More birthday pics

Planeta Magic, the indoor play place where we had Elliot's party, is no doubt a five year old's dream place for a party -- trampolines, big blow up things to jump and roll on, a slide that dumps you into a big bin of balls, ropes to swing on and, if you are the birthday child, a throne to sit in and crown to wear as your birthday cake is brought to you. With the exception of the noise level, it is also my dream place for a party since they do everything (including baking the cake) and even have a civilized bistro where adults can sip coffee and almost actually hear each other while the kids bounce off the well-padded walls. Several of Elliot's friends from his kindergarten came (Boris, Fabian and Elon) as well as Elon's sister Aueollie, Elliot's hiking buddy Eames and Isaac's friends Da'Rion and Roberto. We rented a minibus so that everyone could ride together. Fun was had by all and by the time we made it back home, we were totally pooped (see last pic...!).

Birthday Morning

We celebrated Elliot's birthday this morning with chocolate chip pancakes (a birthday tradition in our household) and then he opened up the packages that we recieved from Grandma and Papa, Sally, Dan, Natalie, Nicholas and Alex and Omi and Cotton. Lots of surprises and fun, including rocket ballons (very fun, very noisy), Harry Potter and Shrek music cards, a homemade card by Natalie and Nicholas, a Formula 1 (?) race car, spiderman pajamas, snoopy comics, a cool parrot light (that Elliot has named "Buckbeak"), world map and flags, snacks from the USA and lots of fun stickers! We saw the mountains from the boy's bedroom window this morning (which are not always visible) and Elliot said that the Alps had come out wish him happy birthday. Still to come today, a party at the indoor trampoline play park, but in the meantime here are some pics from the morning...

Familiar Names

As I've mentioned before, sometimes our journeys in Switzerland leave me feeling strangely at home. In particular, there are a lot of familiar surnames I see as we travel around Zurich and the country side. Here are a few that I've captured on film so far.

The first name is Fuchs. We hope this post finds Susannah doing well in St. Louis with Alex and her two boys. I'm guessing Fuchs is more German than Swiss, but northern Switzerland is heavily influenced by its northern neighbor.

Couldn't help thinking about my friend Matt Streiff from New Glarus when I saw the little sign below the number 9 attached to the large ski lift poles in Filzbach. Apparently one of his relatives has done quite well supplying the foundational poles for ski lifts across Switzerland. Reminds me of a Swiss joke I knew as a kid (punchline: yah, but we put our poles all the way into the ground and they left theirs sticking way up in the air).

Finally, Sally's family apparently knew that they had the equivalent of the softdrink Squirt (Squirt might be a midwest brand) selling all over Switzerland.

I'll try to get a few other familiar names on film before I leave.

Boy Conversation

Here's a recent conversation that Isaac had with his friend Da'Rion as they were hanging out in the boy's room playing keyboard and banging on a little drum. Amazing how much ground gets covered in less than a minute of conversation...

D: I'm going to be a fighter.
I: I'm going to be a superhero.
D: I’m going to fight dragons and bad guys.
I: You’ll die. You'd better be a superhero instead.
D: I don’t care if I die. I just care about protecting my baby sister.
I: I want to protect the city.
D: You can’t protect the whole city, you’ll die... You won’t die. You just have to pray to God. God is a ghost.
I: God is everywhere.
D: God is the wind so God is a ghost.
I: God is in rocks and trees and everything.

Christmas in Zurich

Christmas comes but once a year, and in 2007, it came in an especially pleasant way. Elena's parents and sister all arrived about a week before Christmas and helped us celebrate a holiday to remember. Here's a barrage of some of my favorite images from the holiday.

The first shots are taken on one of our favorite hikes -- the Utliberg Hike. The day was stunning - at the elevation of the hike, there was a layer of clouds that made the hills and surrounding mountains seem magical, ephemeral. Elena's Mom and I both missed this as we had a bout of rotovirus that kept us close to the bed and bathroom for several days (that's one way to keep the holiday pounds off!).

There was still plenty of shopping to do after everyone arrived. Luckily, the 3 Sundays before Christmas are the ONLY Sundays of the year that stores are open in Switzerland. Here's a shot inside a scrumptuously decorated specialty shop on Bahnhopft Strasse near the main train station.







Christmas morning met all the boys' expectations. Santa even left a note of confirmation that he could find the boys all the way in Zurich. Writing this letter must of made Santa hungry, as all four cookies left for Santa (we thought 4 would be a safe margin) were no where to be found on Christmas morning.

We were also fortunate to have a truly white Christmas as the trees behind Elena's sister Maria show in this picture.

















All of us not stricken by the bug took a hearty walk on Christmas day to the wood near our house. Here the boys and Elena's father explore the nearby trails.


We also got a few shots of the boys enjoying a few of their presents, including matching West Virginia hats with their names on them and some cool flexible colored styrofoam tubes that can be used to create all sorts of fun things (below).









In the picture Elena's dad and Isaac are creating a funny man (note to Maria - does he look like your imaginary friend from your childhood?).

Below: Elena's Mom and Elliot revive their "queen and knight" game using rolls of Christmas wrapping paper as their swords.









My parents also sent the boys all the Harry Potter books they haven't read. We quickly dived into the Goblet of Fire, with Elena's sister Maria reading one chapter aloud to the boys.

Before Christmas Elliot's kindergarten class had a very warm and wonderful holiday play. Elliot had a special role - he played the Queen's horse and had to carry the queen everywhere she went during the play. The 45 minute play with singing and dancing was followed by some delicious holiday treats provided by all the parents in the class.






I also got a shot of Elliot asleep in his bed. As a nightlight, Elliot has decided to use a string of Christmas lights so he'll never miss a minute of the anticipation and remembrance of this really great Christmas. We can only imagine the incredible dreams of a four year old around this time of year.








Elena got this cool shot of Isaac and Maria as we wound up our shopping one night. The lights displayed around the central part of Zurich are dazzling.
















After a heavy day of shopping we settled into a favorite restaurant that used to be the city armory (back in the late 1400's) and had a hearty meal of Swiss favorites. Many thanks to Maria, Gertraud and Carl for making the big trip, especial for Carl, as he was recovering from shoulder surgery related to a roller blading accident. We'll not soon forget this magical Christmas season in Switzerland.

The Magic Age of Six

Neither of the kids are six - Isaac is 7 and a half while Elliot will be five by the end of the month. But in Switzerland, the magic dividing line is six. If you are under six and live in Switzerland, most things are free -- riding on trains, trams, and buses; getting into museums; going to the swimming pool or ice skating.

So, while Elena was visiting her relatives in Germany and I was alone in Zurich with boys, I decided to give them a real treat - a night out at the movies! We were going to see Ratatouille, which is still playing in Zurich.

We got to the theater at 4:45, with a good 25 minutes to spare before show time. When the ticket sales person casually asked how old the boys were, I naturally thought he was going to let Elliot in free (or at least at a reduced rate) since he was less than 6.

Imagine my shock when he informed me that Elliot was not allowed into the theater because, in the city of Zurich, no children under the age of six are allowed in movie theaters. He seemed to remember, however, that in Basel, the age limit was five (big help, as this is hours away by train).

After a few seconds of being stunned, I regrouped and decided to high-tail it with the boys to another theater across the river. A couple of other movies were playing at this theater and we may still have time to attend if we hustled. We rush up to the theater and the only movie that hasn't started is 'The Golden Compass', which I read online was a little violent as the animals in it engaged in some pretty tough though imaginary battle scenes. I thought they could handle it, as they have scene the first 2 Harry Potter movies, Star Wars, and the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, though, in each case, they had read the book aloud with us before viewing the movie (yes, there is a Star Wars book and is it bad).

This time, when the ticket sales person asked there ages, I gave both boys a two-year promotion - Elliot was 6 and a half and Isaac was nine. He looked at me as said, 'I really don't think the movie is right for children that age. It's complex and they won't know the characters.' After going back and forth for about a minute, with me probing him about why he didn't think it was right and if there were any other alternative movies that hadn't started.

But, it was obvious we had been defeated. We licked our wounds and went to a store in the main train station and bought the third Harry Potter movie, which the boys hadn't seen yet. We had a great night anyway, and the 13 franc price for the video pales in comparison to the 18 franc per person cost of movie tickets and the inevitable over-priced popcorn that would have followed.