VISITORS FROM SWITZERLAND!

Has it really been 2 months since I put anything on this site? Sorry about that! We've been busy. :) Our AFS daughter from Switzerland 15 years ago came for her 3rd visit bringing her 12-year-old daughter, Cinja. Her name means flower or a specific flower in Norwegian! Jeannine wasn't sure which.

Their plane arrived at O'Hare near Chicago at the same time that we did, so we just waited for them to walk out of customs with their luggage. We expected them to take a nap after the 2-hour drive to the Pond, but when Austin said there were people swimming in the pond, all thoughts of sleep vanished. Cinja came out of her "room" (Tronnes' motorhome) dressed for the water! Jeannine followed.

And that was the way our days went. We would take them somewhere within a couple hours' drive and at sometime in the day, Cinja was in the water! Wonderful. She slept through Edgerton's fireworks and those on the Rock River that we watched from Bob's house. She watched the Madison fireworks on tv, but they didn't look as colorful as when you see them for real.

Our visits were to the State Capitol building in Madison, then a Swiss town, New Glarus, for lunch and Monroe for cheese. The cheese factory there is now owned by Emi, an international dairy well-known in Switzerland! One Wednesday night we drove to Janesville to watch the Rock Aqua Jays amateur ski team - what a show! A 4-tier pyramid began the show and a 5-tier pyramid was the finale!

We also spent a day at Noah's Ark, a water park near Wisconsin Dells, and another day at a State Historic site, Circus World Museum, in Baraboo. We rode the ferry across the Wisconsin River after a dish of ice cream at the loading area And we watched Arabian horses perform at Dancing Horses near Delavan.

Our weekends were involved with the Albion Academy Museum where we were docents one Sunday and had the Pie and Ice Cream Social the following Sunday. Alie Tronnes took them shopping in Madison and wouldn't let them buy anything at East Town Mall unless it was on sale - a great day because they got several items as "buy one, get one free"! And blue jeans are cheaper here than in Switzerland, of course.

Jeannine got to see her high school friend, Mara, who is now married with two daughters, age 6 and 3. Later at the Tobacco Heritage Days craft fair she talked with the mother of another classmate and saw photos of her husband and 1-year-old son. Made both of their days better! Too bad Jeannine didn't know that her 15-year-high school class reunion would be on July 30 until after she had purchased her plane tickets. :( We took them back to the airport on July 16 and said good-bye.