Koda in the Fall

When she's not busy with a bottle, Koda loves her walks.  I think she's most adorable when she's scratching at an itch.  She get a big grin on her face and looks like she's loving life.  I finally got some pictures.  Enjoy!

Fall in Geneva

Just when I thought Switzerland couldn't get any more beautiful, the leave began to change and Geneva transformed.  While spending a day at Parc des Bastions with E on Wednesday and while walking the dog today, I took some pictures to let you all see how beautiful it is here.  Today was pretty grey in the morning, so the pictures seem a bit dreary, but I assure you it's not dreary here at all.  I'm happy I'm not missing the colours of a Canadian autumn.

Occupy...Parc des Bastions?

Occupy Wall Street has made it to Geneva. I find it quite amusing that the protests have made it here.  I hope they realize that not too many people in the city will support their cause seeing as the majority of Geneva is the 1%.

Anyway, here are a couple snap shots of the "situation" in Geneva.

The protests are being held in Parc des Bastions, the park outside the main campus of the University of Geneva.  Behind the tents is the Reformation Wall.

Yes, that's a teepee.

Costuming - Part 1

When I arrived here in August, one of the first things I learned was that I would be in charge of E's Escalade costume.  At first I thought, no big deal.  What could he possibly want to be that would challenge my skills?  Silly me.  I should have known.  When I did ask E what he wanted to be, he managed to make my jaw hit the floor.  His answer?

A vending machine.

So once I wrapped my head around the fact that his costume wasn't going to be some creative make-up and a cape, I started thinking.  What materials could I easily get my hands on to make this? 


Luckily, N gave me an unlimited budget, so I let my imagination run wild.  I then found most of the materials in the family's garage and set to work.  Here's stage one of the creation:

The materials.  The metallic sheets are insulated grocery bags that LeShop.ch uses to deliver groceries.  

 I cut a hole for E's head and arms, then opened up the back to make it easier for him to take off.

We've got candy 

Lots and lots

And lots

Of candy

 First I measured where I wanted to have the candy section of the vending machine.  Measure twice, cut once!

 Cross your fingers my measurements were right!

So far so good!

 The opening.  Soon to have a plastic sheet cover.

The two pieces

And they need to be put together.  But that's for next time.  I'll leave you guessing until then.

So come back soon to see if I can really pull off making a vending machine costume.  E's not so sure I can pull it off.  I showed him a website of some amazing vending machine costumes made by over-acheiving parents.  He took one look at them, then said to me, "If you can make the costume like that or better, you get a raise!"

iPad Fun

*Sorry for my lack of posts.  Here come a bunch to make up for it!*

E was lucky enough to get the iPad 2 this year.  It has proven to be quite an entertaining device.  This week we were experimenting with different photo booths.  Here are some fabulous ones of me.

Me in 40 years, so roughly 63.  I hope I age a bit better than this.

Since there exists absolutely no photographic proof of me as a geek (cough, cough), here's the iPad's version

This one's scary: me as a pasty freckled red head

Day Tripping: Servion Zoo

This weekend, Lu's friend A visited from the UK.  He works as a zookeeper, so Lu planned accordingly. On Saturday we went to the Natural History museum near la Vieille Ville and on Sunday we drove to Servion (just outside of Lausanne) to visit the zoo and tropiquarium.  For a small zoo, it was great.  The exhibits were (for the most part) done well and there was plenty to see.  We spent about two and a half hours there and saw all the exhibits.  I highly recommend visiting.  And here are some pictures from the trip!

After the zoo trip, our GPS decided to take us on the scenic route home.  Luckily, this brought us right past the mountains from the Sound of Music (ok, not really, but pretty close).  So we had a photo shoot.

Mid-spin

Yipee!

And from there we drove home with a great view of the mountains.  Can't wait for our next day trip!