Pascale's Ski Lesson

Here's Pascale skiing:


Here she is on the baby lift:

Our White Christmas

In search of snow for Christmas, we travelled to the mountains of Austria. It was a great vacation, with lots of skiing, good food and relaxation. We went on a package tour, which is not the sort of thing we would have done before we had kids, but it was really wonderful to have others who were responsible for all the details. The main reason we went for the package tour is that they offer child care, so they entertained the kids and Bernie and I could ski. They even took Pascale for ski lessons every day. Josephine really bonded with Natalie the babysitter. J really likes to be carried around, but I generally make her walk on her own for a while each day. It seems like Natalie probably carried her all day, every day, because now Josephine is expecting that sort of treatment from me.

We stayed in Zurs, which is a really small place not far from St Anton. It's so small that there is no grocery store. I wanted milk for Josephine, and I had to ask one of the tour operators to go elsewhere to get it for me. It's really quiet and beautiful there, though. The ski conditions were just great. They had more snow this season than any year for the past 15 years.

We took a horse-drawn sleigh ride one evening that the kids really enjoyed. It went through the woods from the little town of Lech to the miniscule town of Zug, where we all had fondue for dinner. We tried to get a pic of Pascale with the horses, but she wanted nothing to do with them, which is probably wise considering the size differential. We had dinner in Zug at the Rote Wand, which, on the outside, looks like all the other half-timbered buildings there. The inside decor was straight out of an Ian Schrager hotel. It really felt like we were in London or New York, and it made for a funny contrast.

The Christmas tree that I bought is absolutely amazing. I left it for a whole week, it was completely out of water last night when we came back, and it still looks really nice.

On the mountain:





Pascale and Josephine made us Christmas cards with their babysitters:



We had ski guides every day to show us around. Here's Heidi, Chris and Ben:


Father Christmas showed up with gifts for all the kids:



Natalie the babysitter holding Josephine:


Josephine in the hotel lobby. They had a Christmas tree and a nice fireplace:



The girls opening gifts on Christmas. Santa brought them one gift each in Austria, and he brought the rest last night when we got back to London:



Relaxing in our room:



The view from our hotel room:


The big snowman in Zurs:


The Eisbar:


Pascale during her ski lesson:


Snowboarding:


We stayed at the Alpenhotel Valluga:


Outside the hotel:


Bernie racing alongside Pascale while she shows off her skiing:


Josephine outdoors:


In the town of Lech:



Bernie really likes these chairs where the seat folds up to reveal storage space for your hat, gloves, etc:


The Zurich airport has a Childrens' Lounge:


Our Christmas tree back in London:

Christmas Season

Pascale's last day of her school term was last Wednesday, so there's no school until after New Year's! So far, it's been nice to not have to deal the the craziness of getting the kids out of the house every morning, but I know we'll all be wishing for school soon enough.

We have a Christmas tree! I bought it online and had it delivered. Since I did not see it before it arrived, I was and continue to be shocked at how much room it takes up. It's a 7-foot tree, and it seems like the branches are 7 feet long! Maybe I should have looked at CharlieBrownTrees.com to get one that would fit in our flat a little better. But then again, do we really need to see the WHOLE TV screen?

Uncle Vince was in London on business this week, and he spent Thursday with us. We went ice skating at the rink by the Natural History Museum. I held up Josephine, and he took Pascale. J and I only lasted once around. I had to hold her up by the armpits, which meant that I had to bend down quite a bit. This made for uncomfortable skating. Vince went around with Pascale several times, and she just loved it. There was also a Christmas Market by the skating rink, but it was a bit disappointing. I was expecting nice crafts, but it was mostly stands selling manufactured goods.

There's this upholstery shop on King's Road that always has the best window displays. Here is what's currently in their 4 windows:


Pascale made some ornaments at school:


Some gifts arrived from Nonna and Grampa:


Dancing around the tree:


Pascale went to a birthday party where they had face painting. She's sporting the supercool alien look:


Ice skating photos:


Modeling the clothes that Aunt Carin got them for Christmas:

School Play

Pascale had her school play this week! It was a nativity play starring the entire school. Yes, that's 35 or so 2-1/2 to 4 year olds, with everyone participating. Amazingly, there was absolutely no chaos. Each kid did more or less what he or she was supposed to do the whole time. I would not have thought it possible. Pascale's line was, "A special baby boy has been born." She delivered it with tremendous feeling. Here she is during the production. She's the second angel from the left:

Here's Josephine at the play, creating all the chaos she could:

We also went to a department store to see Father Christmas (as they call him here). The kids don't sit in his lap. They just have a little conversation with him. He seemed a little confused that a family including a Pascale, a Josephine, and a Claudine was not French. Josephine wanted absolutely nothing to do with him, and clung to me in a death grip while he was around. This is a little strange for her. Normally, she throws herself at anyone and everyone. Pascale was clearly intimidated as well, but she was very polite.

Toys, big and smaller

Just when I thought I was used to the shockingly dangerous playground equipment here, I see something like this structure. It's 15 or maybe 20 feet high, made entirely of rope. I could not even imagine watching my child climbing on this thing.


Josie is heavily into tea parties:


Bernie has endless supplies of patience and energy:


This showed up at the toy department of our local department store. It's an almost-life-size pony that has that demonic posession software that allows it to interact. All toys like that are freaky, but the size of this thing makes it even freakier than most. But the first thing I thought when I saw it was, "Who has the space for this kind of thing?" But the price is 250 pounds, so I guess if you have that kind of money for a toy, you also have a big space for it.

Thanksgiving in London

Pascale's friend Serena came for a play date the other day. When I brought out the markers, Serena said, "They're coloring pens." I realized that what I really need to do is spend more time with 3-year-olds. Adults never correct my Americanisms, and I could really benefit from someone to adjust my vocabulary.

Josephine is starting a new phase. For the past week, she skipped her nap for 3 days, her vocabulary is exploding, and she's getting much more headstrong. She officially a Terrible Two.

We had Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday, since Bernie had to work on Thursday. A colleague of Bernie's from New York was stranded in London, so we had him over. I think he appreciated a home cooked meal.

We had a hedgehog theme going on this week:




More makeup play:
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It rained a lot (imagine that):



Here's Josephine fending off the paparazzi:


Here's my beautiful turkey:
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Tom was our guest for Thanksgiving dinner. Notice how Josephine jumps in anyone's lap, but Pascale is a little more reserved.