~Is That A Teepee I See?~

~We wanted to head back to the Jungfrau region of Switzerland.. and this time we wanted to find a place to camp. We love this area.. one of our favorites in Europe because it is so incredibly peaceful and all of your stresses seem to disappear. I think that this must be like Heaven on earth. We were doing research on the computer for the best places to camp.. and then Steve found these teepees that we could rent.. and then the vacation took on a whole new meaning for us! The boys were about to have a brand new adventure~


~We got our teepee all set up.. and the most exciting part was that we could actually have a fire in our teepee. You are not allowed to have fires while camping in Europe.. so this was very important to us. We did have some huge smoke outs a few times.. but we had a great time. The boys loved cooking s'mores in our teepee, and waking up to hot chocolate. We slept dry and warm~


~There was a huge restaurant teepee at the front of the campground that had a large fire pit that you could make your dinner on. We took full advantage of this, and threw on the biggest, American-sized steaks these Europeans had ever seen.. we are the pro's on bbq'ing, right?.. and we had the most delicious dinner~


~The campground sat right on Interlaken lake. We woke up on this beautiful morning and went out for a morning adventure. It was picture perfect. The water looked like blue-green glass, and the cotton candy clouds created shade in the deep green grass surrounding the local villages across the water~


~Cole & Kade loved feeding the large, white swans and brown ducks that followed us around the entire lake, just hoping we had more treats to share. We were also able to have a rock skipping competition.. it will be a while before these boys will beat out dad's record of 9 skips.. but they keep trying~


~We walked back along this beautiful creek that lined our campground. We have the best time together out on our family adventures~


~We got in the car and headed up to Lauterbrunnen.. but we did not make it too far up the windy roads. We did not know that there was a marathon going on that day. The roads were all blocked off. We parked the car, and got out and stood in awe watching these people accomplish this huge task. I think it would rank up there as one of the most beautiful places you could ever run a marathon~


~Do you think you wouldn't mind the 8 miles of an uphill run through the Swiss alps if you came around the corner and saw this masterpiece village?~


~We cheered on the runners for a couple of hours. I love the feeling that comes over you when you watch this great triumph for all of these runners. We enjoyed this village the best we could with the thousands of people running.. and then headed back to the car for a small picnic~


~Our next stop was the town of Grindelwald, we had not visited here before, so we were so surprised by all of the family-friendly activities up in this spectacular area of the mountains. We first rode a ski lift up the mountain to the Rodelbahn (Alpine Slide). I was getting a little nervous as we kept going higher and higher up the mountain..I was worried how scary the slide would be. My partner was Kade.. and we have a rule between Steve & I that we are not allowed to use the brakes on the entire ride..and we did it.. so scary, almost fell off.. but we did it~


~It was situated right along the side of the moutain. There were cows sitting right next to the slide. You wanted to go slow to take in all of the beauty that surrounded you, but the thrill is in the speed~


~Steve's partner was Cole.. they were smiling from ear to ear as they came to the end. We each got 6 trips down the Rodelbahn.. but it was still very sad when it came to an end~


~Since we were already half way up the mountain, we decided it was such a perfect, sunny day that we would go on a small hike. As we started, we walked right past this adorable cow & pig.. we walked right up and got a picture.. the cutest animals ever~


~The hike started out flat, past a couple of beautiful waterfalls.. but then we started to do some climbing. The boys were being very good sports, and were really enjoying themselves. I see many hiking adventures in our future~


~We have found in Europe that our favorite hikes are always marked with these painted white-red-white lines. The best part is that it becomes a competition for Cole & Kade to find the next marker.. so they practically run along the trails~


~We were not dressed appropriately for this hike, but we did not give up. Steve & I had on Crocs, and the boys had on flip-flops.. definitely not good hiking shoes.. but it was the most beautiful day and the most beautiful hike.. we had to make it to the top. We were proud of ourselves when we got here~


~I sat there with my two handsome boys and looked out all around in every direction. We could see this gorgeous waterfall in the distance~


~We did not know how high we really were until we looked back down at the deep green, grass surrounded village below. This place is amazing. We enjoyed every minute together as a family. We were all starving for dinner, so we all agreed that pizza & chocolate fondue was the best way to solve this problem. Mountain Hostel restaurant at the mountaintop town of Gimmelwald came to our rescue once again.. we ate their 3 nights in a row on our trip back in April~


~On our last day here we decided to go explore the popular tourist town of Interlaken. This gorgeous green water runs along the canals throughout the town~


~I can see why it is popular here, there are fun things to explore around every corner. It was Sunday, so things were quiet around town.. just the way we wanted it~


~We stopped off and got food for a picnic lunch and we set up on this large area of grass right in the middle of the village. We put out a blanket, the boys played, and Steve & I laid in the sun and enjoyed the people watching and the smells from all the fresh flowers around us~


~The Jungfrau region is VERY popular for paragliding. It was very entertaining the entire weekend because right above our teepees the entire day there were paragliders falling from the mountaintops. I am not kidding when I say that we probably saw over 300 paragliders that weekend~


~It is always hard for us to leave this area.. we were definitely dragging our feet. Steve started to drive towards home and I said wait, I am not ready to leave.. just a few more adventures together in these beautiful mountains.. we can arrive home late that night.. we cannot leave yet.. it was such a perfect day~


~We headed back up to Lauterbrunnen, much easier without the marathon going on.. and we looked up and saw this view. These are the Staubbach Falls, they look like they drain right into the town~


~We had heard about these Trummelbach Falls on our previous trip here, but we did not get around to seeing them. This time, we decided we needed to see what all the hype was about. It is a ten glacier-waterfall that is inside the mountain, and it is made accessible by a tunnel-lift(which the boys loved)and since it is like walking through a cave.. they shine lights on the waterfalls~


~The Trummelbach alone drains the huge glaciers of Eiger (3970 m), Mönch (4099 m) and Jungfrau (4158 m), and carries 20,200 tons of melt per year. It drops up to 20,000 liters of water per second. These are the only glacier-waterfalls in Europe inside the mountain and still accessible. It was fantastic!~


~We left the waterfalls and we were still not ready to go home. We headed back up the other side of the mountain to the town of Grindelwald once again. We played a fun game of mini golf, how could you not be enjoying yourself with these views that surrounded you? I guarantee we will never play mini golf in a more beautiful location. We ended the day with some ice cream and then finally decided we better head for home. We all had an incredible time, and the boys slept the entire way home~