Moving Day Number Two

     It's moving day once again, and to think we get to do this one more time.  The company found us a place for the next two months while we wait for our permanent place to become available.  They originally had us at one flat and then switched us to a totally different area.  It is nice, great bed, but in an older area with no grass area to play in, only two bedrooms, and no dishwasher.

Keith and my room, this bed is so comfortable.

Cool antiques throughout.

Tiny, tiny, kitchen.

Kelly and Josh's room - this should be interesting.

Tiny, tiny, bathroom.

There are two balconies - this one and one off the bedrooms.

Switzerland's Independance Day

     August 1st in Switzerland is us Americans Fourth of July and wow, do the Swiss know how to party.  I have never seen so many fireworks in my life.  Since they are legal, every kid is lighting off bottle rockets, firecrackers, and even the big shooting up in the air fireworks.  I was shocked that no one got hurt.  I asked Josh if he had lost any fingers yet, he casually said, "Just one."  Luckily he was just referring to a burn on his finger.  We spent the day at the pool with the neighbor kids, had dinner with all the neighbors in the common area, then, at 10:00pm we all walked down the street a few blocks and watched an amazing fireworks show from the Gurten.

Mattia and Josh

Josh and his new toy.

Fiona and Kelly

Elana and Kelly

Trummelbach Falls

      Sunday, my back was killing me so Keith took the kids on a little adventure after church.  They went to Trummelbach Falls which is near Luaterbrunnen.
      The Trummelbach Falls in Switzerland are a series of ten glacier-waterfalls inside the mountain made accessible by tunnel-lift and illumination.
     They said it was beautiful and had a great time.  ( I was sad to have missed it but I was glad to have a little time to myself and to rest my back.)

Chocolate and Cheese

    I was a little worried about Kelly going to girls camp, but she had a great time and even stayed at a friends house before she came home. Josh and I took a train Thursday out to the country to pick up Kelly after she had spent the night at Renate's house with her daughter Lara and their neighbor Noel Buri.  Kelly had a wonderful time at girls camp and staying over with her new friends.  They hiked, took a boat out to an island where they stayed in a cabin, went to a monastery, saw Rousseau's hideout, and made some darling new friends.  That afternoon we went back to the immigration office for Kelly's photo and fingerprints.  In the evening we went downtown and got caught in a torrential downpour.
     Friday we rode bikes to the pool, sat by the river, swam, and played ping pong.  I can't even describe how beautiful that ride is, or how beautiful the river is.  Josh and I were glad to have Kelly back.
      We will not have to live on the streets come August 3rd. The company has found us a furnished apartment for August and September.  We haven't seen the inside, but the outside looks great.

Losing a flip-flop in the Aare.

Playing ping-pong, the Aare is in the background.

    Friday night we met Keith downtown and then headed out to IKEA.  We tried to finalize our furniture decisions so we will be ready to order our stuff when the time comes.  We also found out that they will do a next day delivery and they will carry everything up the five flights of stairs.  That is a huge relief, but now Keith will have to put it all together.  Help!

    Saturday we met our friends Mike and Uma and took a train, then a bus, then a train, to get to the Callier Chocolate factory.  The kids thought they were in a Willy Wonka sequel.  We took a tour  where we walked from room to room as they told us about chocolate through the ages.  At the end we watched the chocolate being made and wrapped by a robot... and then my life long dream came true!  We moved into a room that was filled with thirty different kinds of chocolate and we could eat as much as we wanted.  No one was standing there counting how many pieces you stuffed in your mouth, no one was judging you for filling up your backpack with the trays of chocolate -- it was a complete free-for-all and I loved every minute of it.

The town of Bulle where we caught the second train.

This is the dream room where there are trays of chocolate.  Heaven!

  
    After getting sick on chocolate, we took a train to the Gruyere Castle.  It was an incredible castle on a hill in the town of Gruyere.  After the tour we had sandwiches and ice cream for dinner and just sat on benches overlooking the town.

The Gruyere Castle from the train.

Two local swiss kids in traditional costumes.

The cheese vault at La Maison du Gruyere, a
cheese factory which we did not end up touring.

In the town of Gruyere with Mike and Uma.

Performance art

Switzerland is too beautiful for words.

This is a  bar right outside the Giger Museum.
Giger was the artistic director for the Alien movies.

A street scene from the town of Gruyere.

The cutest house.

Invaders breeching the ramparts.