It just so happened that Jamis and Marcie’s visit coincided with my once-ever-two-month shopping trip to Germany. So I left some of the kids home with Chris and took them with me instead. We would be passing the beautiful Rheinfalls to get to the store, and I thought it would be fun to combine the two excursions. Turned out to be a VERY good thing they were there, but that part of the story comes later. First, we need to enjoy our visit to this gorgeous natural wonder.
After buying our tickets, we headed down the trail to the river and the bridge that crosses it. Along the way we passed this playground, which naturally meant a stop so the kids could try out every single piece of equipment. 
Most of the stuff was designed for kids older than Charlotte, so we didn’t stay too long. But it seems children are genetically incapable of walking past climbing equipment without trying it out!
After a gentle zig-zagging downward path we ended up at the bridge across the Rhine River. I had actually never been down to this part of the falls and it was pretty fun. It’s a bit farther up river and offers a completely different view. 
Plus the bridge was the same one the trains go over, so that was pretty cool when one came steaming by. Then we went down some stairs, crossed under the bridge, and came out on the other side. (Can’t walk straight across because of the train tracks) 
Isn’t that just gorgeous? And the scenery is nice, too. haha
When we had enough of that view, we walked back up the hill and over to the castle. From there, we could go down several more sets of stairs, stopping at different levels to get even closer to the actual falls. 
You can also ride a boat directly to the base of the falls, get out and climb up some stairs attached to a rock outcrop smack dab in the middle of the water spray, but it wasn’t warm enough for that. Maybe with the next group of visitors. 🙂
Sarah got a little freaked out by the loudness of the rushing water, and didn’t want to go as far down as the rest of us. So I had her wait at a little viewpoint about halfway down, and would periodically turn around to wave up at her as we continued our descent. 
Sophie was the complete opposite and wanted to get as close as possible, without actually going in. 
Noah thought this sign in the water was very interesting and we spent quite a few minutes trying to figure out 1) how they got it out there, 2) who put it there, and 3) WHY?. All these questions were left unanswered, but it was fun speculating.
Once we had made it all the way down to the bottom, we had to turn around and come back up. And that is when we realized that you didn’t go up the same way you came down. They had built an elevator on the side of the mountain to whisk you up, so that traffic didn’t get clogged on the stairs. This was great for Charlotte, or rather Charlotte’s parents as she had already walked/ been carried down so many stairs, and they weren’t sure she was going to make it much farther. But Sarah was still up on the lookout spot, and there was no way for me to get back up to her. Fortunately, she could see me motioning for her to come down and join us, and she was brave enough to try. 🙂 So we waited for her, and then all rode the glass elevator back to the top.
Included in the price of admission was a tour of the castle, which we had never been in, so that was fun. There were cool art displays in some of the rooms, as well as the history of the Falls and the castle itself. Some of the rooms were filled with period furniture from the last time it was inhabitated by a family. And then there was a large room filled with nothing but chairs and sofas from lots of different time periods. A few you could actually sit on, and one Princess Sissi had sat on when she visited the castle. The girls thought that was super cool. They love her!
After the fun, we climbed back in the car, drove over the border and had lunch at the Kebab stand outside the store. Jamis hadn’t had one since his mission, and he enjoyed every bite! Course then there were a few bites Marcie wasted by dropping them on the ground. There is definitely a learning curve to eating them without spilling. We were laughing hysterically at how hard it was to take a bite without getting sauce or lettuce down your front, or losing a precious piece of meat to the ground. And yet, as Marcie pointed out, all the people around us were managing to eat without spilling anything!
So, now we come to why I was so glad they were with me. Normally, I go shopping with Chris. I load up the carts, he takes them through the check out, fills the bags, loads up the car, and brings me back another empty cart to fill, and takes the one I have filled while he was doing that, and repeats the process. Well, when he isn’t there I have to do everything. And frankly, it’s kind of stressful and exhausting. But it’s not very often that he doesn’t come with, and there is always a good reason why it didn’t work out for him to be there, so I don’t resent him or anything. 🙂 BUT he also always pays for the stuff. You know, with his credit card, since they won’t take our Swiss debit card in Germany. But it’s his card, not mine, so he made sure I had my credit card with me. But neither one of us remembered that I need a pin number to use it. (I use it so infrequently. No really, hardly ever!)
So there I am, bagging an overflowing cart full of groceries, trying to keep up with the cashier who just keeps relentlessly shoving stuff to the bottom of the conveyor belt, without seeming to care if I can keep up or not, breaking out in a sweat in the process and then it comes time to pay. I swipe my card through the machine, relieved that the first cart is down, only 3 more to go, when it happens. The thing asks for my pin, the pin I didn’t remember I needed, and can’t recall AT.ALL! I stand there for a bit, frozen, racking my brain for the last time I even used the card, hoping that would help me remember the stupid pin. I did remember using it in Disneyland Paris 18 months previously, and it turns out the pin I punched in first had three out of four corrects numbers in it, but that just wasn’t good enough for the machine. 🙂 I called Chris, and asked him if he could help me find the pin number, and he was able to, but it took a few minutes of digging.
And of course, there is a line of people waiting to buy their groceries behind me. Fortunately, Jamis and Marcie graciously offered to put it on their card, and we could pay them back when we got home. Hurray! So, so , so glad they were there and willing to do that for me. But wait, the story gets better.
See, I had tried two different pin’s feeling that the numbers I was using were correct, just not in the right order. I didn’t try it a third time, not wanting to get the card completely blocked, and hoping that Chris would find the number written down in time for me to pay for the next cart full of food. Which he did, as stated previously. So, I happily go to pay for the second round of stuff, punch in what I know is the correct pin number, but it still won’t get accepted. What?!? Yeah, still not sure what happened there, but it ended up that Jamis and Marcie bought groceries for our family of 7 for two months with their card. We did pay them back, but that was a very generous loan!
I tried to use the card at another time, back in Switzerland and it worked perfectly, so I still have no idea why it wouldn’t work in Germany. So frustrating. 
Oh, and I just had to throw in this awesome pic of my manly brother-in-law modeling his wife’s purse. The contrast just tickled my funny bone. Hi Jamis!