Zurich Airport Observation Deck

Our friends Kai and Vanessa flew back to Switzerland on Saturday, and since we wanted going to meet them at the airport, we decided to go a little early so we could to go to the Zurich airport observation deck before they arrived. The observation deck had an amazing view of the planes that were taking off, and it had a lovely airplort themed play area for the kids as well. Carsten was enthralled by the planes and after a bit, we let him explore the playground. If a plane was taking off (every 3-5 min or so) then he'd RUN to go see the airplanes and then RUN back to the play area. He was SO pumped :). We stayed there for about 1.5 hrs and we all had a lot of fun. It was a fantastic activity, especially for a little boy who loves planes. :) Here's some photos:

AIRPLANE!

He just wanted to watch for a LONG time.

Bye bye airplane!

play area

play area

Yes, Andy got inside the plane. 

Carsten kept running back and forth between the viewing area and the play area.

Airplane!

After the observation deck, we got to see our friends again! Woohoo :).

Dinner with the Wiersmas

A friend from college and his wife, Josh and Kaitlin Wiersma, happened to be visiting Switzerland for vacation, so we met them in Zurich for supper at a fantastic Swiss restaurant in downtown Zurich. This is a rare treat for us because of a) they're from the states and b) we really don't eat out that much due to the incredibly high prices. It was wonderful to meet Kaitlin and to get to talk with the both of them. Carsten did really well, especially since he took a pretty short nap that day. The food was incredibly delicious. :) Here's a few photos of our evening:

Josh and Kaitlin!

yummy!

The restaurant had a very large gun. 

Swiss National Day

August 1 is Swiss National Day, and since it's a Federal holiday, we got to spend the day with Andy :). I'm not sure what we did last year, but we did not go into Zurich because we thought it would be way too busy. That assumption was completely wrong. In fact, Zurich was deserted. It was strange. So, we slowly made our way over to where the parade route was, and got to watch the parade with a few other people. Apparently the parade is not that well attended. I enjoyed the extra space, and actually, the parade was pretty good. Alpenhorns, large cowbells, and men throwing Swiss flags were featured (see video below). Also, everyone in the parade was dressed in traditional costume, which I always enjoy. Carsten really enjoyed the parade, especially the bands. Here's a few photos and a video of the parade:

Switzerland!

This is how people try to spell our last name here.

Getting ready for the parade!

Traditional costume.

After the parade, we followed the crowd to the square where they were reading the Swiss Constitution (we of course did not pay attention since it was in German). We elected to try a specialty from one of the cantons (see photo below), and it was honestly one of the more disgusting things I've ever had. It looked like fruit pizza. Instead it was a piece of bread covered in what tasted like rot. We threw it away after 1 bite. Yuck. We did have better luck with an almond pastry after that.

Gross. Gross. Gross.

It was nearing lunchtime, so I went to the grocery store to get some food while Andy inquired about paddle boats. We had been wanting to go on a paddle boat in the Zurich Lake for a while, but we were too nervous to take Carsten on. They had life jackets included in the rental, so we got one for Carsten and set out. And by we, I mean Andy. Andy did all the paddling while I held onto our son in the back. Carsten sat happily for quite a while we finished our lunch, and then I let Carsten dip his toes into the water, which he really enjoyed. In fact, he enjoyed it so much that we ended up letting him get almost all the way in the water (clothes and all!) while I held him from the boat. He could have kept doing that for quite some time, but we had only rented boat for 30 min, so we had to get back. We'd really like to do this again, but next time we'll all be bringing swimming suits! :) Here's a few photos:

Sitting nicely.

He loved it!

Pretty Zurich.

We then headed home and got Carsten into bed for nap, and he slept for 3 hours. So wonderful! We then had a relaxing evening in Egg, and got to listen to fireworks from about 9 pm - 12 am. It was a bit later than we would have liked to hear fireworks. Oh well. All in all, a great day!

Potty training debacle

Well, after hearing about the potty training success of Carsten's twin cousins from Michigan, we thought we would give it a go with Carsten. To summarize the method we tried (by Lora Jensen), it's a three day intensive potty training course which basically involves putting the child in 'big kid' underwear, and then rush them to the potty any time you notice that they need it (meanwhile you're pumping them full of liquids). The method emphasizes positive comments, which helps make it a good experience for your child.

Anyway, we started out with a lot of enthusiasm and hope, but that quickly was replaced with frustration and a loss of patience after three days of accidents. Carsten definitely improved over the course of the three days, but he never got to the point of telling us BEFORE he had to go. Sometimes we'd get lucky and guess the right time, but that didn't happen very often. After going back and forth on whether or not to continue the method after the three days were up, Andy convinced me to try another day. The morning was fantastic with no accidents, but the afternoon quickly went south. I again tried on the morning of day 5, and then decided to quit after 2 accidents with no signs of recognizing that he had to go before he went (he was good at telling me when he was going). The other side effect that none of us enjoyed was the loss of sleep at nighttime and at naptime. In fact, Carsten was extremely exhausted when day 5 rolled around, so I'm glad we stopped then.

Carsten simply was not ready and we definitely gave it our all. Andy even stayed home from work to help with days 2 and 3, but all was for naught. I was a bit worried about returning to diapers after all the brainwashing we were doing about the potty, but Carsten really doesn't seem to care which is nice :). So, now were enjoying getting out of the house again, and we're all really enjoying that I don't have to spend every moment right next to Carsten. So, hooray!, we're done until next time...