Ballenberg

On Saturday we all went to the Ballenberg open air museum (us, E's parents, and E's sister P and brother-in-law D).  It is like Skansen in Stockholm. Original buildings from all over Switzerland are used to show the traditional lifestyle and crafts. There are lots of gardens and farm animals. One of the coolest thing about the museum is that it is organized geographically. There are sections for the Bernese Alps, Jura, central Switzerland, Ticino, etc. I really liked that because the differences within the country are surprisingly large and it is nice to see that all in one place. 

We saw lots of demonstrations including cheese making, wood carving (S's favorite!), and pottery. There was a bakery, a long building for rope making, it just went on and on. We are considering going back. 

L might be the world's biggest Peppa Pig fan (unfortunately). She was super excited to see the pigs and started yelling, "This is Mama pig *snort*! And this is Daddy pig *snort*!

Turkeys, horses, cows, and fugitive goat. 

The cows and goat had an altercation.

We also saw dueling roosters, bunnies, and sheep.

I took this picture before I had to hop aboard the "merry-go-around" (that's what T calls it) and intervene. L wanted to try all the animals in one ride.

Another playground with a view. 

L worried her relatives by climbing up to the side via ladder, by climbing the slide in the wrong direction, and coming down head first. 

Between visits to the playground we had a very nice lunch at the restaurant in Ballenberg. Everyone got to try some of the local specialties like älpermagronen and Rivella. It was nice to sit and relax together on such a beautiful day. T was especially happy. Because it was a special day he was allowed to get one of the ice cream novelties he has always wanted. He chose a ladybug shaped sundae.  

L and Grandma plan their next move.

Everywhere there were pretty views. If we do go back one of the reasons will be to do a Christmas card photo shoot. One of the most interesting things about the museum were the histories of each building. This church was from the 1700s but before being moved to Ballenberg it was used as a stable.