Aidan's Birthday Party

Even though his birthday isn't until July, we had a "friends" party for Aidan yesterday since we won't be here in July. He really wanted to have his party outside in the forest. So, I rented a Waldhütte (a forest house) and planned hikes and scavenger hunts and marshmellow roasting and soccer playing. Then the weather happened. For 2 solid months it has rained, so I don't know why I was surprised to see the weather report for the weekend state cold and rainy. But, I figured the boys (all 20 of them!) could deal with it, since they all have rain gear for Waldkinder. So I went to the site earlier this week to check things out, only to see that the grass had not yet been mowed. It was past my knees, and when we rented the place I was told it would be cut by mid-June. It was June 17th, and no grass had been mowed.



Now, this is why Switzerland is crazy sometimes. I called the Gemeinde (city hall) to ask why it had not yet been cut and to make sure it would be mowed by the weekend. I was told that it was special "bio" grass. Huh? Organic, in other words. There are special regulations on cutting such grass. It cannot be cut before June 15th in any given year. AND, the grass must be dry for at least 4 days prior to mowing it. So, even though last week, we managed 4 days in a row dry, it was prior to June 15th. So, in answer to my question the grass would not be mowed for our party and as far as I can see with the weather, may not be mowed until June 15, 2011.



I could have dealt with cold or wet or long grass, but not all 3!!! So we ate the rent on the place and moved the party indoors to Trampolino. Trampolino is Jungle Java on serious steroids, and pretty much the only place open on a Sunday in Switzerland. Luckily, they were able to reserve party tables for our crowd (did I mention there were 20 boys?!?) and the boys had fun. The place was jammed with people because (did I already mention it was rainy and a Sunday?) so there was basically nothing else for kids to do in the country. No matter, the kids had fun, Jason and I survived, and Aidan was thrilled with his soccer cake and soccer and lego gifts.
Sweaty boys and Delainey singing to the birthday boy

Make a wish and blow out those candles!

Trampolino

I couldn't manage to keep all 20 boys in one place long enough for a group picture. 4 at once wass the best I could do!