All Settled In...

Bonjour!  Another week complete and we are feeling more settled.  We have visited places for a second or third time and we don't rely on "Helen" as much to get around. We are still struggling with the language barrier- using google translate a lot- It is still such an odd feeling to be out at a park, and typically while pushing the girls on the swing I would have small talk with other parents who may be pushing their kids.  Now, it is silent... if they do try to talk to me, I just nod and politely say "Je ne parle francais" (I don't speak French).  I really want to be able to communicate, so we are still continuing to practice a lot throughout the day.

On Monday, we were invited to the Baker's pool, so Adalyn was able to have fun with Genevieve and actually be able to communicate! I also appreciate the adult interaction and getting all the great advice and tips from Annissa.

On Tuesday, we went back to the park/zoo, seems to be a favorite for the kids.  This time, Adalyn fed a deer, which she thought was super cool and a tad scary!

Wednesday was furniture shopping and park day- nothing exciting!

On Thursday, the girls and I set out to make a much needed purchase for the home... A lawn mower.   Yes, not very exciting, but you should see our lawn.  The difference between here and Lakeville is that here most homes have a large 8ft hedge surrounding the whole yard.  So, no worries with keeping up with your neighbors lawn, because you can't see their yard.  Which is why mowing our lawn quickly became a very low priority- when you have so many places to explore- who wants to mow the lawn?  So, we bought one, and are happy to report the lawn is mowed!

On Friday, we went back to the Fountains to play in the water- it was a colder day, so not many people were there.  Adalyn and Eliza have been enjoying watching the "ALS Ice Bucket Challenge" on Facebook- and you could tell based on Eliza at the pool!  She kept filling her bucket and then pouring it over her head!  The water was fairly cool, so I was surprised that she enjoyed it so much!

Then of course, Adalyn wanted to join in the fun!  

On Saturday, we headed to Montreux, Switzerland which is also located on Lake Geneva and about 1 hour 20 minutes from our house.  The town is situated right along the lake, so we spent the morning walking along the lake and peeking in the little shops.  Another great place to take visitors!

Daddy's little girls taking in another lake view.

After lunch, we took a boat ride to the Chillon Castle.  It was about a 15 minute boat ride with amazing views of the alps- unfortunately it was a pretty cloudy day.

The boat we took to the castle.

We arrived at the Chateau de Chillon and Adalyn was so excited that she was going to be able to go inside a real castle.  The 12th-century castle was used as a fortress, arsenal, and prison.  They began restoring the castle at the end of the 19th-century and opened the doors for people to visit.  We spent about an hour walking through the castle and reading about all of the different rooms-I think Adalyn was surprised at what a real castle looked like inside versus a Disney castle!!  Disney has really set the castle expectations high for little girls!  She kept asking where all the furniture and fancy things were!

Chateau de Chillon 

 Adalyn said this was her waiting for "Coronation Day!"

I found my favorite place in the castle!

On Sunday, we didn't have much planned since the weather report was not looking very well.  Fortunately, once again the forecast was wrong and it was a beautiful day.  During nap time, Adalyn and Chris went on an adventure together- they took a cable car to the top of Mount Saleve.  I have been battling an ear infection so I decided Eliza and I would opt out of this adventure for now- we will definitely be going again.  It is about 5 minutes from our house and the ride up takes about 5 minutes to get to the top of the mountain- they had a blast.  She was so excited to wear her hiking boots!  They hiked around a bit and also watched the para gliders take off from the mountain.

Then, since it was such a nice day out we decided to go to a popular park that we had not visited yet, Parc La Grange, which has been noted as the most beautiful green area in Geneva.  It is an enormous lake side park, you could easily spend a whole day there exploring all the different areas.  It has a large beautiful rose garden, two summer theaters for entertainment during the summer months, a playground, and a wading pool.  It was filled with so many people just enjoying the day- relaxing on the lawn, playing on the playground, etc.  It was also great people watching!  We joked that this was our people watching outing since we are missing out on the great people watching at the MN State Fair this year!  They also had a mini wooden Ferris wheel that was powered by men.  The girls and Chris took a ride, which I wonder what the men were thinking as Chris approached for a ride, since they had to basically make the wheel turn!!  We will definitely be back to this park-

Adalyn will start school next Wednesday, so we have one week left of playing during the day!  She meets her teacher and sees her classroom this Thursday-she is very excited!

Some people have asked what our house looks like so I thought I would post some pictures.  It's only been three weeks, so we definitely have a lot more to do inside the house, but the girls rooms are done.  As the house gets furnished and decorated, I will post more!

Back View 

Side View

Adalyn's Room

Eliza's Room

Another view of Eliza's room to show the built in closets that we have throughout the house- 

some have rods to hang clothes, others have shelves- 

Other pictures from the week....

 Eliza has a new love for motorcycles/scooters- we see them everywhere!
She points out every "moto"

 Must love chocolate in Switzerland!  

 Adalyn decided this week she wanted to climb the tree in our yard- it is weird to actually have trees that are big enough to climb compared to our little trees back in Lakeville!  

 Super smiley Eliza

My super exciting grocery store find this week!  I love the grocery stores in France!!

Hope everyone has a great week!  A bientot! (Talk to you soon)