Jack's new friends...and other things we've been up to

We have finally made some friends around our new house. I met two mom's at nearby parks who were kind enough to speak English to me and I had both of them over for a playgroup at our house.

Here is Jack with his new friends Emilie and Anik. Both of them are multi-lingual, but they do not speak English. It doesn't seem to bother Jack though, he is just enjoying playing with some nice kids again...and I am enjoying talking to someone other than a whiney 2 year old during the day!

We finally got internet at home so now I can post the backlog of pictures I have been saving.

Here are some pictures from a "zoo" near our house. It is referred to as a "zoo" on the maps and city guides...but it wasn't quite what I expected.
Here is Jack with the zoo bunnies
and the zoo chickens
These pigs were pretty awesome
Zoo goats
Zoo ducks
And my favorite exhibit had to be the large enclosure for the zoo tabby cats.

Now just to be fair, they did have some more exotic animals like monkeys and a lynx. But I couldn't stop laughing after seeing the large tabby cat exhibit. It's not everyday you have to go to the zoo to see a cat...

We have also been visiting the parks around the area. Here is a park by our house which has a great view of the lake.

Jack loves to put his hands in the air when swinging, going down the slide, etc.



A view of the hayfields right outside our house.
Here is another park we have been visiting lately. I like to go to the parks and talk to Jack in English and hope other moms approach me who also speak English. It has worked twice so far, and until I learn French I think this will be the only way to make friends.
I love this wall with the tree growing right through it
Hiking through the forest
After Luke took his school final we headed to Europa Park in Rust, Germany. It feels eerily similar to Disneyland, but the 2 Euro beers and cheeseburgers kept reminding us that we were not in Disneyland (or even Switzerland for that matter)
Jack loved to hold his hands up on all the rides
The park is themed with the countries of Europe. Here are Jack and I riding the Viking boat in the Norway section of the park

Jack with the Viking
Steps up to the "big honkin' slide" (as Jack refers to it)
Hands up!


Here is Europapark's mouse mascot (not sure what it's name was, but I wouldn't be surprised if they called him Mickey too)
Jack loved the mascots!
The Norway section even had a replica of a Viking Stave church
This was on a boat ride similar to It's a Small World.
Taking a break
More rides
And more rides
Time for coffee!
And more rides
Yep, more rides.

We all had a blast at Europapark and I can't wait to go back when Jack is a little bigger so he can go on the FUN rides. It was also very cheap! After living in Switzerland for over 2 months we were shocked to be able to eat a good dinner with beers for under $100. We are already planning our next trip back to Germany :-)

Here are some videos I have from the last few weeks:

Gotta love reverse psychology!

Jack loves to count in French

Jack was really excited when we went to Germany and he kept saying "Germany" over and over again

Finally, here is the song that never ends. He can sing it for 15 minutes and never know when to stop

That's it! I think I am all caught up with pictures and video. Now that we have the internet I will try to give weekly updates again.