October 12 - Lake Murten/Morat with Katie, pumpkins

We kidnapped Katie for a day and went to Lake Murten... it was fogged in. It was so nice in Fribourg that we thought a walk on the lake would be a good idea, but the fog from the lake took over. It cleared out late in the day ... it was a nice day and a nice walk... remote controlled airplanes, parks, ice cream, lunch, lots of people watching.

We went into the castle walls before we left...I'd seen those a hundred times on visits there, but never went in. It gave us some nice views.

On our way home, we stopped by a roadside pumpkin stand where they trust you to pay for what you take...so we got some pumpkins (and paid for them) from there. The girls loved that, but I missed Burt's Pumpkin Farm in North Georgia with the corn maze.

October 11, 2008 - 4 years old

Kacey turned 4 years old on October 11th. We surprised her with a .......

JUMPY CASTLE!

Charlie, Luca, Alexsandra, Eva, Piera, Leonardo, Asia, Sam, Cambelle, Benji, Molly, plus Katie, Marti, and many parents were here for the fun. The castle was a big hit in the neighborhood.

The Swiss party supplies are very different from the American party supplies. The have canisters that explode with lots of toys... like a pinata, but with fire instead of bats. And these 'serpentine' things...round paper rolls that you blow and they roll out looking really neat and making a big mess. Kids loved them.

Since her birthday, Kacey sometimes just stops what she's doing, looks at us and says, "I just can't believe I'm 4!" Or, "Did I do that a long time ago, when I was three?," speaking of whatever we might be discussing. Anyway, we can't believe she's 4 either...I guess she's heard us say it a few times, just like everything else that comes out of her mouth these days.

Susie got diapers for Kacey's birthday.

October 2008 - A milestone on the 4th, to be exact...

This first happened on October 4th, but this video was taken 3 days later...






And Kacey wanted to show her new skill off also...

October 9, 2008 - A surprise for BB

Okay, it's really 3 surprises... Happy Birthday!

October 2008 - Mac and Cheese!

Your response to our request for mac n cheese has been .... ummmmmm.... overwhelming!! And really appreciated. ... I'm wishing I'd requested some muscadines and a Willy's burrito and salsa ... and perhaps a new car .... but live and learn. :-)







Thanks Denise and Frank!!!!








In the middle of our onslaught of mac and cheese, it snowed. I think it was October 2nd... just in the mountains. But I knew if it snowed us in, we were stocked up!!! It stayed cold over the weekend and now it's back up into the 60's here and I don't see any snow, so I guess it's warm in the mountains, too.





Thanks Kate!!!! (And Anne, Scott, Will, Ben!)

Thank you, Grammy and BB! We love the coloring books and lizards.

Thank you, Gram!!!

September 2008 - Cow Festival

Cows in parade ... plus a cute wave.


Okay, these aren't cows ...

In the Fall, lots of villages hold festivals, dress up the cows in flowers, and parade them down from the soon-to-be-snow-topped mountains. It's really interesting... we're sometimes in traffic jams because cows have the right-of-way.

We love the yogurt, so Im happy to let them go first so they can settle in there low land home and get back to work.

So impatient with the diaper changes...sometimes we just let her go back to the toys (but just for a minute.)

September - Hiking around, trains

The Billington's and us went on a hike around the Kaiseregg ... it was a cloudy day so we skipped the top and walked to a 'chalet' for some fondue, paragliding, zipcords, and windy weather.

We went to Vapeur Park, (a.k.a. 'the train park') with Luca's family.

The girls actually took a nap on the way home.

singing....