Thomas' Soccer Game

We put Thomas in soccer this fall. Cassidy played on a team in Texas and so Thomas kept telling me stories of when he plays soccer. He is going to score all the goals and get a trophy, bigger than Cassidy's. So here is his first game. He played the first 10 minutes and then came in for a water break. He didn't want to go back out on the field. He was a little overwhelmed with the number of players out on the field. He said "mom, there are just to many out there." So I gave him the parental pep talk and sent him back out there to try his best.

Thomas is number five on the Blue Dragon team. He had fun the rest of the game. And was excited to see some of his friends on the other teams that played. He loves his super long sock and pulls up to his thighs. He thinks his cleats are pretty cool too. We really do not know who won the game. They do not keep track at this age. In fact they do not follow the rules either. The coaches tend to just kick the ball back in bounds to keep the play going.


The first practice was very interesting. There were many kids crying. A few of the kids played soccer last year in the Pee Wee team. During the Pee Wee games all the kids get to kick their own ball around and try to score. Well in our first practice the coach divided the the team into two groups and had them play against each other. Many kids did not know what to do, and a few ran to their mom or dad crying because they didn't have a ball. It took a few practices for them to understand and have fun playing. Thomas did great because he practices with Cassidy. She and Zachary are always trying to get the ball from Thomas when they are in our backyard playing.

Lucerne and Interlacken

Stewart and I read a book that took place in Lucerne and the Interlacken area. We read about a few places we would like to go visit. First stop was our picnic lunch, waiting for the rain to come and letting the kids play in the playground. They had been stuck in their car seats for a few hours.

The Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge) is the oldest wooden bridge in Europe. It is 670 ft long crossing the Reuss River. It was constructed in 1333.

The water tower attached to the bridge served as a prison, torture chamber and treasury over the centuries. Inside the bridge are a series of paintings from the 17th century depicting events from Lucerne's history. Parts of the bridge and paintings were destroyed in a fire in 1993. The bridge was rebuilt, and some of the burnt paintings are still displayed.

The Lion of Lucerne is a monument commemorating the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution. An officer of the Guards who had been on leave during the fight collected money and initiated the monuments construction.

We did have a little rain today. We strolled around the town with rain coats and umbrellas.




















Stewart, the kids and I spent the night camping in Lauterbrunnen. Carrie and Ken stayed in a hotel in Interlaken. The next day they took the train to Jungfraujoch. Stewart, the kids and I took a hike around our camp site the next morning. The roads were closed leaving the campground because there was a marathon. So we went hiking along the marathon trail.

























The kids were very tired after their long hike. Zachary kept getting in and out of the backpack. We did not walk very fast, obviously. So after we made it back to the campground the kids went right down for a nap. Well not really, we discovered the playground in the camping area and the kids found they had energy to play, just not walk.

After all the runners had passed. We drove up to Mürren and took a tram up to Gimmelwald. We found another Spielplatz. We did some more hiking and Cassidy led the way. She is the one who chose to climb all these stairs. We took switchbacks up to those houses on the hillside.

We did get a great view of the Alps after our hike. It was a beautiful day, a little cool in the shade but nice and warm in the sun.

















Zachary hung onto the wooden rails as he walked along the edge of the road. He as trying to balance and walk along the curb. He and Thomas love practicing their balancing on curbs. But in the end Zachary got a splinter that had to be removed at 4593 feet.

The tram ride up was a bit crowded and we did not get a good view. I didn't mind, because I didn't really want to see where we were going. But on the way down we sat right up front. Zachary would not let go of me. I would lean out toward the window and he tightened his grip around my neck. Thomas and Cassidy thought it was cool. They don't have my fear of heights.

Mercedes Benz Museum

We gave Carrie and Ken our car and they went to Munich for two days. Friday the day after they came back we took them to the Mercedes Benz Museum. When we had our own audio tour of the museum. They give everyone computers that are programmed with various information about the different vehicles and events in history. Zachary shared my earphones for a little bit, before he was bored with them. Cassidy and Thomas were in school and we thought we would be bored of looking at cars in two hours. It turned out 3 and a half hours is not enough. We had to leave to pick up Thomas from school and we still hadn't seen the last two levels.

Zachary is posing in front of one of the oldest Mercedes vehicles. I learned something from the white car. Notice the steering wheel is on the right side, it is there so the driver can look over his door to make sure his wheels are on the road. They didn't have guard rails on the mountain passes, that definitely would not be my choice in trails. The steering wheel would eventually be moved to the left side to better view oncoming traffic.
















This Mercedez bus was from Buenas Aires. The drivers paint the buses to attract customers. The gray car on the truck trailer is an old race car. It was interesting to find out the truck could go 106 mph. It was made to go that fast to scare the competition. That if the team's truck could go that fast, just how fast could their race car go?

Zachary enjoyed driving the garbage truck and this bus.
























Then on the way out, Zachary found just the right size Mercedes to drive. And no we did not bring it home.