Zahnfee

So we just finished a great visit from Eric's friend Larry. He stayed for two weeks and got to experience some of the great European lifestyle (we packed him home with reusable shopping bags and he was eyeing our electric water kettle...) and got in a lot of bike riding.

We actually took part in two Slo-Up bike events - one in Basel and one in Zurich, where they shut down sets of streets for the day and you can bike with the kids with the freedom of no cars going by. We did 41 km in Basel in perfect weather - kudos to Bennett who has the highest bike weight to body weight ratio!

Zurich the next week was a bit wet, but had a lot more swag - couldn't go more than a few kilometers without hitting free drinks, granola bars, or water bottles - the kids were besides themselves, as nothing in life is better than free stuff - and despite the distractions got in a good 35 km as well. We snacked on wurst with mustard and bread mid ride (note the big wurst in the picture)- nothing better. Bennett always complains to get out of the house for a ride, but then on his bike actually sings to himself the whole way - and really never gets tired. I LOVE biking with the kids and am thrilled that we all have so much fun getting out in the fresh air...


Related, Eric and Larry took a overnight trip to France to bike up the Alpe d'Huez - an apparently infamous climb in the Tour de France. On that night I had the kids to myself, and low and behold Bennett comes home with a tooth gone. Luckily the tooth was found and carefully packaged by the teacher - so now the question was, does the tooth fairy come to Switzerland?

A little Wikipedia search shows that yes, the Zahnfee as he/she is called in these parts does make an appearance at night. So Karl and Bennett were finishing their go-to-bed activities, and when I asked for lights out Bennett jumped up and stopped me, saying he had to write the Zahnfee a note. He, clever little guy, then proceeded to write a note in broken German(because heaven forbid the Zahnfee can't read English and screws up the whole process). I have looked high and low for the note - when I find it I will post it because it was so funny - but to paraphrase: please leave me 1000 CHF (about $1000) and can I please keep my tooth?

The kid is bold. Remind me to tell you about how he finally got in trouble at school by locking all the the boy bathroom stalls with a paperclip...

So low and behold, the Zahnfee did come. He/she left a 5 franc coin, so not quite 1000 CHF but nothing to sneeze at - and the tooth was left as well. Nice to know some things work all over the world.