More Exploring

Today was our first full day in Basel.  Chris went to work, which left me to exploring with the kids.  I still haven't tackled the tram and bus system, so for now we just navigated the sites of Kleinbasel.  And it was all about finding more things to entertain the kids.

Stop #1 this morning: the Ludothek Blaesi.  This is a toy library that allows you to rent items from them for a month at a time.  They weren't open when we arrived but we were able to speak with one of the employees. It sounds really promising and we aim to head back on Friday when they are open.

Stop #2: Horburgpark.  This park is kind of spread out and has three different structures you see below.

Climbing structure with web swing (not pictured).

Really cool slides built into the hill.  Somewhat reminiscent of the slides in Arlington.

The kids played with a really friendly Swiss boy here.  We taught him "Ready, Set, Go!"  Chris has warned me that in Swiss culture it's not ok to photograph other people, so you won't see any pics of the little boy...or anyone else, really.

 Here's the final part of the playground.  Lots of fun things to climb in this country!

Stop #3: Back home. In the afternoon the kids and I eagerly awaited our delivery from Coop At Home.  Apparently the Swiss like really large condiments.  Pretty sure we have enough ketchup for a year!  Layla was happy to discover that they still put prizes in their cereal boxes :).

Stop #4: Lange Erlen.  When Chris arrived home and we'd dined on our fine frozen pizza, we found our way to the nearby German rail station to check out the ATM and the almost 24-hour grocery store (the rest close at 5:30!).  From there we continued to the Lange Erlen Tier Park that I mentioned previously.  We couldn't see many of the animals because it was after hours, but I could tell this is going to be a go-to place for us for sure.  The kids we happy to find this shady playground there.

Late here, so signing off.  Kids had a rough night of sleep last night.  Their poor little bodies don't know if they're coming or going and Josh is trying to make the switch to a big boy bed in this strange new land.  He keeps crying out for his "big house."

This link should show you the walking route we took to Lange Erlen.  We went into Germany for about 2 seconds and then back into Switzerland: http://goo.gl/maps/F98zn  If I were a fancy blogger or if it weren't 10:40 pm, I'd have figured out how to put that map right onto this page!

Rain predicted for tomorrow.  That should be interesting!