Christmas 2010

Zug's Fairy Tale Christmas Celebration

On December 5, we headed once again to Zug to enjoy the town's Fairy Tale Christmas Celebration.  We weren't able to see any of the stories being read but we did enjoy the camel rides, eating crepes, receiving lots of candy bars and mandarin oranges from St. Nicholaus and Schmutli, and seeing the parade go past with the bell ringers and whip crackers and the people with the lanterns on their heads.  For dinner we introduced Tarah to her first Bratwurst, Swiss-German style.

Kaitlan's birthday party at home

Kaitlan wanted a kitty-cat birthday party and desperately wanted a robot cat, which we let her pick out.  I'm all for robot pets over real ones any time!  My cousin, Tarah Hargis arrived that morning from Utah and was able to join in our celebrations.

Kaitlan and her friends Dehlia (left) and Luanna (right) all decked out as kitty-cats!

Aubrie demonstrating our cat obstacle coarse.

Kitty-cats love to eat gold fish (crackers)!

We also made mice out of marshmellows and candy peices.

Kaitlan turns 5! School Celebration

Kaitlan turned 5 on December 2. At her Kindergarten, it is the tradition for the teacher and other students to come to the home of the birthday kid and bring them to school in this cool wagon wearing this special outfit.  Kaitlan loved it!  It really made her feel special.  Once at school, Kaitlan got to be the leader during the circle time activities.  She got to choose which songs they sang, and which kids got to play the special magic chocolate square game.  She choose herself twice, hoping for more chocolate!  Also, each child took a turn putting a polkadot on a paper four leaf clover then would shake her hand and wish her a special gift for her birthday.  She was wished unicorns, stars, and chocolate among other things!  You can see from these pictures that all Kindergarteners are required to wear these reflectors when walking to or from school.  Here in Switzerland the kids go to 2 years of Kindergarten starting at age 4 (turning 5).  During this time they are learning social skills and working together and singing songs and talking about different subjects but they don't begin learning anything like their alphabet until first grade, where they are pushed very hard to learn to read by midterm.  I don't think it's the best system but enjoy what if offers Kaitlan and I have been teaching her her alphabet, phonics, and numbers at home in both German and English. 

Snow Fun

On November 26, we got our first big snow fall of the year.  The girls played in the snow the entire afternoon.  The snowman they made, all by their self, was adorable!