Crazy Kid and news

Well, I thought it would be good share my recent news. I finally passed my driver's license test. It only cost me 1400 Euros after I took one test to pass the written part and 2 tests to pass the driving part. What a bunch of crap. I actually thought for sure that I has failed again but once again, as it always seems in France, everything is completely subjective. If you work with the right person anything is possible in France.
I am leaving you with a video of Mathieu from the weekend. He gets more courageous everyday.

Mathieu's First Time Skiing

Ok, we were bored and decided to torture Mathieu last weekend. How better to torture him than to take him skiing for the first time. He actually really enjoyed it. Except he wouldn't let momma let go.



















Look Mom I am really excited!!! Mom looks just as excited.

Easter in Sète

We went down to Sète last weekend for Easter to escape to cold of Lyon. Séte is located in the south of France, on the Mediterranean, close to Montpellier. It is a beautiful little seaside town with long boardwalks and sandy beaches. Valerie’s cousin’s daughter was nice enough to give up her apartment for the weekend.

Mathieu did his first Easter egg hunt on Sunday. Of course, with the age range being from 3-8 Mathieu didn’t have much luck finding eggs. However, we came prepared. We brought chocolate eggs and hid them as we went so Mathieu could experience the sensation of finding eggs. He loved it!!!

Mahé, Mathieu’s semi cousin came over on Saturday and they both had a lot of fun playing together. I say semi cousin since it the boy of one of Valerie’s cousin’s daughters. He is the same age as Mathieu though.

On another note, Mathieu moved into a big boy bed. We got him new beds for grandpa’s house and our home. The transition was simple and he is really happy being in his new gigantic beds. I have added a couple of pics for entertainment.

Ahhh, the pleasure of discovering chocolate eggs on the ground.

Mathieu and Mahé hanging out together.

Big boy bed with all Mathieu's friends.

Had to post this one. It is not on vacation but I just received it today. It is a photo from here in Lyon.

Mathieu is not to sure about Santa Claus. Christmas morning in Ft Lauderdale at our favorite hotel the Marriot.

Back from Florida

We just came back from vacation in Florida where we did a home exchange in Ft Lauderdale. My mother came out and spent her first Xmas with Mathieu and family. Mathieu of course loved it and he doesn’t stop asking for Mamie. I think he wants more presents from her.

We spent our days at the pool lounging and happy hours at the cabana on the beach. Unfortunately, I found out there is really no surf in the area so that was a bit disappointing. On the other hand, we went over to Naples, Ft Meyers, and Sanibel Island and there were some nice waves but I didn’t have time to surf.

I got in touch with an old friend from high school, Mike Harris who lives out there. It had been 20 years and he still looks the same. We spent New Year’s Eve at his home in Boca Raton and had a blast listening to live Brazilian music and drinking Sangria. I had to practically drag Valerie out of the house at 3am. Thank you Facebook, for that.

We went to the famous Le Tub restaurant “supposedly the best hamburger in the country”. It was a really cool dive bar-type setting right on one of the canals. It was bit cold to sit outside but the interior was all about fishing. The hamburger was giant! it had to be over a half pound of beef. The hamburger was really good but I found it to be too big. Maybe I am becoming too French (small portions) or I just can’t eat like I used to.

As always the trip was too short but we left at the right time since the temperature hit all time lows a few days later. The last few days that we were there we actually had to wear pants and jackets. What crazy weather.

We had a bit of a problem on the return unfortunately. We took a train from Geneva to Lyon and when we got off the train in Lyon I forgot my backpack. I realized it about 15 mins later so I ran back to the station and the agent told me it had left for a cleaning depot. This was good news since that means the train was empty. 30 mins later the agent told me a cleaning crew found the backpack and that they would send it back on the next train. Well, when I picked it up I noticed that it was awful light. I looked inside and found out that someone had stolen our camera (all our vacation photos), my iPod, our American telephone, 30 American dollars, 2 bottles of alcohol purchased at duty free and some cards for Mathieu. The agent said it was probably a passenger and not the cleaning crew. Personally, I call bullshit. How would a passenger have had enough time to go through every little pocket of the backpack? Only the cleaning crew had the backpack long enough. I filed a police report but I highly doubt anything will happen. I am going to watch all the selling sites for the next month or so to see if my iPod and camera show up.

Anyway, luckily my mother took some photos. I will post those as soon as possible.

New Photos Available

Check the photos albums on picassa section on the left. Mathieu just had his 2nd birthday and his first pumpkin carving experience, even thought the neighbor's kid did most of the work (it was his first pumpkin carving as well).

Otherwise, Mathieu is really starting to come into his own. He is starting to say a lot of things even if we don't understand him half of the time.

On my side, I am still working on the drivers license. Apparently, my bad habits will make me fail the test since they are very strict. I don't necessarily agree with all the things they say I am doing wrong. Most of my issues center around the fact that I don't look around enough and that I use the clutch too much. Because of these things I will fail the test so the monitor says I need to continue taking course until I have fixed them. Of course, each course is 62 Euros which means more money in the school's pocket. I am definitely going to spend more than I planned.

I can't believe that they aren't more lenient for people who have driven for 20 years! Pathetic.

Atlantic Coast of France

Little late be better late than never. We did the annual French pilgrimage/vacation in August. However, instead of going to the sea (Mediterranean) we went to the ocean (Atlanctic) for a bit of surfing, wine tasting, visiting the tourist attractions and lounging on the beach.
Here is Mathieu's first attempt at surfing. He wouldn't get off the board. Someday he will be doing the real thing.

Annual US Trip

Couple of more pics from the wkd

Snowshoeing in Haute Savoie. This was fun but next weekend we are going to have a fondue at the midpoint. I am looking forward to that.
















Oscar is happier than Mathieu.

And the winter continues

Yes it is still winter here. Mathieu and Oscar are enjoying it and so are we.

This was last weekend so we are looking forward to skiing this weekend (yes I will be skiing instead of snowboarding). I haven't skied in about 8 years and we are planning to ski the Valley Blanche in Chamonix at the end of March which is supposed to be one of the most exciting out of bounds descents in the Alps starting at 12,500 ft. The hardest part is getting down to the area for skiing since you must walk along a ridge that drops off 1000s of feet on either side. Unfortunately, snowboarding the valley would require a lot of walking so I am going to ski a couple of days and hopefully I will remember how everything works before we go.

A little update

We went up to Metz 2 weeks ago to celebrate the 80^th birthday of Valerie’s uncle. On the way up there as we passed the toll booth just outside of Metz, the temperature registered 10 degrees. “Welcome to the Arctic”. Yes, it was cold, fricken cold! Metz is a beautiful city but I have trouble understanding how people can endure winter there. I know it doesn’t get as cold as the midwest of the US (especially recent temps in the Midwest) but come on how do you live in this weather. I guess California weather is ingrained in me.

We didn’t spend much time outside since it was so cold but we did manage to get out and buy a few things since January in France is “Les Soldes” meaning “Sale time”. Valerie and I both managed to find a couple of things to buy plus everything is generally cheaper in Metz than in Lyon which makes it easier to find good bargains.

News from Mathieu

Mathieu is starting to talk. He is blabbing about everything saying mama and papa for the most part to the right person and he is saying “doudou” which is the French term for “preferred stuffed animal”. When he arrives at daycare in the morning he runs over to the “doudou” wall, finds his doudou and says “doudou”. He even says “toutou” which is the slang term for dog.

He is really easygoing. We can take him anywhere and he just seems to get along with whoever is there. Last night we went to dinner with some friends and we left him down at the end of the table in a high chair. He was having a blast with throwing his arms up in the air with our friend Irvin for half the night.

Anyway, we were up in the mountains last weekend with friends but we didn’t get to go boarding but we are heading back up this weekend to board. We did take Mathieu out on the sled. I will post some pics in the next few days. He is not sure about the whole sled and snow thing yet. I think we are going to have to wait until next year.

je m'appelle Mathieu

je m'appelle mathieu
Video sent by frimouss159

MUSIQUE :Auteur inconnu : "mon coin de paradis"

Maman,Valérie : fille de mon ancien compagnon,née en Haute-Savoie.

Papa,John : né en Californie,sa maman habite à Sacramento.
Ils se sont rencontrés en Californie,où Valérie a vécu plusieurs années,d'abord à Phoenix,puis à San diego.
Ils ont décidé de revenir en France,où ils se sont mariés,et vivent à Lyon,où ils travaillent
Je les remercie pour les photos

Certaines de ces images sont prises à Boston,lors d'un voyage en mai 2008

Je les embrasse tous les trois tendrement

frifri

This video was produced by our friend Francine.

MERCI BEAUCOUP FRANCINE pour un œuvre vraiment super !

We got lots of Snow

This is right outside of Lyon which is no more than 600 ft above sea level. It snowed most of the week so it is looking good for some late December boarding.

You Can Do It!!!

Unfortunately, we don't have any good video of him walking but this was shot right after he did his little tour.

MATHIEU WALKS!

Mathieu took his first steps in Boston. We were on the Freedom trail on the 3rd of November in the USS Constitution Museum and Mathieu stood up on his own and took about 5 steps and fell over. It was so cool. He had been getting up on his own for about 2 weeks but this time he actually put a foot forward to move.