flowers, bubbles, and bye byes

Mom graciously offered to replant our pathetic attempts at a flower box (so nice!). She is a flower expert and loves flowers, so it was fun to watch her plant flowers with Carsten. Our flower box looks so pretty! And now we fit in with the locals a bit more since they all have nice flower boxes. Mom also picked up some bubbles at the store which ironically are about 5x more expensive than bubbles in the US for whatever reason. Carsten enjoyed planting flowers and doing bubbles with Grandma and Grandpa. Here's a few photos of planting flowers and bubble time:

Carsten is helping!

It's going to be so pretty!

We provide only the best tools at our house...

The result - so pretty! Thanks Mom!

Bubbles!

Get the bubbles buddy!

'I'm getting them Mom!'

I'm not quite sure when this was, but it's a cute photo :).

On the last morning with Grandma and Grandpa, they had time to read Carsten books, which he really enjoyed. We enjoyed spending time with you Mom and Dad! Thanks for coming!

Carsten with Grandma and Grandpa

When Mom and Dad left on the train, Carsten was not happy that they were leaving and indicated that he wanted to get back on the train with them. Carsten misses you Mom and Dad! The flower beds around Egg were empty the entire time Mom and Dad were here (much to Mom's disappointment). Ironically, they planted them right after (I mean 2 hrs after) they left Egg. Here's the guy planting them. And as promised Mom, here's some pictures of the flowers around town after they planted them!

Guy planting flowers 2 hrs after Mom and Dad left.

Pretty flower boxes!

This has nothing to do with the post. But I really like the photo. :)

Carsten with the flowers at the church.

Gorgeous.

Rose garden at the cemetery. 

Flower beds!

I love the climbing roses here.

We miss you Mom and Dad! And we're excited to see you again in October! Thanks for coming - we had so much fun!

Day Date

Mom and Dad graciously watched Carsten all day on Monday, the 28th of May (which is a holiday here), so Andy and I could take our first every 'Day Date' since he was born. We left the house around 7 am, wished everyone good luck, hopped on multiple trains, and 5 hrs later we arrived in Zermatt to see the Matterhorn.  The train trip, which would normally be very stressful with Carsten because he just can't sit for too long, was relaxing and wonderful. Andy and I got to talk, admire the scenery, read books, and just relax. We had Mom Huisman checking the webcams for us as we went to make sure that we'd be able to see the Matterhorn after all that effort :). Here's some photos along the way:

last minute travel planning!

Matterhorn train!

having fun!

Pretty scenery. I love the rock roofs. 

Andy and I arrived around noon in Zermatt and after quickly admiring the Matterhorn, we hopped on the Gonergrat cograil train which took us way up high so we could admire glaciers, mountains, and of course the Matterhorn. You see, all the matters is the Matterhorn. Once we reached the top, I went into picture taking mode and had a lot of fun taking pictures. It was incredibly beautiful and Andy and I really enjoyed taking our time admiring the scenery, talking, and talking video/photos. We even stopped at the restaurant and had a cappuccino out on the balcony. We sat on the balcony for close to an hour; during that time we bundled up with our coats and used their blankets so we could stay outside and just relax while admiring God's creation. We felt very spoiled and very much enjoyed a 'just us' vacation day. Here's some photos from the top of Gonergrat (I took soooo many photos!):

The Matterhorn. Book your tickets to come see us right now.

SO BEAUTIFUL.

Glaciers and mountains up at Gonnergrat.

We made it to the top!

Church at the top.

The Matterhorn!

What's better than the Matterhorn? Us with the Matterhorn!

I love mountains.

More photos of us with the beautiful mountains!

Coffee on the terrace!

Sitting with our blankets because our coffee is long gone... 

The cograil train! If you look closely, you can see the Matterhorn in the window. 

We eventually got quite cold and headed down the mountain to wander through Zermatt, which we had been to with my family the year before. We couldn't resist getting another crepe from the amazing crepe shop on main street and we walked the same streets to take a trip down memory lane. The Matterhorn was really no longer visible thanks to clouds, but at least this time, we knew what it should look like and where it should be. Here's a few photos from our walk in Zermatt:

The hotel where we stayed last year and where Mom and Dad Huisman stayed this year.

Best. Crepes. Ever.

Hiking is a big deal in Switzerland.

Us in the same spot as last year! You can just barely see the Matterhorn.

Last views of the Matterhorn!

We hustled to the train station to catch a train back around 4 so we could make a stop a long the way if we wanted to. We ended up getting off the crowded, hot train at Thun (near Interlaken) so we could get out and walk for 30 min. We rushed around the town and took a few photos, but in the future, we decided that it's not worth stopping somewhere for just 30 min. You need at least an hour or 2 to wander a small town and enjoy yourself. It was a cute town, and hopefully we'll make it back to that area at some point before we leave since we really haven't done that part of Switzerland. Here's a few photos of Thun:

Pretty covered bridges like Lucerne.

So peaceful. Like time has stopped somehow.

The bridge is also a dam in this case.

These surfers were utilizing the bridge/dam. Amazing!

10 points to anyone who can tell me what this means.

Pretty castle that we didn't make it to.

We arrived back in Egg around 9 pm after a wonderful, full day of sightseeing that was incredibly relaxing compared to what we're used to. We love our buddy and love taking him places, but going by ourselves made us realize that he adds quite a bit of work to our traveling. I will say however, that it is totally worth it to take him places though; he has a lot of fun and we enjoy the family time. We had an amazing day - thanks Mom and Dad!

Carsten had a cold...

Well, we were all going to head to church on Sunday and then hopefully make to Andy's boss's (Uli) birthday party in the afternoon, however Carsten had a pretty nasty cold, so Mom and Dad graciously agreed to stay home with him so Andy and I could go to church and to the party. Mom and Dad (I think!) enjoyed their time with Carsten and they had a pretty good walk around Egg where they saw many flowers and, of course, the Big Digger (see photos below). Andy and I had a good time at church, but it was very strange not have Carsten with us. We caught a special old-school tram to the birthday party, which was next to the tram museum, so of course, I took some photos of the tram. We had a great time at the birthday party, and it was fun to talk with some of Andy's coworkers who I do not normally get to see.

Walking around Egg 

'BIG DIGGER!'

Old tram

Isn't it cute?

We went out for ice cream up at the Pfannenstiel (top of the ridge) with Kai and Vanessa, which was a lot of fun! Carsten and Eleanor were a little wiggly, so they go to go out along with their fathers and admire the goats.

Ice cream!

Vanessa, Kai, and Eleanor!

Checking out the animals

What a fun day! Thanks for watching Carsten Mom and Dad!