my fear of flying

We are getting ready for a big vacation.  We'll be flying to New York to spend four days before taking a flight cross country to spend three weeks in Seattle.  Needless to say that I am beyond excited. I can't wait to visit NYC, spend time with  family and friends in the wonderful PNW, discover some fun new places with Félix, and visit old favorites. I am happy to get to show off Clover, a lot of  my family hasn't seen him since he was six months old. But...

But, I am fearful for the flights. Not for me mind you, I've flown all over the world for work, for vacations. I love settling in for a long haul, watching the in-flight movies, flipping through magazines or plowing through a novel. I've even flown solo with Clover but it was when he was a little baby. He did great. He was happy checking everyone out, smiling at the ladies around us. He didn't sleep during the 11-hour flight save for a 20 minute nap so we were both toast by the time we got to our destination but we made it with relatively minimal crying...for either one of us. The flight attendants were so helpful and everyone wants to hold a sweet, cooing baby.

But not many people want to hold a wriggling 20-month old toddler, and not many 20 month old toddlers want to be held. My sweet cooing baby has become a running, jumping, climbing, kicking, wonderful little boy. Which is great, of course I wouldn't have it any other way. He's the best.  Of course, this time Félix is with us. And we have new toys, old favorites, snacks, stickers, iphone apps.  But, the closer we get to this flight the greater my fear grows.  I know parents and kids fly all the time, sometimes to the chagrin of the other passengers sometimes not but my fear still remains.  Any good tips? War stories? Tales of happy babies and happy passengers?

sweet tooth

What's your favorite gummy candy? I'm a fan of the sour ones but have longtime had a sweet spot for the classic, little golden haribo bears, pictured above. The other week, Félix and I went to see Radiostars, a funny and charming film. For the first time, I tried Félix's favorite haribo candy, the Dragibus. I am hooked.  They are sweet but not too sweet and I like all the colors equally which is not the case with my classic golden bears.

Do you want to try Félix's favorite candy? I will gladly send you some. Really. A sugar high is always best when shared. Just send a mailing address to heron plus hibou (at) gmail.com. Sweet!

a quick trip

Clover, the early bird woke us up just before 5:30 on Saturday. So to make the most of our bright eyes and bushy tails we piled in the car and headed into Geneva for the morning.  Usually we meander around the Vieille Ville or Carouge neighborhood or we like to poke around the flea market of Plainpalais. This time we went towards the water. It was nice to walk around while the city slowly woke up around us.

We bundled up and played on  the Pont de la Machine. It's not the prettiest name for a bridge but it's appellation comes from that it was originally a small foot bridge connecting where the first hydraulic machine pumped water from the Rhone for all the city's fountains. Fountains now that's a bit more romantic.

We looked at ducks, pointed at swans and chased pigeons. Well mostly, Clover was the one chasing the birds.

And of course we looked at more birds from inside, when we needed to warm up with coffee and hot chocolate. The little man was quite a charmer and some tourists asked if it was all right to take his picture. Can you blame them? I can't.

So I got my much needed coffee fix and also got to catch up on all the latest in swiss watchmaking. I think I need a new timepiece. Félix?

I had high hopes that we would make it to the botanical gardens.  But with such an early start to the day, my wonderful boys with matching hats were so very sleepy once we got in the car that we just kept driving homeward. It was a quick trip to Geneva but a fun one all the same.

a lingering fog

This is the view from our place this week.  We are slowly coming out of our winter hibernation. It feels a bit like the low hanging fog outside has sneakily crept inside and into my head.   So sleepy...

I thought I could put away my snow boots because the calendar shows that it has been spring for a full month now. Apparently, Mother Nature doesn't like these silly labels. And to show it, she's keeping a thick brume over our heads, showering us with snow off and on and every day this week. That sly little lady.

But I'm hopeful that the sun is going to break through soon, inside and out. In the meantime, I guess,  I'll just snuggle in and make myself another coffee until this fog lifts. Should I brew you a cup, too?