Easter egg treasure hunt -

More France pix to come later . . . .

France - Easter and spring break

Arrived in France for the spring break! Garden was overgrown, but all good for lizard and insect spotting for the kids. Took breakfast in the village cafe the first morning, which has now been taken over by a French couple (previously managed by English), so has a more authentic atmosphere.

Rock hopping Friday

It's the second Friday on the trot we've headed down to be by the lake in this wonderful weather. I tried to tempt the children to have a pedalo ride with me, but they refused. I'll work on them and we'll have one soon though! We lazed away the whole afternoon watching boats, ducks with ducklings, grebes diving and and spending a good time paddling and rock hopping. We took supper by the lake, and while I was happily sinking a few Friday beers, Bea kept disappearing up a yew tree. Then more ice creams, park . . . . and was dark when we got home.

Watching the pedalos going out.

Rock-hopping.

 

 

Our most favourite, well-frequented
Italian ice-cream stall by the lake.

Lakeside supper. French fries, of course!

Spot Bea up a yew tree.

Thursday Spielgruppe

Ili has been able to play outside a great deal with her Spielgruppe this spring, it's been great. Here's she is with a few of the others girls in her group making a flower-coated sandcastle.

Playing chess

Another sign that Bea is growing up too fast, when he starts playing chess with his friends at lunchtime! 

Friday lakeside

It's been a few weeks since our last jaunt along the lake and it was another perfect day for it today. The mere mention of our favourite Italian ice-cream wagon is enough to tempt the children and send them grabbing their bikes/scooters. This time, not so many buskers to entertain us, but we met a cool guy creating enormous bubbles which amazed Bea and Ili. He was selling the kit so we bagged one, and we've been big-bubble-making too this weekend.

Bea on the bouldering wall by the lake.

New clothes!

Speaks for itself!

Up a tree

It was an insane 21 degrees here today (uh, it's Spring?), and here's Bea up a tree in the shade cooling off after piano.

Sledging in Urnerboden

Amazing summer-like weather this week! But no lazy Sunday for us today, as we headed out to the mountains close the famous Klausen Pass to see if there was enough snow for a final sledge (didn't take skiis, but wish we had). We went to a small village called Urnerboden, with a tiny cable car to ship us up to the start of the 8km sledging run down. Up the top it was stunning with views for miles, and we just hung out while the kids messed (and ate) the snow and spotted animal tracks in the snow. Snow was still quite deep at the top, but as the day went on, it was melting fast so the sledging down was pretty hard work at times. More walking, pulling, and crashing than effortless gliding down. Stopped lots on the way down just to enjoy. Probably the last snow trip of the season?

The very old cable car up!

Just a few meters from the top (and only) station.

Bea on a grassy patch. No Alpine flowers yet. . .

The start of the sledge run.
Only saw three others sledging, and a
handful of skiiers all day.

The start of the snowman.

And it gets bigger, and bigger . . .

That's Bea, sliding down the bank. . .

Not sure what Frith was trying to prove!

Back down at the bottom again.

Bea trying to make an iceberg float downstream.

Rechberg Gardens

This place is supposed to be a little Palais (although not very flamboyant by Italian standards) and although we've walked past the gardens umpteen times on the way the the city, we've never explored them. They're small, steep and neat, and as it was just Frith and I out for a wander with Ili today in the sun—Beathan was at a friend's birthday party—we had time to take a look around.

(Ili is in the middle running).

Ili and papa in the Rechberg gardens.

Weeding and whiting

Bea insisted on reading a story (in English) to Ili today. Perhaps the first time he's read her a whole story book? And with a wobbly tooth (this first top row tooth is wobbly). His reading in German is coming along really well now, and he spends more time reading German than English (at school). We'll have to do more English practice to turn that around!

Afternoon in the museum

While the boys were away, Ili and I had a visit to the Zoological museum (aka the "badly-stuffed-dead-animal museum"). We took drawing materials, and it's funny as from whatever perspective Ili saw the creatures from, they always ended up with two eyes, a dot nose in the middle, and a big smiley mouth. I'm not surprised, she's only four and perspective comes later, but it's cute!

Last skiing of the season?

The snow has started to melt in the mountains, so perhaps the last few weeks of skiing might be here already. We had an invitation to join friends in the mountains at their chalet this weekend in Obersaxen, but decided that just the boys would go as the weather has dramatically changed (the sun has gone again), so not much fun for the younger children hanging around waiting for their big brothers to finish their ski runs in the cold. And the boys had a great time! They stayed overnight in the chalet on Friday to get the quiet slopes in the morning. Up until now, Bea has only done the "blue" (beginner) runs, but progressed to the "red" (intermediate) runs with his friend this weekend, and had some good tips from his friend's papa (Swiss, and whose been skiing basically since he was walking). It was great fun for Bea to ski with a friend, and boosted his confidence as he's not much behind in ability. All was good, and we all got together for supper back in Zurich (fondue, of course).

Tennis knock around

Been amazingly hot all week. Summer-like heat for sure. Lucky for us in the school playground where Bea has his piano lesson, they've recently revamped the sports track and field area, which now has a rudimentary tennis court. No net yet, but a good surface and a marked court. So, we took the rackets with us, and after piano had a knock around. Bea was hot!

Construction

I thought my days getting rooted in the street watching big machinery with Bea (diggers, dumpers, dustbin wagons, tractors, road sweepers, etc. etc. etc.) were over (thankfully). But no. Got stuck again today watching mighty big machines. He could have stayed for hours I'm sure. . . . nothing better for me to do than take a piccie.