Easter Monday - Beach!

Vermont is bragging about their amazing Easter weather, so now that we actually left the house yesterday as a family, we can brag too!
Remember Easter Monday is a national holiday in France so Thomas had the day off.
We went to Plage Darse in Villefranche.
First we strolled by some yachts.
This was 10:30 a.m. We had intended to go to a nice park in Villefranche, but just as we were pulling up in front of it, we saw a big crowd and thought, "huh?" Then suddenly probably 50 kids charged thru the park gate, bags in hand...oh no, an easter egg hunt. Thankfully Estelle, whose stomach is still so fragile that she cannot even look at chocolate, was looking the otherway and didn't notice. Thomas promptly put the pedal to the metal and we opted for the beach instead, just a ways down the road.
Ah, yes. Why we live here.



Wouldn't think she'd been at death's door, would you? Poor kid.
10 minutes later we were stripping down. It was warm!

We put our toes in - chilly! But there were a few senior citizens in there getting in their morning constitutional. Lunatics. I sat like a bump on a log (literally, I was on a log) with my thermos of tea and praised God that I wasn't emptying a bucket or changing sheets.
Less than one year ago, on April 19th 2009, we were on the same exact beach, though in slightly different shape:
Jumpin' Jehosapath! Who IS that woman?
But it was warm that day - so warm that Estelle was in the water!
Last summer we didn't go to the beach but 2 or 3 times as Léna was so small - we hope to get there more often this year.
Yesterday after naps, we made this short 90-second docu-drama after a spring cleaning spree:

Yes, I know they still LOOK functional, but trust us, they are not. ZDD = zipper deficit disorder.

Thanks Easter Bunny!

The Easter Bunny brought something much better than chocolate to our house today - he gave Estelle back her digestive system after another rough night last night. - Thanks Easter Bunny! Check her out. The girl is B-A-C-K.

True to form, this Baby's First Easter bib got its workout today:

While Thomas and the girls did not go with me to Craig & Doug's villa, I did bring back a bucketload of food for them. And my M&M cookies from last night, along with the Cupcakes I made this morning, were a hit all around.
Thanks Easter Bunny! (remember that old M&M ad from the 80's? - I tried to embed it below off YouTube - have a look for nostalgia...)

Dr. Baker Returns

Things are only getting worse over here. We called back Dr. Baker today, thought it was one of his colleages, whose bedside manner was much more like the real Dr. Baker from LHOTP.
Say a little Easter prayer for Estelle, whom I have never seen so ill. Poor kid.
Here she is Wednesday afternoon, less than 24 hours before this all began. We were up in the hills behind Nice at a private bi-lingual school which also offers day camp programs during school vacations. It's big on outdoors activities and education, animals, pool, etc. Estelle is signed up to go the 4 days this coming week. Wednesday afternoon we went to see it and have a little tour so she would feel more comfortable Tuesday morning. She is (rather, was) very excited about this.
Here's my Easter treat from my darling husband. Readers can guess how much this hollow fish filled with a baggie of little mini fish cost. The fish is not quite the size of my hand.
Meanwhile, so far, the gods are smiling on us (or is it pity?) and THIS little Easter bunny below is happy and healthy and just a riot.
She charges at us like a ram.
At least one of my kids knows it is Easter.
Well, as in all times of crisis, I am true to my genes and thus turn to solace in family tradition: baking. Today I made blueberry tarte and, at 11:35 p.m., just turned out 5 dozen of the most amazing dark chocolate pastel-colored-Easter-special-brought-back-with-me-from-the-Newport-Vermont-Kinney-Drugs M&M cookies. They are deLIGHTful. Estelle took one look at them and threw up. Such is life.

Good Friday? Methinks not!

Here's Estelle organizing her beads by color a few days ago.
Those beads look somewhat similar to her lunch yesterday at school (peas and carrots and other colorful bits of stuff) which we have been seeing over and over in various spots in our home.....welcome to a stomach bug.
The Monster that was in our cousin Cole's house (happy April Fool's bday to Cole yesterday!) crossed the ocean and is now well-ensconced chez nous. Here's a monster below that was in the Carnival this year in Nice - Thomas took Estelle to the last day of Carnival just 24 hours after we arrived back from America last month.
Other fun things in the Carnival parade - the king, some kind of Obama theme thing...



Carnival Frog:
Back to the present reality: Dr. Baker (as I like to refer to the travelling physicians who makes house-calls over here, such a fantastic service) has already come and gone and now we float in a sea of meds fetched by a friend because I certainly cannot leave.
Here are the girl in happier times:


Here's crossing our fingers to a less gut-wrenching (literally) rest of our Good Friday. If only we had some flat ginger ale.

Palms, Play

Two days ago was Palm Sunday, as many people may realize. It's one of the longer services when the "Passion" is read. We did go into church to observe part of the service but I knew Estelle wouldn't last so we graciously bowed out. In front of the church, like all the churches, you saw this on Sunday:Tables with braided palms for sale. Some of the braidings were very large and elaborate. We bought the cheapest ones, a cross and a star. Together they cost me 9 euros, which is a little over 12 bucks. Thems some pricey palms!

Now back home (did I just write "back home"? like John-Boy?) we had palms too on Palm Sunday but I don't ever recall seeing these shapes made from the palms. But look at the detail in the braiding.....
As you can see below, they're quite small...
From what has been explained to me, you purchase them, take them in to the mass, get them blessed during the Passion, then keep them at home for a year. I remember braiding my palm sitting on that hard pew throughout the mass. That was fun, I always enjoyed it. In any event, Estelle was very intrigued with the whole thing. Below, she sat right down in the man's chair and tried to encourage other people to come over and check out the goods.
In other news, today after school 2 little girls played "kitchen" together in a sun-filled room. Léna pulled herself up to a cooking position.
Could Estelle's legs look any longer? Lordy.
She was pretty excited to be manning the dishwasher.

Later on, Estelle enjoyed feeding Léna. The fun never ends!

11 months

Truly, it does not seem possible, but our baby is 11 months old today.
Our Palm Sunday coincided with the Daylight Savings clock change last night and thus everyone is off-kilter today. Even more so when you realize that in one month, we've got to throw a party.
A little sad to realize she'll soon be a year, it seems to have all gone by so much more quickly than with Estelle. The summer, Estelle starting school, returning to teaching and then moving, of all things, certainly contributed to Léna's babyhood going by in the blink of an eye. A little video showing how she has suddenly become adept at peek-a-boo using anything. I am thankful to still be nursing since it makes her still feel like a baby, all 25 pounds of her.
In the background sometimes you can hear Estelle in the next room, singing away some made-up songs.....

Closing Ceremonies - The Vermont Olympics

Today marks 4 weeks since we flew out of the USA. Time to wrap up these Olympics!
Our closing ceremonies have 3 categories: Food, Fun & Friends, Family.
Everyone gets gold.
First: Fun & FRIENDS
Playing with some precious toys at Martha's knit by Chris' grandmothers!
Notice the Fisher Price record player - classic. Thomas has the same in France.
Fun with Becky my BFF from SMC
Swingset fun with Elijah and Asa before the Big Storm
Baby Fun: Léna meets Hazel, her 3rd cousin. Léna and Estelle have some sweaters knits by baby Hazel's great-great-aunt Hazel, from whom this little 3-month old was named. She is Asa's sister. Ironically the sweater she is wearing is French- it used to be Léna's!
Lots of times, fun just looked like this: cousins crowding around on the couch, looking at books while the grown-ups visited.
Or laying about:
My BFF from middle school/high school, Mette, came to visit one fine day in Glover. What a treat, after many many years. That really was FUN!
The girls enjoyed all the toys borrowed from their cousins. See that Fisher Price house on the right? That was mine, and some sibling's before that - a treasure.
When Grammie left to return to NH, everyone jumped on the couch to holler Goodbye. Not fun for the couch.
Sometimes the couch got a different kind of fun. One kid, one afghan.

Lots of forts to be made. That poor couch.
Teething fun: chewing on I'm a Little Teapot book.
PlayWorld Fun in Barton with Heather:
Plain old Crayola fun:
Even the airport can be fun - at the start of the whole thing, this is what we got up to in the Nice terminal.
Next Up: FOOD:
So much to eat, so little time. There were many scrumptious delights and meals that escaped my camera at Lisa's, Joan's, Darlene's and Martha's. Not to mention the Koffee Kup Krullers. I single-handedly ate 5 packages in 3 weeks. Not joking.

Pancakes at Martha's, the morning after the storm:

Post-sliding party hot dogs off Joan's new grill, courtesy of Uncle Chris
Estelle surprised me by very efficiently peeling a boiled egg:
I made almond cream-filled scones:
Valentine's Day CupcakesLots of fun to decorate cupcakes:
More of them! Sent by Lisa from NH - you can see that hands both young and old wanted a piece of them!
Yes that IS Becky with AUNT Becky's chocolate Costco cake. Say what you will, but it was good. Though maybe not after the 7th slice.Sheer bliss: handmade donut holes, brought by Uncle Cedric
Chicken & Biscuits with Joanie
Superbowl Sunday (yes, it was a long time ago, but the food warrants a mention!) (though that frightening Chex Mix in the tin could take a bye) (every decade or so Joan tries to wipe the whole ding-dang family out with one blow) (remember the grey punch? Ouch).
Final Category: Family
We saw a lot of family whilst having all this fun and eating all that food. Many of them have already been featured in the Vermont Olympics. Here's some more shots to round things out.
My cousin Kathy Urie who was up visiting Aunt Elaine.
Aunt Suzie who we enjoyed seeing.
Sometimes loves comes with hug while someone else is on the phone (p.s. is she talking to Anne Fritchell?) (RIP)
Aunt Mary who "walked" Léna:
Cousin Debbie at the brunch at Mart's:
"Aunt" Emilie, Hazel's grandmother
The best part of my visit were moments like this: sitting around chewing the fat
Susan got her bicep workout holding this pumpkin
Léna got fed by a lot of people who graciously claimed they enjoyed feeding a baby again....
It might have been Cedric, Lesley or Peter (as photos illustrate above) or countless others.... Below: Uncle Paul with 2 little girlies:

And one little baby:

Readers get to guess who this is: Peter, or Paul, with Léna:
My cousin Michelle and her 2 girls Olivia and Maria came for a visit too....
One night we went to Cole and Wayne's school music concert, where Cole sang/danced out, of all things, Sur le Pont D'Avignon. There's Cole, top row, 2nd from right. That's his entire kindergarten class. 7 kids.
Where are the photos of Ed? I cannot say! There were too many people there the day he came and I never got a shot of him. How about Uncle Dan? Or Uncle Danny, who we never even saw. None of Aunt Jeanne either. And of course we really missed not seeing Auntie Laura, who was off visiting her OWN little grandbaby Skylar in WV. See you at the Summer Games, LaLa!

As the Torch of these Olympics gets extinguished until the Summer Games, special nod to 4 people and their entourage who made our trip possible:
My Mom:
Lisa:
Martha (in total chaos embarks on making homemade pink playdough with Estelle during the Big Storm)



And last but not least, Joan: (there's a story behind that can of beer [which p.s. she is not drinking, it was a prop], but to get it, you'll all have to go visit Dale Kilby in Glover).

Without them dropping everything to feed us, pick up up, drop us off, get us back and forth to the airports and meeting points, etc, we could never have come. Estelle had the time of her life, and so we send our love and thanks to everyone for being part of our winter vacation, which was so memorable.