The Strong Family

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Heidi and I have decided to use our respective Facebook websites as our blog rather than at this location. If you would like to follow us, please friend us on Facebook.

Cody & Heidi.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Feldberg, Germany

31 DEC 2013 - We wanted to end the year with a bang! So Cody marched the kids up an incredibly long, uphill, snow covered road. Due to massive amounts of whining, complaining and crying, we stopped short of the summit and simply slid down the hill. It wasn't exactly what we had in mind, but coming down the hill sure was fun! Here we are at our peak of the mountain at Feldberg in the Black Forest of Germany.

Feldberg, Germany

Once we got to the bottom of the hill, Eli started constructing a snow cave.

Eli: (Feeling proud and accomplished) I dug so deep, I constructed a snow tunnel instead of just a snow cave. What do you think Eve?
Eve: I thought when I came through on this end of the tunnel I would see China.

Dad: Eve, I love your snow bug! So cute!
Eve: Dad, that's not a snow bug, it's a Snow Eve. I think it looks just like me!
Dad: Really, since when did you grow antennas?
Eve: I just thought that was a nice touch on my Snow Eve. ;)

Berliners

Avery: Eve, there must be at least five good reasons why Berliners are healthy for you.

Eve: You're right! Number one, they're tasty (nom, nom, nom)!

Avery: Number two, lots of fruity filling!
Eve: I love looking at the fruity filling.

Eve: Number three, powdered sugar on top!
Avery: Nailed it!

Avery: Number four, they're round.
Eve: That's right, unless you squeeze them too hard like I just did. Oops!

Eve: Number five, there's bread in these things!
Avery: I'm sure our wisdom will help millions of people feel better about eating Berliners.
Eve: Ha, ha, ha! It tastes... er, I mean, feels so good to be helpful.

Lucerne, Switzerland

28 DEC 2013 - On our way home from Switzerland, we decided to spend an unexpectedly warm and sunny day in Lucerne. The clear sky made for an impressive view of Lake Lucerne and the Alps.

Lucerne, Switzerland

The lake is just crystal clear. The kids enjoyed watching the birds and fish. Eli even took a few moments to pose for a picture. Impressive.

The boardwalk around the lake is nice even in December. The kids really enjoyed the stairs down to the lake, the parents... not so much. We were just happy no one fell in.

A short walk from the shore is a famous carving designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen called "The Lion." It was completed in 1820 in commemoration of a number of Swiss guards who were killed during the French Revolution protecting the French aristocracy.

The Chapel Bridge, seen here, is perhaps one of the most famous landmarks in Lucerne. It was initially erected in the 14th century and has been re-built many times over. We enjoyed walking over it although there are a lot of creepy paintings full of talking skeletons and beheaded people. The middle ages were tough.

Eve: Guess what happened to Kjersti and Eli?
Dad: What?
Eve: I locked them in the tower. Hee, hee. Funny huh!?!
Dad: You're in big trouble Eve!
Eve: Just kidding! Tricked ya... again!
Dad: I'm glad I can be the butt of all your jokes.
Eve: Dad, did you just call yourself a butt?
Dad: (sigh).

Engelberg, Switzerland

27 DEC 2013 - The purpose of our trip to this area was to go sledding. Now we're not talking the type of sledding we did last year where Eli's sled got away from him and went off a mountain cliff. No, we're talking about something much safer. Engelberg, Switzerland fit the bill quite nicely. The view just from the parking lot alone was awesome!

Engelberg, Switzerland

We found our way to the gondola and half way up the mountain, we found our kid-friendly sledding hill. You know it was good if both Eve and Heidi are all smiles!

One of the great things about this sledding hill was that it included a "magic carpet." This is basically a man-sized conveyor belt that takes sledders from the bottom of the hill, back to the top.

Eve: Dad, this isn't a man-sized conveyor belt... it's an Eve-sized conveyor belt. See!

Of course, we had a great time with the Anderson's. Jake joined Eli and I on a couple of runs down the hill. The scenery there was spectacular!

I think of all of our kids, Eli enjoyed going up and down and up and down and up and down the hill the most.

Eve was perfectly happy rolling, digging, playing, and laying in the snow. She did so much in the snow that day, her poor face felt the effects for days afterwards.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Heiligkreuz, Switzerland

26 JAN 2013 - The day after Christmas, we went on a vacation with the Andersons to Switzerland. We intended to go see the Lauterbrunnen valley, but fog and rain at the lower elevations made it such that there wasn't much to see. We decided to drive to the house we had rented instead, but the deep snow wouldn't allow our mini-van to make it up the steep hill. Fortunately, the Andersons had a 4x4 that made it up to the house just fine. They were good enough to ferry us and our stuff up to the house from the valley. Without them, we wouldn't have made it! We later learned that it snowed over two feet that day at the home we had rented. In lieu of that, we felt pretty fortunate to have made it up there at all! The next day, after the roads were cleared, we managed to drive the mini-van up to the house with no problems.

Heiligkreuz, Switzerland

The view we had out of the window the day after the big snowfall was picture perfect. Two feet of snow really added a lot to the ambiance of this charming little Swiss town.

The inside of the house was a bit interesting. The lady who rented it to us I think was Buddhist and she liked to hold Buddhist retreats at her large home here. So it was a bit of an odd mix inside; Swiss construction meets major Asian religion. The house was great and Eve like the sun painting on the wall so much she was convinced she needed one just like it in her own room.