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.

Fruit trees

Last November, we planted an abricot tree in our garden. It was a 7 years old tree. This spring, I spotted two abricots growing from this small tree. What a delight.

 Last year, I did not get to enjoy any fruits from the garden. The birds ate up all the cherries before we had time to pick them. This year, I bought a net and Seb and I put it over the cherry tree. Good thing the cherry tree was not too big. The harvest is plenty for this young tree. I am waiting patiently for the cherries to turn bright red. This evening, I picked 7 red cherries and the boys enjoyed them. I tried one and it was sweet and firm. Delicious.

As for the apple tree, there was no apple last year. This year, there were bees working in the garden and they helped to pollinate the fruit trees. I am expecting a big harvest of apples too. However, I have to check for aphids everyday. The ants are protecting the aphids. So I have to destroy the ants and the leaves infested by aphids and its eggs.I found this website that explains the interesting relationship between the aphids and the ants.

And when I see the ladybird, I leave it alone because I know that it is my ally. Ladybirds are just as important as bees.

My first contact with aphids, ants and ladybirds did not start in the garden but on a boardgame few years back. Seb bought A1 a game when he was in USA. It was the Ladybug Game. The players choose their ladybugs and try to reach the finishing point by collecting as many aphids as possible and avoiding the praying mantis. Near the end, the players must have enough aphids to give to three lazy ants to continue the journey home. We enjoyed this game a lot as a family. But these days, it's UNO and Monopoly that we play. I would have to dig out the Ladybug game to play with the boys and then show them these real insects on the apple tree.

Checkers

A1 received a checker set for his birthday. We taught him the rules and he understood quickly. It was not easy for him in the beginning to apply the rules as he forgot that the piece can only move forward unless it was jumping over an opponent's piece to capture it.

When we played with A1, A2 would join us to watch and tried to understand. He picked up the rules fast too.

In no time, the two boys started to play against each other. Seb or I would watch to make sure the boys do not break the rules and to teach them some tips here and there.

Last weekend, the boys were playing checkers just before we headed out of the house. I told them to pause their game and get ready to go. I was amused to see that the only remaining pieces were the kings.

Seb told me that once the board was cleared of the many pieces, the boys' aim was to avoid the opponent's pieces and reach the other end. They were trying to get as many kings as possible.

This is the first time I saw that many kings on a checkers board. When we reached home that evening, the boys did not have time to continue their game. At the end of the day, I kept the game. A1 was disappointed the next day. We have no idea who the winner was. It looks like a dead lock to me looking at the picture above.

Mother's day

In France, mother's day was on 31 May this year. Last wed, after school, I noticed that A2 had glitters on his hand and face. I asked him what he did in school and he told me it was a secret. I replied 'Oh, you are doing something for Mother's day.' A2  immediately got very upset. He said 'But maman, how do you know?' I laughed out loud and assured him that everyone knew it was Mother's day on sunday. A1 added that even his teacher knew. He told his brother the most important was to keep the present he was making in school a surprise for me. A2 started to say that the present was a plate. A1 shouted 'Shhhh.' to keep his brother from revealing futher. Kids. They were so funny.

On friday, Seb fetched the boys from school and helped them to hide the surprises. 

On sunday morning, the boys came into my room once they woke up to give me the surprises. 

A2 made me a glittering necklace made from beads and pastas. It was wrapped up on a beautifully decorated paper plate. He wrote 'BONNE FÊTE MAMAN' on the plate.

A1 made me a big card with hand drawn flowers. In the card was a poem. The thing with the french education system is that once kids learn the capital letters, next is the cursive handwriting of small letters. A1's writing was beautiful for a 6 year old. However, I always have problem reading french cursive handwriting. I could tell that A1 took time to write this neat poem.

Though I am not his mother, Seb bought me flowers on this day. That was so sweet of him. He told me he got it for me on behalf of the boys. The flowers were exotic. 

A2 wanted me to wear the pasta necklace. I did but for 5 minutes cos it made my neck so itchy with the glitters. It was beautiful but just not wearable. It shall stay on its paper plate on my night table.

Cycling in the domain of Chambord

We drove to Chambord on Pentecost holiday. Chambord is about an hour and twenty minutes' drive away. Along the way, it rained and we wondered if the weather forecast was accurate. We were planning to cycle on a cloudy but not rainy day. When we were about a few kilometers away, we stopped by a supermarket, bought lunch and had a pinic lunch by the bank of the Loire river. There was a playground and the boys played after their sandwiches lunch.Once we headed back to the car, it rained again.

 Upon arriving at the domain of Chambord, Seb and I each rented a bicycle and as a family, we cycled around the Chambord Castle. The dark clouds slowly cleared.

After stopping every five minutes to take the different angles of the beautiful castle, Seb was getting impatient with me. It was difficult to resist taking photos as the castle was too beautiful. We rode around the main grounds of the castle before heading to the forest trail.

 Along the way, there were look out spots to watch swamp animals. We spotted ducks, swans and coypu(water rat).

 There were also look out posts for viewing wild animals like deer and boars. However, we did not have the patience to wait for the random animals.

Once on the forest trail, we decided to take the blue trail but the boys started to complain. Seb asked them if they were tired or lazy. They both said they were lazy. So we followed the green trail which was shorter. When we got back to the castle, we returned our bicycles and settled down for ice cream and coffee.

As A2 had a small bicycle, he had to pedal three times more than us to catch up. As I was behind him, I noticed that a lot of tourists watched him pass by with a smile on their faces. He was one sportive boy working his legs more than us. Just adorable.

We drove back home and the boys slept in the car. Once we reached home, the boys cycled in the garden while I cooked. Next time, we would stick to the blue trail or even take the red one I told Seb. These little boys really had endless energy.

Munich holiday

We spent a few days in Munich over the long weekend. Thursday the 14 May was Ascension Day. The boys skipped half a day's school on wed as well as school on friday. We drove 900km to reach Munich which meant that Wed was spent in the car. Sunday's return trip was the same.

We knew that the weather would be cold and grey so we went prepared. On Thursday, we met up with Nicole and family. We met Sara for the first time. The last time we were in Munich, Nicole announced the good news that she would be a mother. Now, Sara could walk. Two years passed fast.

Under the light rain, we walked towards a few different parks. The boys had fun playing at the various playgrounds. It was really "park-hopping".

On Friday, Seb went to visit the Hi-End show. As for us, we visited the BMW World with Nicole. There were a lot of tourists trying out the various BMW car models. There were also MINIs and I tried it with the boys.

There was a small three wheeled car zipping around. Mainly kids took turns to take a ride. A staff member drove it. Look carefully. The car door was actually in front and the steering wheel was attached to the door. It was a cute prototype.

I like this BMW below. It is compact and small. However I am not too sure it is on sale in France.

On the second floor were the BMW motorcycles. My boys tried on all of them taking turns to be the rider and the passenger. They spent much more time with the motorcycles than the cars.

 After the free visit to BMW World, we went back to Nicole's place for lunch. The boys helped to push the pram. Sweet darlings.

 In the afternoon, we strolled along the street and headed to the Deutsches Museum (Technology and Science). A2 was crying as he did not want to visit a museum. He wanted to play in the park despite the rain.

But once he was inside, he forgot about his protests. The boys were amazed to see different kinds of transportation. Old boats, new boats, big boats, small boats. And there were planes and helicopters. And there were trains and space shuttles. A1 loved the astronaute area.

After the museum visit, I went back to the hotel with the boys. Seb joined us and we headed for dinner nearby. We stayed at Novotel Munich which was very well situated in the centre of Munich. There were many good eateries nearby. The down side was that I did not appreciate the bed so did not sleep well during the stay. 

The next day, Seb went for the Hi-End show again while we went to the zoo with Nicole and family. Before that, we had breakfast just in front of the city hall. It was not unusual to see the Germans in their traditional costumes. 

 Munich is really a family friendly place. In the zoo, there were a few playgrounds. The size was just nice for an afternoon visit. We saw many animals and while having lunch, the boys played at the playground.

 We left the zoo and headed to a nearby beer garden for afternoon snack. Seb joined us there. Along the way, we passed by the Isar river. There were people BBQing along the beach with their portable BBQ. Children splashing in the calm water. And at another bank with stronger current, teenagers swimming. There was even a small island for nudist. Crossing the bridge, we could spot a few exhibitionists.

No visit to Munich can do without a drink at the Beergarden. However this was the first time Seb and I did not get a beer. The boys played at the park and a boy tore off the paper hat from the zoo that A2 was wearing. A2 came crying and would not want to go back to the playground with 'bad kids'. He wanted to go to a playground with 'good kids'. My funny boy. After a while, he went back when he was sure that boy was no longer there. We chatted and snacked until it was time to go home.

For dinner, we had tapas nearby our hotel. On the way back, the boys played a game counting the cars parked along the road that were the same brand as mine or Seb's. In the end, there were more BMWs than Volkswagon. Wow. Indeed, there were mainly German cars in Munich but there were a significant number of BMWs. I wonder if they were much cheaper there.  

On Sunday, we checked out early from the hotel and had breakfast at Nicole's place. We bade our last good byes and drove back home. This time, we did not stop long for rest and meals and reached home in a record of 11 hours. It was not easy for the boys and I am glad that they were patient boys. 

Flowers

It is first of May soon. As with French tradition, we give a brin of lily of the valley on this day as a good luck symbol for the rest of the year. My friend told me there were lily of the valley growing in the forest nearby so I asked her to show me. We went this morning and she showed me where they were. It was not a trail that we usually took when walking the dog. It was a pleasant walk catching up with my friend and I managed to get a brunch of these delicate flowers. I had given some of the flowers to three neighbours.

In return, a neighbour gave me a brunch of lilac freshly cut from her trees. They smelled so good. 

Not so long ago, the same friend told me that at another forest which was about 5 mins drive from home, there were daffodil. On a sunday when visiting the boys' grandparents, I told the boys that we were getting flowers for grandmother. I directed Seb to the place and when we reached, I asked the boys to get off the car to join me to pick flowers. A1 replied 'I thought we were going to the florist. No, I do not want to go pick the flowers.' I asked A2 and though he usually followed his brother's decision, he was kind enough to come pick flowers with me. That was sweet of him.

One advantage of living in the country side is having free flowers. Spring is here and the forest is green once again. A really lovely sight. That is another advantage.