Pictures for the day

Payton thinks our bottle rack makes a great space hat. Ya know what? I think it does too.












We tried growing cantelope in our garden boxes. We were only mildly successful with two 'lopes. They weren't very big, but they were tasty.

The best lawn ornaments ever!

Today we checked out a local garden center. We have driven by it many times, but never had stopped by until today. It is quite large and turned out to be a great store for just about all things garden/lawn/yard related. I found the best lawn ornaments there that my neighbor Steve from back home would dearly love. Moles! He can't stand the little creatures. He really hates them. Him having these ornaments in his garden would just be the funniest.

Still cooking

Our baby is still in the oven. Kathleen has an appointment this coming Monday to discuss options. My August 30th guess isn't looking too good right now, but there is still lots of time. I suggested to Kathleen that if she has to be induced then do so on Sunday. Then she might have our baby on Labor Day!

Come out, Come out!

I had a doctors visit today to see how the baby was doing. All is well. Baby and Mom continue to grow. Great for the baby, but I am ready to have this guy. Right now I am sleeping very poorly and would rather spend my sleepless nights caring for little Jack-Jack than surfing the internet!

During a very vigourous walk on the treadmill the other morning Stanton asked if I was trying to walk the baby out of me... I am. I'm down to about 2.5 miles, but still trying to walk everyday.

We had some sticker shock doing some last minute clothing shopping for the baby! Switzerland is expensive, we know that, but $15 for a cotton infant cap. Give me a break! We did buy a new stroller. I've had stroller envy here. They have some very cool designs in Europe and our Graco stroller we brought from the US just wasn't feeling very fashionable. We got another Graco so that our infant bucket seats for the car are compatible, but it has a much cooler design.

I think we are pretty well set now. Just need that baby!! I'll keep walking, maybe do a little hopping around too, but I'm now thinking September odds are rising quickly.

Mama Mi's workplace

Payton came down with a cold last night so we kept him home from school today. Kathleen needed to go into work for a short bit so he and I went with her. While Kathleen went into work we walked into the surrounding hills and took some pictures.

Behind Payton are the Johnson & Johnson facilities in Le Locle, Switzerland. Kathleen works in the building on the left - building No. 2.

These are the same two buildings but from the other side. Here we are standing on a hill that overlooks the city of Le Locle.

The farmland in Switzerland is literally right next door to the city.

Nice picture of me taken by Payton.

"Hey Le Locle, check this out!"Payton framing is next shot.

Payton has his own camera

Payton now has his own camera. We gave him our old pocket camera that we no longer use. He is becoming quite adept with its different functions. I think you will be seeing more of Payt's pictures in future posts.

Mommy and Baby update

Sorry to keep any of you who were wondering on pins and needles, but there was no luck with the full moon. Our internet access has been down the past couple of days so we were isolated from our world of email, blogging, slingbox, and internet news!!!!

Payton went back to school on Monday. No drama at all - he practically pushed me out of his classroom and told me to get a life. Okay, he didn't say that, but if he had known the phrase he probably would have. It will be interesting to see how the baby will impact him. I'm not sure if he'll take a step back and want to be Mommy's baby or just leap into being the big brother in charge. I'm sure we'll see a little of both.

I'm still betting on the 28th!

Full Moon tonight

So is there any truth to there being more births on a full moon? Tonight we will see if it makes a difference, but my money says no. I do feel like the little guy has dropped down some, although I don' t think he is quite ready to come into the world. He is still having too much fun rolling around in my belly and keeping me awake most of the night!

We ventured down to Lausanne today so I could get my hair cut. Not that they don't have hair salons in Neuchâtel, but I found a women on one of the expat web-sites that was from the US and now has her own Salon in Switzerland. It's reassuring to be able to understand what the person holding scissors to your hair is saying! I left happy with my hair cut and will definately return.

We then did the usual sight-seeing stroll around the town center. My strolling is becoming more limited, but I did take on a pretty steep hill! We stopped in on our usual favorites - a Starbucks and a book store! Yes, we can be so predictable. Payton took this fine picture of us. We dined on some local fast food too - Donner Kabobs. Basically bar-b-q chicken (or lamb) in either tortilla wraps or large rolls. The portions are very generous and I found them to be very tasty.

On the way home we checked out a large park Stanton had heard about. We will have to return after the baby comes because it was getting late. They have this tree climbing section that sounds like fun and is open to kids 4 and older. Payton just has 1 month to meet that mark! Stanton and I will have to flip a coin to see who gets to climb trees and who watches the baby.

I think this was our last little trip until the baby comes. Only two weeks to my due date. I'm still working some, but cut back a lot this week. With no sleep at night I have trouble driving and I've always been terrible about getting sleepy when I drive. Not the best thing if you saw the narrow curvy roads I take to work each day!

Come on Dad! I gotta pee!

I won't be missing the NFL

I just signed up for Game Pass. It is much like NFL Sunday Ticket I got through DirecTV, but this is watched on the computer. I'll get to watch the Chiefs and Kathleen can watch the Redskins. I also want to see how Farve fairs with the Jets. He isn't likely to succeed, but Joe Montana did take the Chiefs to the AFC Championships his first year with the Chiefs.

Is this a mini me on Kathleen's lap?

IKEA - our new Costco?

Hot dog and a coke - $1.50
I got two dogs for an extra buck.

This is the cheapest meal I've found in Switzerland. Costco is about the cheapest back home. It isn't a great meal, but the good thing is you can refill your soda. Unheard of for Switzerland! IKEA must be all powerful to buck the price fixing here.

We saw WALL·E

Today we traveled to Geneva. We went for the day - the whole day. On the way down we stopped at IKEA (outside of Lausanne) to pick up a few things. Surprisingly the prices are only slightly higher than US prices. Once in Geneva we of course stopped at a Starbucks. We found a theater, er cinema, playing WALL·E in English. It was subtitled in French though. It was a nice cinema. ¡FORTY BUCKS! for the three of us to see the movie, but the price did include a rather large popcorn. We went for the movie and Geneva's fireworks show. The fireworks show started at 10 pm. Man oh man there were a lot of people there. Geneva is having their annual 10-day or so festival. We left the show early, but not early enough. It took a long, long time to get out of Geneva. It was long day. Payton held up well. I thought Kathleen was going to have a cow. All the walking was probably a bit much for her, but she survived. I don't think we will do the Geneva fireworks next year.

Rainbow across Lac de Neuchâtel

Walked up to the playground tonight

We walked up to the playground above our house. Payton actually rode his bicycle up there. Payton immediately started playing with the other kids that were already there.

The playground is pretty nice. Nothing real fancy. Plenty of stuff to climb on. You can light a fire to toast marshmallows or hotdogs. There is a nice view of town too.

It's good that we get out a walk a little. Kathleen says it makes her feel a little better. She is doing great. She probably has less than 4 weeks before we have our new baby boy.

New banner for the blog

Today our view of the Alps was its best we've seen since winter. The Alps are some 40 miles south of us, you could clearly see a great amount of detail. The snow covered caps are even farther south. I took a bunch of pictures and stitched them together to make this panorama. I cropped out a section and made it our new blog banner.

It was hot here today - the lower 80s. I know Ohio would love to have the low 80s and this is nice as compared to the 90s or higher. I guess you just get used to your surrounding temperature. It was hot.

We went down to the lake and rented a little electric boat. It wasn't a fast boat to be sure. Neuchâtel looks a lot different from the water than from the shore. We saw things we hadn't noticed before. It was a fun thing to do.
Back at home I cooled off by jumping in the pool. I did my best to empty the pool. I made a pretty big splash. Payton really liked it. I stupidly - very stupidly - let Kathleen and Payton talk me into doing a belly flop. Pain. Never again. It made Payton laugh though.