Luxembourg --> Zürich

Joey is now a seasoned spreader
 of Nutella

We rounded out our vacation with a trip to the center of Luxembourg, which was considerably harder than it should have been. Luxembourg is all twists and turns and unexpected construction and one-way streets. As I was trying to negotiate the traffic, and Dennis was navigating, Alex suddenly interrupted us: "Mom, Dad? Mom-Dad? MOM?! DAD?!"  I've been working on keeping him from bursting in on conversations, so I told him, "Not now, Alex. You need to wait until we're done talking."

The road sings were little help. Other
directions: thanks.

"But it's important," he promised us. "I really need to say it now." And "Please please please!" and "But Mom! Let me say just one thing." But we were really having trouble with the driving, and rapidly lost patience. "It's can't be that important, Alex. Please wait."

"But it is! It's super important. I have to say it now."  And on and on.  Finally I pulled over so that we could turn around, and I asked Alex, "Okay. What do you need."

"Mom? This drive is taking too long."

The Grand Ducal Palace

Those of you who know Dennis know exactly how amused he was. But Alex earnestly promised us that it had been important to say it immediately. "Otherwise we might have finished driving, and then I never would have gotten to say it."

We finally, finally got close enough to the center of town to park, very near the Grand Ducal palace, residence of the Grand Duke and Duchess.  The building was built in the 1500s, but the kids were less awed by the architecture, and more by the armed guard, who first stood in his little shelter, as stoic and still as any beefeater, and then exited and patrolled back and forth in front of the palace. Joey and I quietly, irreverently, sang his favorite toddler group song: "We march, march, march-a march-a, march, march..."

We wandered a little longer around the center of town, which is, essentially a large pedestrian zone of stores, many housed in centuries-old buildings.

Like so many places we've visited, Dennis and I have promised each other that we'll return in twenty years and enjoy it like proper adults, without little kids pulling our shirts and begging for food.

We did spend some time looking for for lunch, and was a little tempted by an unexpected reminder of Cleveland, circa 1980s.

But, in the end, we grabbed loaves of bread and sandwiches and started our long ride home, which, ultimately, ended up being about five hours long.

She's on to us!

I'd left Easter baskets for the kids on their beds before we left Zürich.  I wasn't about to give them baskets filled with chocolate at the beginning of a long drive in a rental car. The kids all gave shouts of joy when they got to their rooms, although Ella cut hers short and asked, suspiciously, "Hey! How did you know to have the camera ready as soon as we got home?!"

Dennis turned right around and left to return the car, leaving me with the unpacking, but it was easy to do. The kids were so thrilled to be home, in their own space, that I scarcely saw them for the rest of the evening.

I think that the self-sufficiency that follows may be one of the best parts of the family vacation. That, and the stories that you get to share.