Uster Swim Meet

Back in March, Brendan got to compete for the ICS Primary Swim team! He did great and even won a medal for a relay!

















John was involved in the meet as a timer:



Swim meets are a bit different in Switzerland than California:

1. Pools are inside
2. There is no room poolside to establish a family "camp"
3. As an observer, you stand all day long
4. It gets hot at an indoor pool
5. You love the kid who comes around to deliver bottled water to volunteers, and favorite parents
6. Same number of competitors, fewer events, twice as long
7. Instant gratifications -- medal ceremonies occur at the lunch break and end of day
8. There's an actual lunch break

It was a lot of fun, but I can't imagine doing every Saturday for 8 weeks! If Brendan keeps swimming as well as he did at this meet, there is a distinct possibility that he will be swimming in another country next year!

Der gestiefelte Kater and Cerberus

Back from the birthday party...

We had so much fun this morning, that I told Brendan we'd look for another cache while Abbie made chocolate in KinderCity.

This one was rated more difficult, and we quickly understood why. We were turning in circles and a bit clueless until another cacher stumbled upon us and clued us in. It then became very obvious, as I had translated the clue to understand a need for rain boots and a flashlight.



Brendan put those rain boots to use, wade through the stream, and traveled quite a ways into this tunnel. Our new caching friend thought he had quite the height advantage!

I thought the next cache would be trickier, as I hadn't had a chance to translate more than one set of coordinates and commentary. Fortunately, we were able to quickly deduce the location and find the film canister which served as a cache.



We had enough time to walk to a final location, but we weren't successful in finding the cache. It was another micro size container. I figured I'd figure out our mistake when I got home and translated the commentary/clues, but I'm not any more clued in than I was during our search! Apparently, I need a lot more practice finding these things. No problem as Brendan is quite keen to go again.

Our final stop was McDonalds, for a well earned McFlurry!



We finished our "hike" around the area, and got back in plenty of time to retrieve Abbie from her party. She was not very happy that Brendan and I visited her favorite restaurant without her.

Survivor

John and I have been Survivor fans since the first season. Two seasons ago, we introduced the kids to the show and they became big fans. Many a dinner conversation revolved around being on Team Russell or Team Rob. Turns out good friends of ours are also huge fans. Last season, we made things a little more interesting by having a Survivor contest between the two families:

1. Each member of the family contributed 10 CHF to join the contest.
2. After the second episode, each "gambler" chose 3 contestants who they thought would become Sole Survivor.
3. Each week, points were given for contestants still in the game; extra points were given for making it to the merge, winning the title of Sole Survivor, and being voted fan favorite. Points were deducted for quitting.

Halfway through the season, things looked pretty bleak for the Cassidy family. One by one, we got mathematically eliminated. C.J. was the last family member who stood a chance -- but it was a stretch. He needed a competitor's pick to quit the game. What were the odds? Sure enough, C.J. snared a win with his surfer-dude Fabio pick. The Haynor Family cried out "Why??" when their key pick quit the game.

The Haynor pulled themselves out of their post-season depression. For the first episode of this season, they planned a tribal council and with great fanfare, awarded C.J. the title of Zumikon Sole Survivor, presenting him not only with his 90 CHF award pot, but also a hand carved immunity necklace.








P.S. We had so much fun that we admitted a third family into the contest -- stakes are higher with a 130 CHF pot to win!

Grundwig and clever

We caught the geocaching bug today. Brendan received a GPS for Christmas with the idea that the family would try geocaching. Between ski days, bad weather days, homework days, etc. life got in the way and we didn't do our first find until today.

Here are a few things I've learned from the experience:

1. Holding a GPS device doesn't magically improve my map reading skills.
2. The iPhone app is much more intuitive, but the Magellan GPS device is more accurate.
3. Brendan can pick up the GPS with no instruction and figure out how to use it, while I kept googling for more specific, step-by-step instructions.
4. Descriptions for caches hidden in Switzerland along with the clues and comments are, naturally, written in German.
5. It would be very good to convince a German speaking friend to tag along on future outings.
6. Reluctant hikers will happily trot along following the red arrow.
7. "Muggers" wonder what you are doing when you are off trail, gathered around a tree stump, talking in an animated manner.
8. Lucky loves the new hobby.





Gotta run! I'm driving Abbie to a birthday party and Brendan and I have found a cache nearby.