Hoppy Easter!

Here's how we decorated the week before the girls left:

The Sunday before we took the girls to Calvinet where they are now on vacation, we spent part of our afternoon in a park that we had not gone to in probably a year - we used to go frequently when we lived on the port.

We got there with Estelle and me on bikes, Léna on the back of my bike, and Thomas on rollerblades to stay right by Estelle's side up and down the hundreds of sidewalk curbs we had to negotiate. Should mention he had had a hockey game earlier that day so he was pooped that night!

The park is called "Castel Deux Rois" (Castle of the 2 kings). The playground had a major renovation since the last time we went. Below: Estelle on some kind of twirly thing.

Lots of other stuff to check out:


Not to be outdone: why stay on the side of the playground for 2 year olds, when the side for the 10 year olds is so much more alluring? And dangerous!

Ran into Thomas' colleague Gilles, who was minding the 2 year old of a friend. Estelle is quite taken with Gilles, and lets him pick her up though she's only met him one other time.

Here she is with Gabin (blue hat).

The park has great views, and great palm trees.

Meanwhile: The Wednesday before leaving, while I was doing some preliminary packing, I discovered this:
All 3 of those white chairs are in Estelle's room. Léna dragged them all into her room and set up this little party for Baby, The Cat in the Hat, and herself.

Here's a photo from last Sunday, Palm Sunday mass in Calvinet, the day we left the girls. This was outside - the girls did NOT attend, too long.
Interestingly, the French in this region use boxwood and laurel sprigs and boughs, not palms, as certainly they would have been/are too hard to come by. It was quite pretty. I have just a tiny bunch in my hand - most mass attendees had large armfuls.

These cherries are edible - made of mazipan (almond paste). Thomas' favorite.
And speaking of hoppy Easter, here's a silly video only of interest to family, showing Estelle following the directions of an American folk song. She cooked this up by herself. Léna spends her time just trying to do whatever Estelle does.