2nd Grade Camp

I'm sure a lot of Americans are familiar with 6th grade camp. Basically for one week (Monday through Friday) you go with multiple 6th grade classes to a camp. You sleep and eat there and do various activities throughout the week. If you decide not to go, that doesn't mean you get a week off of school. Usually you have to stay behind and go to school with the 5 graders for a week.

I myself am a graduate of 6th grade camp and think it was my first time away from my parents.
Thus I was a little surprised when Alex came home with a letter explaining that his 2nd grade class would be going to camp for half a week. Much like 6th grade camp, they would be spending the night, eating all of their meals there and doing activities with another 2nd grade class in a neighboring village. On the last night, there was even going to be a dance! If they didn't go, they had to stay behind at school with the 1st graders.

Maybe it's because Alex is my first, or maybe it's just me, but I felt like Alex was way too young for all of the above. Luckily for Alex, Pete was on his side and thought it would be lots of fun. We ended up compromising and he went all day until dinnertime and then we would pick him up. In the mornings after breakfast we would drop him off again to spend the day with his schoolmates.

He was a little nervous the first day, but by the time I picked him up he was not happy to be the only kid going home. He spent time playing ping pong, reading, playing soccer (in the mud) and even constructed a fort out of wood. Below you can see pictures of the building they stayed in and the surrounding grounds. For Alex, it was another reason why Switzerland is awesome.

Back to Chamonix

When we visited Chamonix for the first time it was a hot August day. Heading back there in early April I wasn't expecting to have very nice weather. Fortunately for my family it was a gorgeous, sunny day.

Tommy, Ruby and Henry

We headed to the train station to make our way up to the glacier

Buddies on the train

Christina and Ruby

My mom and I opted to stay at the top of the mountain with Henry.
Charlene, my dad, Tommy and Ruby took the gondola and then walked the 350 steps down to the glacier. I was proud of Ruby who did it all on her own this time without being carried one step. If you look closely at this picture you will see the gondolas and some of the steps heading down to the glacier.

Tommy and Ruby down at the glacier

Inside the glacier

I double-dog dare you...

Behind Ruby you can see part of the stairs down to the glacier

Another shot looking down at the glacier. It's quite a hike...especially coming back up!

Charlene and Tommy ready to take the train back down

Papa John and Mama Linda

Christina, Henry, Ruby and Tommy

The group minus myself getting off the train

Papa John and Mama Linda in the center of Chamonix

Papa John and Henry in front of the train station

One last memory of Chamonix

If you look at the inside of this restaurant,

you probably wouldn't guess that it is actually a...

McDonalds!
This was probably one of our last visits to a McDonalds' restaurant.
I am so burnt out on McDonalds that I can't imagine taking my family there for the next 5-10 years!

Olympics

After checking out Lausanne, we took a quick metro ride to the neighboring city of Ouchy (pronounced oo-shee). It is right on the lake front and is so beautiful. It is also home to the Olympic Museum and the headquarters of the IOC.

Charlene, Christina, Mama Linda, Papa John, Ruby, Henry, Tommy
At the Olympic Park with Lake Geneva in the background

Pete, Christina and Ruby in front of the Olympic Museum

Ruby holding a torch from the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver

Charlene and Mama Linda

They had all sorts of athletic statues around Olympic Park

Alex and Henry

Flags of Switzerland mixed with the Olympic flag

Henry, Alex, Ruby, Mama Linda and Tommy

Mama Linda and Papa John in front of Lake Geneva

Ruby, Henry, Alex and Tommy

After the museum we headed to a nice crepe place overlooking the lake

I think it was my parents' first time eating crepes with ham, cheese, eggs, tomatoes and the like

Afterward everyone ordered ice cream which consisted of one mini scoop in these glass bowls.
It was about $3.50 a scoop and I think Pete could have eaten it in one bite.

The other big city

We actually lived smack dab in the middle of Geneva and Lausanne but for some reason we never really went to Lausanne. After visiting with my family, I wish we would have gone more often. It is a really beautiful city but you can see from the pictures that we were there on a cold, breezy day.

Papa John, Mama Linda, Ruby and Henry

Ruby, Alex and Tommy paying tribute to Tommy's sister Caroline

Tommy and Charlene in front of Notre Dame de Lausanne

Another view of the cathedral with Henry in the picture

We were finally able to add Pete to our group

Tommy and Charlene with a view of the city

Charlene and Ruby, who was so happy to add another "girl" to our group

Charlene, Mama Linda and Christina

Tommy and Alex standing inside Notre Dame