We made it!

Against all the odds, we were on vacation for two weeks. Even though Clemens pointed out the hospital at the village where we were at and made a remark about us having to go there at least once, we did not need a trip to the ER! We stayed at Clemens' family's cottage at the Neuenburgersee. We enjoyed the water, playing at the beach, and the water some more ... Andrin had a hard time with the transition at the beginning and kept saying that he wanted to go back home, but in the end, he liked to go fishing (with his own fishing pole, thanks to Paul!), to paddle in the canoe, and to swim and especially jump from the pier. Bigna had a hard time with the mosquitoes, or better: they liked her a lot. But she LOVED the water. It was always hard getting her out of there, even though she already had blue lips!

Here are some impressions from our vacation:

Playing with legos on the porch. 

Drawing inside the house (love how polar bear has to watch ...)

We enjoyed every morning a rich brunch. We would go the local bakery in town (with our bicycles) to get fresh bred ... (which was not that fresh after all, was we had to discover ...)

Andrin enjoying a speciality ... sugar and cream cake. 

Weeding in our backyard. We did quite some work around the house. 

Enjoying a snack after a nice nap. 

We had visitors ... dormice. At night, they would balance in the beam. This was Clemens' first attempt to stop them from entering - not successful - I then went up the latter and put a board in front of the whole. For a little while, Mami was Clemens' hero because she was not afraid on the latter. 

Enjoying some oreo cookies in the morning. 

First fly fishing lesson. 

For a while, Andrin enjoyed having his dinner at a separate table. 

Eating something ... messy, at least!

On the boat to the city across the lake, Neuchatel. 

Our little explorer. 

They have these water channels all through the old city. Bigna loved them. 

Andrin built a bird house together with Papa. 

Always our swimming trunks hanging to get dry for the next day. 

Building a boat. 

Launching the boat. 

Puddles ... we had only one day of rain which is perfect for Switzerland! We took the chance and went to see Ice Age. First time for Andrin in the movie theater. 

Listening Kasperli .... Andrin could not get enough of this famous Swiss character that we put on the computer for him to listen to. (Please do not ask us if we know the stories by heart now as well ...)

Mmmh ... corn. 

Adventure in the canoe. 

Andrin felt like he had to lay down and rest. 

Warming up after a swim in the lake. 

Visit from Opa Jumbo.

You should hear the squeals and screams from this little girl. She loves the water. Loves to float, loves to paddle, loves it!

Enjoing a ride in the canoe. 

What a perfect place to be with kids. We are looking forward to another wonderful vacation next year. Clemens loves to share this place since he has so many fond memories of it himself, having spent almost every summer there as a child. He is already talking about getting another canoe because we need more room ... :) Maybe we will make it down there again before we close it down for the winter. And in the spring, we have some big projects ... cleaning and decluttering ...