On Tuesday, we returned to Ballenberg Museum, where we had been previously with the Walkers. This time we went with some friends from church, Tanya, Max and Jasper. The sun was shining, there was a light breeze blowing, should have been a perfect trip, but sadly, I had to go and ruin it all by inviting my children. :( Yes, they woke up on the completely wrong side of the room, not just the bed, and whined and complained the entire day. The only one who was perfectly behaved was sweet little Alexandra. In spite of that, however, I did manage to enjoy myself and this time we saw the other half of the park, and the insides of lots more houses. It was definitely worth the drive, and no matter what the kids say, we are going back again. Although, I doubt Tanya and Max will be joining us.
I simply had to stop on the drive up and snap this photo. What a picturesque little village. We seriously live in the most beautiful country in the world! And as we were walking towards our car at the end of the day, I glanced over and noticed this gorgeous waterfall.
The highlights this trip were watching the cute old man make cheese. Huge copper pot that he could swing over the fire to heat up, then he would swing it off when it got hot enough and scoop out the curds with a giant cheesecloth. Didn't look up at the huge group of people watching him once! Either he was very concentrated on his work, or he's just not a people person.
A very nice man took us into the upper rooms of one of the houses and showed the kids the bats that were sleeping in the rafters. They were the cutest little fuzzy things. Seriously tiny, like the size of mice. We had to be very quiet and we weren't allowed to take pictures in case we frightened them. We saw this same man in several different spots the rest of the day and he greeted us as "his American friends". He had fun practicing his English with us, I think.
The lady weaving on this giant loom in a living room was also way cool. She said she could do up to a meter a day, as long as the pattern wasn't too complicated. I bought myself a bookmark she had weaved, very pretty.
We also saw two blacksmiths at work. One showed the kids the little family of dragons he was making out of metal, very intricate and detailed. We also sampled some of the handmade chocolates in the little shop by the parking lot. $1.50 a pop, but seriously good and now I have some new flavor combinations to try for this Christmas! White chocolate and lemon, and dark chocolate with raspberry. Yummy.
The ice cream at least kept them from complaining while we waited for Tanya and Max's bus to come. Then we all piled in the car and headed home. And we were able to coast down the mountain until we hit a gas station. Yeehaw!