Happy New Year (from the hot tub)...

Diptic

Only in California, or maybe the Southern Hemisphere.

Jan 1st, after a nice birthday meal for Sarah, we decided to start the new year by jumping in the pool.

The girls both went to the normal pool but quickly came back to the safety of the 100°F of the hot tub. Our visist sadly had to get cut short after Loulou got sick both on Sarah and in the hot tub (muuuuuch better!!!)

01/10/12: This signed the beginning of a week of sickness for almost the entire family (Sarah, her both parents, Sophia and Thia!)

Xmas Morning

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Finally, the time has come... 

No more expectations, no more counting the days to Xmas, no more threats to be put on Santa's bad list (yes, we used this a lot this year, even pushing to calling Santa on the phone a couple of times, asking him to potentially put one of the girls on the dreaded list).

The Christmas tree is surrounded by packets and boxes. Small ones and large ones. Red ones and silver ones. As if a wave of presents had reached the tree as it reaches a shore.

Despite being up late last night, the girls show up in our bedroom at the crack of dawn, standing right next to me and murmuring "Daddy, can we go downstairs and check if Santa has been?". 

Santa did definitely pay a visit to our house last night! He ate a couple of cookies, drunk his Brandy and gave carrots and peanuts to Rudolph and the other reindeers. 

There is no delaying it, no cuddle in bed this morning. The mild request turns to an urgent plea and so the best day of the year begins, part asleep, part excited.

Then, the fun begins! 

As it is now our habit, we connect our home with both grandparents homes for a live broadcast of the event, and the girls start their dance made of jumping, screaming, unwrapping boxes, opening presents then presenting them to both sets of grandparents, repeating ad-nauseum. 

Santa, this year again, seems to have known exactly what everybody wanted and delivered in large quantities. 

Next step, Sarah gets in the kitchen and starts preparing the English version of our Xmas Day dinner...

See you in few hours!  

Meeting with Santa Claus

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With Xmas only days away, it was definitely time for the girls to go and make sure that Santa had them on the good-kids list and discuss some last minute request that might not have been part of their initial letter.

No visit to The Grove or the Americana this year, due to family wide bout of cold. Luckily, Santa stopped briefly by the Valencia Mall, where we caught him between his 2 lunch breaks.

Last report from the girls: we're all on the nice list!

Thia's first gymnastic mini-meet on the path to pre-team

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This has recently taken a growing interest in gymnastics and seems to have been doing well enough to be selected to join the local team's "boot-camp", prepping her and her friends to join the local pre-team.

So gone are the one-hour gymnastic sessions, hello to the 4 hours long boot-camp sessions, the team specific leotards and finally, the first mini-meet.

I have to admit that I was pretty impressed by the level of these 6 to 8 years old kids, already walking the beam as it they were at the mall...

So Thia did extremelly well, coach was happy, medal was huge and she even got her first gym competition rose! Sweet!

Pumpkin Patch

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It is now an annual tradition for the family, on the road to Halloween: the visit to a pumpkin patch, where we select a couple of pumpkins to carve, eat some awful food and play at the provided petting zoo...

This year was no exception and the whole family boarded the Eco friendly Prius and paid a visit to the Lombardi ranch, few miles down the road.

Pets were played with. Hot Dogs and Noodle Soup were eaten and most importantly, a pumpkin was chosen, for some carving action later on this weekend!

Mornings are getting cold and I can smell candy corn...

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Something is telling me that we are about to hit the kids' favorite Holliday, the trick or treating feast that Halloween is. So I guess it is time for us to decorate our front yard with glowing skeletons, tomb stones and other black crows...

Surrounded by my two little helpers, we began the installation over the weekend, while eating candy corns and playing with Cheska... Should be finished soon! 

Stop Over in Paris

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We have now left Langres and are on our way to Newcastle (girls) or California (boy). After a quick train trip during which the girls slept end to end, we are spending the afternoon in Paris, before meeting with my brothers tonight for dinner.

On the menu, a bit of Champs Elysées, a bit of Metro a peak hour, a dash of walking around the heart of Paris and another mandatory "Apéritif".

And the girls now both know how to cheer with a glass in their hands... 

Little French Girls

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Spending a couple of days in France, at my parents, the girls discovered (or re-discovered for Thia) the traditional visit to one of the local bars before dinner for the mandatory "Apéritif".

Both enjoyed their daily game of "baby-foot" (table football) washed by a couple of "diabolo grenadine" (Pomegranate syrup mixed with French lemonade).

Being in the middle of the Rugby World Cup, both had to wear their colors as well (the French ones, please), while Loulou had to go the extra mile and hide under a large hat! 

 

Loulou is no longer afraid of Minnie

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Another weekend, another visit to Disneyland with girls, including a surprise stay overnight following my return from a trip in San Francisco.

The days include a mix of teacups, scary rides and the inevitable visit to all the princesses and the newly reopen coronation ball.

Last but not least, as we were about to leave the park, we bumped into Loulou's favorite character and raw model: Minnie Mouse. And to our surprise, for the very first time, Loulou did not run away from the characters and even gave Minnie a big hug...