Pre-Bday & Other Fun

This particular school day, Estelle designed her own hair-do.Last Friday, Thomas biked back and forth to work. A huge feat! 22 kilometers (14 miles with a big hill). Wearing all my Louis Garneau gear from VT.
From the balcony at 7:00 a.m. - Thomas and our English neighbor Richard, starting out - yes Thomas did have a helmet, just had taken it off for the photo.
Last Saturday evening: a visit from Thomas' hockey buddy Stephan and his wife Lillian who is Brazilian and their son Kilian. They enjoyed Léna's bird book from Joanie.
Sunday: Estelle and I went to Villefranche for a swim, just the 2 of us.
Later that day, afternoon tea with Valerie and Xavier, our olive friends. Here's Xavier working on his beehives and Estelle attentively "helping".
Enjoying the pool, Valerie holding Estelle.
Watering the trees:
This week my friend Simon arrived from London. He stayed with other friends for the first part of his week here, but came for lunch on Wednesday. Estelle enjoyed using him as her English Patient.
Then Dr. Simon took over.
Léna thought his accent was funny.
That day Estelle decided to wear one of her old onesies from when she was 6-months old, Ben & Jerry's baby from Uncle Paul.
Wednesday night I had a student come from 7:30 to 8:30, something I never do, but as it is the season of the Bac (International Baccalaureat), student panic is rampant. Thomas had to go to a hockey going away party, was annoyed that my student was coming and couldn't come earlier. Really, though, there was no hockey party - after my student left at 8:30 pm., I went into my kitchen to find 4 friends who whisked me out for a bday bash, having reorganized the original plan for 7:30!
I am between Veronique and Fransiska, and across are Emilie and Marie. We all have 4 year olds (well, they do, Estelle's not quite 4 yet).
So totally a surprise, and so great. We even went to have hamburgers!I got home at midnight and it just about killed me to be out late like that with a full plate of teaching and biking here there and everywhere the next day on Thursday, but it was worth every second. So FUN!
Today, Friday = start of the World Cup, France had a 0-0 game much to my husband's disgust. But I spent the day on the beach near Monaco, my birthday present to myself. heaven.............. photos on that tomorrow!