August 1 - Swiss National Day, like July 4th...

So, August 1 in Switzerland is a big holiday known as Swiss National Day. In the morning of that day, most farms extend an invitation to the public to join them for brunch.

Dave made arrangements for us and to go to Alp-Stoss Farm, near Lake Noir... it's on top of a mountain with views from every angle. The Billingtons went with us, too.

We drove up a steep, 1 lane road to 'who knows where' for many miles, then walked a couple of miles over the hills and through cow pastures (and paddies) to get to the farm house. Perfect weather, more than perfect scenery, and lots of interesting stuff to look at... the food was good, too.

This particular farm had cows and made cheese. The also had chickens, horses and pigs. They served potatoes, eggs, sausage, cheese, fresh bread and great jams/jellies, and yogurt. It was really enjoyable... and Marti and I heard the sound of Alpine horns in the valley on our walk out.
In the evening, we couldn't resist going to the park behind our house to see the results of some work we watched for 2 weeks. We'd go to swing, slide and feed the ducks and watch the Villars-sur-Glane workers build a pyramid of pallets and dry trees ... it was around 20 feet high.

It's apparently an annual August 1 event here...all the villages seem to have fireworks, but only Villars-sur-Glane has the bonfire. After food and a good fireworks show, all of the lights go out and they light this bonfire. Fortunately, all of the Swiss firemen are here to keep it under control...or I might not have a house now.

Kacey's school was there giving away Barbe a' Papa (aka Cotton Candy, but Papa's Beard in French). There was a huge 'Bouncin' Bob' style jumping thing which we hoped would use of the energy she got from the Cotton Candy (from the little red shirt in the picture above, you can see the energy exuding from her).

The entire day was very interesting... "July-4th-like" with some entertaining twists...

July 20 - A few warm days

The weather here has been cool to mild all Summer...given how pregnant I am, I've had no complaints about it, but others have been very dissappointed. There have been a few warm days these past few weeks that gave Kacey some time in the pool and in the
sprinklers ... so that's been a nice treat.

The pools here are funny...there aren't many, so the ones that exist are packed with thousands of people...they're like a beach with grass. And sorry guys, the women wear their tops (that wasn't always the case at the French lake we went to last week, but it is the case in Switzerland.)
Swimming by Chateau du Chillon in Lake Geneva...in Montreau.
Playing in the sprinkler with Charlie and Marti and a shower curtain turned into a slip and slide.

A new float in the Payerne pool.

July 15 - Amy and Neal visit

Amy and Neal met us in Geneva after spending a few days in France...including Bastille Day. They're on their honeymoon and are spending it with us! Amy got on our nerves a little...we've been here 4 months and she's been here 4 days and her French was right on... while ours is still non-existent. So that caused a little tension :-) Actually, it was nice to just set back and let her handle the talking!

After missing the Tour de France with them on Sunday, they tried to climb a mountain with Dave on Monday, but it was closed. So, they were 0 for 2 on their honeymoon with us. Things got a little better though. Tuesday, Dave took them on a hike in Chateau D'Oex. Wednesday we spent the day in Fribourg and climbed up the top of the Cathedral Tower... what a view... highly recommend that.
Thursday, we walked a valley outside of Lauterbrunen, near Interlocken...a valley of 2 million waterfalls or something like that...we saw about 10 and they were spectacular. Also saw lots of hangliders that day. Had a great day and good German food to finish it off.
Friday, they shopped for some Up Dog while we spent the day at the park. And, Saturday, our opera at the Roman ruins in Avenche was rained out. That was all the disappointment we could offer them for the week, so we shipped them off on the Golden Pass Railway Sunday morning to Lucerne, where they had 5 more days of honeymoon freedom from the chaos of dealing with a pregnant woman and a 2 year old. And, Amy was ready to get Neal back... she and I would leave him and Dave crashed out on the living room sofas everynight.

July 13 - Bailing Hay, Tour de France

The hay behind our house was cut down and bailed up over the past few days.









And we took our first trip to France. We drove over and caught one of the stages of the Tour de France...it was about 2 hours from our house that day. We set ourselves up 500 m or so from the end of the stage. The cars, campers, buses and crowds were entertaining... especially this particular car tent.




And we were there VERY early, so Kacey had hours to play in the creek. Of course, my camera batteries died before the bikes came by...oh well...it would have been a blur anyway.




But, it was great to be there and we would recommend it highly. But, it wasn't so different from the Tour de Suisse or the Tour de Georgia.





We did learn the next day that we were fortunate to see it. We met up with Neal and Amy in Geneva Sunday morning, July 15, and we tried to go back to the stage that day, but the after sitting in Atlanta-style rush-hour traffic for a long time, the roads were closed before we made it. We stopped and spent some time on a French beach at Lake Annecy instead, then drove back to Fribourg that evening to kick off a week with Neal and Amy...which is always an adventure!












And, I can't resist finishing our Tour de France posting with a photo of our favorite cyclist...

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.