Our little guy turned 2 recently. Can't believe how much he has changed since this picture was taken.
Here is the day he was born
Jack on his first birthday
And here we are the morning of Jack's 2nd birthday.
To celebrate this big day we got on another train and headed to an indoor tropical rainforest
The birthday boy and mommy at the train station
A favorite activity lately is jumping down stairs. If there is a staircase around, he will conquer it!
Jack and Luke at the entrance to the Papiliorama
Since there are 4 national languages in Switzerland they try to use pictures whenever possible.
The rainforest is inside a huge dome
A familiar sight these days
One of the domes held thousands of butterflies. Jack wanted to give the butterflies butterfly kisses. (You can see the little black and white butterfly on the middle right of this photo)
Twins?
Climbing to the top of the rainforest
One of the exhibitions was a nocturama for all the nocturnal animals. I couldn't take pictures inside but it was awesome! We saw so many animals that are usually sleeping when we are at the zoo like the sloth, the porcupine, owls, etc. There was even a bat cave the you could walk through and thousands of bats were flying around. It totally freaked Luke out and he was squealing like a little girl, but Jack loved it! He walked through it 10 times or more.
They also had a petting zoo
And a park
Jack got freaked out in the tunnel when we started making monster noises to scare him
Another tantrum
We left the Papiliorama around lunch time so we were all hungry. Unfortunately it was Sunday, and in Switzerland NOTHING is open on Sunday...except McDonalds. Jack didn't seem to mind his $8 Happy Meal though.
Back at the hotel Jack was greeted by the cleaning ladies (who he has become really friendly with). They gave him a candy bar, juice and a card.
For dinner we met up with our friends Carmen, Paulo and baby Maria again.
Jack got an ice cream crepe after dinner. At first he didn't know why everyone was singing
But then he started smiling when he realized we were singing to him...and that the ice cream and candles were for him.
After we got back to the hotel that night he kept asking for more candles.
So we had to light and relight the candles and sing Happy Birthday again and again and AGAIN.
And of course, no day ends without a good tantrum.
Maybe not much has changed since this first day :-)
The weather has been fabulous and we have been enjoying our last few days in the city
Here is the fountain that Jack loves to play in
And the new scooter that he got for his birthday
The circus arrived in town this week. It seems the whole city of Neuchatel has been invaded!
Circus trailers for the performers/workers fill every possible campground around our hotel
And all the parking lots are full with trailers as well
Up and down the streets are more trailers and other things for the circus
And the roads that Jack used to ride his scooter on are now filled with all sorts of animals
Camels and zebras walking the streets of Neuchatel
I'm just glad I don't live in these apartments! With the heat, this is one stinky place to be...
Horses line the street next to our hotel.
Not every day you see elephants on the sidewalk
During the daytime the circus opens up a zoo to see all the animals. Jack was able to have his first pony ride
He absolutely loved it and cried when his turn was over.
Then, down at the beach every one came out to see the elephants swim in the lake
Here they come...
Three happy elephants swimming in Lake Neuchatel
They were getting a little to close for comfort, so we bailed right after I snapped this shot.
Headed down to the pools
Loving the water!
Jack has a habit of opening his mouth when he goes under water. Usually resorts in him swallowing a ton of water. I've been trying to teach him to close his mouth, but he always forgets
The teeter-totter at the pool
Sandbox next to the kids pool
"Now what should I do?"
Jack wanted to go on the big slide. I wasn't sure if little kids were allowed, but we tried it anyways
Here is the view from the top. A little intimidating for a small person, but Jack did great! He wanted to do it again, and again, we must have went down this slide 15 times! By the last few times he was holding his hands in the air as we went down and people would clap for him when he landed in the big pool.
View from the bottom
Jack discovers the world of sprinklers
Oh, the joys of childhood!
Playing "catch" at the park
Rolling in the grass
The trees near our hotel have been decorated with some pretty odd things.
I think this is supposed to be the moon with a space ship in it's eye
Creepy monster
Jack was mesmerized as we walked around searching for more monsters in the trees
And a random Earth hanging in the middle of the sidewalk.
Today Jack got out of bed before I woke up and got into a bag of miscellaneous things. Guess this is what happens when mom sleeps in! (p.s. that is liquid eye liner all over his face/arm.)
