Brandon's Birthday

It's all about clear ice balls and the endless pursuit for the perfect pineapple upside cake. Robin, it will just never be the same.

Happy 38th Birthday Brandon!

Water Jets

It was such a good swim season. I love summer swim team! Here are some highlights!

One of my favorite swim quotes

Grant's entry into the pool! (we are so proud of him for going off the blocks!)

Pops always on the sideline cheering - sometimes so close he could fall in! 

Aunt Martha & Uncle George came to watch the kids swim at the IVY Club

The 2nd best thing besides the actual swimming are the games between events!

Wow - does Grant get blonde in the summer! G and his friend Jude. 

Check out that tan line! 

Good sportsman ship waiting to shake opponents hand at the end of a race

Sometimes your relays win ducks! (3 girls in a 4 person relay...hmmm) 

"Eat My Bubbles" @ the end of the season county meet - the only time I let them do this.

Now this looks like a record breaking relay team...almost! Maybe 2019!

At the end of season celebration we were really surprised when both kids were recognized as high point winners for their age bracket. Pretty cool for siblings to win this award! 

Grant & Zachary  

You say Topeka, I say Towanda

There was a scientific scavenger hunt booklet that the kids got before school was out. It had different locations to visit during the summer and certain things to look for at the locations and then you got the book stamped. We went to the botanical garden and Riverfront Museum. One day at swimming I mentioned to my friend that there was this booklet and there was a fish hatchery as one of the locations. She is a teacher at the school and she had actually organized for the school to receive these fun booklets and she wanted to go take her kids to the fish hatchery too! ROAD TRIP! 

From the pictures you can tell that we did indeed make it to the fish hatchery but not without a story! It all started with two moms, four kids and the driver (me) turning off the GPS the first 5 minutes into the trip. My reading comprehension skills are not as sharp as they once were and I thought we were going somewhere near Towanda which is about 45 minutes East of our house. After driving that direction for 40 minutes we realized that I had indeed guided us in exactly the wrong direction because the fish hatchery was not near Towanda, but Topeka. We had told the kids that after we went to the hatchery we would go to a donut shop. Given that we had a swim meet that night we had to make a choice...just do donuts, OR skip the donuts and find the fishery but it would take another hour to get there! To our pleasant surprise the kids said they were good without donuts (perhaps the donut tour was still to fresh!) and they wanted to get to the hatchery! This time using GPS we drove right to the Jake Wolf Memorial Fish Hatchery! And let me just say it was an amazing little field trip! 

When we first walked in it appeared as though we had to schedule a tour ahead time and this was really a bust. However, we took a chance and called and scheduled a tour in 5 minutes. They sent a guy right up to give just the 6 of us a tour. We saw the inside, the outside, got to feed the fish, ask questions, etc... This 20 something guy was so kind to the kids and incredibly patient with all of their questions. Kate and I were trying to figure out who we could set him up with - quite the catch :) (pun intended). 

So my horrible sense of direction lead us on a longer than expected adventure but it was so worth it! 

Geneva

Summer family trip back to Geneva! Everyone was with us but little Megan and Andrew...thanks for giving us a reason to have to come back! 

And we are off!

Last minute technology updates before take off

Jet-lag...and an upset tummy. First time she has ever been sick on a plane. This was  at our layover in Zurich.

There are many sleeping pictures. Let's just say this family can fall asleep pretty much anywhere and anytime. Jet lag #thestruggleisreal

First purchase...fans. After we figured out how to say that in  French and that we weren't looking for hair dryers! Oh how we missed the language debacles!

  We had a small hiccup with our accommodations. As in two weeks before our departure the air conditioned apartment we had rented had been sold and was no long available to us. Never fear we found a quick substitute, but it was on the 5th floor and no AC. So there are also a lot of picture with some of the gentlemen in the family with their shirts off. It was July and Geneva, it was hot. I'm not going to lie, the ladies might have been a little jealous of the men's ability to shed layers so quickly.
   We went out for pizza the first night. We thought it was the place we used to always go to, until we found THAT place on the last night! But we were all pretty wiped anyway so it was all for the better. We really just needed food!

First trip to the Jet d'eau

First glass of Swiss white (not the last!)

Sunday at our old church! We sat in the balcony. Hot air rises. And they still have to close the windows when the bells from the cathedral start gonging during the sermon.

L'Entrecote, oh how we have dreamed of your salad, steak, frites and the porfitorolls!

A little afternoon game of Swiss Monopoly with une Coca

After a brief respite we headed back to tour Old Towne and a trek to the top of the cathedral Saint Pierre.

No, Pops wasn't taking the picture. He was on a park bench at the entrance!

The view afforded for those who made it to the top!

Reformation Park...aka home of the some of the best people watching

Parc Des Eaux Vives and Caterpillar

The current Caterpillar employees

Reenactment of David walking into the glass door

Dad neogiating in his best French with the security guard to let us in for a brief looky Lou...we were denied despite his best efforts!

The old hair dresser, Cesar!!

Chinese in Switzerland! (I nailed the ordering en francais!)

Watching the Cardinal game on Uncle David's phone - you can take the American out of the USA, but we will still find a way to watch the Cardinals!

If I could only remember what this conversation was...I am going to guess it has something to do about the 5 flights of stairs in our future with heavy groceries!

Sometimes you just need the arches

Making his own Swiss Army knife

A little parade of horses and bells at one of the shopping centers that goes off each hour

Long skirts in escalators...the need for the warning is real, right Auntie Amber? ;)

Old school bus stop

The still have the Road Runner and candy store next to the bus stop at the school!

  Before heading over to the other side of the lake for apero we had a visit at the old school.

Train ride to Nyon for the apero

With the Hauris!

The old neighborhood and our house.

6 Chemin de la Vinganaire

The old neighbor's house who always had beautiful flowers and perfectly manicured lawn!

At the port Onto Yvoire, medieval historic village in France. In search of Pomme Frites and Filet de Perche! Maybe a crepe too!

Mode of transportation for the week. It was super fun to find a parking spot at night.

Just frites, hold the fish

There may have been a little confusion about which place we used to go to for this famous perch meal, but it was still good!

The garden of the 5 senses. Fun little tour we did after lunch.

This brings back some old memories - Mom and Dad looking at the map plotting our route for the day!

World Cup in Switzerland!

 

A hot game of Qwirkle

4th of July  - Chocolate making class, Gruyere, Chateau de Chillon and a celebration at the Hauris! Very non-American  and VERY special! A 4th of July for the books!

Walked into the village of Gruyere greeted by cows and their bells!

 When in Chillon you must find the medieval bathroom and pose for a picture!

Racqulette at the Hauris. Two kinds of cheese, one from summer cows, one from winter cows, some the best sausages ever and Peter played our national anthem on the Swiss Alp horn! Amazing! David gave it try too! Not as easy as Peter made it look!
Burger King at the Gare. The kids needed a burger, the king delivered!

Dice, the international game that needs no language explanation! These four had such a good time together despite the language barrier. 

Fondue in the mountains. It was really chilly and really tasty! The best part was the walk in the cow pasture after dinner. Christian took the kids up close to the cows.
The drive home after fondue in the mountains. The Jet d'eau all a glow! We used to joke that we had to be home before they turned it off because it was landmark!

Annecy France the next day. Chilly in the am, but by paddle boat time we were shedding layers. Annecy happened to be a stage of the Tour de France so they had a lot of extra activity going on. Including crazy bikes!




Art of Annecy

After we visited the Annecy Chateau, that was really more like an art museum we went to the top of Le Saleve.

Playing with their toy from their kids meal from Mr.Quick in Annecy

Now, everyone sleep!

Collonge Belle Rive, our old "country club" - not really a country club just a place we used to frequent a lot. They have upgraded substantially over the years! 

Fun bird lemon squeezer

 Would it be vacation without a wrestling match?
Last day...United Nations & Botanical Gardens We have to get our Swiss food fix while we can!

This, THIS is the place with the awesome pizza! 

I always loved the swans!

After dinner we ended the night with a trip around the Swisswheel! The kids swear they gave us mints before we got on the ride...the adults do not remember any mints! 

We travel light. The doors to the apartment building. And the flight home. We were tired...always tired! What an awesome week. It was perfectly Swiss perfect! Life is so good!