Titled Tuesday

Me and Hank

My favorite holiday is Swiss Days. And this guy has provided my favorite part of Swiss Days for the pas 27 years—polka!

Yes, I heart Hank Haller and the Hank Haller Orchestra!

And yes, I totally embarrassed my husband by requesting this photo op.

And yes, Eric loves me so much he even took the picture. Thanks Babe.

Hey, I never got to cross "meet Mr. Rogers" and "kiss Bob Barker" off my bucket list... Hank's gettin' old. You gotta seize the moment.

And no, I did not kiss him.

Clock Tower

Well, I might as well continue catching up my blog nesting,
since Evie doesn't seem to be coming any time soon.

Here are some photos from the highlight of my favorite holiday (Swiss Days), the dedication of the clock tower.

Don't be deceived. This thing is enormous!

You can see it from Monroe!

Here's the FMC Quartet that Grandpa Potter is a part of singing in the opening ceremonies.

They are quite the hot item around Adams county.
In demand these days and always pack out the venue.

Not sure what was going on with the outfits here, but we LOVE their music!


Here's Grandma Potter with the other "important people" before the ceremony.
So much work went into the planning and building of this thing.

It was a cool ceremony.

There was a parade of flags of all the Swiss cantons...

a laser light show (which was actually somewhat weird.)

a really really fantastic Alp Horn ensemble....

ribbon cuttings, speeches, etc.

Zane valued his animal crackers more than the "timeless values" being proclaimed.

Kate wearing her special Swiss headdress.

He'll kill me for this someday.

My sweet Swiss son.

I missed most of the amazing program waited with versions 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 for the "lantern parade" they were a part of so I could help Owen walk across gravel in the dark carrying a paper lantern.

I must say I was VERY VERY bummed about this later, as my civic pride and love of all things Swiss were bursting at the seams at this ceremony and I had to leave in the middle of it.

But it was cool that my kids were a part of it.

It was so dark. I'm not sure anyone actually saw all the cuteness.

Liam is just to the right, but it was so dark Janet couldn't tell it was him to take the picture.

They did a great job.

Then we saw the glockenspiel work for the first time. These figures are like 5 ft tall!

Anyway.... that's a wrap, of my Swiss Days coverage for 2010. Good times.

My favorite holiday!

If you're ever in Berne, check out the clock tower, although you really can't miss it.

But beware... Zane now thinks all clocks are actually "clock towers". It's endearing really.

One of my favorite pictures ever

This was Grandma Potter's last year as Executive Director of the Berne Chamber of Commerce.

Her days of overseeing Swiss Days nearly over,
Great Uncle Rus drove her and her 3 most-likely-to-sit-still grandkids
in his fancy old car in the Swiss Days parade.


Here they come!

Riding in style.

The waving practice payed off when smiling for 1/2 a mile.

With such a busy weekend almost done...

can you guess what would illicit this a reaction?

You'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out.

Oh, okay...

Don't pout.

I'll tell you what it's all about.

At least she didn't

jump out.

when

she saw her brother Brian

who came.

all the way from Kiev, Ukraine.

He wanted to surprise her, and boy...

now I'll always have this photo to enjoy!

Grandparents are the best

Because...


you get to be in parades,

blow out candles when it's not your birthday,

go for 18 walks in one day,


and dance the night away!


Okay, so this last one isn't even OUR grandpa...

but he is Lydia's,

and Kate loved doing the Chicken Dance! Thanks, Richard.

(Not sure why I don't have a picture of my dad from Swiss Days. We love you too!)

Swiss Miss

Kate and her dolly in their Swiss dresses.

Ready for some serious polka dances.

Just enough time for one last hug

before we head downtown to cut the rug...

with the older folks she waltz-ed away.

While the Potter men said "No way"

I can't even tell you how much I love Hank Haller!


I think it's safe to say I passed that affection down to my daughter.



Well, one Potter male threw caution to the wind.

Taking his niece for a spin.

All worth it to see that grin.

"Uncle Mark, let's do it again!"

Pony Rides

Yes, back to playing catch-up is Jen...!

"Blog-Nesting" I like to call it.

_____

Here we are riding ponies at Swiss Days with cousin Paxton.

Hmmm... which kid liked it the best?

If you picked version 2.0, you would be right!

I think THIS type of pony suited 3.0 much better.