Morning fun

When the boys wake up before me, sometimes they stay in their rooms to play. One morning, I found them in A2's room building. Here was a boat and an Elmo fire truck made by A1.

Then, A2 told me his creation was either Eiffel Tower or a birthday cake. I was surprised he had the patience to build such a block.

Lastly, A1 told him he made a DS (Nintendo video game). He had seen his older cousins playing with one. He never asked for one for his birthday or Christmas gift (yet). I am glad he prefers to make one himself.

Art works from day care

The boys went to day care during the first two weeks of the school holiday. Below are some of the art works they brought home at the end of each day. I have no idea what to do with them. Should I keep them until one day they are famous artists and sell them for a high price? 

I doubt that day will come as they took after their parents in the arts department. So I took pictures so as to show them when they grow up.

Pretty and neat art works won't you say. But what do I need them for? To decorate their rooms? I have others from school.

I wonder if my mother would like to have them. If not, they are heading to the bin soon.......

Parc Babyland

In June, with two other mothers and their boys, we missed school on a Wednesday (9am to 12pm) and headed to Parc Babyland. We were a total of six boys and three mothers. The park was about an hour's drive away and I had a mother with her two boys in our 7 seater Touran. The four boys were making lots of noises while I had a good chat with the mother.

We arrived just in time for the opening at 10.30am. It was not a big park and there was no queue. I think the park was a hidden treasure as it was by word of mouth that we came to know this park. Maybe that was why it was not crowded.

Most of the rides were operated by ourselves. There were start and stop buttons at each amusement ride and once the children were seated, it was the adult who pushed the button to start the ride. A ride lasted three minutes unless the stop button was pushed. 

The boys had great fun with the giant slide. As A2 had not pass the height limit, I had to do it with him. It was thrilling.

There was also a mini roller coaster just beside the giant slide. We did these a few times.

There were two trains rides and below was a photo of the six boys.

 Tricycles were available at a corner. A1 being the sweet older boy rode the younger boys around. They rode round and round and were never tired.

We stopped for a picnic lunch. There were picnic tables under the shade. Lunch could be bought there but we brought our own. One mother made a tomato salade, another made quiche while I made banana cakes and brought watermelon.

The boys continued to have fun with bouncy castles and other fun rides. The horse ride was the highlight. As the boys were not 120cm yet,, they took turns to ride with me. It was like the real thing with the horse trotting and galloping.

My boys tried the doggy ride aka viking boat with glee. I thought they would be afraid but no. They were waving at me when they reached the high end.

We called it a day at 5pm. The boys spent a long time at the balls pool. It was deep and the youngest boy sank in and had to be pulled out by his mother when his brother alerted us.

When leaving, A1 asked if he could come every wed. The boys love the park. I love it too. It cost a friction of the price we pay to go Disneyland and best of all, there was no queue. We would surely come back again. I told Anca about this park and she went recently. She told me her boy cried when they were leaving at closing time. We shall organise a day there togather. It has to be soon because this park is for young children.

14 July

We watched two fireworks in celebration of the French National day. On 13 July, we went to the neighbour town's football field and watched fireworks. We reached at around 10.30pm and once the sky was totally dark at around 11pm, the fireworks started. This was the second time the boys watched live fireworks. Their first was last year's 14 July in the south of France when we were on vacation.

The firework display was a small scale but nevertheless, we enjoyed it as we were up close. A fireworks went off course and fell on the grass. As it had been a very dry season, it started a small fire with lots of smoke. That was the side attraction. When the fire engine arrived, the fire had been put out.

The boys slept at midnight which was really rare. The next day, we went to visit our friends an hour and half drive's away. We left at 5pm and had a quick dinner in Paris on the way home. The boys wanted to watch fireworks again as there was a bigger scale that night at Rambouillet. I told the tired boys that if they slept in the car, I would not wake them up. So they kept themselves awake all the way home. We reached home at 8pm and had a quick shower. At 10pm, we drove to Rambouillet, parked our car rather far from the castle's park and walked 15mins to get there. There were many people. 

I took the camera this time and was happy to get some decent photos of the beautiful fireworks.

Enjoy.

The boys have grown up. They can stay awake pass midnight now without napping and yet wake up at 7.30am as usual.

School year end show and funfair

Summer school holiday starts this week. Two weeks ago, the boys performed at the school year end show. A1 did some traditional dances from Africa, France and Ireland. A2 danced to a funny french song. I could not find the title. He also tapped on a stick to the rhythm of The Carnival of the Animals (Camille Saint-Saëns). 

After the mini concert by the four classes, the funfair started. We had BBQ sandwich lunches before the boys went off to play and I took up a stand twisting balloons. The kids requested for swords, sabres, flowers etc...

We bought the boys 20 tickets to play at the various stalls. Each game stall would give a token once the game ended. With the tokens, the children could exchange some small gifts. 

The night before, I made flower bracelet ballons and doggy balloons. I enrolled A1's best friend's mother to help me with the stand. She dropped by after the kids were in bed and we practised making more complicated balloon sculptures. I think we are getting really good.

At the end of the funfair, there was a lucky draw. Each year, I bought 5 tickets and never won anything. This year, I bought 10 and won a voucher worth 40€ from the cakeshop. I was thrilled. The cake came in time for my birthday at end of June.

A1 is promoted to CP and is no longer in kindergarten. He is in elementary school now. As the village school is both a kindergarten and elementary school (primary school), it does not make a difference for A1. Furthermore as his teacher is teaching GS (Grande Section) and CP togather, A1 would be with Claire again. A2 is promoted to GS. He has spent his first two years of kindergarten with Sophie. He would find himself in the same class as A1 again with a new teacher.