoured pizza and pasta at a delicious Italian place. Then Rob was off to beat the rain. We stayed around to play in the lake.

Here I am with my sunburned kids. Tyler has a familiar pose -- spit up hanging off of his lips. I've never had such a spitter for a kid.

Mariah and Mara are getting along really well, as you can see.

Duckies Mommy! Duckies!

Yippee!

Happy Birthday Anna!

We celebrated Anna's birthday today. I can't believe it -- she's 4 years old. Where has time gone? Anyhow, Anna Claire has been begging me for a purple princess cake for months now. So I thought I'd try it out. I bought a barbie while in the US. (I am really not a fan of Barbie because it creates unrealistic body image expectations...but I gave in for this.) Then I watched a Youtube video on the subject and gave it a try. That cake may look small -- but it's actually four layers. I even had to glob on extra frosting between the layers to cover up Barbie's long legs. It actually turned out pretty good and Anna loved it!

Here is a close-up of the "masterpiece".

We invited Anna's friend Ella and her family over for cake and ice cream. (I just couldn't do the big party thing this year.) My friend Melanie (Ella's mom) had the idea of putting the candles into the princess hands. It looked great!

Here is the birthday girl! I had made her a beautiful crown (our birthday tradition), but with all the commotion, we forgot to put it on her!

Here is a little peak at all the layers in this cake. Anna wanted chocolate and strawberry so I added vanilla pudding and strawberry jello to yellow cake to make the strawberry part. I believe that cakes should always taste good -- no matter what visual effect you're trying to achieve.

Mara is here!

My cousin Mara arrived yesterday to spend the next 7 weeks with us. We are so excited for her to be here. We wanted her to come longer, but she is going on a mission to Atlanta, Georgia in July. So exciting! The girls are thrilled to have her around. We took a little trip into downtown Zurich to show her around yesterday.

I always take a picture with my kids at this same spot when we go into Zurich, but this time I've got Tyler too!

Oh the many wonderful fountains of Zurich!

Glad to Be Back!

Here are Mariah, Tyler and Rob, lounging in bed together. Still recovering from our flight back from Florida. The vacation was great -- but we were up the entire time on the flight, trying to get the kids to sleep. When we finally arrived home Sunday morning, Rob went hometeaching and I suddenly got a terrible fever. I plopped the kids in front of the TV (what could I do?), put Tyler in bed, fell asleep and woke up with a fever of 104! I called Rob and he came home as quickly as possible to take care of the kids while I basically slept for 24 hours. (Meanwhile, Rob still didn't get much sleep because he had to deal with the kids' jetlag.) What a wonderful husband I have!

My Woolley Family Reunion in Florida!

We just spent the last week at a wonderful Woolley family reunion in Florida. My parents are leaving to serve a mission in Russia for the next 3 years so the entire family gathered for a last hurrah. The Florida Keys was a surprising choice for us -- given that we are all lily white and usually prefer cultural/history vacations. But it was perfect! Still in the U.S. (for Joy) and not too far from Europe (for us). We stayed at a fabulous resort -- but we got to stay in individual houses with little backyard pools (which the kids loved as much as the big ones). What did we do there? Schnarn, swim, scuba, see dolphins, play tennis, swim, swim, swim. (Oh, and Rob tried to bike but it's kind of hard when the main road is flat, narrow and very busy.) Despite the jetlag for us, it was so much fun to have a whole week of family time -- it wasn't enough!

A peek down the street where we stayed -- can you believe this is actually a resort? So homey.

Family pictures -- finally. My mom insisted that we get a huge family photo taken. It will be great to have, but trying to coordinate 13 grandkids plus 15 adults was not an easy task. We at least got something decent of our own family. At least they are all looking!

Mariah and Anna -- hurry up and wait for these photos.

Anna Claire with her cousins Gretel and Grace.

Tyler is looking a little drowsy.

We finally blessed Tyler with the entire family there. Rob gave him a really wonderful blessing.

Tyler checking out his cousin Isabel, who is 1 month younger.

Yes, mostly we swam, swam, swam. The kids loved the many themed pools. Here is Anna Claire paddling away behind her cousin Peter.

Mariah enjoyed hanging out with Grandpa Ken.

Rob and Chris started throwing her up in the air. She loved it and kept saying, "Higher! Higher!" She's a thrill-seeker like me.

Anna Claire didn't want to miss out on the fun!

Anna and Mariah with cousins Gretel and Olivia -- searching for seashells.

Tyler had fun in the sun too!

We visited a mini-Sea World place that had an amazing dolphin show. Look at this woman jumping off the dolphin.

My dad took a group of us for a ride in a bi-plane. Here we are: Ashley, John (who is actually a real pilot), Chris, Rob, me, Franz and Dad.

The ride was incredible. I felt like a WWI pilot. The plane's double wings allow it to take off a lot more quickly than a regular plane -- it was almost like an open helicopter ride.

I tried to get some photos of the keys below -- but all of them have these bars obstructing the view.

Unfortunately, the girls never quite got over jetlag. Here is Mariah going down for a long afternoon nap.

The two cousins -- only one month apart but look at what a chunker Tyler is!

Grandma Tia and Grandpa Ken with the babies. This perfectly captures my dad. A grandchild in one arm and a cellphone in another. (Actually, I think it's a camera here -- but it's usually a cellphone.)

It's icecream time!

Here, Mariah, have some more!

Goodbye Grandma and Grandpa. We'll miss you!

Fields of Gold

Today was a beautiful spring day and the flowers are in bloom all over our backyard. The girls ran outside to gather flowers. Isn't this a little girls dream?

SALZBURG: The Hills Are Alive!

For Easter weekend, we planned a last minute trip to Salzburg. We found a Kinderhotel just about 15 minutes away from Salzburg, across the border in Germany. It was fabulous. They do programs for the kids all day, so the parents are free to do as they please -- and the kids love it because they get to do crafts, play, etc.

Here we are on our way to church on Easter Sunday. We had to stop to get a photo in front of the beautiful mountain castle behind. (Tyler is sleeping in the car.)

This is one of the many lakes in the Salzburg region. Rob and I left the girls at the hotel and went biking around the lakes area. It was so refreshing for me to get back out on a bike.

Unfortunately, Tyler was just one month shy of being eligible for daycare, so he got to accompany us on our bikeride. He didn't mind at all.