Thursday, April 23, 2015

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Zoos, Bike Rides, and more Castles!

The last two weeks have been busy and oh so fun! With warm weather and sunshine finally here, we are all so happy to be outside. Last week we took a last minute trip to the Zurich Zoo with our friend Kristina to see all the baby animals (Cora got to see a baby camel, elephant, lion, and monkey!).  

This weekend we went on some fun bike rides through the fields around our town and on Sunday we hiked to the old Schwarzenburg Castle ruins to have a BBQ with our Swiss friends, the von Allmen's. It was lovely and so nice of them to invite us along! The castle is located down by the local river and was originally built in the 1200's to house travelers on their way to the Vatican. The history of this land always amazes me! The castle is now in ruins, however, much of the original stone from the castle was transported and used to build Schwarzenburg's new castle. 

Besides bike rides, castles and zoos, Cora has had a lot of fun playing with friends this week, taking walks with the family, playing at playgrounds and just being her silly self. She is talking a ton now, can answer most of my questions, and has a remarkable memory. Like all toddlers, she has lots of temper tantrums, but for the most part she is pretty darn good. As long as we make sure to do a LOT everyday with her and to focus her copious amounts of energy in positive ways, she is so fun. Just growing too fast!!

My Monkey at the Zoo.

Zurich Plaza


Incorrect way to ride the train.

Bike rides!


Old Schwarzenburg Gasburg Castle.


Castle BBQ.




Cora dresses herself now, can you tell?




Stop growing up!





Playing with her English buddies Meagan and Zoe.
Correct way to ride the train.





Baby Cow!!

Helping mom babysit Lilly.

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Easter in Germany!

In mid-March a freak and traumatic computer/coffee spillage incident occurred at Milkenstrasse 6, causing the temporary shut down of Cora Azalea news. Thank goodness no photos were lost, however, they were transferred over to my new computer in complete disarray, causing hours of organisational head aches and frustrations. I am still not quite sure where photos of the past month have gone, therefore I will continue on with photos of this past Easter weekend, which we spent in Germany!

In 1987, Nat and his parents moved to Starnberg, Germany, which is a beautiful lake side village, just outside of Munich. This is where Nat and his family lived for seven years, while Pooh Bah worked at Bosch Germany. I've been eager to visit since we moved to Switzerland, and this nice long weekend was a great time to go. While Nat's parent's house was being completed, the Campbell's lived in a cute little hotel for three months when they first arrived, and, of course, this is the hotel we had to stay at while visiting! It was adorable and had a great view of the lake. Plus, the Italian restaurant downstairs was delicious and we ate there two nights in a row. It was rumoured that after an international flight, a little five-year-old Nat once fell asleep head first into his pizza at this very establishment!

During our stay we also took the 20-minute train to Munich for a day of touring, we went on a few walks by the lake, we toured Nat's old neighbourhood, and visited two castles built by crazy Mad King Ludwig (one was his famous fairytale castle, and the other was his less famous, but outstanding hunting lodge where he spent a large amount of his time and included a crazy grotto where he bathed and listened to classical music while floating around in a swan boat. What a nut. 

Cora LOVED seeing the castles and talked about castles for about three days straight. It was pretty cute. Below are a few photos of our little Easter weekend get-away, beginning with a few photos of Easter Bunny goodies.




The hunting lodge fountain.





The Grotto and the boat.
Nat's old house!
Starnberg.


The Hotel!!
Neuschwanstein Castle


Rainy cold Munich.