Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Tuesday - Botanical Garden; Awesome Playground; Olympic Museum

Morning
I got up with Julia at 7:09.  Sara soon after that.  We went to the grocery store and back before Dan got up around 10.  Sara and Julia were great at the store, with Sara telling me how to get there. "Mom, it is up this street, turn left, up an elevator, then floor 4."

It was a sunny day, perfect for heading to the botanical gardens.  We saw them on the map - down towards the lake - and finding them was easy.  After climbing to the top of a hill inside the garden complex we could see forever - across the lake, and even up into the hills of Lausanne.  It was neat to be able to see both the cityscape and the lake at the same time.  Sara and Julia liked playing in an amphitheater that was up there. They put on a show, which involved lots of running around and singing. (Sara always is putting on shows.)  

After climbing up high we returned to the entrance area and discovered the most awesome play area.  It had a tree fort, an interactive water area, an interactive dirt area, a self propelled merry go round, swings, and a massage beam-based climbing pyramid.  It is beyond discription - all the things were unique - and fostered creativity.  Julia said, "wow" "wow" "wooooow" for the whole first minute.  Sara didn't wait around to say wow, she started climbing right away.  By the time we left an hour or so later, we had dug, climbed, splashed, and had a great family time together.  

I had packed a picnic so we grabed a table and ate.  Pasta, strawberries, green beans.  We ate it all.  I sat on one side of the table and Sara, Dan, and Julia were on the other side.  At one point they climbed onto his lap together.  It was cute.

Gardens
After the play ground we discovered the actual gardens.  They had nice paths, nice spring flowers, and were peaceful in the warm sun.

Olympic Museum
The Olympic committee is based here.  They call this the Olympic capitol.  So the museum is a big deal.  It is 18 SF a person to get in (that is expensive for a museum) but I showed our expired "Swiss Pass" and the guy let us all in free, a 36 SF value.  Nice.  We toured the museum, seeing gold/silver/bronze metals from all the olympics (in a big glass case) and also all the torches they have used.  It was neat to see all the different styles.  Julia was a bit fussy having not napped, but Sara enjoyed the museum, even if she did get lost from us for a while.  When I found her she was watching a movie dipiction of the first games in Greece.

We left the museum around 4 so Dan could get to work.  After that the evening went fast.  We had beef for dinner, bathtime, then time for bed.  Julia didn't want to go to bed, but when I put her in her crib she looked like she was asleep in 1 second.  Sara played her Physics game (and she is such a good reader, she reads words I wouldn't guess she'd know) and she is working on getting to sleep now though she has a cough keeping her awake a bit.

Fun day - nearly all outdoors!

Quote of the day
Sara: "Mom, I'm going to wear your clothes one day, so be sure to keep them nice for me."
(I think she said that since I told her Julia will wear her clothes so Sara must assume one day she herself will wear my clothes.)

END

No comments:

Post a Comment