In which we find treasure in the Wildnispark

It turns out that our wall map of Zürich isn't quite extensive enough to accommodate Charlie's treasure box: the GPS reading that we'd taken outside of Grossmünster Abbey was about 9000 meters away from our target destination. With some string and some extrapolation, we guessed that we needed to heading to the Wildpark Höfli this morning.

And so, and so...after we poured enough coffee down our throats to wake up sufficiently (poor Charlie had to wait for his caffeine longer than he should have: he woke up at 4:30 this morning), we packed our bags and our treasure chest and caught our train to the wilderness.


Kindly, Charlie had programmed the box to open anywhere within a kilometer's radius of it's destination. The kids were able to pop it open as soon as they got off the train. Charlie had stuffed it full of small, highly appealing things.  Ella immediately laid claim to some pretty seashells that Charlie had found in Florida, Joey snatched up a little rubber frog, and Alex gravitated toward some robot dolls.  Brilliant!

Ella is starting to show the ill effects of staying up late two nights in a row: she tried to convince us to turn around and take the next train home.  But instead we made her hike up a steep, steep hill.

At one point, trying to make it more fun for the kids, I encouraged them to scramble up a short cut.  Ella got dirty and Alex panicked as he lost purchase on the dirt. In the time it took us to make it out of that mess, an elderly lady passed us on both sides of the switchback, shaking her head at our foolishness.

Giving the kids breadsticks and Nutella did much more for reviving their spirits, and we eventually made it to the top of the hill, to the playground and the animal enclosures.

The best teeter-totter

We ate another too-large lunch, picnic-style, on the playground while the kids ran around, and then we went off into a corner of the park that I hadn't visited yet, home to the European elk (which, despite their size, eluded us) and the foxes.  And, on the way home, we got to see a large family of boars.  Well, all of us but Joey did: he fell asleep in Dennis's arms.



Back at home, we had some peace-and-quiet time: Charlie humored Alex and played a few games with him, and he showed Dennis the mechanics of the Geocache box so that we can reprogram it for new locations and new adventures.  The box is also able to accommodate clues (such as "find the silver tower") and multi-stage treasure hunts. (Charlie had programmed in a treasure hunt for Dennis and me, as well, encompassing Rome, Paris, and the Alhambra.  We'll probably not be doing that one any time soon, alas.)  I foresee us having a lot of fun in the future, and I think it'll be just wonderful for any of those trips that the kids are a little reluctant to join.  Ella, right along side me, is realizing the potential of our new toy, planning treasure hunts for NochElla and Paul.

After the kids had rested a little, Dennis and Charlie took them across the street to the pool: with a long hike and a swim and an early dinner, it was very easy to get the kids to bed on time tonight.

Well, except for Joey.  He stayed in his room for over an hour, looking at books in his bed and periodically peeking out of his door at us before quietly scurrying back to his bed.  Eventually, I felt sorry for him and invited him out.  He noticed that we were playing cards, and so he unearthed his own little deck of Disney cards and spread them out, amusing himself by looking for pairs.

Joey, I think, has discovered that the secret to being allowed to stay up late is in being as quiet and unobtrusive as possible.  And so our groovy little guy entertained himself, with his cars and then his cars, until it was time for us all to go to bed.