Afternoon
After our trip to the top (which I wrote about in my last post) Julia slept for 2 hours. Sara and I read, played, and relaxed. She built a "zip line" for her dolls - tying a string from a door hinge to a chair and then making her dolls travel down the line. She wanted to do it too, and it took a lot of convincing that her zip line would not hold her weight.
When Julia woke up Dan got back from skiing. This was the first day in a long time that it was not snowing so visibility was good (just as it was when we were all up on the mountain together). He said it was fun.
We had dinner (pizza here) and then I bundled up the kids for a "night walk." Just like last night, it was 6:00 when we left (we know the time since the church bells 'gong' every hour) and about 7:15 when we got back. The night walk was lovely. This time it wasn't snowing, so we could just walk with out snow flakes getting cozy on our eye lids. We still have our rented sled and I asked Julia "do you want to walk or ride" - no surprise. She said, "walk!" and she took strides up the hill to town. Sara made full use of the sled, laying down on her belly so her length took up the whole wooden sled - she likes to watch the world go by from under the sled's runners.
After a while Julia walked even with me (instead of ahead of me) and reached up for my hand. "Hand" she said, looking me in the eye and making the request. We walked glove-in-glove through town while I pulled Sara with my other hand. There are less motorized vehicles on the roads at night so it was peaceful - though we did have to look out for them (the electric hotel vehicles) since they go fast and do not stop for little kids in the road. I just say "car!" and the kids know to get out of the road. I did that a few times and then they started saying "car!" for me - which was a good point that they were looking out for safety.
Deep in town there was music drifting everywhere. One place was playing Elvis Presley's Jail House Rock, and Julia stood up on a stage and danced. The boogied with her hands in the air, she boogied with her butt swinging, she boogied with her knees bobbing her up and down - that kid was feeling the music. She had a fan club, and people clapped for her at the end of the song. For her next song she decided to remove her winter clothes. She began dancing, took off a glove and tossed it. She continued dancing and sent the other glove flying. She marched around dancing to the beat and then whipped off her hat. She spun in circles and tried to take off her coat - I drew the line there - but I imagine she wasn't cold after all that movement. She was giddily happy. Sara sat on the sled like a good big sister - she took in the night air but let Julia have the dancing spot light.
The church bells rang out, it was time to wander back through town to home. By this time the town was quiet. No vehicles, only a few strolling people, and a few shop keepers closing up for the night. Music was still every where, escorting us home. Julia wanted to do some window shopping on the way - and she stood in the Swiss shops with her face pressed to the window. Sara and I let her look for a while, but she seemed so interested she didn't move so I picked her up, tucked her under my arm, and carried her a few steps. She objected. She really likes to walk on her own two feet. Distanced from the shop window she was happy to continue forward towards the apartment, which is past the center of down and down a little hill.
Sara wanted to sled down the hill - and I knew she had the skill to do it. We all have gained skills moving in the snow - on our feet, sleds, and skis. We haven't used our stroller in days.
Back at the apartment Sara wanted to give Julia some cheese and a cookie. I said okay to the cheese but not the cookie. Sara likes to help take care of Julia, which in her eyes means making sure she gets a snack before bed. So Julia had her cheese snack and went to bed. She rubbed her eyes as I was getting her into her PJs. It was a big day for her - top of the Alps! Night walk! Time for sleep.
Sara and I drew Easter Eggs on paper for a night time craft to mellow out. It is soon time to get some sleep.
Quotes of the day
(out on our walk) Julia: "Walk!" (when I asked if she wanted to walk or ride.
(out on our walk a while later) Julia: "Ride." (when the sled looked like a comfy place, and she did sit on the sled for about 10 seconds before getting off to walk again.)
(up on top of the mountain) Sara: "Mom, can we play with the money?" (we used coins to pay for our lunch today, and Sara was intrigued by the Swiss money - the 1/2 franc, 5 france, 20 cent, etc. We sorted it by size and she made it into a nice stack.)
(after dinner) Sara: "Mom, will you get Julia down then give her to me?" (Sara likes to carry Julia, so I got Julia out of her seat and passed her to Sara, who carried Julia for several steps before Julia squawked to be let down.)
(at dinner) Sara: "Mom, will you please get all this ham off my pizza?" (Sara likes ham, she likes pizza, but would not even think about eating ham on pizza.)
Great day. On top of the mountain there was a mural that said "do more of whatever makes you happy." I think that is a good idea.
END.
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