Last week was the annual Fasnacht festival here in Bern. Lots of confetti and costumes and marching bands! You can google it to hear about the history. For us it meant heading downtown Friday afternoon for the kinder parade. We went with some of our new Swiss friends from Jackson’s school. That was fun to hear about how they went as children. The kids had so much fun seeing all of the other kids dressed up. We marched with the bands through the old cobblestone streets and ended at an area near the cathedral where they had games set up for the kids.

Here are a few photos. We avoided the “grown-up fasnacht” knowing that it would likely be scary for our kiddos. The kinder parade was just enough for us! The boys came home EXHAUSTED! They both crashed early that night after skipped naps and so much excitement.

my super hero….the theme was Zoo animals but he wanted to be a super hero

and our little dino just could not make sense of being taken out of his bed early to get a costume on!

Jackson and Ella..she is Swiss but her family lived in Houston. Such a sweet family.

superhero reunion

only in Switzerland…(this may be the name of an upcoming blog series. I am working through some culture shock before I launch it. I don’t want to get myself sent out of the country! 🙂

we saw at least 50 Pippy long stockings during the afternoon….brings back so many fun slumber party memories. I had no idea the Swiss loved her so much!

not a great picture but the only one of the 3 of us! Should have gotten one pre-parade. My super hero and dinosaur were fading!

We got our fill of confetti until next yr!!

Spring is still taunting us in this neck of the woods and we are taking advantage. Saturday I hiked up the Gurten with 2 girls from church and the boys met us at the top to play at the park. Yesterday we met friends at the Rosengarten overlooking Bern for a picnic. We have had lots of outside time! In a few minutes when Owen gets up we are heading out again. Going to enjoy it until my allergy-fogged contacts start screaming!!

Bonnie, Leigh and Katie Jo arrive on Wednesday morning and I can’t wait! I last saw Bonnie in July of last year. Too long! We are going to make a big pot of Swiss fondue for Bonnie and I may just have to make a trip to the chocolate factory so she can get a good taste of Swiss chocolate and get a good view of the mountains.

Not sure what we will do next year when all of our near and dears have already visited us here. I have SO enjoyed having so many guests and it has made this house feel more like home.  We may have to build a budget line in so I can hop “home” now and again. I am still holding out hope to go to my cousins wedding in July but with tickets a whopping $1700 a piece my hope is dwindling.

I need to post on the fastnacht parade from Friday but the camera and the computer seem to be in opposite ends of the house so that will have to wait! We had big fun and were completely wiped out! Stay tuned!