Spring Break

While Auntie Kristen and Uncle Woody are galavanting around Paris, Maisie and I went to Labyrinth Aventure Parc!  We drive past this place every time we go to Michael's house and so we finally had to give it a try.

It has these crazy slides, a giant shrubbery maze, and tons of other death traps and splinter-makers which would never be allowed in the USA.

Maisie and Nina jousting

barfin' saucer (and butt splinter maker)

and my favorite, the chicken slide.  We can't wait to go back.

Oh, and in other news, my neighbors gave us this beautiful light fixture.  I can't wait for Michael to wire it up for us so we can have something more than a bare lightbulb in the living room.

Harp Recital

Maisie had her first harp recital yesterday.  She played beautifully.  Here are links to a couple of clips I uploaded on youtube.  Sorry for the terrible quality.  I didn't realize that you can't edit "rotate" the video clips on my camera so my apologies for any kinked necks after watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JZzL_E-DhE

and 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAQS1rFQnYI

Enjoy!

My first "Quilt"

Maisie's school had a special "Language Day" where the kids are split up into their native languages and the parents come in and tell them a story.  The American Moms decided to tell the story of Betsy Ross and how she helped make the first American Flag.  The story we read them tells of all the quilts Betsy made and so the day before our presentation I decided that for our activity to go along with the story, we needed to make a quilt.  Why do I have my best (worst) ideas at the last minute!?!  I've never made one before but I've seen it done by my mother, my sister and my grandmother hundreds of times so I figured it was in my blood.  This would be easy, right?  

Turns out I wasn't exactly right but I think it turned out pretty cute (as long as you don't inspect the stitching; cheap sewing machine).  The kids decorated their quilt blocks and I took them home and sewed them all together and had the quilt back to the school the next morning for display.

I'm looking forward to making a real quilt someday.

New Addition

Introducing:  Mr. George Cuddles

We have been wanting a pet so badly but the approval for a dog (from our apartment owners) has been slow in coming and I refuse any type of rodent so we all agreed on a goldfish.

Here he is posing with his new custodian (he's in the lower left corner of the tank)

And here is Maisie ready to feed him for the first time.

We've made a bargain that if he lives for six weeks then we can introduce a second fish to keep George company.  Do fish get lonely?

Middle School

Maisie got to have a "tester day" at the school she will attend next year.  She went with two other kids from her current class and they were able to experience a (shortened) day in the life of a middle schooler.  Her favorite parts were the science lab and the design and technology class but she's also excited about having a locker, changing classes and going to school with teenagers (yikes).  I went to a parent's introduction meeting last night and I can easily say that we are both very impressed with the new digs.  It's going to be a whole new world for us soon!

"Old" Building of Maisie's new school

Patio of the "new" classroom building (notice the abundance of foosball tables)

View of Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) from the patio of the new building.

It was a rainy cloudy day so the photo is not great but I can imagine it will be beautiful in a few weeks (hurry up Spring).

ski season

Here are some photos from earlier this month when Michael took Maisie for a ski day in Siviez.  Maisie likes skiing at school but she likes skiing with her Dad more because "it's fun".

Gearing up

Maisie is a confident skier and manages all her own gear.  She's growing so fast so we rent skis, boots and poles for the season.  Notice our sweet parking space right in front of the ticket kiosk.

buying ski passes

We were there relatively early so the crowds weren't too bad but I was surprised by how many people were skiing there by the time we left.  Crazy!

hitting the slopes with Dad 

this was the last I saw of them, just before they got on the lift.

and finally, this photo is for Aunt Michelle and Uncle Gary who sent us these excellent North Face (and Spider for Michael) hats to keep us nice and toasty, THANKS, (even if I do look like a turtle in mine :) we love them!

Recycle

Last weekend I learned a lesson that my Dad taught me 30 years ago.   I remember after one (less than peaceful) evening at home venturing out to the back yard to find my Dad whole-heartedly smashing aluminum cans with an old brick.  And although I can't repeat the words I heard, or remember who was at fault for disturbing the family peace, the look on his face was one of satisfaction.  Now, I can't say that I have anything particularly frustrating in my life right now.  Let's be honest...I don't have a job, I have one (perfect) kid and live in a beautiful place...BUT (and there's always a big but) after a particularly difficult French lesson, Maisie and I headed down to our storage room and got physical with all the cardboard boxes that were cluttering up our space.  

I'm not usually superstitious but a little voice in the back of my head kept telling me not to cut up the moving boxes because the minute you do, you'll have to move, right?  So I saved a good share of them but the rest were reduced to recycling size.  I was amazed at how great I felt after mastering that tiny portion of my universe.  Thanks Dad for teaching me that recycling is good for the Earth and good for the soul.