America!

We're back, I'm already behind on everything, and jet lag is a thing. I have a whole list of post topics on which I have made various amounts of progress, but none are yet near even the low posting standards of this blog. New strategy: smaller bites.

I wondered as we paid the hefty price to change our tickets and headed in a panic to Bern if it would be worth it in the end. We could stay here, I thought, and pay the same amount to take our traditional fall trip to Legoland, or maybe do a little long-overdue camping...  It would undoubtedly be calmer. And with a start like this, who knew what was awaiting us in the States. Would I regret this, or be very glad we went?

Predictably, it's something in the middle. We went. We saw. We did not conquer. But my two goals for this trip were (1) to expose the kids to some US culture in the form of Washington, DC and (2) to visit our good friends in Virginia. And we did those things. Check and check! Here is some proof, with more to follow in the next few days (assuming I really do manage to get back into the writing saddle, fingers crossed or thumbs pressed or whatever you're into):

Behold, my daughter in front of an American thing!

And friends! Here we are just about to order a chocolate piñata for Christopher's birthday (and because a chocolate piñata is a reason unto itself). It was amazing (also those chips were delicious), but I'm happy to report that the chocolate was not up to Swiss standards, so it was okay to go home.

Here we have just landed back in Zürich, and I'm mostly adding this photo so you don't think, based on the last one, that this kid's face was somehow disfigured during the trip. He's good.