Father's Day / More Strikes

This past Sunday was Father's Day over here as well - here's what Thomas got as a gift:
It says: "Léna is dancing in the middle of the stars"
We had a quick trip to the park that morning before a thunderstorm...

Then Thomas made Estelle crepes and she put Nutella on them...bliss!
Even though there are only 5 days left of school, it's never to late for the teachers to have a one-day strike over here in France.
The one-day strike once every 3 or 4 weeks is getting REALLY REALLY old.
For those of us with no family at all around, it makes childcare for Estelle complicated because I am teaching all day at the airport so I can't cancel.
Estelle will go to spend the day with Oana and her baby Serena. Here she is ready to go to Oana's for her special day, with her baby in a matching dress.
She will take care of her baby while Oana takes care of Serena.
Meanwhile, here's what Léna has been up to!

Birthday Beach

2 days before my birthday, Simon and I spent 4 1/2 hours on a beach near Monaco, called Plage Mala.

This is one of those hold the photo at arm's length and squeeze your heads together shots!

This woman below looks 40. Ouch. Oh well, nothing to be done.

A lovely day.
We repeated the same thing the day AFTER my birthday when Thomas surprised me that morning by having taken the day off. After dropping off the girls, the 3 of us headed to the beach in Cap Ferrat (very chic). We had such a good time, we didn't even take photos!
What a great way to ring in the next decade. Thanks Thomas for a great surprise!

The French? Strike? What?

Who says the French don't know how to throw a strike?
Why, even during the World Cup, those Frenchies strike their little hearts out.
Idiots.
What a difference from 4 years ago, when they won, over and over, and went all the way to the Finals (remember the Zidane head-butt, the penalty-kick shoot-out in the 11th hour, remember Italy winning?).
Now, when it looks like things might not go their way right off the bat in the first round (oh the shame!), they do what they know best: STRIKE! Protest! Say it isn't fair! Act outraged! Refuse to work! Refuse to do your job! It's like James Bond trying to create a distraction to throw his predator off the scent.
Except in the World Cup, the only game they should be playing is soccer.
Disgusting.

Pomp and Circumstance

Today in America, two of my nieces are graduating from high school - Chelsea from Harwood and Alexandra from Mount Mansfield, my alma mater.
Hope everyone has a great day!
Léna, meanwhile, is close to graduation to being a walker - close, but no cigar.
2 sisters enjoying some books together:

Meanwhile, videos of our little baby: 1st, playing with chunks of ice in the bathtub. 2nd, happiness is a full belly.

"Kermesse"

Kermesse is the French word for the end-of-the-year school show and fair, with games and a bake sale, etc. It is run by the Parent's Association. It was Saturday morning and we were there right on time, with 2 batches of scones.
Waiting to go on "stage".... this was 9:00 a.m. and it was already hot. Estelle is in the back row, up on her knees, pink sleeveless dress and ponytail, not pigtails.



The class after Estelle's had her 3 little friends from Cathy the nanny's , the little Italian Carlo (far right playing picolo)...And Mila and Marie - the two girls below - Marie really does look like Shirley Temple.

That's Patricia, Estelle's teacher in front

A little bittersweet as we know Estelle will change schools in the fall to attend the school in the "district" where we live now since our move in November. I say "district" since it is like 5 blocks from the current school but in a city, 5 blocks = a lot of kids = another school.
No green fields or cows or trees or grass in this playground. Concrete and barred windows. Sometimes I wonder what the heck I am doing raising my kid in a city.
A few videos of Estelle "dancing" for those who have time to kill - 1st one is the "warm-up", 2nd one is the dance, where Estelle seems to be the Pied Piper.

40!!!!!!!!!!!

As they say, 40 is the new 30. Which was the new 20. So really it's like I'm 19. Or something.
Spent the day at C & D's villa where a fan-tabulous brunch was prepared in my honor:
Good friends, good times: Estelle got a lot of attention in the pool from Simon...

And Doug:
And their friend Gail whom I adore and had not seen in 5 years:Léna also had some fun. She went right down in a strange room in a strange Pack-n-Play and took a great nap - Great Kid!
Great husband:
Meanwhile, Simon always had us laughing! British humor.

Citronella candle on my cake!It's been a BUSY weekend. Beaches, Birthday parties (mine and pals of Estelle), School fairs and spectacles, making double-batches of scones for Bake Sales, etc. Hope to catch up on the photos soon.

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!