Our Finicky Four Year-Old Traveler

Part of the goal of blogging about our adventures during a year-long sabbatical/career-break in Basel, Switzerland is capturing and preserving precious family experiences for us to look back on years later. But, near-constant traveling can get old for young kids who see no point in visiting another city, cathedral, castle, or posing for yet another photo. We thought we would start a collection of pictures showing those moments when the idea of getting to spend a year in Switzerland traveling around Europe was lost on our four year-old–so we can use them to embarrass laugh with her when she is older.

Zermatt’s (un)impressive altstadt

Taking pictures in beautiful Lugano, Switzerland was physically painful

Passed out on a bus bench at 11 p.m. in Paris

Refusing to participate in picture-taking all together in gorgeous Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

Turning on her own waterworks by Rhinefalls, the largest waterfalls in Europe

Generally opposed to celebrating other people’s birthdays on principle

Lucerne’s Kapellbrucke (Covered Bridge) is about 700 years old, not quite old enough to impress this (almost) four year-old

What could be worse than heading to an alpine Village on the train for the weekend?  Not much.

Salzburg’s old cemetary, where the Von Trapps hid from Nazis in The Sound of Music = BORING!

Nothing like a perfect fall afternoon at a castle in Neuchatel to turn that smile upside down.

Ahh, now we know where she gets it from!

To be fair, making faces and ruining pictures was a favorite past-time for Barry and his brother growing up, and his poor mom never saw the effects until after she had developed the film. Which is why she would always take at least two rolls of Christmas pictures just to get one worthy print. Barry’s proudest picture-ruining achievement was his family’s 1990 Christmas card that featured his key chain floating in mid air above their heads. While we don’t have a copy of that one with us [text us if you do!], we do have an example of a recent attempt of Barry’s to ‘smile for the camera’.

Jana was also (well) known to make a whining face now and again (and again).

Looks like our payback has arrived in the form of a three-foot tall girl who doesn’t always want to do what everyone else does.  We could hope she will grow out of this picture ruining “phase” soon, but since neither one of us seems to have grown out of it yet, we think we are in for the long haul. Yes, traveling with small children is not always ideal, but at least our cameras are digital now and these treasures can be saved forever.