July 4th in Switzerland... Dinosaurs and Hot Dogs!

We celebrated the 4th of July in Switzerland... this is obvious since we live in Switzerland, but I have to say that it was the most unique 4th of July I have ever experienced.

We spoke with our neighbors on Saturday, July 3rd and decided to go on an excursion with them. We wanted to go somewhere that the kids would love. So, we pulled out the good old Family Fun Book and decided on the place with dinosaurs! Yes, that is right, we hit the only park in Switzerland with "real life" model dinosaurs. The spot is called Grotres et Prehisto-Parc de Reclere (http://www.prehisto.ch/).

This was a great choice! We went on a 2 KM walk around the park and we saw tons of life-like models of dinosaurs. Ross made fun of the dinosaurs. He has us all laughing and Joel was delighted to make some new huge friends! He ran the entire 2 KM and yelled "DINOSAURS!!!" for the entire walk. You may be thinking it got old, but it really didn't! By the end of the walk, the little guy was exhausted. Our neighbor 4 year old was also having a wonderful time explaining the dinosaurs to the smaller guys. It was adorable.

After checking out all of the dinosaurs we decided to skip the caves and head onto lunch. We were in the French speaking part of Switzerland so the food was scrumptious. Even Joel chowed down on the ham and French fries.

We got home from our trip and we all took naps. We were woken up to the sound of an impromptu soiree happening in the courtyard of our complex. We jumped out off the couch and headed out to hang out with our neighbors. It was so fun. Joel loved riding his retro rocket with the other kids and playing on the swing. Joel even tried riding a scooter! He did really well… that may need to be a Christmas Gift! Events like this are another reason that I love our neighborhood.

Now, for our 4th of July dinner we had the following feast! REAL AMERICAN FOOD! We were so pumped! We had Mac'n' Cheese, potato chips and hot dogs! It was wonderful! Ross and I told Joel all about the Declaration of Independence, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and the American Revolution. I am pretty sure that the little guy will retain it all!

We had a great 4th of July!