This year we decided to stay in Switzerland for our Christmas break (most all companies have the week between Christmas and New Year off). We were actually excited to do some day trips to new places in Switzerland, have Christmas dinner with good friends, and get a few To-Do items done at home that have been on our list.
The kids also enjoyed a few special activities that were planned just for them. Below is a picture of them watching Mikey's Christmas on something bigger than the iPad. We don't have a TV so they thought using the computer monitor to watch a movie on was pretty cool.
We went on several hikes on our staycation. This picture is from our favorite sunny Engelberg.
For our Christmas breakfast John made us Cinnamon Pull Bread, it was very tasty. We added the clementines in order to make the breakfast at least a little bit healthy.
After breakfast was present time. It was fun to watch them both get excited about gifts this year. We try to keep Christmas centered around Jesus's birth, but watching little kids open presents is pretty cute!
Since Christmas fell on a Sunday we went to a Christmas morning church service and got all dressed up for the occasion.
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| Bear enjoying the many christmas walks. |
Staying home for Christmas meant more time for playing. We got the kids some basic Duplo Legos so they could build big houses/castles.
We went to some friends house for Christmas dinner and fun was had by all. It was so nice to celebrate with friends since we couldn't be home with family this year.
A few days after Christmas we surprised the kids with their last Christmas present, a surprise dogsled ride. We drove to Glacier 3,000 where we met the dogs and when on a short ride. It was quite windy there that day so the chair lifts weren't running. Since that was the case we got to ride in a big snow plow to get to where the dog sled ride was. It was quite the adventure.
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| Long and High suspension bridge at Glacier 3,000 |
The other day trip that we did was to go to Basel. It is one of the bigger cities in Switzerland that borders France and Germany. It is a more international city than Lucerne and has a beautiful old town right on the Rhine River. We knew there was a Dunkin Donuts there and couldn't pass up the opportunity for a good ole American donut! I was mostly excited about the To Go coffee!
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| Church in the center of Basel |
The last day of our staycation we decided to take Hannah ice skating in Lucerne. She was able to use double blade skates that we could strap on to her snow boots. Then as seen below she skated while using the penguin around. She enjoyed it and even did a lap all by herself.
We really enjoyed our week of just staying in Switzerland around Christmas this year. Switzerland is very quaint in the winter and is so beautiful with all the white light decorations in each town. We missed seeing family, but had a very special Christmas here in Switzerland.
