Our last couple of days

Monday: total chaos... packing suitcases and bags to go to Switzerland visit my family for a whole month. In the same time we had to get the bus ready to be left for that time. Like emptying the fridge and freezer which resulted in interesting meal combinations! Bill likes to make a "goulash", as he calls it, which is a soup with all the left overs...sometime it turns out real good;)

Tuesday: We took the road for San Fransisco in a rented minivan. Why San Fransisco?? It's because when we bought the tickets our plans were to be in the San Joaquim Valley area. What's consistent with our plans is that they always change. We stayed in the warm climate of San Diego instead! The 7 hour trip went very smoothly and pleasant. The children stayed busy and I read "these happy golden years" (a little house in the prairie series) out loud. Time went very fast and I didn't even get a headache from reading while driving....just a perfect trip!

We stopped in Pleasanton (45min. from San Fransisco airport) for dinner and get a motel for the night. As you can see "Uni" the unicorn is coming with us to Switzerland! I did ask Eva if there was a smaller animal she would rather bring....but no, she picked Uni:) The excitment was so hight that it was hard to sleep for all of us.

Our plane leaves today at 2.30pm.

Switzerland here we come!

Sylviane

Ice skating

One day we went ice skating. We found out I could take figure skating lessons. We might do that when we come back to San Diego next winter and mom too.
Eva

Crabbing

Yesterday we went crabbing at the tide pools in la jolla. We saw some crabs but they were too small.
I caught a tiny fish. I even saw some fish about an inch
long. I wanted to catch them, but they were too fast.
We even saw a sea slug. I was the only one who touched it.

Ben

"My favorite things" 2009 calendar

It is more than just a calendar....it is a piece of art!.. small, colorful with gorgeous drawings. Each month is a delightful surprise. This was given to me for Christmas from my good friend Natacha. It brings a happy touch in the bus.

The french artist behind it is Gaelle Boissonnard. I just love everything about her work... the color combinations, the light she puts in it and the beautiful cloths that all her ladies are wearing. I wish I had the same ones! Merci, Natacha, for turning me on to her!

Sylviane

Singing the National Anthem at last

Last Saturday, we took the children and grandparents to the circus. It was the circus Vargas, a Californian circus. To my joy, they started the show by singing the Star Spangled Banner. Yes, at last I got to sing it! I did feel a little robbed from the joy of singing the words at the naturalization ceremony....now I'm happy:)

We had a great time. It was so precious to see the expressions on Ben and Eva's faces...surprise, amazement, pure joy and worry too. All the children were invited, before the show, to go in the ring and practice juggling with scarfs and balancing a long peacock feather on their fingers or noses.

We finished the evening with a date. Bill and I got to go to the Gaslamp district downtown and eat at my favorite restaurant "Sevilla". We had some tapas, sangria and dreamed about our future travels in Europe...

Sylviane

The science museum

I really like the science museum. We went with our new friend Isa. You can make movies, build with little rectangle blocks, make marble ramps and launch paper air planes. First we went to the science museum and then we had lunch. Then we went to the natural history museum. At the bottom it was mostly dinosaurs. On the 2nd floor there were animals, on the 3rd floor aerial pictures of the west coast and on the 4th floor there were
paintings. And after that Isa left and we went back to the science museum.
Ben

Good times

I went rollerblading last week with Grandma but Grandma didn't rollerblade. I love it!
Eva