Summer Fun, including 4th of July

So many activities this summer!

First a visit to the Aquarium:



















The closest restaurant available was the 'Hard Rock', so Amélie got to experience a first there too:















Second, Amélie is learning how to swim and is getting really comfortable in water, this is great given that we go to the pool on our roof as often as possible:















Yesterday, we went to see 'Charlotte's Web' at the Adventure Theater. The set design was out of this world cool, and seeing the story as a play instead of the DVD was really cool, Amélie and I loved it!

Finally, today we went to the National Mall for THE parade and all the fun activities of the 4th of July celebrations! We had a blast watching the floats and inflatable characters:























































The Rhythm and Blues performance was awesome:














It was super hot outside but getting out and being part of the fun was very much worth it!

It's summer!

Time for a few highlights from the past few months:

Amélie loves doing crafts, here is one of her creations:


She also is showing some promise for engineering/architecture, with 'buildings' she decorates:


In May, we loved having our friends from Bloomington come and visit us in DC. We hope to see them again soon!!!


In May, Amélie also 'graduated' from pre-school. She and her classmates treated the parents with a show of about 10 songs, some in French, some in English, and she really got into the whole thing. She practiced quite a bit, and still knows most of the songs. It was beyond cute to watch:


Also, the tooth fairy came for Amélie's 2nd tooth, she got money which she chose to spend on socially responsible lip balm (which she promptly forgot about in less than 10 minutes after it was bought, fickle is the child...):


Now that summer is here, Amélie is taking full advantage of the pool on the roof of our building, she loves water (like her dad)! She has also started swimming lessons:


Summer fun is only getting started!

Tooth Fairy Visit

This week, the tooth fairy visited our apartment for the first time!!! Amélie lost her first tooth while eating Cantaloupe at school, and came home so excited!

Seems like teeth fall in the same order as they come out:

First teeth in -




First tooth out -



19 more to go :)...

Spring is here!

Great week, and weekend here in DC! Spring is so beautiful, trees and flowers burgeoning all over town, amazing... Especially for those of us who don't suffer from allergies!

A few pictures from the last few days:

Afraid of getting lost in the DC Crowd? Stand out by wearing your country's colors:


Morning at the Zoo today:


In terms of real animals, we saw the lion cubs play:


And the orangutans swing on the 'O' Line from their cages to the Think Tank - One even pooped on the way, but fortunately, no one what underneath! That was the highlight of Amélie's visit to the Zoo though:


Latest news, Amélie informed us that she wants to move to Rio to be with her Vovó, but just for 2 or 3 weeks - Here she is, on her way to Rio:

What's the point of education?

During dinner:

a: So when am I going to go to kindergarten?
M: Well in a few months you will be starting kindergarten, and then you'll go to elementary school...
D: Then to middle school and after that to high school, you are going to learn so much and you'll want to learn even more, so you'll go to university, and then you'll earn your PhD!
a: And then can I marry?

No doubt that we'll need to work on academic vs personal priorities...

After School Activities

Amélie is now participating in her first set of 'After School Programs' - Basically that's code for the creative activities she used to do any time she chose at Hoosier Courts, and are now done in specific structured times in the Montessori School she now is attending.

The curriculum at her school is actually pretty cool and she is getting really into it: Every other day, she brings a new little booklet with new information and things she colored, and learned about at school. Yesterday, she brought back a nice little booklet that had the 5 continents, she recited all 5 continents in French, which was pretty cool to hear!

She also learned this week about a new technique to draw kitties, she absolutely loved it and was very proud of the end result:



Anyway anyway, back to our point - After School Activities! We signed her up for 3 this time around:
1) Papier Mâché - They glue paper strips to different objects (ballons, round shapes), creating bowls and other recipients that they will then paint - She likes the activity although getting her hands messy is not a favorite thing for her...
2) FUNMovement - Music class with singing and dancing - She enjoys this one a lot, and we are seriously considering signing her up for a modern dance course soon, this kid's got rhythm!
3) Newsletter club - Our budding reporter is 'Writing' and illustrating stories with a group of kids from different classes in the school. She asked to be in this class and last week focused the whole class on producing a single picture, her teacher was impressed by the result, and so were we:



OK OK just remember the kid is 5 :)...

Amélie's 5th birthday

Amélie turned 5 last weekend! This was a time for the parents to remember all her birthdays before that, so many memories on this blog already - see her first, second, third and fourth birthdays in Bloomington!

The morning of her 5th birthday started with gifts from mom and dad:


We played during the day with her new playmobile enchanted fountain thingy:


For her party, we went to All Fired Up, a ceramic painting studio. The kids painted ceramic figurines (choices included a dog, a mermaid or a transformer), they really got into it and the parents could just get to know each other and chat in the mean time. Amélie was wearing a princess dress (thanks Mutti Mutti), and loved her rose decorated cake, as well as the big balloons that were attached to her chair:





One of the balloons is a singing balloon, that starts the 'Happy Birthday' song every time you tap it, cute for the first 5 times, really interesting after that... The person who invented that balloon must not be a parent :)...



Overall a great birthday with new friends in a new city!

January 2011

OK OK many excuses I could give you for this long silence, but instead, I will use that time to share some recent pix from our new life in DC!

Amélie's transition to school is a rough one, she misses her friends, teachers, and the freedom of a developmental curriculum where the child is the curriculum! Instead her parents are 'making' her go through a Montessori rigorous program with kids she doesn't know and half day is in French! It's taking time for her to adapt, with tantrums, meltdowns, and other pre-schooler supplications during our drop off routine.

Fortunately, after she is in school, she is totally fine, collaborates well with other kids, and takes part in the activities offered... So we are feeling our way for now, finding a balance between assuring her that we understand how hard this is for her, and helping her understand that this new school is a great prep for kindergarten, that she will make new friends, etc... Work in progress!

Here are a few of our recent activities in and beyond school:

We bought a new stroller - Amélie's school is about a 30 min walk from our house, still too long for her, but with this new stroller, it's a breeze for both of us:


Amélie and I had a blast making a snowman post-snow/ice storm - The only problem was to try and break the ice, which explains the small size of our 'oeuvre':


Amélie is helping more and more around the house, one of her favorite things to help out with is cooking:


She also like to write on the computer, and imitates how I type too (movie forthcoming):

December 2010 in review

Sorry for the long hiatus in our blog, we have been quite busy in December 2010 - We have moved to the DC area!

Here are a few visual highlights of our Dec 2010 and start of Jan 2011:

We have been enjoying pomegranates - a recently rediscovered old favorite:


We made Xmas ornaments:


Our Xmas tree was one of the first things Amélie wanted to put together in our new apartment:


Amélie tried skiing for the first time:




She has also been enjoying visits to the Zoo with its Holiday Trains:






And she started in her new school with a French Immersion program, rough patches here and there, but overall a good week:


More updates and pictures coming soon!