Suddenly it's winter!

We have had a winter wonderland weekend here. We woke up on Friday to fresh snow (the kids were thrilled!). The scenery is so beautiful, and it seems new and familiar at the same time.

 On Saturday, we took our first road trip (mit dem Auto) to Montreux, which is a town on Lake Geneva. It was about a 2 hour drive there, and we only wish we had better visibility driving down to the lake. There are many vineyards and picture-perfect old houses that line the mountain up from Montreux. We will have to return perhaps in the summer time, when we can better appreciate the scenic setting. The Christmas Market is now up and running in Montreux, and we walked past stands that were selling woolens, toys, candles, artwork, etc. Lunch was in a food court-type atmosphere, with choices that included rosti (potatoes), a macaroni and cheese with ham and onion, and a crouton soup. How about this frying pan? I wish I could document the aroma -- the dish was very yummy with potatoes, ham, cheese and onions. And it was the perfect food to warm us up. The temperature was -5C (23F).

But our primary reason for a Montreux adventure was to see Santa. We took a cog train trip to Rochers-de-Naye, which was a little under an hour. If we thought visibility was bad near town, it was a white-out at the top! I couldn't believe how much snow that they had received this early in the season. The train ride was full of families who were also visiting Santa, but also skiers and snowboarders who could hazard the ride down. Bob and I were wishing we could do the same!

View from the top

The visit with Santa was a success. Montreux is in the French-speaking part of Germany, so he is called "Père Noël". The kids promised they'd be good for next year in Santa's office, saw his bedroom, and got their faces painted. (More pictures are on facebook.) It was a long day, but lots of fun.

And today is Willem's 3rd birthday! We celebrated with presents and decorating for Christmas. Landon and I also started to scope out neighborhood sledding areas. I think that sledding or sledging is going to be a serious sport here! In fact, from what I've heard and read online, official "sled runs" can be longer than 7 km and not necessarily for kids. The sleds that I have seen thus far in stores are not your average plastic Wal-mart sled. These have steering wheels with runners, and I think we'll have to try them! For now, we'll take the kids to some walking trails near us where it would be fun to steer once we've gotten a proper sled. We hope that the snow continues, because we're really enjoying it.