February 23 - The Duma's visit

The Duma's, our friends and neighbors from Flowerland Drive, came to visit us. Anne and Kate arrived a week before Scott and the boys. We played continually the entire time they were here... it was great. Their first day here, we tried to keep them awake by walking to the park, playing, and feeding the ducks. After that, they took a little nap and that's all the sleep we got all week long :-) Kacey was in heaven having Kate here to play with her. The weather here had been incredibly warm...no snow, but lots of sun and warmth. That's okay, but we'd hoped for some snow to play and ski in...no signs of that though.












Kate was brave on the 'big slide.'

We showed Kate where the 'dried bread for the ducks' was stored. Gross, don't eat it girls!

We fed ducks and rode on ducks.
Sunday, we took the 'Golden Pass' scenic train to Gstaad to hang out for the day. Weather was great, lunch was great ... all was great except that Lu left her backpack on the train. Very fortunately, they tracked it down and it made it back to us before we left.

Hands up...we're in a tunnel.

Horses, playgrounds and bungee cord trampolines were a hit for Kate and Kacey.

Cambelle had a built in babysitter for the week. I tried to hire her.

Dave with the girls.

Monday, we went to the Schilthorn, and unfortunately I have no pictures, but it was a beautiful day. Also noteworthy about our trip to the Schilthorn is that Kacey earned her scooter up there... thank you, Anne! Tuesday, we just did a little shopping while Kacey was at school and a little painting after school was out.

Here's a picture of us in Gruyere on Wednesday...just before our fondue lunch and just after out tour of the Cheese factory.

One of many Swiss cats roaming around in Gruyere.

Kate and Anne walk around in the Gruyere Castle.

Thursday, we went into Montreau and walked through Chateau du Chillon. Kate posed by the flowers.

The girls explore the dungeon at the castle... they're hunting for the dragon, but apparently it was napping.

The 'princesses' running through the castle.

Scott and the boys arrived on Friday and we went to Avench and Fribourg that afternoon. We had raclette that night. Yes, a busy first day...we shocked them into Swiss time. The boys loved the zip cords that are at the Swiss playgrounds.

Here's a picture of their family in front of our house, PLUS Kacey admiring Kate.

We left Saturday morning and drove to Zermatt. That was an adventure... we stayed in Ausserberg, on the hill above the Valais about 45 minutes outside of Zermatt. Then went back into Zermatt on Sunday to ski with the masses...Zermatt is a crazy place...no cars are allowed so you must take a train to the city. But the lack of cars is replaced with these ridiculous little taxi buses and horse and carriage taxis... and they drive like maniacs. It felt like New York City! Aside from the inherently crazy nature of Zermatt, the weather was perfect (although snow was limited) and the crowds were all there to ski...I wish someone could have filmed us trying to get skis and gear and babies and kids on the crowded train to go ski... It's was insane...but this view made it worth the effort.

Here is the view that Cambelle and I have while hanging out up top while everyone skis...it was tough on me, but someone had to watch the baby :-)

Yep, that's the Matterhorn... think of this next time you eat some Tobblerone.
The girls have no idea that there is any kind of view behind them... crayons and markers outweigh all views.

Dave, Will and Ben at the top.
Will with Ben in the background.









Scott and Anne skiing late in the day.
We survived skiing and made it back to the hotel. Here's a picture of Cambelle and her other babysitter... Ben. She and Kacey love the Duma boys...they had to be glad to get away from us :-)

Also at the hotel... a trampoline!

These were the backyard occupants of our hotel...just above the hotel on the hill, I heard bells, looked up and saw a group of these little guys. So we had to move closer and check them out. They were the cutest, most playful things ever.

Anne liked them a lot.

And, they liked her fingers!

Will and Ben walked up to see them, too. Behind them, the hotel is the brown building to the left. And the valley below is behind them...you can see a small airport down there. Finding the hotel was interesting in the dark, climbing up a steep one lane road.

Here's the farmer who came up to feed the goats. He spoke not a single work of English, except to say "Obama.". Yes, the goat farmer here is an Obama fan... we're amazed at how much people know about American politics...much more than we know (I should speak for myself here...Dave does know a lot more than me.) But, Dave always manages to communicate and make friends...even over the language barrier.
Kate greets the parents of the baby goats.






Kacey gives the goat her biggest grin.

Next to the goats, is a small barn filled with some of the cutest sheep and lambs ever. The farmer for them came up while they were there, also. We find it so interesting that they think nothing of us being there and checking out their livestock... they welcome us and the girls love it.









Sadly, the Duma's headed out from here, on their way to Italy and Germany...what a relief to them to escape the insanity of travelling with us and our baggage...a baby and an exhausted three year old! After leaving the craziness of us, they can really be on a vacation. :-)

But, it was great having them over here...we were flattered that they came to see us and we hope they'll get back to visit soon or at least ship their kids over for the Summer :-)

And, the day after they left us, it snowed in Fribourg ... over 6 inches ... oh well.