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| Queen Elizabeth II and husband Duke of Edinburgh |
April 21, 2016 was Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday, and Windsor was the place to be for Queen-siting. On the 20th, she made a public appearance to dedicate a gazebo in a park and to recognize the 500th anniversary of the Royal Postal Service. (Both of these events were difficult to get information about and ended up coinciding with Emmett's nap time, so we didn't take part.) And on April 21, the Queen had scheduled a walk-about outside of the Windsor castle (which we were told would be the best time to see her in person). So with the walk-about scheduled for 11:30am, Emmett and I headed out of the house around 9:30am, made a stop at the playground for about 30 minutes, then headed toward the castle to find a spot to see the Queen. During the 2 hours we waited, we spent lots of time waving the British flags that were handed to us, practicing saying "Happy birthday, Queen!" (Emmett's version: "Happy Cake!") and eating snacks and lunch. Emmett was a trooper! At about noon, the Queen headed our way in her fancy car, with her husband the Duke of Edinburgh standing at her side. I encouraged Emmett to wave his flags and tell her "happy birthday," but he just stared in amazement. The siting happened quickly, and by the time it was over it was Emmett's nap time so we hurried through the crowds, back to our flat, and waited until that evening to try to spot the Queen again.
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| Emmett got the best view of all of us! |
Around 7pm that night, the Queen and her family were to be part of a torch lighting ceremony at the start of the Long Walk path. Spencer, Emmett and I made it there by 6:30pm but there was no way we were getting close enough to actually see any of the Royals. Regardless, we enjoyed the marching band, waving our flags, and listening to the Duke dedicate the 1000 beacons that were to be lit that night to his lovely wife. There are to be more 90th birthday celebrations throughout May and June. The tickets to most of the events are already sold out (and have been since last November), but we are going to a horse show this week and may take part in some of the June festivities, if we can.
A few days after seeing the Queen, Emmett, Spencer and I boarded a plane to Switzerland, to visit my college-friend, Matt and his lovely family. We spent four full days in Switzerland, leaving on Wednesday evening, April 27, and returning on Monday morning, May 2. Spencer worked from the public library on Thursday and from Matt and Tina's home on Friday. Matt took Thursday and Friday off and was able to hang out with Emmett and me for most of those two days.
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| Hiking through the woods in Switzerland |
Thursday morning Emmett and I were on our own, as Matt and Tina took their girls to the doctor. Matt had described the route from his house to a walking path in the woods near his house, so Emmett and I went to explore. Matt had said to follow a couple of roads and cross a small field of grass, then told us we'd find the walking path that leads to the woods. After a bit of back-and-forth along the road on the other side of the patch of grass, we finally found the path and headed up. Emmett was pretty tired as his nap and nighttime sleep the day before had both been short. So it wasn't too long into our journey that he had a bit of a meltdown and wouldn't continue forward OR turn around to return to Matt's. After tossing out a few ideas, I finally suggested that maybe he wanted to play on the slide we had seen outside of Matt and Tina's house and he agreed that that was how he wanted to spend his time. So we turned around and headed back to the road. Once at the road, I started heading down the mountain - in the direction I thought felt right. Emmett immediately pointed across the small grassy field and said "Matt's home!" I looked across the grass at the road that would lead us the correct way home and was immediately impressed that Emmett not only knew he wanted to get back to Matt's place as soon as possible to play on the slide, but he ALSO knew how to get there (when I didn't!). I thanked him for pointing us in the right direction and we headed back for plenty of slide time. I think Emmett must get his directional capabilities from his dad. After nap on Thursday, we went on a long walk around Matt's neighborhood with Matt, Tina, Maya and Lia, and got home just after Spencer returned from work.
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| Emmett, Maya & Lia :) |
Tina and Spencer both worked on Friday, so Lia and Maya went to daycare, as scheduled, and Matt took Emmett and me into Sion to explore the town a bit. Unfortunately, we had some bad timing with our site seeing attempts. We started in town, hoping to go to the Friday market to see some of the traditional foods and crafts they sell in the region. But as we walked toward the place the market was supposed to be, we were surprised to find none of the booths or stands set up. We went into a store and Matt asked about it (in French, and then later translated for me) and learned that the vendors had found out the week prior that the market would be closed that Friday due to the professional bike tour that was scheduled to pass through Sion later that day. Bummer for us.
So we decided, instead, to go to the base of a small mountain/large hill and we proceeded to climb up to one of the two castles overlooking Sion. Emmett tried to walk much of the trail himself,
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| Unable to enter the castle, but happy to play with rocks |
so our climb took awhile. But we finally made it to the top (which offered some stunning views) around 10:15am only to find that the castle would be closed until 11am. So we headed back down and started the shorter walk up to the second castle. As Emmett was getting hungry and tired, he made the journey slowly and attempted to stop at every place that he could find with rocks to climb or pick up. So we didn't end up going inside the second castle either. Instead we had to convince Emmett that it was time drop the rocks, head back down into town, and that he should ride in the stroller for this part of the journey. Luckily I had a couple of chocolate covered raisins in my bag, just waiting to be used as a bribe. Tina had asked us to stop at a grocery store on our way back, so we headed there next. We got to the door at 12:01pm, and the store had closed at noon. Back in the car, we were heading back up the side of the mountain, toward Matt's place, and arrived at the road that would allow us our most efficient route home just as they were putting the barriers in front of it to close it off for the bike race. And of course, the text we had sent Tina letting her know we were on our way home without the groceries, but in need of lunch for Emmett, didn't get to her until we pulled into the driveway. :) But despite all of this, we had a lovely morning seeing what we could, spending time catching up with Matt, and in the end, Emmett slept well for his nap.
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| Hiking in the snow - Emmett's in the carrier, hiding from the wind |
Saturday and Sunday were forecasted to be cooler and rainy, but we were lucky and managed to stay dry. Saturday morning Matt, Spencer, Maya, Emmett and I went for a hike in the mountains, just past a ski resort on the other side of the valley from Matt and Tina's place. The views were incredible and Emmett loved the snow (and rocks, of course). We had a picnic lunch in the town at the base of the resort and headed back to Matt's place, hoping Emmett and Maya would sleep in the car. Maya slept, but Emmett didn't, which was okay since Maya had a birthday party to attend that afternoon and Emmett had no where to be but in bed napping at Matt's. That evening it rained a bit, so the kids played inside while we prepared and ate a lovely dinner.
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| Biking into the valley |
Sunday morning we were fortunate enough to be able to borrow Tina's friend's car, so in order to pick it up, Matt suggested that Spencer and I ride their bikes down into the valley so we could meet them there once they had two cars (and all three kids). Spencer and I were happy to help and excited to take a ride (especially without Emmett!!) down a mountain. Again, the views were spectacular, and the ride was exhilarating and fast! We met Tina and Matt and the kids at a cafe, after having a few minutes to go inside and have Spencer practice his french and place an order. He enjoyed his little espresso and decadent morning dessert.
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| On top of the tower - no smoke signals that we could see. |
Once we were all belted into two cars, we headed to another small town on the way toward the Saint Bernard Museum. We parked our cars at a small park where Tina hung out with Maya and Emmett on the playground, and Matt (with baby Lia), Spencer, and I hiked to the top of the hill through the town and climbed to the top of the tower. We learned that each of the towns had towers like this, spread throughout the valley. The towers served as a place for a lookout for invaders and, should said invaders approach, points from which smoke or fire signals were sent throughout the valley to warn the other towns.
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| Rocks! (oh - the ruins are pretty nice, too) |
We picnicked in the park where Tina had stayed, and then headed on our way to the Saint Bernard Museum. Emmett and Maya both fell asleep in the cars en route, so Matt stayed in the parking lot with them while the rest of us toured the museum. Saint Bernard dogs used to be bred and brought to this region of Switzerland, specifically to the hospice at the Saint Bernard Pass. Due to their exceptional sense of direction, the dogs were trained to find lost travelers attempting to cross the pass through the Alps in the winter and guide them home. Dogs are still trained these days, though there is now a highway and tunnel so that people can drive over and through the pass. Once the kids woke up we went and met a few of the Saint Bernard dogs they have housed at the museum. After a bit of time with the dogs and after seeing some ruins, we headed back to Matt and Tina's just in time for dinner.
Monday morning Spencer, Emmett and I said goodbye early and enjoyed the 2 hour train, then 1 hour plane ride back to England. Unfortunately, Emmett had a bad fever for the entire day and was frustrated that we kept waking him up at every junction in our journey. But we made it home before dinner and had time to relax at home to finish off our long weekend.
Just a few days after our return, we had the pleasure of hosting our Madison friends Stephanie and Adam for a long weekend, who have been residing in the Netherlands. I will write about that and about Emmett's second birthday celebration in the next post!! In the meantime, keep in touch!!
