And welcome, Charlie!

I have to say, today was an absolute joy.  Our friend Charlie arrived this morning from Seattle: he'll be spending this weekend with us and next weekend, too. In the middle, he's planned a trip for himself in the Bernese Oberland, which some say is the best place in the world to hike.

I can think of nicer, more comfortable places to overcome jet lag than our little apartment with our three noisy, enthusiastic children, but Charlie is a man of great patience.

And great generosity: in addition to carrying a heavy satchel from Seattle, laden with essentials,

From Dennis's mom, so that
we can get our Creamy
Jalapeño dip fix 

A surprise from Kurt and Kendra, who I wish were still joining
us for Thai food on Thursdays.

Charlie also constructed what has got to be the most brilliant gift I've ever seen.  But you'll need to wait and be patient, just as a we did, before I tell you about that: the gift needed a little charging, first.
 
So we left the house and took Charlie up to Uetliberg, where walked along the ridge a little bit to the Uto Staffel restaurant. We were able to grab a table right next to a gorgeous view of downtown Zürich.

Alex wouldn't call this good fortune: the table was in full sun, and he (preparing for the day when he joins the ranks of computer programmers) abhors the sunshine.  So he spent a lot of time hiding under the table, and, when his food came, he and I moved to a little two-top in the shade to eat.

Ella, remembering our last meal on top of Uetliberg, had chosen to pack a lunch. She took that and her book into a little garden below the restaurant and found hammock to curl up in.  That was the last we heard from her until lunch was over: she was a very happy little girl.

But Charlie and Dennis and I: we enjoyed the view immensely.

We walked back up the ridge: Alex went with Charlie and Dennis to climb to the top of the Uto Kulm tower, where, apparently, some Swiss people in period costume were playing a concert.  Ella was in a hurry to get to the playground, so she and Joey and I missed the music but had some extra time on the slides and swings before we all headed home together.

Alex and his new best friend

And then it was present time!  Inspired by an article he read, Charlie created a treasure hunt for our kids. Handing it to them, he explained, "You can have the box, and if you can open it, you can have what's inside.

The chest is a reverse Geocache box: Charlie rigged it with a GPS and an Arduino chip, and he programmed it so that it only opens when it's in the right location.  He even personalized it for our kids.  He knows them well.

As you might imagine, getting this box through security was excessively complicated: TSA found traces of explosive on the box when the swabbed it, perhaps because of the solder that Charlie used, and so they pulled him aside, and brought in the bomb squad, and scrutinized him and every article in his carry-on, while Charlie tried to feign serenity. All the while, his equally patient girlfriend was watching on the other side of the line, ready to take the gift home if necessary.  Eventually, Charlie was informed that he could take the box with him, but it would have to be checked (which makes perfect sense?). So he had to leave the line and find the airport shipping store, to pack the box for the cargo hold.

Ella certainly seemed to feel that the gift was well worth the effort.  Her eyes gleamed, and she accepted--no: savored!-- the challenge. According to the treasure box, we're some 8000 meters away from our destination.  She grabbed the chest and trotted off into four directions, trying to figure out which way we needed to go to get closer. 

Finally, Charlie gave her a little help, explaining about triangulation, so we decided to take the box for a walk to downtown Zürich, since Charlie was interested in seeing the Altstadt.

Ella was all for leaving as soon as we got off the train and discovered that we were actually a little farther from the treasure box's trigger point. But she finally, reluctantly, accepted that we'd have to wait until tomorrow to hunt down the right spot.

Instead, we walked down Niederdorfstrasse, the most famous street in the Altstadt, past all of the cafes and clothing boutiques and head shops. We stopped in the gummy bear store, the carrot I'd been dangling in front of the kids, and then went on to Grossmünster Abbey.

I'd long been wanting to go inside, and we finally did today.  And, since it was such a sunny day, we got to appreciate the full beauty of the church's new windows (installed in 2009), which are formed from slices of color-enhanced geodes.

We'd meant to eat dinner downtown, so that Charlie could have some Swiss food at the Zeughauskeller, but we were still kind of full from lunch. And, although Joey was perfectly happy (he fell asleep on the train ride downtown and napped blissfully through our walk), Ella and Alex were starting to grow tired and snappish.  So we went home and let the kids curl up with some television while we, too, revived with coffee and leftovers.

Ella recalled that Charlie is one of those wonderful grownups who is willing to play board games with her. And Charlie was heroically struggling to stay awake for just a little longer, trying to beat back his jet lag.  So we all (except Alex) stayed awake until almost 10:00, with our games and our most welcome company.