Ansel's Haircut!

Yes. Those are a pair of sewing shears and a brush.

Ansel has been in desperate need of a haircut.  Not being much of a haircutter myself, I've just avoided it.  But one day last week I couldn't stand it any longer.  I remember my cousin telling me she use to cut her sons hair in the bathtub(less messy).  Lots of people have used the television distraction technique.  Ansel isn't interested in television and I just imagined him trying to climb the wall of our high bathtub slipping and cracking his chin open to get away from my big shears.  So I waited until he fell asleep, put a towel underneath his head, and just started cutting.  He was definitely distracted and the clean up was a cinch.  I wonder if I could do the same with Henry?

Not too bad. His face is pretty forgiving!

Des Alpes-Saint Cergue

Our family spent Saturday experiencing "When the cows come home."  It is a Swiss tradition to bring the cows off the tops of the mountain in the fall.  They have a festival in the village to greet the farmers and the cows.  The cows and the farmers get all dressed up and parade into the city.  What a fabulous experience.  I really wanted to cheer, but the crowds were pretty mellow.  Maybe because it was so cold?  Maybe because it is Switzerland?  As with the beginning of any parade-I did get a bit misty eyed.

Elsa and Ruby

Ansel and Pony

Henry and Alex

We met our friends the Claytons up their.  The kids had fun getting their faces painted, feeding the animals and playing around.  Ruby is pretty special to Ansel.  He only says a handful of names and hers is the only one that isn't a relative.  He already has great taste-she's a cutie pie.

On our way to the parade while walking through the village, we came across a restaurant roasting their meat for lunch.  Shocked to see a little piglet-we pointed the barbecue out to the kids.  They haven't really made the connection between the dinner table and the petting zoo.  When Henry saw the pig it came together.  At first he was a little bit disgusted by the thought of eating an animal.  Walking away he was still a bit shaken so I told him that ham comes from pigs.  It all clicked and the carnivore in him came out . . ."well, I sure do like ham."  

The Whistling Toilets

Suzy hasn't had a chance to post in a while. I posted this link on my blog. She asked me to post it on hers, since this is a shared situation.

- Greg 

As you may recall from a previous post, we have interesting toilets. No handles. No discernible tanks. Just the big flush/little flush control panels.

When we first moved into our apartment, I was a little distressed to realize neither bathroom had fan. A bathroom without a fan is like a room that’s on fire without an exit. But after several weeks we realized these bathrooms have one of the most efficient ventilation systems I’ve ever seen. But in addition to being very capable, it’s also very musical.

In the photograph, notice the shelf behind the toilet. That’s not just cosmetic. I don’t have the schematics, but somehow air is being continually sucked into it the vents behind this shelf. I removed the iFlush panel and held up a piece of paper for confirmation. Air is being sucked out of these cracks at a impressive rate.

The good news: These bathrooms are virtually stink-proof.
The bad news: These bathrooms whistle. Sometimes quite loudly.

With the panel in place, the air that’s sucked through these cracks sounds like a 1950’s B-movie UFO landing. It’s worse when the toilet seat is up. Something about the bowl amplifies the sound. Remove the iFlush panel entirely, and it sounds like there’s a tornado behind the shelf.

The best solution I’ve found so far is to keep all but one of the iFlush panel corners secured. This leaves a large enough crack between the panel and the wall for air to pass through without becoming a high C.

Thus, my pre-bed routine has become:

1. Detach the panels.
   
2. Lower the toilet lids.
   
3. Shut the bathroom doors.
   
4. Lie in bed wondering if anyone else in Switzerland has this problem.