Day 5: Switzerland- Frauenfeld, Keyburg, Rhinefall (July 13)

I must add a note: Having children around causes more pictures to be taken... by myself and by those kids! The first few days in Germany I averaged about 75 photos per day. On the first day in Switzerland, there were 600! The next 2 days were close to 300 each. Partly because I let the kids use the camera, but also because things become so much more interesting with people in the picture, and I loved these kids! 

So, a warning: these next 3 days will have MANY MORE pictures than most of the other days... but the people in the pictures are as interesting as what they are exploring around them.

 10:00 14 Jul, 2012
 We all slept in LATE the next morning, ate a leisurely breakfast of breads- LOTS of different kinds of fresh, yummy breads, and nutella, and hazelnut yougurt. We then packed up 8 of us (Nanu and Audrey stayed home) and rode to Keyburg (K-eye-bourg) to see the Schloss there. Travis carried Evie on his shoulders to the schloss and carried Conner on his shoulders back to the van. I carried Kaeley on my shoulders from the schloss 1/2-way back before we were both tired.

Frauenfeld

Kaeley was so cheerful and happy and friendly.
"You knoo-oooow" she'd start out every sentence every minute to tell me something new.
She was my little friend, and helped assuage my feelings of homesickness (while making me miss my daughters, wishing my girls could be there with all of us!)

Since it wasn't a 10-passenger van, we couldn't all fit, so Nanu, short for Nathaniel, hung around the house.
It was CRAZY thinking this was a little baby boy when I saw him last, only a year old!

Audrey also decided to stay at home; or rather she decided to go hang out with friends instead of hanging out with "old people" from when she was only 3 years old. I doubt she remembers us from when she taught me "der mond" (the moon), or when she cried through the door while Travis and I were babysitting one night, "Tra-bis!? Traaa-bis!?.... .... .... Edeen?"

This little boy, Ian, reminded me so much of my nephew Keeth. Body style, energy, and moodiness. I loved his smile, and loved seeing him play. He was a fun little kid.

Connor was another good buddy, and we had lots of fun together. He especially liked taking my camera and capturing photos of things he found interesting. He would climb and run and climb, and loved to explore everything.

And, there's my sunshiney-"you knooo-ooow" little friend.
Kaeley was adorable, and I was glad I got to sit next to her a lot.

Travis loved playing with the kids, too. It was a reminder that he is such an awesome dad!

This is Evie, or Genevieve. She was so much fun, and loved engaging in conversation, taking and posing for pictures, and just loved going and doing. She was at ease talking about anything and everything. She made the trip so much fun with her exploring and help.

A snapshot of the backseat. I sat in the middle of the middle with Kaeley on my left, Travis on my right. Then it was Ian, Evie, and Connor in the back. Jared drove and Jen navigated.

Keyburg

I can't remember if Evie asked, but Travis scooped her up on his shoulders and carried her the ENTIRE walk to the castle. She was SO THRILLED... and the boys were a bit jealous. Travis promised them that each would get a turn.

For some reason, Ian did NOT want to come with us to the castle.

It took a little convincing, but his father was very persuasive.

Ian preferred mom's method to dad's.
The group of us walking up to the castle.

Kaeley found some tiny purple flowers and picked them for her mom. Jen tucked them back into Kaeley's hair.

Exploring and examining everything. These bells were in a park-like area outside a church on our way to the castle.

The walk-way up to the castle overlooked a forest. The castle was built on a hill and had an amazing view of the valley to the north.

This "horse" was located just outside the gardens of the castle.

Connor, Kaeley, Ian and Genevieve.

Schloss Keyburg
Built around 1100 and lived in for over 7 centuries, it was an impressive (but small!) castle.

And, we were really here!

Ian chasing a bird. He got pretty close...

Jared was playing with his (amazing!) camera. He also carried Kaeley a bit.

The coat-of-arms for the castle district (two lions). It later became the arms representing the state in this part of Switzerland.

Overlook at the entrance to the castle.
Kaeley and Jared were just "hanging out"

At Keyburg Schloss we saw a dragon in one of the towers that freaked Kaeley out. We saw 13th century living and 18th century living. I'd prefer the 18th century :) We saw the collection of weapons and armor for the Ritters (Knights) and saw an Iron Maiden, a toture chamber, and a beautiful chapel with the original frescoes. In the courtyard was a fountain AND a well.

In the castle courtyard there was both a fountain and a well. The kids ran over, climbed up on top of the well (there was a grate covering it) and exclaimed over what they saw inside.

A golden ball!
Do you remember that story?

You walked up some steps into this small round tower room. The boys came running out exclaiming 'There's a monster! a dragon!" which got Kaeley all scared. I walked into the room and saw this little dragon. There were stairs leading down into this glass-covered trapdoor room.

You can see that Ian and Connor were exploring (and unrepentant after freaking out their sister) and Kaeley is still terrified of the monster. She wouldn't even look into the window to see it!

She continued to cry and asked repeatedly after we left the room if the dragon was going to come get her.
Jen and I couldn't help but laughing at this poor little girl!

Can you find me?
I'm in the picture somewhere, although Travis and Jared are the main focus. Nope, I'm not the head at the bottom- that's Ian.

I don't know how many pounds or kilos this block weighed, but it was HEAVY! With the help of Ian and Connor I was able to lift it. Travis had a hard time and so did Jared. I think they needed a few more pulley's.

View from the upper floor out to the courtyard with the fountain.

Kaeley in the courtyard high stepping and chasing after her brothers.

Jen and Travis in the courtyard. The chapel is the building behind them.

The weather was perfect! Sunny but mostly cool.

Another "clock tower" with a sundial. Apparently each schloss was the center of telling time, and the sunclock was the standard for that area. Of course, they aren't calibrated to today's standard (or daylight savings) time.

Connor's turn to ride the shoulders. We area headed out of the castle.

In the gardens below the castle there was a little pond. The kids, immediately drawn to water, found that there were frogs and tadpoles of all sizes. Evie caught this little tadpole that has "sprouted" his hind legs.

Heading down the hill to the van, I carried Kaeley and Travis carried Connor. Evie took this picture. You can see part of the church in the background (the one with the bells in the park-like area out front).

These following photos are ones that Jared took. You can tell that he has a MUCH better camera.

Kaeley, Ian, Connor, and Genevieve

Sitting on the wall outside Schloss Keyburg.

Kaeley and Jen
Jen hardly changed since we saw her over 10 years ago. She is an amazing mom, patient but with good expectations. And, she and Jared are amazing together. I'm so glad I can call her friend!

Travis helping the boys lift the stone.

The 3 of us were able to lift that sucker!

It was easier with all of us.

Jared had to really put his whole body into it!

Evie and Kaeley playing "dress up" in the castle.

Kaeley found it easier to just sit on the stone instead of trying to move it.

View of the courtyard from the other side of the castle.

Nadine and Travis
I think our smiles say it all.

Jen outside the castle

Kaeley didn't stay on my shoulders much after this photo. She really wanted to walk/run and catch up to her mom.
Connor LOVED riding on Travis' shoulders, and was glad that he didn't have to give his spot up to Evie (who kept asking!)

Rhinefall
After leaving Keyburg we drove to a place just northwest of Frauenfeld to the Schloss Laufen (walking castle) which is located just above the Rhein and the Rheinfall. We had fun racing the kids down the stairs, taking pictures (Connor and Ian also used my camera to take pics). We passed on the 10 CHF (Swiss franks) boat ride, but had fun on the elevators. As we left Rheinfall, we felt the first drops of the rain. We paused to take pics of a sunflower field and the watch towers as we drove home in teh rain. We detoured to get bread and cheese for a typical Swiss fondue dinner.

"Nadine, take a picture of me with the cow"
Kaeley loved this cow and wanted me to take lots of pictures with it.
Oh, and the Swiss definitely have bragging rights for their chocolate.

There was a little playground just outside of the Schloss and to the side of the visitor center/gift shop.

Ian loved playing on the equipment

Clock tower at Schloss Laufen

Yes, the fountain water is potable.
No, we never did get sick.
The water didn't taste terrible, but it felt very cool and was awesome to drink.

Cool water.

They had these red geraniums all over Germany and Switzerland. They were so beautiful and made all the old buildings even more enchanting.

Ian got his turn on Travis' shoulders, too. He hopped on and off throughout this trip, and Evie kept begging to have another turn. Ian was proud that he got to ride around.

Rhinefall
This is part of the waterfall, and you can see right in the middle of the falls there is this arch.
The water was powerful and impressive. Much more so than the trickle we saw in Triberg.

Jen lifted each of her children up to this funnel that gave you the sound of the waterfall.

Oh yeah, we were happy!

(Most of) The Klaumünzner's
Jared, Jen, Genevieve, Connor, Ian and Kaeley (who didn't want to pose for the picture)

The Klaumünzner's

Connor was first to be lifted over the edge (he was MAD), Evie was next. She was laughing the whole time, and even got to touch the water.

Connor using my camera, took a shot of us watching the falls.

Ian ran around, quiet and sneaky, we had to watch him to make sure he didn't run off!

Evie didn't want her picture taken. We had to trick her to let Connor take this shot.

Much of the castle had been rebuilt/restored. They would carve into stone the date of the repairs. Ian and Travis are walking under this archway that was restored when?

We bought a booklet that had information about the falls. You can see the Schloss on the hill, the bridge spanning the water (we didn't go that way- the kids were tired and it was starting to rain).

More pictures from Jared's camera taken at the Rhinefall. I really want to get me one of these (but after this trip, I might have to wait another 10 years!)

Travis with Ian on his shoulders, Genevieve, Connor, and Jared rode up and down the elevator. I hung around at the end of the walkway to get pictures of them. You might be able to zoom in and see their faces in the elevator (the camera is that good, although I really reduced the resolution for the blog post).

Frauenfeld (or at least the area nearby)

See the ladybugs?

We drove by many of these sunflower fields. They were stunning and beautiful.

Packed into the van, on our way home. It was lightly sprinkling at this point.