7 cities in 7 days

We had already planned a trip for Spring break, but after finding out it would probably be our last, we added a couple extra stops. When we arrived home a week later, we had logged 2400 km, been through 4 countries and stayed in 4 different hotels.

Our first stop was Reims, France. This amazing cathedral greeted us upon our arrival.

Unfortunately, due to a tunnel fire that parked us on the freeway for an hour, we didn't pull in until 11pm...long past our kids' bedtime.

The next morning we headed out in the rain to get a better look.

The cathedral in Reims was the place for the coronation of 25 French kings and queens.
Construction began in 1211 and after WWI it was so severely damaged that it was completely rebuilt.

The stained glass in this window was removed during WWI in order to save it from destruction

It was really beautiful inside and out but I think Pete and I were the only ones who could appreciate it. The kids were more interested in heading to McDonald's for breakfast.
Side note: they don't serve breakfast at McDonald's in Switzerland...it was delicious!

The hunt is on

Before our kids' spring break started, our village had an Easter egg hunt. It was pretty American except for the giant, scary Easter bunny and the free wine available for parents. Luckily they had areas separated off for the younger kids, otherwise Henry would have been mowed over by some candy hungry 10-year olds.

While the kids were looking for eggs, the Easter bunny came out to help and offer more candy

Henry with his eggs

Ruby, Henry, Alex and Ethan
Side note: check out the size of Ethan's Easter basket. This is what everyone's basket looked like. Of course our kids had the American super-sized baskets which was a little embarrassing.

Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate

One weekend, while Pete was out of town, I took the kids to the chocolate festival in Versoix. They sample lots of chocolate, including some yummy fondue. Their favorite part of the festival was the construction of a ginormous chocolate Easter bunny. It was going to be 5 meters (about 16 1/2 feet) tall when finished and the next day the local hockey team was coming over to break it with hockey sticks and pass out chocolate to the public. Alex and Ruby were mesmerized and wanted to keep watching until it was finished.

Alex and Ruby with the partially finished bunny in the background

Here you can see them working on the head of the bunny

Carefully placing a giant chocolate panel on the bunny's body

There were also lots of displays of chocolate-all with a circus theme

A chocolate clown

Henry, Alex and Ruby in front of a chocolate three-ring circus

A chocolate monkey family

The next day my friend Alma went with her family to watch the destruction of the bunny.
She was nice enough to pass on her pictures to me so the kids could see the final product.

The giant chocolate bunny

Breaking the bunny

Handing out chunks of chocolate bunny

In this picture, my friend's daughter is holding a piece of the bunny.
Can you say stomach ache?

It's great to be 8!

2002

2003

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2009

2010

Serenity now!

Why is it when the kids are happily playing together it is never quietly?

Shiner

Alex and Henry in the tub
+
a detachable shower head
=

This was a few days afterward.
It was so bruised and swollen he could hardly open his eye the morning after the "accident".

Wind chill

The first week of March the sun began to shine, the snow was melting and I was sure that Spring had arrived. Leave it to me to jinx everyone else. The second week of March brought freezing cold temperatures, made worse by the bise (pronounced "bees").

Last winter we learned that the bise are strong, freezing cold winds that blast their way through the valleys of the Alps. They clocked the winds over Lake Geneva on March 8th at 90 km/hr (about 56 mph). You can imagine what it was like for the kids who had to walk to school in those conditions with the thermometer reading 18 degrees Fahrenheit. I had pity on Alex and Ruby and actually drove them.

I tried to take a video of what it was like outside but it didn't really do it justice. The winds are a lot louder than they come across on the movie. The filming is horrible because I was freezing and my hands were shaking. You can see the neighbor's swing blowing above. The wind blew so hard that the swing flipped around and around until it was stuck to the top of the playground!