Mother's Day in France

Mother's Day is today in France. Our day started with some chocolate croissants from the bakery down the street, then off we went to the beach on the edge of the French border to Monaco.
Above, Estelle in between Eliott and Loup on the water's edge.
Léna loved played with the pebbles while the kids played with Arnaud.
Léna says 'No way am I going in that water'.
The water was a bit chilly so us mothers let Arnaud, Eliott's father, take one for the team! He stayed in a good 30 minutes with all 3 kids.
Meanwhile, everybody's favorite Frenchie raked the beach to get rid of the dead blue jellyfish that you see lining the rocks.
What you don't see is Fransiska, me and Veronique (Loup's mom) laying down drinking tea.
Back at the ranch, it was time to have some fun with France's favorite vegetable, leeks.
And later, playing with a sand project kit from Estelle's godfather Francois. We got this when we saw him a month or so ago, but it was the same day as "The Outbreak" (lice) and so it got thrown into a cupboard and we forgot about it. It's been a hit every since we (I) stumbled on it whilst in a OCD clean-up phase.
I also got a nice card and a new blouse from my family. And lots of kisses! happy French mother's day!
Below: 2 minutes of Léna, her spoon, Estelle....

Pentecost Party

First, a few shots from BeBe Nageur Saturday morning:
Above, Thomas holding Léna on a watermat. Below, Estelle Merman in rehearsal for Ziegfield Follies.


Fun for everybody:
Sunday: Park in Villefranche.

Pentecost Monday - national holiday and our little friend Eva's 4th bday bash. Léna looking not sure about the cheese stuck to her face....
Estelle can't believe her good luck, she has a bag of potato chips, first ones since we were in VT in February.
Léna finds an empty bag of chips.
The party had a nautical/seaman/sailor theme. In fact in French it is called "Moussaillons" which is the little children who would work on boats and would always wear this little special hats. We went wearing our handmade printed fish shirts, each printed with a real (dead, frozen) painted on then stuck on fish. So cool! Thanks Jericho cousins!

Eliott REALLY looked like a little sailor. It was a bit like "On the Town", what a great film.
There was a lot of little sailors at this party!

You see Estelle in the yellow shirt, to her left is Eva, birthday girl. Next year they will be at the same school as Estelle will switch schools in September.
Ludovic, father to Eva and owner of a small creperie, made Nutelle crepes for everyone ahead of time. The candles went on the crepes and everybody sang.
A lovely 3-day weekend!

Firsts (and Foremost!)

My First (and only) godson, Wayne, made his First Communion a week ago. Is he a cutie or what?Meanwhile, his much older cousin Sara who is the First Grandchild is the First in our family (of many?) to become a lawyer! Here's Sara at her Commencement ceremony where she graduated from GW law school.
The First Lady, Michele Obama, gave the commencement speech!
While these events were happening across the Atlantic, here in Nice we were doing a few fun things in honor of my Dad, new things we'd never done. We started our day with Léna's first trip to the pool, photos on that for another time.
In the afternoon, we tried to go for a little walk/hike, but couldn't get to the little mountain because all of northern Nice was blocked off for the Nice soccer match that happened to be that evening. So, instead, we stumbled on a park.
In the background above you might make out some kind of marble structure with columns. Le Temple de Diane. Below: Sisterly fun.
Enjoying walking with help.
pint-sized playground:
Up to something.
The "Temple de l'Amour"
I had seen this almost 9 years ago my first year here in Nice. It was fun to check it out again from a different perspective.
Below: Thomas and Léna are "walking".
That evening, it was the Museum Night at museums all across Europe. They were open in the evening with special events. Here's the Modern Art Museum at the end of our street.
That's an Alexander Calder sculpture next to Estelle.
Facing the museum is the Theatre where I go.
On Sunday the wholesale market of the whole area had its Open House for normal people. We were there right when it opened because over 100 thousand people attended over 2 days. Normally you have to have a badge, etc to get into this massive complex of wholesalers which is located near the airport.
Above: We Sell Beets, and only Beets. Here are some below:
This is just one of the many many halls where we went to buy fresh fruits, veggies and local products direct from the producers/wholesalers. Here we are buying lavendar honey for Estelle, who is a fan.

This rooster was twice the size of Léna. There was quite a bit of small farm animals.
Nap time.
First ice cream of the season. Bubble Gum Flavor!

9

Each year on May 15th I like to share something about my Dad. Here's a little snippet from his early days at General Electric., where he worked for 36 years.There was apparently a "suggestion box" at GE, and people could earn prize money based on their suggestions and how much those suggestions would/could save the company down the line. Dad came up with an idea to perfect the way they were testing something at the plant and eliminate a whole production step. He got a check for 620 bucks. In 1952, that was a LOT of money. It was also the most money that anyone had ever been awarded for any prize .In the article above, they note other winners in 1952, of amounts of 100 dollars. 620 sure must have seemed like winning the lottery! The text also states that "Alexander hopes to use part of the money to continue his education in electronics, he aspires to an Electrical Engineering degree". I just found out last night that GE wanted to pay for him to get that degree. He in fact started taking classes, but he "couldn't hack it". It was too passive for him, sitting there being the student, he probably didn't like not being able to run the show. Go figure.
Part of GE's effort to encourage his ascension in the ranks was to put him in a Dale Carnegie public speaking course. Wasted money. No need for that class, where the outcome was slightly difference than the other classes - in between the encyclopedias next to our family piano was a small gold-plated cup on a little marble stand - First Prize. Rumor has it his speech that won was "inappropriate" in the sense it was "off-topic". But still won!
Above: another publicity photo in one of the GE magazines a few years later in 1958, showing Dad running the show at a GE Engineering party that GE paid for and Dad hosted (I bet Mom had something to do with it too). I think he looks young in that photo, but the stretch of his arm, the way he holds up the bucket just so at the right angle, his crooked elbow - is the same as the man I dearly knew decades later.
This last scanned clip above is just part of the text that goes along with the photo. Notice they mark the "tobacco chewing of the boiler". I think they considered him a bit "off-topic", but certainly interesting.
So what happened to that 620 dollar check? Family legend has it that they bought a new crib, and Mom's Singer sewing machine, which is still alive and well. 9 years later, we wish he was too.

Ascension! & a balloon!

Ascension means a 4-day weekend for Thomas, feels like a mini-vacation. Lovely, despite a lot of translation work. Before it began on Wednesday afternoon, we went to Loup's 4th bday party, and thus begins the long string of everybody turning 4.
Above: Estelle below left, in the Ben & Jerry's tye-dye, ripping open her back from the "fishing game" with prizes. Note Eliott's concentration mastering the fishing rod. Below: Ah, desserts and champagne. On a Wednesday at 4 p.m. Love France.
Diabetic? Don't look:
Marie looking at me thinking the same thing I am: bathtime will be nasty tonight.
This is Louise, 7 weeks Léna's senior, yet just a little puff of a girl. Léna is like a fat shriner next to her.
Eliott's grandparents visiting from Holland. Who speak perfect English, like their daughter. Oma (grandmother in Dutch) is the youngest of 10. We were INSTANT friends. INSTANT. Léna liked having adoptive grandparents there.
Once again, we'd like to state it for the record: no lice. Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty....
Out of this chubby's way:
Here's fun with a balloon, with Estelle and Thomas in the background playing with Estelle's imaginary classmates whom you can hear Thomas "scolding".