Knies Kinderzoo

Today was our last day with out visitors, and believe you me, we made the most of it.  Brie and Geoff wanted to have lunch with Dennis at Google one more time, and they thought that Kael would get a kick out of feeding animals at one of the many children's zoos.  Oh, and Brie very much wanted to try fresh-from-the-cow milch from our local farm.  That was at the top of Charlie's list, too, when he came to visit.  I may have oversold the milch...naw.  It's awesome.

So we had a marathon day planned. As good as the kids have gotten about walking for kilometers at a time, I knew there was no way they be able to walk the whole day long, so I had them take their scooters along.  I have to say, it's unspeakably cute, watching the three of them zoom off in a little line down the sidewalk.  I'm doing my best to train them to get off and walk their scooters whenever they pass someone, because I have this horrible fear that one of them will knock a little old lady off her feet.  They usually remember, and that's unspeakably cute, too, watching them dismount, march by someone, and then take off again.

We were meeting our friends at the tram stop nearest their hotel, and, while we waited, Ella kept the boys entertained.

I'd forgotten that the ticket machines at tram stops don't take credit cards, or even paper money: they only accept change or debit off a special card, issued by the post. And, because we were going hither and yon today, it made the most sense to buy Brie and Geoff passes good for all of Zürich.  Which meant we needed some 48 Swiss francs in small change.  Incredibly, I was carrying at least that much in my purse: since coins can be valued at up to 5 CHF, I suppose it's not that difficult to accumulate that much.

Some good friends, taking a bus ride together

By the time we left the farm, Ella had read an entire book
to Alex, and they'd started on their second.

So we fed and fed the machine our coins, and then hopped on a bus to Meyer's Obstfarm.  Ella and Alex know how to get all the way from the bus stop to the milk machine, about a kilometer away, by now, and they also know it's a really fun, smooth road in between, so I let the two of them zoom ahead.

Poor Juniper wasn't feeling great today, so we spent some time at the farm trying to make her feel better.  For that matter, Geoff wasn't feeling wonderful today, either: it seems it's his turn to suffer the flu that worked its way through the rest of his family.  But, good sport that he is, he kept up with us all day long.

Brie and Kael, getting a tongue bath from the baby cows

Kael and Joey seemed pretty happy with the extra time at the farm.  For one thing, they were doing some asphalt work on one of the farm driveways, so there were large trucks to investigate. Kael checked out the calves, and Joey showed him how to play on the slide and taught him how to dispense oh-so-delicious fresh milk.  The farm had set out a second dispensing machine as well, with a sign promising fresh-pressed apple cider this Thursday.  I'll be back!

Joey, enjoying a fresh-picked apple from the
produce vending machines

When Juniper had calmed herself, we left the farm with a little time to spare: Brie spent some of this doing a little last-minute chocolate shopping at Migros, because one can never have too much Swiss chocolate, and then we stalled a little bit at the playground nearest the Google campus.

The playground was jammed, but there wasn't a single adult in sight.  Rather, I counted about two dozen little children, ranging in age from about two to about six, who were being shepherded by three girls, who couldn't have been older than eleven years old, themselves.  I asked one of the girls if they were minding the kids all by themselves, and she looked rather pleased with herself.  I was entranced, watching them organize the herd around tables and supervise them through an art project. I wish I spoke enough German to ask the girls if they babysat.  Ella's getting there, though: she's been handling three little boys quite well.

Some exceedingly well-behaved children

My kids aren't so bad, either

Geoff and Juniper convalesce

Playing with the colored pebbles on the Google patio

I wish lunch with Dennis had been more relaxed, but, even though we arrived right when the cafeteria opened, it was still absolutely slammed with people.  The Zürich office is just too crowded. I've seen from my visits for German class that it's almost impossible to reserve a conference room, and the cafeteria has constant long lines.  But, although lunch was harried, it was also delicious.

And it filled up the kids for the rest of our day: we continued on, south to Rapperswil, to return to the Knie's Kinderzoo.  I'd visited there on a somewhat chilly day when the zoo first opened for the season, and there were only a couple dozen other people in the whole park.  Since then, I'd been a little reluctant to return: we'd had such a perfect day, and I suspected the zoo would get overcrowded in the summer.  Suspected correctly, it turned out.

We discovered that, like the tram ticket machines, the Kinderzoo only accepts cash on entry.  I shouldn't have been surprised: Dennis and I are constantly on how ridiculously cash-based Switzerland is, particularly for a nation known for its banks. But, after buying entry tickets, we were just about cashless, and so Geoff had to leave the zoo in search of a money machine, while the kids waded into the crowds at the playground.

Joey sampled some of the animal food as well.

You might remember that, last time we visited the zoo, I fed the kids animal food. We're all wiser now, but when I distributed the bags of popcorn meant for the ponies, Alex looked at his thoughtfully.  "Mom, can this be Alex food, instead?"  I felt a little silly having my kid eat the Tierfutter once again, but it made him happy.

We slowly made our way around the small zoo, pausing especially for an elephant ride. Ella, at this point, had joined Geoff in feeling less than stellar, and so she found a shady spot to curl up in with a book and a water bottle.  But the little boys and Brie and I had a wonderful time.  Of course, now Brie shares my problem. What could possibly top an elephant ride?

Actually, it seems the goat pen could.  I think that running around with the little goats, many of them babies, was the highlight of the day for all three little boys. Ella wouldn't deign to enter the pen, though.  She still hasn't forgiven the species for knocking her over, once.  I overheard her, grumbling into her book, "I hate goats."

Right. When moods darken, it's time to move on.  And really, it was time to go, anyway: it was getting toward dinner.  Brie and Geoff finally got some good use out of their shiny new stroller: both little boys fell asleep on the walk to the train, beaten down by our long day so far.







But we weren't done yet: Dennis had planned to meet us at Zürichhorn, to show our guests the lake and have a Chinese take-out picnic in the park.  Poor Geoff was dead on his feet at this point, but Ella seemed better, and gobbled her share before running off to play at the playground.

And then, and only then, did we finally head home and call it a day.  Although it was still some time before Dennis and Brie and Geoff and I were willing to call it a night: they'll be leaving for the airport at some ridiculous hour like 4:00, so this is the last we'll see of our friends.  We'll miss them!

I think that the food stall at Chinagarten might be my favorite restaurant in all of Zürich