Awesome day skiing

Awesome day today!! Benj, Frith and Bea had a ball skiing and snowboarding together from the very top — Bea vastly improved he skills and he loved it!! He was also able to help us guys on the beginner slopes so he felt very proud of that and was an angel ski instructor to us (better than the one we had!!). So, while the boys were off up high, Katie, Freya, Finn, Angus, Ili and I, had a lesson and lots of fun trying to keep vertical for the first few minutes — all the kids did amazingly well by the end of the day, and Freya was a superstar with her turning! Ili managed to master going slow better than anyone and was very cautious going downhill when she eventually tried a run with Papa on the more challenging beginner slopes — wish I could have her control!! Not many pictures, as I was too busy trying to stand up!!

Ili on the baby slopes.

Ili and Freya by the magic carpet ride.

Lunch!!

Ili trying the harder beginner slope.

Ili found an alternative use for her skiing googles
while peeling onions!

Got the fire pit burning outside the house.

Escalator cousins arrived

The Wales crew arrived today, and Bea has named Finn and Angus his "escalator" cousins — he preferred this to "step" cousins. Tucked into a fondue for energy before tomorrow's skiing lesson!

First day all four of us on skiis!

Got our ski gear sorted today, and although the weather wasn't great we managed to get both myself and Ili on skis to have a practice in the kiddie area at the family-friendly resort of Elm, while Bea and Papa went off to do some proper slopes! But. . .   for a few minutes we were all on skis together!! Sampled a new sledging resort nearby too.

Bea in his "Après Ski" outfit!!

Skiing holidays

The skiing holidays arrived — yippeee — and we headed to the Glarus valley area for a few days of snow, skiing and sledging. Found a charming little cottage with a fire pit and lots of space for the kids to play outside. All worked out really well, and just enough space for when Benj, Katie, Freya and Finn and Angus who Bea has named his "escalator cousins" (he decided this was favourable to step-cousins) when they arrived to join us for a few days.

Bea on skis - aged 5

Until we get to the mountains next week, I've dug up a few videos of Bea's first time on skis when he was five! Super cute. First one here and another here!

Big cats and little cats

Frith sent this pic for the kids taken with Bea's camera trap (Bea's Xmas present). He was hoping for a jaguar but snapped this instead — a little dwarf leopard (ocelot). I was talking with the kids about getting a pet cat — a pet would be lovely! — to which Bea replied: "would we rent one, or buy one?" We use Europcar (car hire) frequently, but don't think there's a Europcat!

Belize Barrier Reef Reserve

Blo*dy H*ll$!!! Some pics from the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve, which is a UNESCO site (more here).

Belize update

Frith off to the reefs today. Here's a few pics from his last few days . . . .

Swimming and sleepover

I took Ili and a friend of hers (Tilia) swimming today to the city pools to keep up her swimming in the winter (Bea does it at school), so we'll try to do it every Friday. Her friend slept over too, so they were both very excited about that!!

Mangrove forests

We've only received a few updates from the Belize trip, but know that Frith and company have been out to the mangrove forests, and have been setting up the camera traps. Sounds like it's all been very relaxed so far.

Window seats

Frith has impeccable timing with his trips away. Here's the view from his window seat approaching Belize, and here's the view from ours!

Piano day — dawn to dusk!

Bea passed his second grade piano test this morning after a very early Sunday morning start (who schedules exams at 8.20 on a Sunday?), so it was no surprise that he collapsed during the concert tonight — we went to see the utterly amazing Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi who was playing in town. Bea somehow even slept through the raucous standing ovation, but he said he could hear it all with his eyes tightly shut — poor wee fella! Ili, however, was alert until the very end.

Sledging in Urnerboden

Finally got to the mountains for a spot of sledging today out at one of our favourite places — the 8km sledge run at Urnerboden near the Klausenpass! Yippee! Bea had his own sledge for the first time so it was extra funny! There's a video here and at the end of it you can see Bea's sledge start to slide away from him. Unfortunately I didn't capture the moment but Papa and Bea had to frantically run after it leaving Ili and I in stitches!

Nice spot for a picnic! And even at the top,
still not much snow.

At the top of the sledge run.

Why does snow taste so good!?

Ili much happier with her goggles — no snow
flying up in her eyes!

Bea's new sledge, with steering wheel and break.

At the bottom back in the valley —
and that's Ili in the background.

Piano concert

Bea was super nervous tonight, but he played both the Allegro and The Entertainer very well! He made a few mistakes due to his nerves I think, but his teacher was very pleased and said if he plays that well on Sunday (his piano test is at 8:30 in the morning! Yikes!) he'll have no problem passing his next grade. Bea was happy with how he did tonight too. Video now here on YouTube.

The boys wait their turn!