October Holiday Part 2

Our holidays continued with a trip to the area north of Montpellier. The husband of one of our friends is from the area and is working on a house in the village of Brissac, and though he was working and unable to come, we spent a busy few days with our friend and her mother, exploring some amazing towns in the area. The first place we visited was the medieval village of Saint-Guilhem-Le-Désert, a gorgeous town tucked into a valley next to the Gellone river. Even though it was misty and rainy for most of our visit, it was still breathtaking. I can only imagine what it must be like in the summer, and I'm glad that the weather kept the streets from being busier. Definitely worth the visit, if you ever happen to be in the area.

Fountain

Village map. The site has been named
one of the most beautiful villages in
France and is on St James' Way (Chemin
de Saint Jacques)

One of the many beautiful houses

Neat old-style window

Street view. Notice the lack of electrical
wires or anything modern. And also
very clean!

A little alleyway leading to someone's
front door

Sculpture of a Cardabelle plant (not sure if that is the right
name in English) A cousin of the artichoke, these are placed
on doors in the village as a way of predicting the weather:
 the pointed leaves retract when rain is imminent!

Neat doorway

The church, part of the former Gallone Abbey

House in the main square, with ruins on the summit of the
hill behind

Alixe having a ball in the backpack. She
sang to herself for most of our visit

Anne-Cécile and Aimy

A door with a cardabelle plant

Hanging out in front of the abbey church

Evelyne, Ourson and us in front of the abbey

October Holidays Part 1

Carlos's first school holidays of the year began on October 18th, and we had decided that we were going to give ourselves a complete change of scenery and hit the road. First, we visited Carlos's parents, and the kids had fun playing outdoors at the local playground and in their grandparents's backyard on the swing set with their cousins. Alixe especially was excited about being able to walk everywhere this time and chase after/be chased by everyone.

Climbing at the playground

Papy helping Alixe up

Trying to balance (with a lot of help)

She made it across!

Looking at a duck on the pond

After a few days there, we went to Toulouse to visit Carlos's old friend Stefan and his family. The girls were a little shy at first but warmed up to everyone, especially Jumpy, the puppy (though the poor thing was scared of Aimy! He didn't mind Alixe so much, and I was surprised at how gentle she was with him.)

Aimy loved playing the piano

And she loved posing for me too!

Sheriff Alixe

Matthis and Jumpy

She loved playing with the tracks

Matthis encouraging Aimy

And through all of this, we had gorgeous weather! More to come in the next entry.

Time Goes By - September and early October

I've had these entries queued up for ages but haven't had a spare moment to get them posted. Sorry for the delay. I'll get caught up eventually, I promise!

We got into more of a routine as September went on. At first, Aimy only went to school in the morning, but we started progressively adding a day per week where she would go back for naptime in the afternoon. She didn't seem too bothered by napping at school, even though her naps are much shorter. In fact, she was pretty proud the first time she went back to school for naptime. By the time we got to the holidays in October, she was doing two afternoons at school per week. 

Alixe was happy to have time alone at home with me, and started trying to speak more and more as September went on. By mid-October her favourite words and phrases were "Ah dah!" (all done), "Ta" (but usually to ask for things, not after she had received them), "Gook!" (look), "More", and "Hah" (yes) when we asked her questions. She also gained a few new teeth - three within a week, in fact! - and started trying to use her fork at mealtime. And one day she even surprised us by doing all the hand gestures to "The Wheels On The Bus". She enjoyed going to school to pick Aimy up every day, but she was still very shy around people she didn't know and I usually brought her in the carrier so that she could hide her face and stay in my arms - in the stroller she would just cry and ask to come up!

Teddy bear coat

Fun with stickers

Helping wash the dishes

So proud of herself

She loves brushing her teeth

Goof

So excited about her new boots

Alixe likes doing yoga too

One of the exercises Aimy did in class in September

Alixe loves pushing the stroller

But turning it around is not so much fun

Aimy-in-a-box

Playing together on the playground

First Days of School!

Time has flown by since these pictures were taken... I still can't believe that my little Aimy is in preschool! She was very excited to go on her first day and her enthusiasm hasn't wavered - she often asks to go to school on weekends or on Wednesday afternoon for her nap. Her language skills have come a long way since September. She now says lots of words and phrases in French, especially when showing us things from school or spends time around French speakers. There was a period where the teachers were a little worried, but she has friends at school that seem to help her when she didn't understand what to do, and with a little more French at home, she was able to pick up on everything more quickly. Though sometimes I know she's using the situation to her advantage - before the December holidays, she would pretend not to understand the teachers to be able to keep playing in the playground when it was time to come in!

All dressed up and ready to go!

Showing off her backpack

Racing around outside after her first day

She immediately entered the
classroom and headed for the play
kitchen

Playing with Maxime, our neighbour's
son, with whom we walk to school
every day

Showing some new school clothes

Tchoupi is the class mascot, and each
child in the class brings him home
for one weekend per year.

While Tchoupi is at home, he is supposed
to take part in household activities

Then the parents are supposed to take pictures of Tchoupi
and their child, and put them in Tchoupi's notebook along with
a description of what is going on in each photo

Aimy loved having Tchoupi at home
with her, especially for games like
Memory!

And Alixe was just happy to put
pull-ups on her head.

Colourful Last Days of Summer

We had some time at home before school started back up again, and we spent most of it relaxing and enjoying the weather, which decided to perk up when we got back. The trip back was pretty tiring, especially with the several hours of delay in Paris. Luckily we had had 6 seats between the 4 of us on the flight to Paris and were able to let the girls lie down and sleep. After all the travelling, it definitely felt good to be home. Not long after we got back, we picked up a small table and chairs for the girls to use in the living room, and they use it all the time and love it. Here's a few photos of the fun times during the last days of August.

Ambidextrous colouring

Having fun

As soon as she grabs her Monkey buddy,
that thumb goes right in her mouth.

Decorating some of Daddy's old
worksheets

Enjoying all the Play Doh stuff we
brought back with us

More colouring

Showing me how she can hold a pencil
crayon