June 28, 2007 - Grammy and BB visit

Lawanna's parents, better known as Grammy and BB, finally made it over to visit.

They came with bags of stuff that we were unable to get into our luggage when we moved over. And fortunately, 'Baby' was in one of those bags.

And after we unpacked all those bags, we walked to the park to show them Kacey's second home and to keep them awake for a few more minutes ... plus, we had to feed our ducks.

Their first full day here, we went to Gruyere and walked through the castle and ate some Fondue and Rosti for lunch. Gruyere is a small, quaint hill town just south of Fribourg. 170 people live there ... 1 million visit each year. It's very cute, touristy... and known for cheese of the same name.

After lunch, I forced Kacey to eat Ice Cream. (I put this picture in just for those of you wanting to see a 'belly shot.'... Ashley, Mema.)

We had to rush home because I had locked Dave out of the house...but we got back in time for him to get to his work sponsored 'field day' where they played human foos ball (did I spell that right?) My work never did anything like that! (Also, I met someone there who grew up as one of 170 inhabitants of Gruyere...ironic, huh?)

That night, we went to an outdoor circus in which our 11 year old neighbor was performing... the kids were very impressive.

Saturday, we just drug them to the only parties we've had since arriving in April... Charlie's 1st birthday party and our neighborhood party. Both were a very cultural experience and gave us lots of chances to practice our French... or, for me, gave me the chance to smile and nod a lot...I did very little talking.

Interlocken was on our schedule for Sunday. Grammy didn't know what she was getting into or she would have probably stayed at home with the ducks. But we took a cable car up to the top of the Schtilthorn (don't grade my spelling on that one, either...). After the first 2 cable cars, we thought we were at the top...but those were just the appetizers. The final stop was over 10,000 ft up. We ate in the rotating restaurant and enjoyed the views for a bit.

On the way down, we found a park at one of the gondola stops, where Kacey and Dave rode this very long and fast slide!
And, we couldn't resist sticking our feet in the creek at the bottom.

We made it down just in time... within 30 minutes, strong winds and rains came in which would have made the gondola ride that much more exciting.

Later in the week, we took a train ride to Lucern, but it was a rainy day... nice trip, but rainy. The rest of the week, mom and dad harrassed our mail man and helped me grocery shop, clean and settle in ... and entertain Kacey.

June 27, 2007 - Charlie's 1st B-day, More Rainbows

Sorry to bombard you with rainbows, but they're really interesting. June has been a cold month ... and it' continued on into July. The highs have been in the 50's and 60's most of the time. It's rained almost everyday. Sometimes, the storms roled in late in the evening and catch the sunset, producing these amazing rainbows. This particular night, there were 2 complete rainbows... we had never seen anything like it.

And, Charlie turned 1 today. He and Marti came over for lunch on his birthday.... and brownies.

June 23, 2007 - Carnival, Bike Race, Pool

The second Saturday after Dave returned from Arizona was a really busy day. At the park behind our house, a Merry-go-Round and bumper cars were set up ... and hundreds of kids were playing soccer.
So, we had to hit the carnival...
and the park.
...and couldn't resist a picture from the wheat field that we walk past to get to those.



Then, after a nap, we drove 30 minutes away to catch the Tour de Suisse in Schwartzee. We saw the race, jumped in bouncy castles, watched some acrobatic team perform, ate some kind of German sausage thing, saw a parade of giant cow bells... then we stopped in a little hotel on the way home and ate some rosti.
The next day, we took Kacey to Fribourg's only public swimming pool...down in the 'hole' of old Fribourg. It was a hot day...one of the only hot days we've had here... probably 80 degrees. She was shivering, her lips were purple and she was completely devastated when we told her it was time to go... she would still be there had we not dragged her away from it.
She was dozing on the way home and collapsed on Dave within 5 minutes after we got back to the house... complete and total exhaustion is great to see in a two year old so full of energy.

June 15, 2007 - d'Oex Hike, Margaret&Phillip, Choc. Factory

Phillip and Margaret Moore came over from Atlanta. Before Margaret arrived, we took Phillip for a ride and hike in the mountains just south of us. Then we took him on a long ride further into the mountains while Kacey napped.

He and Dave couldn't resist checking out this waterfall. You can actually see them on the path in the picture below.

After Margaret arrived, we took a trip with her and Katie to Nestle's Callier Chocolate factory in Broc. Just what I needed.

June 15, 2007 - Just Playing

Dad came home from Arizona with a new Dr. Seuss book.












Chalk has been entertaining and getting a package of new chalk from Sam, Emily, and Liam made it that much more fun.












Dolls have to go everywhere with us these days...Suzi and Baby (Dave and I are great-grandparents.)

Little People planes, Dora cars, Little people markets, and dressing up are the next big hits at the house. Anything with Ariel, Dora, or any princess seems to be at the top of her priority list.

And dressing up Charlie is lots of fun too...poor little guy. Mom intervenes to protect him right now, but in no time at all, he'll be able to defend himself.

June 11 - Early June, Dave in Arizona, Fribourg Festivals

Dave left town on May 31 and didn't make it back home until June 16th. Kacey and I had a lot of time together. Both weekends that he was away, we ventured into Fribourg by train and by bus and came upon surprise festivals that were pretty entertaining. The first weekend, we came upon a street festival with jumping 'things', mini-train rides, American Indian bands, lots of street festival food and crafty type booths lined one of the big streets in Fribourg just outside the train station.
The next weekend we just happened to come upon an archaeology festival down in the 'hole', or old town Fribourg. We just went down there after church to visit a park I had noticed, but the festival was going on so we checked it out, too. Roman soldiers, skeletons, donkey rides, pottery... lots of kids activities for older kids, but Kacey was entertained by balloons, soldiers and the donkey.








And one day, we made jello pudding... it was a hit.

May 26, 2007 - Haircuts

Sticker shock is a common occurence over here. One of Dave's U.S. colleagues, Scott, went for a hair cut and ended up paying almost 40 Swiss Francs (~35$) for a haircut. So, Dave and another colleague, Tom, decided on a less expensive option and opened up their own barber shop in our back yard one night. Just one more reason for the neighbors to think we're just a bunch of crazy Americans.

So, it was a scary start, as you can see. But the final results weren't too bad.