We have a new two-year-old in the house. Here's a celebration of his second year:

And blowing out the candles:

Some fall photos -

 

We love the bird show at Zoo Atlanta. Here are a few photos from a visit Saturday -

 

 

 

The best breakfast cereal in the world is Chocolate Cruesli.

The slogan in French is "le plaisir croustillant", which is roughly "crunchy pleasure", which in my opinion is not hyperbole. It's not like Cocoa Krispies or those other fake chocolate cereals - it has real pieces of chocolate in it. Just holding the box, you can tell by its weight that this is no ordinary cereal.

And - one of life's great injustices - you can't get it in North America.

I've checked everywhere: dozens of U.S. grocery stores, numerous Google sessions (could only find a Dutch store that will ship it for an arm and a leg), international food markets, Trader Joe's -- I even made my family wait while I ran down the aisles of a Canadian grocery store during a brief visit to Toronto.

I don't get it. It's made by Quaker, which is an American company (owned by PepsiCo). There's got to be a market for it. My family's Cruesli consumption alone could keep a grocery store or two in the black. I even wrote Quaker an empassioned letter. No reply.

So, I have to resort to stockpiling. And begging friends and family to send or bring some from Europe. Two of my brothers were missionaries in France and I would send them $20 to ship me some on occasion. One of the young men from my current ward is a missionary in Paris and sent me a couple of boxes a few months ago. I got some in Barcelona with Wendy. And in Amsterdam and Paris on business trips, much to the confusion of my co-workers.

Ryan and Cheyney surprised me with three whole boxes when they visited us a few weeks ago after their whirlwind tour of Paris, Turkey, Amsterdam, and Greece. I have two boxes left.

Here are a few photos of my relationship with Cruesli au chocolat over the years:

1993 - It's too small to see, but many of the boxes on the top shelf are Cruesli - 

1994 - Elder Tobler shows off his cereal collection - 

2005 - In our crummy but memorable hotel room in Barcelona - 

2008 - In Paris last July - I brought an extra suitcase just for Cruesli. Glad I didn't get stopped by Customs.

Some photos from a visit to The Rock Ranch yesterday.

Waimea Bay  - The dolphins were pretty far away and I was whipping the camera back and forth trying to catch where they were most active. I finally got this one is on its way back into the water.

 

Here are some misspellings and mistakes I've captured in advertisements.

"Shop With Friendly Local People Who Appreciate Your Bushiness" (see image) - J&R Clothing ad in Newnan, GA, apparently catering to the hairy customer

 

 

 

Physcians park here. Doctrs are probably on the other side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you're against preventing food borne illness, be sure to wash your hands. - sign in bathroom of Rita's Italian Ice, Peachtree City, GA

 

When I go to a restaurant, there's a 95% chance that I will order the same thing I ordered last time. And when I went to Paris a couple of months ago at the end of a business trip, the things I wanted to do most were repeats of what I did 15 years ago.

July 20, 2008, was my last day in Paris - I went to church in my old ward, Paris-Lilas. I regretted that I hadn't made it to Versailles or Pere Lachaise, the latter being a large cemetery filled with the famous (and not-so-famous) dead. I decided I could afford a speed tour after church and before my 4pm flight. I had already checked out of the hotel, so I had my luggage with me. Bad idea on cobblestone. I eventually abandoned my suitcase and hid it behind a gravestone.

I scurried to the site of Chopin's grave, snapped a couple of photos, and then followed the crowd to what must be the top attraction at Pere Lachaise: Jim Morrison's grave. It's a boring one (as graves go), but you somehow feel you have to make a stop. 

On the way back to my suitcase, I passed this headstone that caught my eye. Valerio was his name and he died in 1988. The text says,

Il aimait Stendhal, Pavarotti, Gamine, les Pink Floyd
Mais à 29 ans. . .

Stendhal - I looked it up - was the pen name of a French author. And I know Pavarotti and Pink Floyd. "Gamine" is the feminine form of urchin or waif, a mischievous kid, but I'm not sure who it refers to. Wikipedia says it might be Audrey Hepburn but could be several others - or maybe a pet name for his girlfriend.

In any case, I had just run past hundreds of graves with nary a thought of death and I suddenly found myself sad for the passing of this young man. 

Nuns taking photos with a cell phone at Amber Palace in Jaipur, India -