Starting February 20, the kids were all off for ski vacation from school. Unfortunately, we weren’t really able to enjoy any of it. Starting with me, the flu ran through our household, catching all occupants , several at the same time, and all of us more than once. Yes, we had managed to contract three different kinds of the flu, and generously shared them all with each other. Ugh!
We did manage to go on one family outing, dragging a sick Nicholas along with us, because we really needed some fresh air and a change of scenery. We visited a little park in Cham that really love, but haven’t been back to for a while.
There isn’t really any parking for the park, you have to take a short walk through the neighborhood to get to it, but it’s worth it.
Huge expanses of grass, and water filled with lots of birds to feed. It used to belong all to one family, who had a little vacation villa built on it.
Next to the water there is a small boathouse, also formerly belonging to the family. 
You can rent out the mansion for weddings and parties and such, and use the grounds for picture taking purposes. In fact, there was a couple taking photos there when we were, but they hadn’t rented out the grounds, just the house. 🙂
It was an absolutely gorgeous day, and Chris had a lot of fun trying out different settings on the camera to catch the birds mid-flight. This is one of my favorites of the many he took.
Nick was running a low-grade fever when we left the house, so we brought along a blanket to wrap him up in. Sitting on the bench in the sun, he looked pretty pitiful. The kids nicknamed him “Old Man Jenkins”. haha!
The kids started throwing the bread I had brought out to the birds and a whole parade of swans came streaming from further down the lake to get in on the feast.
There were also some swans walking around on the grass who came over to investigate. They are majestic swimming around in the water, terrifying when they come walking toward you with their large beaks snapping in the air for bread. In fact, they were so menacing looking, it made the big girls run and hide.
I am not sure, but there may have been actual tears shed. However, the youngest members of the family were not fazed, and continued to feed the hungry masses.
We then headed over to the playground, taking the old man with us. 🙂
Waiting for service in the “restaurant”. Alexandra was the cheerful waitress.
Nick was getting progressively sicker and colder, so we piled all our coats on him.
He was a really good sport about it, and as long as he stayed in the sun, it wasn’t so bad. In fact, it was so sunny most of us got a little sunburned on our faces.
Two against one is only fair in teeter-totter when your opponent has double the body weight! Unfortunately, that made them so evenly matched, they barely moved. And Alexandra didn’t like getting her stomach squished against the handle. It didn’t last long.
Out in the water there is a little tiny island, with a bridge leading to it. Right in the middle of the grass there is this strange structure.
I am very curious if he was added while the family was still living in the house, or if it was something the city installed. On our way back to the car, we encountered a couple who were late to the wedding and slightly confused as to where it was. The big house is totally hidden by trees, so I pointed out the way for them to go. My kids just laughed, because it seems I always end up talking to some random stranger when we are out together. haha.