(The holidays gave us lots of time for relaxing too)
I can't believe three weeks has passed since my last post. That's the school holidays for you. A lot to catch up on, so this might have to be two or three posts. I've even had to pull out the calendar to remind me of all that's been going on. April has also been the month of visitors, which has been fun, and more to come when my parents come back for visit #2 this Friday. We're really looking forward to that.
In fact, ANOTHER week has passed since I started this entry, and we're also entering another phase of the girls' many holidays, with a bank holiday tomorrow (Labour day), next Tuesday as well (VE Day - that's Victory in Europe, marking the end of WWII for Europe), and then the following Thursday & Friday for Ascension day. That brings them down to about three weeks of 3-day weeks... hmmmm. And many French families do 'le pont' - the bridge - and take the Monday off as well to get 5 days of holiday each time.
The Spring holidays kicked off with the girls' last day of skiing with Mini-Club - an all-day outing to Le Tour with costumes, games and lots of sugary treats. The girls are pretty skied-out by this point, but Toby and I are satisfied that we 'ticked that box' this year. Since we did come to a French ski resort for a year, I guess our two main ambitions were for the girls' French to improve, and for them to become good little skiers. Well, we've yet to test their French back at home, but I think we can safely say we've now given the girls the skiing. Anna and Indie both got their 'Etoile de Bronze' level, were invited to try out for the Chamonix ski club, and Zoe got her Premiere Etoile, and we can all ski together as a family. The last time we went skiing the girls seemed to spend most of their time in a casual crouch on their skis gathering up snow to throw snowballs at each other (even Zoe) - something that amazes me. The skiing conditions during the holidays were pretty challenging - a lot of snow up top and a lot of cloud and fog, and there were points where you literally couldn't see the person skiing in front of you. At times it felt like we were the only ones on the slopes. Toby actually skied off a 15-foot drop at one point in the fog and did a face plant, breaking his goggles and cutting his nose - thankfully the girls weren't following him at that point.
Toby went to the UK for a couple of days but was back in time for our Easter celebrations, and we did a big BBQ and Easter egg hunt at some friends' chalet round the corner. After our Valentine's Day disappointment (clearly just a commercial holiday invented by North America to shift some chocolate, because we couldn't find any Valentine's Day chocolates to give to the girls) I wasn't sure what Easter would be like, and so stocked up on Easter chocolate while I was in the UK in March. Mistake! The most incredible selection of Easter chocolate animals appeared for the holidays, real artistic creations. Here's just a small selection.
Toby's sister, Sophie, and her kids, Ruby and Mo, were here for the holidays, which we loved, and Toby's little sister Kate also came for a while. We had an early birthday celebration for Mo, and we also got to see lots of Sophie's gorgeous dogs, Wiley and Lily Plum, which was a real boon since we miss Piper so much.
The beautiful Wiley, taking a break from his beloved ball chasing
We also had a visit from our friend Ian from Baie d'Urfe for the w/e, and Toby made sure he got him on skis up the mountain, albeit in the fog, and our friends Anna and Dan with their gorgeous little boy Luke came to visit from the Netherlands. Here's what Luke thought of Chamonix:
One day the girls also staged a 'spa' in the garden, and I wish I had a picture of the THREE of them massaging Toby simultaneously. I think he's starting to see the point to this parenting gig. Here he is depuffing after the massage.
The second week of the holidays I signed the girls up for the day camp organized by the MJC - the Maison de Jeunesse et Culture, which organizes activities and after-school and holiday care in the town. It was fabulous - we couldn't drag the girls away at the end of the day. The theme of the week was 'Greek Games', which meant that they went on a walk into the woods to make a crowns, made costumes for the 'games', and then had a lot of competitive sports on the last day in teams. Zoe's class also put on a singing 'spectacle'. All the kids sang individually, and the bold Zoe happily stood up, was interviewed in French, and then sang very clearly, 'Rock a' bye, baby'. They'd made a huge effort, with a decorated stage, and all the kids had their glitter make-up on. I was a little worried though, as after forty-five minutes Zoe still hadn't had her turn, and then the teacher announced that there was going to be a little interval because they were only HALF-WAY THROUGH. I thought we were going to be there all night. But thankfully, Zoe's turn was right after the break, and then we, rather rudely, snuck out the back. It was incredibly good value - 5 days of camp, WITH a three-course meal at lunchtime - for only 90euros per girl. You can bet we're signing them up for more of that in the summertime.
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