hiking in sLOVEnia

 

Sunday morning we picked up our rental car and drove to Slovenia.  I have so many photos, I decided to depart from my usual chronological style and do a few blog posts by subject.  So this post is all about hiking in Slovenia.  

 

We stayed in an apartment in Zirovnica. This was a beautiful apartment (for a fraction of the price of Venice) and within walking distance of this reservoir, a playground, and countless hiking trails.

 

We could also walk to this restaurant that featured a swing set for the kiddos, a live bear in an enclosure, and ridiculously large portions. Check out Rob's pork ribs and salad. We took the leftovers and had them for dinner another night.

 

We hiked every day in Slovenia and loved it.  Rob loved it so much that sometimes when the kids and I were worn out we would relax at the house and Rob would head back out to climb another peak. Not all of our hikes worked out perfectly though.  We had read about a waterfall nearby called Pokljuka and we headed out.

 

The day was beautiful, and so were the woods, but the trail was rough and very isolated.  We hiked and hiked without coming to a waterfall. Eventually Rob and I stopped and looked around and decided to turn back.  We didn't say it out loud until we got to the car, but we were both feeling a little uneasy and getting a bit freaked out by the isolation and the possibilty of bears and wolves.

 

Back by the apartment, there was no shortage of natural beauty.

 

The sign says these stairs are for fitness.

 

Here we are at the top.  

You can just see Toby at the bottom of the fitness stairs (which ended in a ladder) in the top right corner of the photo.

 

Another day we hiked to the Slap Savica (Savica waterfall) above Lake Bohinj.  There were 550 steps or so, but the kids did it.

 

Worth every step.

 

It was very beautiful.

 

As was the view out over the lake far below.

 

They were working on replacing all of the wood railings along this trail so we were able to enjoy the Slovenian folk music of chainsawing on this hike.  Seriously, not a day went by in Slovenia that we didn't hear a chainsaw at some point.

 

This is the kind of vacation that we love.

 

Loads of time outdoors, enjoying the beauty of nature.  As Charlotte pointed out, "Mother Nature is really an artist."

 

And of course, no hike would be complete without the reward of some sladoled (ice cream) and some time spent skipping rocks and feeding the ducks.  Rob wants me to put another trip to Slovenia on the calendar as soon as possible. But wait, there's more Slovenia to come!

24 hours in Venice

Last week our kids had Spring Break from school and we went on an epic trip to Venice and Slovenia.We flew into Venice on Friday afternoon and planned to stay until Sunday.  We checked into our airbnb apartment and were thankful that the owner met us at the vaporetto stop (water taxi) because I don't think we ever would have found it on our own.  It was down a very narrow street (I could easily touch both walls at the same time) and despite being at the top of our budget for accommodations, it wasn't very nice.  (We're not too fussy, but the wifi didn't work, there was no dish soap or hand soap, and the entire first floor smelled badly of mildew; though I suspect that is a common issue in Venice.) So we headed out right away to explore the neighborhood and eat some pizza and pasta.  We wanted to go on a gondola ride, but it was drizzling constantly so we decided to wait a day and see if we'd get better weather.

  

We did, however, find the Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti, which was open for an exhibit by an artist named Joseph Klibansky called Beautiful Tomorrow.  It was free, so we thought we'd check it out.  The building was gorgeous!

 

Okay, so this is one of his pieces.  It is a gorilla head wearing a birthday hat, surrounded by black balloons.  Interesting.  But this room!  And the hand blown glass chandelier!

 

The art work was intriguing and the kids thought it was great.  But I mostly loved the rooms and the chandeliers.

 

After a rough night's sleep and no hot water to shower (grrr) we headed out on Saturday morning toward San Marco.  I hope they know this tower is a little lean-y.  Maybe it's just me, but I find things like leaning towers a little concerning.  Also, it was still raining.

 

Piazzo San Marco! With St. Mark's basilica in the background.

 

And up close.  We did walk around inside a bit, but they don't allow any photographs. There are some pictures and more info here if you are interested.

 

Next door to the basilica is the Doge's Palace. We enjoyed walking all around and exploring and occasionally getting out of the rain.

 

Check out this awesome 24 hour clock.  Notice it runs what we would call counter-clockwise.

 

There are doubtless volumes written about the artwork on the walls and ceilings of the Doge's Palace, and it is wow-worthy, but we didn't spend a lot of time researching it.  We just enjoyed it.

 

The Doge's Palace was the seat of government, and when someone was convicted, they were walked over the Bridge of Sighs to the prison. The story goes that prisoners would stop and look out the window at the beauty of Venice and sigh before being taken to the dungeons to never see the light of day again. It is hard to take a photo through the stone work, but this would be their view.

 

After all of that it was time for some paninis and more pizza.  Still raining.

 

Our next stop was the Correr Museum. The history of Venice was interesting, but a bit exhausting with the four little ones. 

 

They were much happier to be back out on the Piazzo and feeding the pigeons- in the rain.  All of the kids tried, but only Toby was able to get birds to land on his hand to be fed. Rob was a little freaked out about the uncleanliness of this activity, but the kids loved it.

 

Since it was STILL RAINING we headed back to the apartment for a nap in the hope that we might yet get our gondola ride in the evening.  Not long after we got there, there was a knock on the door and the owner asked us when we would be leaving.  We thought we were booked for two nights, but we were not.  No bueno. I felt terrible.  I book all of our travel, and I have never left us homeless until now. This was a very stressful situation and it could have gone very badly, but thankfully I have the most fantastic husband who did not blame me, or get annoyed at me, or anything of the sort.  In fact, he said, "I didn't really want to spend another night here anyway." We just put our heads together to come up with a solution.  Our solution was to get out of Dodge. I took this photo of the Rialto Bridge as we awaited the vaporetto to take us back toward the airport where there would be wifi and possibly hotels that provide shuttle service.

 

The kids were a little bit stressed by our hasty departure, but trusted that we would work it out.

 

And we did.  We booked two rooms at the airport Marriott and took the shuttle there.  We enjoyed hot showers, yummy food at a restaurant down the street, and comfy, mildew free rooms. We are so glad we got to see Venice, but it will not go down in history as one of our favorite cities.

Call me Beatrix

The big third grade history project at Charlotte's school is a living history museum. The children spent a month working on writing papers (requiring three sources,) creating costumes, writing and memorizing two minute speeches, and preparing visual presentations on historical figures of their choosing.  Charlotte chose Beatrix Potter because "she was an author and illustrator, and I want to be an author and illustrator." 

I took the little ones to visit the "museum" yesterday and it was so cute.  Charlotte did a great job and we all learned much about this neat lady and her love of nature, her work to preserve it in the Lake District, her study of mycology, and even her prize-winning sheep breeding.

On the way home from school yesterday Charltote was sad and I asked her why. She said she was sad that it was over and that she wouldn't get to teach people about Beatrix Potter anymore. Now that is a sign of a great educational experience!  When the children are sad when it ends.  

(Sidenote: This is Amelie's "cheese" face right now. Hilarious grimace. And Jake was not taking his eyes off of Christopher Columbus in his papier mache boat for anything. Also, every classroom had an Albert Einstein, and my most favorite costume was Frieda Kahlo.) 

Easter 2016

Sooo excited to dye Easter eggs she can hardly contain herself!

   

Last year we celebrated a simplified Easter on vacation in Northern France.  That was fantastic. But this year we returned to a few traditions we ignored last year and the kiddos were happy.

We did this egg dying kit where you put a few drops of dye on the egg and then rub it around and let them air dry.  That's why the kids have baggies on their hands.  The eggs turned out looking sort of marbled and it was fun for a change from our usual egg dipping mess.

The boys tired of it fairly quickly, but Charlotte stayed until every last egg met her standards.

Then it was off to bed so the Easter Bunny could come.

Easter Sunday was a serious sugar fest!  We sure do like chocolate around here.

After sugar rush number one, we went to church and enjoyed hearing the children sing When He Comes Again (here is a HOOT of a version performed by little Jimmy Osmond for your enjoyment) and focused on the Savior's atoning sacrifice for us. After church I made a traditional Easter dinner and we had some company over to feast and play a board game with us.  Then it was finally time for sugar rush number two, as we decorated the carrot cake/ bunny cake.  Why is the bunny in a box?  Because I didn't have a tray large enough, and it was the simplest solution.

They do seem to be getting better at this cake decorating thing!

All in all, it was a simple Easter at home, with a little something for everyone in our family to enjoy, and we had a lovely day together. 

Swiss temple trip and Black Forest hike

The Frankfurt temple is currently closed for renovations, so in the meantime one of our nearest temples is in Bern, Switzerland. What a great excuse for a road trip! I looked at the map and thought it made sense to make a pit stop in the Black Forest and go for a little Spring hike to a waterfall.

 

But I was not expecting THIS! This is how much snow greeted us in the Black Forest.  We were not prepared for snow- no gloves, no boots, and I was even wearing my Keens with no socks.

 

We reached the Todtnauer Wasserfall trail head and weren't sure if we dared take the kids down the slippery, snowy slope.

 

It was a sunny, gorgeous day though, and we had time to take it slow, so we decided to give it a try.

 

Rob blazed the trail and kicked in big foot prints for the rest of us to follow.  (While carrying Amelie nearly the whole way.) And there were handrails part of the way which were extremely helpful.

 

The falls were really pretty with all of the melting snow and ice.

 

The kids did slip and slide on their bums sometimes, but they seemed to enjoy it.

 

We had the whole place to ourselves which is an added bonus of hiking in the snow I suppose.

 

We're glad we took on the challenge, even though it really was a challenge. We rewarded the kiddos for being such troopers with lunch at McDonalds. It has become a bit of a tradition of ours to get the kids a meal at McDonalds when we travel. They love it and it is a low stress meal when traveling with four little ones.

 

In the evening Friday we arrived at the Bern temple. Rob and I were both able to attend the temple on Saturday morning while the kiddos played in the neighboring chapel with their friends from church.  Some helpful teens from our church babysat the rowdy crew.

 

After the temple we drove into downtown Bern to get some lunch and enjoy the city a bit.  We tried to go to a traditional Swiss restaurant to have raclette for lunch... but the place was packed, expensive, and our kids were tired and cranky.  It would have taken hours to get through lunch, so we bailed and went to the Indian buffet next door. Yes, our children preferred Indian food to melted cheese, and the buffet made it a much faster meal.  It turned out to be an incredibly expensive meal (welcome to Switzerland!) but the food was also really, really delicious, so that was some comfort.

 

It was market day in front of the restaurant so we browsed and bought some Swiss cheese and chocolate to bring home with our remaining Swiss francs.

 

Swiss-style busking?  

Jake was impressed and gave the man some coins. All in all, it was a quick weekend getaway and we feel we have a love/hate relationship with Switzerland. We spent a long weekend skiing in Switzerland about 5 years ago and came home from that trip feeling the same way.  It is a GORGEOUS country, and who doesn't love a diet so heavy in cheese and chocolate? But the cost of everything is incredible. We are happy to be back home in Germany!

I hope they call me on a mission

Last weekend we held a Primary activity for the children at our church. It was a Mini MTC.  MTC stands for Missionary Training Center, which is where Mormon missionaries go to learn the ropes, and their language if required at the start of their missions.  They spend up to eight weeks there and then are sent out around the world by pairs, as you know.

 

At our Mini- MTC experience we had five missions.  The children received mission calls, just like the real deal, and missionary tags.

 

Each group of mini-missionaries attended classes on the culture of their country, nutrition (talking about the Word of Wisdom and having a snack,) life skills (ironing, sewing on buttons, taking care of their belongings,) missionaries in action (practicing knocking on doors and talking with people about their beliefs,) and P-Day (the one day a week missionaries get to do laundry, write home, get some exercise or be tourists or shop- our minis wrote letters and played red light, green light.)

 

There were so many adults involved to make this activity a success and they seriously did awesome. I was able to just move around and check-in on the classes and I was so impressed by what all of the teachers had prepared for their groups.

 

The kids were engaged and changed classes every 20 minutes which helped to keep them interested and focused.

 

I love getting to be in Primary with my kiddos and trying to help them develop their faith and have opportunities to learn and have fun too.

 

Someone I know recently insinuated that we "brainwash" kids in Primary.  I disagree. I thought about that comment a lot with this activity because I can see how from the outside someone would say we are brainwashing them into going on missions.  But I was there. These kids had a blast learning practical things for every day life.  We talked about the hard parts of being a missionary as well as the highlights. They asked great questions! They expressed their own beliefs.  They had respectful conversations about religion!!! Frankly, I'd kind of like to send a few Presidential candidates through our mini-MTC experience.

 

I love Primary. I love getting to learn from these children and to teach them a thing or two as well. They are smart. They are strong. And they will be fantastic at whatever they choose to do.