It was an uneventful week here in Tuebingen. The skies were overcast all week with temperatures in the low 50's. On the outskirts of the city is a small farm that sells produce, eggs and has a restaurant. It is called Schwaertzlocher Hof. The have alot of chickens, a few peacocks, cows, horses, and we heard some pigs. Isabelle loves, LOVES, LOVES animals of all kinds...(did I say love?) and was very excited. She is truly a farm girl at heart stuck in the city.
It was about a 30 minute walk from our apartment. It is always fun for us to see different parts of the city. This is looking toward the west part of Tuebingen. The tall, white tower in the left, middle of the sky-line is the Stephanuskirche where Isabelle will be attending kindergarten.
You can't have a farm without tractors!
Isabelle was most intrigued with the chicken coop. We were constantly reminding her to keep her fingers out of the fence and thankfully she was listening this afternoon, as the chickens were as interested in her as she was of them.

Isabelle and I thoroughly enjoyed all of our Halloween cards. I think Uncle Bud and Aunt Janet's was the tastiest.
I now have TWO teeth to brush!
Is it possible that this Hawkeye bib from Grandma Koss is good luck??? If so, Daddy plans on wearing it daily.
My first hair pretty holding back my non-existent bangs. But I still look cute!
Posing for the camera.

A view of Staubbach waterfall as we were leaving Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland for Tuebingen. You could see the waterfall from our balcony.

On Sunday, we took a cable car to Maennlichen (7317 ft) via a train from Wengen. The clouds were rolling in as we stepped off the gondola.
Allie and Daddy

Isabelle couldn't get enough of the snow. She said she was making a snowman...I think she was becoming one. You can see the ski lift in the middle right of this picture. You can ski down the edge of the mountain the opposite way that we came up. It looked very steep though!
All that playing in the snow, can make a girl tired!

In the tiny village of Gimmelwald. This huge, sheer cliff face is the Schwarzmoench ("Black Monk"). There are definately more cows then people (100 in the population). This is a very traditional Swiss community. Isabelle was estatic to see the animals and you could hear the ceremonial bells around the cow's necks near and far. There is quite a cow culture here and is very interesting to read about. The altitude here is 4,470 feet.
Our hotel Staubbach in Lauterbrunnen had a little play area for children. Allie loved the dolls and anything she could chew, and Isabelle was fanatic about the doll stroller (circa 1962) and stuffed animals. On Saturday, we woke up to snowing skies. It didn't stick around though.

The ride back to the village of Muerren, Switzerland.
When we got lower out of the clouds, our view was unbelievable!
Exploring Muerren, very quaint and cozy.
Going back down...

Sprechen Sie Englisch? Parlez-vous anglais? Parla inglese? Fortunately in multi-lingual Switzerland they do...as a matter of fact they speak 3 to 4 languages fluently.

A cable car going down as we are on our way to the top.
The Piz Gloria station at the 10,000 foot summit of the Schilthorn. We had lunch at the solar-powered revolving restaurant. The James Bond thriller, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" was filmed here.
A view from the top. The clouds rolled in and out obscuring our view at times.
Allie and Mommy trying to stay warm in the crisp Swiss air! (-4 degrees Centigrade)

We ventured to the mountains of Berner Oberland in Switzerland this weekend. It was a 5 hour drive from Tuebingen. We stayed in Lauterbrunnen which is close to Interlaken. The views were amazing. We took the gondola up to the Schilthorn as you can see in the photos above. The girls did wonderful and we enjoyed our experience in the Swiss Alps.

I am an attention seeker! I will search a crowd to see who is admiring me and catch their eye to grin and laugh!

Isabelle thinks that joining her sister in the crib is such fun!
What's for dinner? I enjoy eating!

A look down our street this afternoon.

This is the research center that Jamie is working at. Yes, of course he works!!! It can't be all fun and games! :)

I love to be outside!
Getting dizzy on a merry-go-round for one!
Is this edible??? Because I like to put EVERYTHING in my mouth.
When can I move in?

The weather has been just beautiful this fall!!! It has been so much nicer now in contrast to our rainy, cool summer. The local park and playground just minutes away from our apartment is always a big hit with the girls and we go at least once daily if it the weather is good.

A career in otolaryngology?????

Nooooo...make that cardiology.

See my Igel? Igel is a hedgehog in German. Allie and Isabelle started a playgroup this Thursday called "Sprache, Spiel, und Spass" (speak, play, and fun). It is for Auslanders (foreigners) and created for kids and their moms to participate with speaking and singing in German and doing activities. It took Isabelle awhile to warm up to a new situation but by the end was quite the little extrovert! They made an 'Igel' after listening to a story and playing with these seeds called Kastanien. They have trees here that send thousands of the Kastaniens all over the ground, and kids love to play with them. I think it is kind of a chestnut. It was a fun morning...challenging for me and my sub-par language skills, but a great opportunity to practice! The girls had a great time too!

It was a beautiful weekend in Tuebingen. The temps were in the 60s and we had sunny skies after foggy mornings! On Saturday they had their annual regional market in the Altstadt (old city). There were many people selling produce, cheese, hand-made soaps and baskets, photography and jewelry that are from or around the Tuebingen area. Isabelle and Allie had fun seeing live goats and calves in the Marketplace. Also, on Saturday was the Entenrennen on the Neckar which featured rubber ducks dumped into our local river to "race" and benefit the city. You purchase the ducks before the race and the winner gets a small prize.

The Rathaus (city hall)
We just can't figure out why Allie is up all night!

We keep reminding Allie that leaves aren't for eating...

Enjoying a warm, autumn day...

We couldn't be sooooo close (2 hour drive) to Munich and not experience the one and only Oktoberfest!!! It was "family day" on Tuesday which had reduced prices on some food and amusement park rides. Jamie and I went in 2002 and we were disappointed at our inability to sit down and enjoy a cold liter of beer in the tents. We decided to give it another 'go', and although we were able to see what we were missing in 'o2, it wasn't the place to relax with a beverage having our 2 little girls. It was great to see again, but every minute there the crowd seemed to grow exponentially. A little background on Oktoberfest...it was an enormous party held in front of the city gates to celebrate the wedding of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig I to the Saxon-Hildburghausen Princess Therese on October 12, 1810. It is now the largest beer festival in the world, a 15 day extravaganza that attracts over 7 million people a year!

Isabelle had a blast on the carousel.
In pretzel heaven...
1/2 meter!
Isabelle isn't incredibly excited being so close to the Augustiner horses.