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Where science meets whimsy

Autumn school break is over which means that for the past two days I have been binging on Harry Potter and Kambly biberli and taking long baths…in the bathtub. While our vacations have been getting easier because FriBoy has grown into a collaborative, easygoing and fun kid to be around, I still find it hard to manage his activities all by myself. We haven’t had grandparents here to help out in a long while, and those couple of hours a day, while they were in charge and I got to sit and do nothing, really mattered.

Earth Overshoot Day and Diy Aquarium

Last Wednesday was the earliest Earth Overshoot Day ever registered, which means we have used more resources from our planet than it can renew within a year, with still 5 months to go till the end of the year. This date happened to fall on the Swiss National Day – 1st of August, which made big news. According to Swissinfo, Switzerland is operating as if it had three planets at its disposal: it passed its country overshoot day on May 7. If everyone on the planet could afford the lifestyle of people living in Switzerland, as well as in many parts of Europe, it would be for a very very short time.

arts and crafts creative reuse diy aquarium diy toys Earth Overshoot Day egg carton ideas environment kids crafts sea creatures

Monster challenge – paving the way to design thinking and engineering

Half way through summer vacation and I feel like it has been another school year where I am the teacher. I had stopped drinking coffee a while ago, but vacation is not helping out with my resolution. Creativity is also fatigue, unless you take a break from it. And this has been our most intensely creative vacation, Friboy wants to create and build stuff every day, we even did it while vacationing in Latvia.

arts and crafts drawing Fribourg Hubert Audraiz monster doodle passport vacances raspberry pi scratch tech education

Highland Museum in Château d’Oex / Musée du Vieux Pays d’Enhaut

I wrote about the Old Highland Museum in a previous blog post in the context of their temporary exhibition of Swiss paper-cut art. However, this museum is well worth a visit for their permanent exhibition of traditional art and lifestyle of the Fribourg highlands.

butter mold Château d'Oex folk art Fribourg fribourg region Johann Hauswirth Musée du Pays d'enhaut Pays d`en Haut plaque beurre poya Swiss folk art swiss museums

12 Heures de l’Auge

“Drat, double drat and triple drat”, to quote Wacky Races’ Dick Dastradly, this city keeps the wonder in my eyes each time I discover something new. This year I finally got to see the 12 hours of Auge humorous bike competition and I completely understated why friends raved about it.

12 h 12 heures de l'Auge Auge bike race course velo tandem Wacky races

Düdingen Marshland Nature Trail

We discovered this amazing nature trail a couple of weeks ago when I was looking for a short hike close to home that could entice FriBoy. He thinks humans don’t need to walk because they have cars, bikes and other vehicles for this purpose, courtesy of evolution.

Düdingen marsh Fribourg fribourg region hiking Marais de Guin nature trail sentier botanique

Artsy Wednesdays – Stuffed Toy Reloaded

Since FriBoy figured out that he can design and make his own stuffed toys, this has become a favorite activity in our household. He also wants the most unusual animals which we can’t readily find in a toy store. This time he wanted a flying squirrel, now our 5th handmade stuffed toy.

Artsy Wednesdays crafts for kids diy stuffed toy flying squirrel kids activities stuffed animal

Ogoz Island

Ogoz island is a popular destination in the canton of Fribourg, laying in the lake of Gruyeres, reachable by foot in spring and summer when water recedes. We hiked to Ogoz last weekend for the first time and it didn’t disappoint. When it comes to nature I don’t really like to go to the crowded and popular places, I prefer remote and less known but Ogoz island is really a must for everyone living here or just visiting.

Freibourg Fribourg fribourg region Gruyeres hiking Ile d'Ogoz Lake Gruyeres Ogoz Saint Théodule Swiss Castles

NONAM – The North America Native Museum in Zürich

I visited this place last year in December and wrote about their exhibition of Leo Yerxa’s art here. This is post is about the permanent collection of native north american art.

Gottfried Hotz Musée Suisse Native American Art NONAM North American Native Museum Segesser Hide Paintings swiss museums Switzerland Zürich

The Secret Life of Fribourg

Making and offering art for birthdays has become somewhat of a family tradition. I make paintings for everyone in my family either for their birthdays or for another special occasion. For me this is easier than coming up with a gift idea that is likable and useful. It is also very personal.

fine art Freiburg Fribourg fribourg region glass painting kids drawings Switzerland