It was great to spend time with my Aunty Christine, she was so kind and did everything to make sure we had a great and relaxing time. Late night chats with her and Uncle David were lovely. A bonus was that Rebecca was also on holiday there at the same time. On the Sunday we had a family meal with them and Lizzie, Frank and children, Phil and Nate's family. We had Raclette - which Nathan was in particular really pleased about.
Kenzi slightly bemused by Nathan - he definitely belonged at the childrens' table!
The 6 cousins!
Check out Grandad - we had a good chat with Grandma and Grandad via Skype!
Lizzie and family also came up to Schwarzsee on the Saturday and we had fun in the stream and messing about in Frank's boat. Ben went for a ride with Rebecca and fell asleep. Cal, Kenzi and Aaron were great company for the boys. Cal has a great imagination and created some greats stories for Joseph to tag along with.
Such as being a Triceratops...
.. and hunting in the forest for food!
Ben crashed out, rocked to sleep by the boat!
On Tuesday, there was sometime for fun in Aunty Christine's pool and then time to warm up in the hot tub. The hot tub was even better in the evening lit by fairy lights and the moon and child free!
I love this picture of Aaron - pity it's a little blurred
Joseph and Aaron were good pals and it was fun to see them play this game. The children were saying something in German which Joseph didn't understand, he did however get the concept that you had to run fast and then stop really quickly when the person 'on' turned round. He laughed his head off :)
Members of the family we should not forget were Sally and Duke, the dogs!! Needless to say Ben adored them and could not contain his excitement to see them everyday, they were endlessly stroked and hugged -it has to be said sometimes a little to passionately for their liking.
I Love this one of Ben and Duke
#5 Trips around Bern
Bern is a beautiful city, the old town is extremely picturesque, we took a trip there on Monday. Did some shopping ( the exchange rate to Swiss franc made our eyes water and was a natural suppressant to any urge to splash the cash!) The boys got a new Disney car - so were pleased of course (well I say that but it seems that Ben ditched his 9.90CHF (approx £8!!) car in exchange for his 1.50 CHF ice lolly somewhere on our travels)and I got a wooden cow with a bell to go on our Christmas tree as our holiday reminder. We went to see the Bern bears in their new bear park.The boys loved to see them swim and I tried not to think about how easy it would be for someone to fall over the wall and into the bear's lair.
See - the walls aren't high at all!!
Though Bern city is nice, the view of Bern and the surrounding areas, from the top of the Gurten is something else. On Tuesday, Aunty Christine dropped us off at the Gurten. We ascended via the Gurtenbahn. At the top we had a picnic and then the boys went to check out the fab park. We'd not anticipated there being water so had no change of clothes, the boys stripped down to their pants and vest and got straight in. Predictably, Joesph fell within minutes and repeated it on a number of occasions - to be fair he never complained about being wet and fortunately the sun was out and did a good job of drying him! We played for a good couple of hours on the: giant slide ;the weird and wonderful ball and cogs contraption; the ropes and the cars which went by them selves (Ben's favourite he kept making runs to get back to them!)
Joseph hitching a ride with some Swiss children
Ben's favourite and Nathan was only too pleased that he needed him to help out!
Ben making a run for the cars!!
Before we were to descend and make our way back to Aunty Christines via Tram and train, we went for the circular walk around the top of the hill and found a piece of heaven.
The views from the other side were spectacular, the weather just perfect to highlight the contrasting colours of the blue sky next to the white snowcapped mountains, next to the green of the fields and yellow of the corn. The boys ran down and up, down and up the slopes. I could have stayed all day watching them and sitting back and taking in the sights.
A lovely, lovely day.
Joseph hitching a ride with some Swiss children
Ben's favourite and Nathan was only too pleased that he needed him to help out!
Ben making a run for the cars!!
Before we were to descend and make our way back to Aunty Christines via Tram and train, we went for the circular walk around the top of the hill and found a piece of heaven.
The views from the other side were spectacular, the weather just perfect to highlight the contrasting colours of the blue sky next to the white snowcapped mountains, next to the green of the fields and yellow of the corn. The boys ran down and up, down and up the slopes. I could have stayed all day watching them and sitting back and taking in the sights.
A lovely, lovely day.
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