France, week 1 — Sunday

Sunday brought sunshine — let the fun and games commence!

France, Week 1 - Saturday

Great to meet up with Mum and Dad who were in a very relaxed holiday mood. Arrived to a cool first day and even lit the barbecue to keep us warm at night.

Off to France in rain and rainbows

Left from France in the driving rain, which didn't cease until after our arrival at midnight. Great for rainbow spotting though (check out Bea's head!). When we arrived I had a suspicion that Mum and Dad would have arrived early and be camping in Entraygues village — I was right — we pounced on the camper van and woke them up for a very early morning beer.

Last dance

Parents were invited to the last of the music and dance session today. Again, Bea said he was shy, but he didn't look anywhere near as shy as at yesterday's performance. We're getting ready for France, and managed to persuade the children to take their little pet frog — the sole survivor from our tadpoles — back to the woods (although of course they wanted to bring him to France and make a pond!). Bea had settled into a regular routine collecting aphid-covered shoots from bushes on the way home from Kindergarten. Well done Bea!

Leaving party

An evening at Kindergarten tonight for the second year childrens' leaving party. Very bravely the teachers had put together an impressive little theater show with the children—the story of a young boy leaving home to travel the world visiting different countries—so the children danced and sung songs from around the globe. Beathan was a sailor and was a lot shier than I thought he would be and almost sunk from view behind the side of the boat for the large part of the performance. It was very cute watching the children when first on 'stage' scan the audience to find their parents and see their faces glow after spotting them.

Puddle jumping

Got caught in a torrential downpour today while cycling/scooting along the lakeside with Antonia and her mother Annette, but the children enjoyed the puddle aftermath. We literally had to huddle under a picnic blanket under a tree in order to stay dry until it eased off. Will be the last playdate with Antonia for a while due to holidays and the new term schedule. 

First dip in Lake Zurich

Now the lake has heated up to over 20 degrees—a very fresh 21—it was time for a dip! Bea spent ages trying to catch a fish in his bucket, Ili spent just as long watching him and we all had a good bob around in the water. Papa joined us after work and we took it in turns swimming with Bea out to the raft. There was no stopping him, and from one raft, he wanted to head to another, then another . . .  Great to be in the lake at last, and great swimming from Bea.

Bea and papa on the first raft (papa sitting, and Bea standing).

The fun of the fair

We ambled slowly through the old town today, heading for the bumper cars at a little fairground down by the lake. We got 'stuck' in a little restaurant for brunch—looked too nice to pass—but finally made it to the fair. It always surprises me how keen and uninhibited Bea is with such 'scary' rides as he's usually so cautious, and after the bumper cars he spied a ride he wanted to try. While I was still seriously questioning my judgment over how much fun it would actually be for both of us, somehow Bea and I ended up sitting in the carriage on a sort of spinning rocket launcher awaiting our fate. After a lot of tame spinning, it developed a rather fierce climb that felt like it was going to flick you off across the fair before plummeting back down to leave your stomach behind, again, and again, and again. I wanted to yell my head off and half-expected Bea to do the same but could hear Bea chuckling so I knew all would be well. On Bea's second ride — yes, he wanted more — Papa didn't fare half so well, and had to go home sharpish through fear of passing out a rather pale shade of green. Had an interesting end to the day as Bea's friend James had an exhibition of some of his photography this evening. Was a smart little show that he'd worked on with his papa (who works as a professional photographer). Nice to see such originality.

A bowl of cherries

Life doesn't get much more Heidi than today! We spent it up in the mountains at the family home of the grandfather of one of Bea's Kindergarten friends (Vincent) for a get together with a few other families to pick, eat, and collect as many ripe cherries from the orchard as we could stash away. Bea was in his element as we took his climbing harness, and the children took it in turns to swing around the cherry trees dropping down their rich pickings. And the cherries were awesome—we ended up with purple hands from the juice, and somehow papa's feet turned purple. It was eye-opening for me to see inside one of the traditional Swiss mountain houses (beautiful wood ceiling paneling, thick timber floors—you could smell the history). But it's not all mountain goats and cowbells—you're never that far away from modernity here, and sitting down having our BBQ lunch we could hear the cherry-picking machines further down the valley rattling the trees into submission and catching the crop enmass. We headed back, reluctantly, to Zürich for the Genossenschaft evening party (celebration 150 years of the cooperative). But the party was all good fun, minus the fact papa ended up at the children's A&E for the second time this month providing moral support for a friend who's child had a nasty fall at the party and needed stitches. Life's not always a bowl of cherries.

Ili with our cherries, collected near Steinerberg, central Switzerland.

Bea up a cherry tree.

The children's lunch table.

Garden trashed

Our poor poor allotment! We went to visit today after the tremendous hail storm last Sunday morning (when we woke up to an almighty racket and papa spied hailstone the size of something Ili might swallow), to check out the damage. It looks like a plague of locusts have hit with mere stalks coming out of the ground where promising plants used to be. Our neighbours either side are both devastated, but I actually felt quite relieved. I'd been concerned as to who was going to take over the rota while we were away, so problem solved. By the time we are back, hopefully some of the plants will have picked up and it's made lots of space now to sow some beans ready for our return from France. Every cloud, as they say. In the photo you can see how even our plastic bin was smashed by the hail.

Big boys' toys

Bea went with papa this afternoon for the test flight of his new 'research aide'. Starting off over the flatlands by Lake Griefensee, Switzerland, the plane will eventually soar over the rainforests in Borneo recording forest destruction with it's on board camera. Cool.

Anastasia's Party

Bea has sprung back to good health again, so he managed to join the birthday party of an old friend from Spielgruppe, Anastasia. They were good buddies at the time—all the way back when they were 3-years old, he he!—and communicated then in pidgin language (she is Swiss). They haven't seen each other much since Spielgruppe (although I've kept in touch with her mother), so now that Bea is vocal in Swiss-German it was the first time they could really talk. Apparently they got on fine, and her mother is counting on him as her future son-in-law. Ili and I nipped off to visit friends Miya and Marianna and ate ice creams now that the sunshine is back!

Bea giving Anastasia her birthday pressie.

Ms Poppins

Kept Bea off Kindergarten for a lazy day of tummy bug recovery and we all crawled under the same duvet to watch Mary Poppins—perfect movie for an off-day — which both Bea and Ili found funny and Bea seemed to grasp most of the story. By evening Bea seemed back to his old self and eating well again — good to see.

Tummy trouble

We're all feeling a bit under the weather and very ready for a relaxing holiday (counting the days), and we're facing a week of rain (supposedly) and another two birthday parties. Frau Da Mutten called to say Bea was 'krank' at Kindergarten and needed to come home. Bit of a shame as the new children arrived for their first visit so he missed meeting Alice, the little girl who he would be taking care of next term. The tummy bug has taken its toll and Bea's lost 10 percent of his body weight (from 22 to under 20 kg). Will look forward to fattening him back up with some meaty outdoor barbecues!

Ili laid a marble

Shortly after breakfast, a marble arrived. Bea said "Ili's laid a marble . . . .!"