Maddens_in_Alsace

February Family / Famille en février

2012-02-11T22:34:00.000+01:00

A visit from Shane and the kids staying over on the Friday night meant lots of fun, lots of playing, not much sleep for the kids, and too much whisky for the adults! Our first group photo of 2012, the kids are certainly growing up and changing.

Shane et les enfants ont venus vendredi soir et ont restés la nuit et le jour samedi. Une visite de notre famille zurichois est toujours un plaisir. Pour les enfants il y a toujours beaucoup du plaisir, ils jouent ensemble, et les adultes jouent ensemble aussi. C'est la première fois cette année qu'on a pu prendre notre photo traditionnelle de tous les enfants ensemble.

Gabi's Gumption / La sagesse de Gabriella

2012-02-09T21:25:00.000+01:00

Not content with French and German, Gabi has to do spelling tests in English too. Today's masterpieces included:

COMPIOUTER for COMPUTER

CAPI for COPY

Quand elle déchiffre les mots anglais, avec son oreille français, et mon accent irlandais, les résultats sont, dés fois, très drôle.

Girls Aloud / Filles Fabuleuses

2012-02-08T22:57:00.003+01:00

Geraldine told us this evening we had a big house coz we had 6 beds. 'True' I said, 'but we have 8 beds, where would Shane and Keira sleep when they come to visit otherwise?'. 'Shane can sleep with you and Maman' was the reply. Logical I suppose. I said 'What about his hairy back and his farting like a volcano?'. Gabriella interjects 'Are volcanos hairy?'. Logic won out, I shut ut!

Geraldine a nous dit à table qu'on a une grande maison, parce qu'on a six lits. J'ai dit qu'on a 8 en faits, un pour Shane et un pour Keira. 'Mais Shane peut dormir avec toi et Maman' a dit Gégé. 'C'est pas possible' j'ai répondu, 'il a trop de poils sur son dos, et il pete comme un vulcan'. Gabriella a demandé si les vulcans a vraiment du poils!

February Fish / Frites du Fevrier

2012-02-05T21:23:00.001+01:00

It was cold this morning, with the temperatures down to -19 (not on our thermometers), but there was no wind today, just some lovely sunshine. It was still reading -7 when we went up to the bi-annual carpes frites in the community center with Jeanne and Gustave.

Il faisait froid ce matin, pas si froid que hier sur nos thermomètres, but sur la thermomètres de Mulhouse ils ont enregistré -19 ce matin! A midi il faisait encore moins 7 dans l'ombre, quand nous avions sortir pour aller manger des carpes frites avec Jeanne et Gustave.

For the first time we won something in the raffle, both us and Jeanne and Gustave. I chose the Linzer tart, which was lovely for tea this evening.

Pour une fois nous avons gagné un cadeau dans le tombola, et Gustave aussi. J'ai choisi un gâteau du 'Linz', délicieux, on a bien profité ce soir!

Saturday Snow / La neige du samedi

2012-02-04T22:03:00.000+01:00

It was -14 this morning when we got up. The big freeze is here, but the sun was out and it was a beautiful day. So we got all the snow gear on and went outside this morning. But we only lasted an hour or so, until we got too cold to stay outside. No snowmen, the snow is too powdery, but plenty other things, such as snow angels.

Il faisait moins 14 ce matin, alors il y avait toujours de la neige partout. On est tous allés dehors pour jouer dans le jardin, meme Maman est venue avec. Mais, on a pas resté dehors longtemps, il faisait trop froid!

February Snow / Le froid du fevrier

2012-02-02T21:58:00.002+01:00

The winter has arrived in force. The temperature registered -10 this morning leaving the kids at school, Trace and I worked from home, the roads were quite bad. It snowed all day, but the kids saved us when they came home from school, to clear the snow from the front of the house.

L'hiver est (enfine) arrivé. Mais, maintenant il a vraiment arrivé, il faisait moins 10 ce matin en laissent les enfants a l'école. Les routés était assez mauvais, alors Trace et moi ont travaillé de la maison. Heureusement les enfants ont revenus de l'école pour nous aider a déblayer le cours devant la maison!

18 years 4 stars

2012-02-01T22:40:00.000+01:00

Bubbly Bath ...

... Lovely Legs ...

... Fabulous Food ...

... Suspicious Spoon ...

... Colmar Canal ...

... Tasty Trace

Sunday Snow / La neige du dimanche

2012-01-29T21:52:00.000+01:00

Finally our first day of snow this year. The winter has started at last, with a wet covering of snow on the ground today. Unfortunately the snow wasn't good enough to make a snowman the traditional way, but Mathieu did his best anyway. All we could do was have a big snowball fight, Gabi being (as usual) the first casualty.

La neige cette hiver a arrivé hier soir, enfin! A propos l'année passée c'est très doux. Il y avait pas beaucoup, assez pour jouer dedans, mais malheureusement c'était pas vraiment la meilleure neige pour construire un bonhomme avec. Quand même, Mathieu a beaucoup essayé!

Sold on Languages

2012-01-29T19:49:00.000+01:00

An academic book? Not a story book or a thriller etc., but a book that tries to explain language and how it affects not just what we hear, but how we hear it. I enjoyed every page of it and made it last 4 weeks. There are loads of interesting anecdotes and scientific explanations in it, but it is probably too dry if you don't love language, writing and expressions as much as I do.

Friday Filling / Vendredi de dents

2012-01-27T23:19:00.000+01:00

We've got away with it till today. None of the kids have ever had to have any dental work done, until our little Geraldine had a filling done today. But she is not to be subdued by such a thing. The only time she stopped talking to the dentist was when he had her mouth open and was working.

C'est un jour qu'on doit rappeler. Le premier enfant qui a du aller chez le dentiste avec un carrie. Geraline a du aller chez le dentiste pour ce travail. Mais ça n'a pas l'arrêter de parler, elle n'a pas parler pendant le travail du dentiste (c'était pas possible avec s bouche ouverte), mais apart ça elle a papoter sans arrêt.

He had to tell her to close her mouth when he came into the room, she was sitting in the chair with her mouth wide open :-)

Le dentiste a du dire a Gégé de fermer sa bouche, parce qu'il n'était pas prêt de commencer!

Geraldine Juice / Les mots de Gégé

2012-01-26T21:11:00.001+01:00

What can you say when your (nearly 5) year old comes out with "all those bitches" deadpan as you like at the dinner table? Well not much, if it was you that put on the rap music really loud!

Qu'est ce qu'on peut dire si ta plus petite fille a dit, sans remarquer, des gros mots a table. Ici, pas grand choses, si c'était le Papa qui'a mis de la musique avec des gros mots!

Sorry for Party Rocking

2012-01-26T19:53:00.000+01:00

The kids love the songs these guys release and listen to them a lot on the radio. The excerpts from this album sounded quite good on iTunes, and we want to mix up the music library a bit (can't have just traditional Irish music!). Once we avoid some of the more explicit tracks, this is a good album.

Alvin and the Chipmunks 3

2012-01-22T19:54:00.000+01:00

We went to the cinema with the kids to see this one. It was quite a good film, enjoyable in French where the brain is concentrated on understanding everything as opposed to analysis the film and how it was made! A great kids movie, I'm sure the kids will want to watch this one again.

January Judo / Judoka en Janvier

2012-01-21T22:08:00.001+01:00

As we'd all been to watch Gabi playing basketball last Saturday, Sami thought it would be fair if we all went to watch him in the judo tournament today. It was stuffy in the hall, there were about 200 in Samuel'y group (kids born in 2002/2003), it was too much for Gégé who had to have a snooze for an hour or so.

Comme nous sommes tous allés regarder Gabi jouer au basket le weekends dernier, Samuel a pensé qu'on a pu tous aller lui soutenir dans le tournoi de judo aujourd'hui. On est tous allé, mais c'était quand meme trop pour Gégé, elle a du s'endormi un peu pendant l'âpres midi la bas.

Mighty Matt / Mathieu le magnifique

2012-01-20T22:43:00.001+01:00

All 4 kids started off school this year from step 1. The end of year reports were OK, nothing to brag about for any of them. The last few weeks have been painful sometimes, for all of us, digging in and working every evening and weekend. Well it has started to pay off, a proud little Mathieu came home from school with a genuine 10 out of 10 from today and a Bravo with an A (we don't know for sure when from!)

Tous les 4 a commencé cette année scolaire de la base. Les notes a la fin de 2011 n'était pas impeccable. Nous avons tous bien travaillés pendant les derniers semaines (pas toujours évident!), mais aujourd'hui le petit Mathieu est revenu avec un 10/10 pour son dictée de vendredi!

Kiddies / Ecriture en anglais

2012-01-18T22:23:00.003+01:00

The kids are all working (hard .. only some of them) at school learning how to read and write in French and German. Gabi, not happy with all that has expanded to reading and writing in English. She applied the phonetic way she learns French to English, making the word 'Kydiz' which is how we call the 'Kiddies'.

Les enfants apprennent le français a l'école, les filles aussi l'Allemagne. Ils apprennent de lire et écrire en français et allemagne. C'est pas assez pour Gabi, elle doit lire et écrire en anglais aussi. Quand elle applique la système phonétique (qu'elle utilise pour apprendre le français) a anglais, nous, les parents, apprennent comment nos accents changent les mots!

Zodiac

2012-01-17T22:00:00.000+01:00

An enjoyable movie for Trace and me. The film is based on a true story, thankfully many years ago. The movie is based in San Francisco, my favorite American city, easy to watch! We love Robert Downey Jr. in this house, but the film is stolen by the main character played by Jake Gylenhall.

Family Fun / Dimanche zurichois

2012-01-15T19:04:00.000+01:00

A lovely day spent in Zurich visiting our cousins and Aunt CA who had come from America for a week. Fun, games and dressing up with Keira and Reamonn made for a lovely Sunday.

Trace et les enfants sont allés dimanche a Zurich visiter nos cousins, Keira et Reamonn et de profiter de la visite de Tante CA des états-unis.

Basketball Gabi / Gabi basketeuse

2012-01-14T21:01:00.001+01:00

We all got out of the house this afternoon to support Gabi in her basketball match. We didn't bring her team much luck! But she enjoyed it and even scored a couple of baskets in the pre match warm up. It's good to see this little one coming out of her shell.

Nous n'avons pas sortis de la maison aujourd'hui, sauf pour aller soutenir Gabi qui a jouée au basket cette après-midi a Altkirch. Nous n'avons pas emmené de la chance pour son équipe, mais ça fait du bien de voire Gabriella qui a sorti de con coquille un peu.

Puzzlefication / Prof. Puzzle

2012-01-13T21:49:00.001+01:00

Concentration, Consideration, Complication,
Mystification, Aberration, Identification;
Adaptation, Machination, Rumination,
Illumination, Calculation, Culmination.
Classification, Coordination, Celebration,
Association, Evaluation, Orientation;
Germination, Fabrication, Dedication
Magnification, Justification, Puzzlefication.

Je ne sais pas si ca vous dire queulque chose en francais, normalement les mots en anglais qui se terminent avec ion existent aussi en francais.

9

2012-01-13T13:05:00.000+01:00

A treat for the kids on a Friday evening after a long week in school. Tata was bringing Mathieu home from the gym so Trace and I unwound with a glass of wine and the jigsaw while the kids watched this movie. I ended up watching the movie too instead of doing the jigsaw. A really good story, there are no more humans, we destroyed ourselves and only these 'patchwork dolls', each with a piece of soul of their maker ... One to watch again.

Line Up

2012-01-11T13:03:00.000+01:00

These guys are playing at the end of the month and I'm hoping to go. I have some of their earlier stuff but wanted to check out the latest music before going to the concert.

Jaded Geraldine / Gégé Epuissée

2012-01-09T21:21:00.002+01:00

School is sometimes tough,
The day is long enough.
It's often too much too bear,
Have to sleep on Papa's chair.

Le jour est longue á l'école
C'est pas rigolo, c'est meme pas drôle
Des fois, c'est trés frustrant,
Je peut vous jure, c'est toujours fatiguant

Jigwaw Jangle / Puzzles Partout

2012-01-08T20:41:00.003+01:00

A weekend spent at home, doing homework, cleaning the house, watching TV and doing jigsaws. The jigsaws took up the dining table forcing us to eat in front of the tele upstairs Saturday night and forcing us to have breakfast in the playroom this morning ... the kids were not complaining.

Un weekend trés tranquil, on a restés a la maison, en faisent les devoirs pour l'école, en nettoyant la maison, regardant la télé et faisent des puzzles. Nous avons fait des puzzles sur notre table, alors il n'y avait place pour manger samedi soir ... on a du manger devant la télé dans le salon!

Queen Geraldine / Le galette et la reine

2012-01-06T22:02:00.001+01:00

The youngest got to pick the first slice of the cake, and picked the biggest, the one with the little charm inside. So she won the crown and was the queen for the evening.

La plus jeune peut toujours choisir la première tranche de gâteau. Et, ce soir, elle a trés bien choisi, la tranche le plus grand, et la tranche avec la fève dedans ... elle a fait une belle reine!

A**EOE Samuel

2012-01-05T21:28:00.003+01:00

Granny sent our kids nice polite bracelets for Christmas. But our kids pronunciation can sometimes be brilliant. The boys got bracelets indicating they were AWESOME, but as Sami said he was an A**E*O*E ... the main vowels at least were correct!

La Mami a donné les enfants un bracelet pour chacun pour noel. Pour les garçons c'était écrit en anglais AWESOME (magnifique), mais avec la prononciation de Samuel c'est devenue un autre mot en anglais qui ressemble plutôt ... (en haupt deutsch : ARS*****H )

Oceans 13

2012-01-05T21:12:00.000+01:00

What a great cast. A good movie, a bit predictable of course, but full of action and a few little twists, double crosses and double double crosses. A movie Trace and I enjoyed, but don't think we'd watch again.

Scrabble Samuel / Le jeu des mots

2012-01-04T22:37:00.001+01:00

As the kids get bigger the games we can play together get more and more interesting. Today Sami and I played scrabble for the first time, him using words in French, me in English. He did well, scoring 23 for the three letter word ZOO.

Comme les enfants agrandissent on peut jouer les jeux plus intéressant ensemble. Comme le jeu de mots 'Scrabble'. C'est un jeu ou on a des lettres, et il faut faire des mots pour gagner des points. Samuel a bien jouée (en français) , moi en anglais. Il a fait le mot ZOO qui a lui gagner 23 points!

New Years Day / 2012 est la

2012-01-01T23:28:00.003+01:00

What will happen in 2012 ... we'll have to wait and see ...

L'année 2012 va nous apporter le bonheur ...? On verra!

Happy New Year / Gute Ruetsch

2011-12-31T21:19:00.003+01:00

Happy New Year. We celebrated the turning of the year by having a super-apero out on the terrace. This was followed by a dinner of raclette melted over spuds and meat ... delicious.

Bonne Année a tous, nous l'avons célèbres chez nous sur la terrasse. Trace a fait un rideau de tous la pièce sur la terrasse pour nous protéger de la pluie et du vent. Un super-apero.

Friday in Freiburg / Sortie a Freiburg

2011-12-30T23:03:00.000+01:00

A day out together to escape the rain and sleet at home. It wasn't looking good as we made our way up the motorway, but the weather was lovely when we arrived in Freiburg.

Une sortie aujourd'hui pour échapper la pluie chez nous. Malheureusement la pluie a nous suivi sur l'autoroute, mais heuresement il n'y avait pas de la pluie a Freiburg.

We decided to explore a bit, climbing the Schlossberg behind the town. Our visit to the top was crowned by a shower of hailstones (or snowballs as Matt and the kids insisted).

Alors, on a profité du beau temps (absence de pluie) pour monter le 'Schlossberg' derrière la ville. Quand on est arrivé au soummet les grélons ont nous aider (les enfants ont dis, que c'était les petits boules de neige complets!)

Lunch in an excellent American diner, before an afternoon shopping, coffee breaks, a snooze in the car and then a curry in Loerrach.

Et puis, on a mangé a midi dans un bon restaurant américain (bien sur, des hamburgers et des frites), et puis un aprés-midi dans la centre ville de Freiburg, avant rentré a Loerrach pour manger un indien avant retrouver chez nous de nouveau.

Melanie / Une visite de Mel

2011-12-29T23:09:00.001+01:00

Mel is home for Christmas and stopped by this morning for a visit ... lovely for the kids, they were delighted that she was here.

Mel est rentrée pour le noel, et a nous visitée ce matin. Les enfants étaient tous heureux qu'elle est venue pour les voir.

Sumptuous Snails / Escargots éclatants

2011-12-28T23:53:00.000+01:00

Jeanne and Gustave have introduced us to what may have been, the final French hurdle ... eating snails. The kids loved them, Geraldine and Gabriella in particular! We all liked them, the garlic butter was really nice. I don't think it is something we'd order in a restaurant, but it's not something we'd refuse to eat again.

Ca y est, on est français depuis plus d'un an, et maintenant on peut dire qu'on a pris le dernier exam ... manger des escargots. Heureusement qu'on a des très bons amis, Jeanne et Gustave, qui a nous guidé dans le monde de manger des escargots. Nous les avons tous aimés, surtout les filles!

Coach Carter

2011-12-28T21:13:00.000+01:00

Samuel Jackson in any film makes it a good film. And so it is with this film too. A true story, a basketball coach who cares about his team's academic progress as much as about their basketball progress. A courageous man, Coach Carter bucks the trend in high school basketball and looks out for his players, what they will do once they finish high school. A very entertaining film, one we think Sami and Gabi will like.

Street Dance

2011-12-28T20:00:00.000+01:00

A big hit with the kids, a film all about dancing and music. They loved this one and will be watching it again I'm sure.

Ireland : Our Island Story

2011-12-27T23:59:00.000+01:00

A brilliant book. I mean from the perspective of finding something that meets exactly your needs. I was looking for a book that gives a simple oversight of the history of Ireland, without getting bogged down in too many details. Not only does this book dedicate each chapter to a significant part of Ireland's history it links the episodes together. The font in this book is quite big, making it the perfect book for kids to read and get an interest in our story.

Every Day

2011-12-27T23:46:00.000+01:00

A strange mundane film, a bit like reality TV. We were watching this movie and waiting for it to take off, or for something to happen. It was like a snapshot of real life, nothing extraordinary appeared to happen. As we expected something it was disappointing, not one I'd watch again.

Trip to the Zoo / Sortie Zoologicale

2011-12-27T21:59:00.000+01:00

Keira and Reamonn left in the morning, leaving us with plenty of time for a trip to the zoo. It was a little cold, the breeze made it so, but about 5 degrees above 0, it was not bad. We arrived in the afternoon, and so left the zoo after dark, that was a first, quite eerie being there, seeing how white the snow owls really area, hearing the cats yowling ...

Nos cousins ont partis de chez nous ce matin avant midi. Ca a nous laissé assez de temps de manger et puis aller visiter le zoo a Bale. Comme toujours c'était bon, les enfants ont nous guidés partout, et puis le soleil a déjà couché avant partir.

Fred Clause

2011-12-27T21:19:00.000+01:00

Vince Vaughan stars in this movie which the kids loved. Of course anything about Santa Clause is a big hit in this house (no matter what time of the year), this film catered to them all, from our 5 (4) year old to our 10 (9) year old. Even the parents enjoyed this one!

The Borrowers

2011-12-26T22:18:00.002+01:00

We had 'saved' this film up to watch with the kids. BBC had scheduled it for St. Stephen's night, so we planned to watch this with Keira and Reamonn when they were here. Our kids had seen the original movie (well the Japanese movie translated into French) a few months back and loved it. This English adaptation was good too, the kids enjoyed it, the adults too .. although I think the Japanese animated version was much better.

St. Stephen's Day / Le jour de St. Etienne

2011-12-26T22:17:00.002+01:00

Christmas continues today with the feast of St. Stephen. We had Mass this morning in the village, so we were singing, Sami was serving, on incense duty! He wasn't sure if he had done his job right, but it looked perfect from where we were.

Les vacances de noel a continué aujourd'hui avec la fète de S. Etienne. Alors, nous sommes allés a la messe ce matin, nous avons chantés et Samuel a servi la messe.

The weather continues to be mild, so we got out for a walk and a play between Mass and lunch.

Et puis, comme il a fait tellement beau avec beaucoup de soleil, on est allé a Huningue a Parc des eaux vives avant manger a midi.

Shane came down after lunch with Keira and Reamonn, so there was loads of playing. The evening was rounded off with toasted turkey sandwiches, a delicious Christmas cake (thanks Trace) and a good movie .. 'The Borrowers'.

Pendant l'aprés-midi Shane est arrivé de Zurich avec Keira et Reamonn. Les enfants ont joués ensemble, ont ouvrir les cadeaux nouveaux, et puis nous avons tous très bien mangés (merci Trace), surtout le gâteau de noel. Avant aller au lit, il y avait des temps pour se reposer devant la tale, et un très bon film, 'The Borrowers'.

Christmas Day / Le jour de Noel

2011-12-25T22:46:00.002+01:00

Christmas Day, the kids were up early to see if Santa had come. He had and he brought the stuff to the kids that they had asked for. Samuel, Gabi and Matt has asked for 'bakugan' warriors so they could play together, Geraldine had asked for the barbie mermaid doll 'Merlea'.

Le jour de noel, les enfants ont se réveillés tôt pour voir si le père noel a passé. Il avait passé pendant la nuit et ont apporter les cadeaux que les enfants ont demandés.

It was a mild day, we got out for a stroll in Oltingue before lunch. Just as well, as some of us slept in front of the television for the afternoon! Loads of playing, and loads of nice food to eat, a lovely relaxing Christmas day.

Il fait très doux cette années, nous avons profité de faire une promenade dans le beau village de Oltinuge avant manger. Comme toujours nous avons regardés beaucoup de télé et ont beaucoup jouer, pour un jour très relaxant!

Happy Christmas / Joyeux Noel

2011-12-24T23:24:00.001+01:00

There was the kids Mass this evening in Ranspach-le-bas at 6. We were singing, so we decided to have the full turkey dinner after Mass on the 24th instead of having it on the 25th. It worked out really well.

Il y avait la messe ce soir a Ranspach-le-bas a 18h. La chorale a animé la messe, avec les enfants, alors nous avons du arriver la bas une demi heure plutôt pour chauffer les voix.

The kids were very good during Mass, there was a nativity gospel, enacted by the children of the village, so the mass was kept interesting for them. As usual, for such occasions, we were kept busy singing, it didn't feel like a couple of hours before we were home again ... starving.

Nos enfants étaient très sages pendant la messe, les enfants du village ont fait une crèche vivante, alors c'était très interssant pour les enfants. Comme d'habitude nous avons beaucoup a faire pour chanter, alors c'était vites passé le deux heures a l'église.

The kids must have been hungry, they talked about what they weren't going to eat all the way home. We opened a set of presents, from the grandparents, there was great excitement and the kids got to play a lot with the toys. The empty box of Tayto for Papa was a highlight for everyone!

Samuel et Mathieu avait faim, nous n'étions pas sur avec les filles. Geraldine a nous parlé de tous elle n'a pas voulu manger en rentrant, mais Gabriella a lui dit qu'elle doit tout manger ... tant pis pour elle. Après le repas, nous avons ouvris les cadeaux de Mami et Papi, et ont beaucoup jouer avant aller au lit ... en attendant le père noel.

Home for the Holidays / Les vacances commencent

2011-12-23T23:20:00.003+01:00

A trip to the cinema tonight to mark the start of Papa and Maman's holidays. We're all off together now for the next week, let the fun begin!

C'est le premier soir des vacances pour Papa et Maman, alors nous sommes allés voir un film a Mulhouse dans le cinema. On peut commencer maintenant les vacances pour de vrai.

Hugo

2011-12-23T23:15:00.001+01:00

Our holiday trip to the cinema this year was to see Hugo. A good film, a great story but English accents for French characters, based entirely in Paris was a bit strange for me. However the kids loved it, they are planning to go to Paris to visit the train station etc. This film will win some Oscars.

Happy Birthday Mathieu / Joyeuse anniversaire Mathieu

2011-12-21T22:35:00.001+01:00

We celebrated Mathieu's birthday a day early today. Tomorrow Trace and I will be at work so as we were all at home today, it was the perfect time. Mathieu was quite happy to celebrate one day early! Jeanne and Gustave came down to share in his sausage roll cake. That's what we had for his birthday, loads of sausage rolls!

Nous avons celebrés l'anniversaire de Mathieu aujourd'hui, un jour tot. Nous, Trace et moi, étions ici (demain nous travaillons), et Mathieu était d'accord de celebrer son anniversaire un jour plutot. Jeanne et Gustave ont vensu partager son gateau avec. C'était un gateau du friands. Il est vraiment monsieur saucisse :-)

Hereafter

2011-12-20T22:42:00.000+01:00

Three main characters, three different stories, three different locations, but all three touched by death in some way. The film builds the characters and their stories until it climaxes in a unlikely meeting of the main characters in London. A very enjoyable movie, one we'd watch again.

The Tourist

2011-12-19T22:46:00.000+01:00

Our dream cast : Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. We love both of them, for different reasons. A highly improbable tale carried out quite well by the cast. Johnny Depp is a great actor and can carry off any role with aplomb. Much of the movie is set in Venice, a place we'd like to go back to it seems!

Happy Birthday Papa / Joyeux anniversaire Papa

2011-12-18T21:52:00.002+01:00

Snow on the ground, presents for breakfast, chips, fried seafood and beer for lunch ....

De la neige parterre, des cadeaux pour le petit dej, des frites et fruits de mer avec une biere pour midi

A bottle of ice wine, a blackforest gateau and friends for a drink ... Happy Birthday Papa.

... et puis une bouteille de vendage tardives pour l'apero avec des bons amis, et puis un gateau de foret-noire ... Joyeux anniversaire Papa

Snowmen on Sunday / Les bonhommes de neige de dimanche

2011-12-18T21:05:00.000+01:00

A white birthday, the first snow of the year. The kids were excited, nearly as much as me! We couldn't wait to get out for a walk and see what it was like.

C'était facile de se lever ce matin pour aller regarder de la neige. Nous étions tous heureux (sauf Maman peut-etre) avec de la neige. Aprés le petit dej on a du sortir toute de suite se promener autour du village.

We discovered it was perfect for making snowmen, so the kids couldn't wait to get home to get out and play in the snow. We made a snow family, well the Maman, baby and toddler. Gabi said it wasn't a complete family as there was no Papa.

Nous avons trouvés que la neige était trop bien, alors des qu'on a rentré nous avons mis les vestes de neige, les gants, les kagoules etc. pour aller dehors jouer. On a fait une famille des bonhommes de neige, une Maman, avec un petit enfant et une bébé. Mais Gabi a dit, que c'était pas une vraie famille sans un Papa!

Once the snow family was made we went down to the back garden and had ourselves our own local war, with Papa (of course) coming out on top!

Dés que notre famille des bonhommes était fait, nous sommes allés (les filles et moi) au fond du jardin pour faire de la guerre avec les garcons. (Papa a gagné!)

Snowmen on Saturday / Les bonhommes de neige du samedi

2011-12-17T23:45:00.000+01:00

A cold, windy and sometimes wet day. We're taking it easy these holidays and have started slow. The kids were more than happy to sit down this afternoon in front of the telly, watching the film Rango. The bigger kids thought it was brilliant, with re-enactments happening for the rest of the afternoon.

Il faisait pas beau aujourd'hui, alors on est resté dans la maison presque toute la journée. Les enfants ont regardés une filme, Rango cette après midi. Samuel et Gabriella ont pensé que c'était une très bonne filme, ils ont joués comme les acteurs dans la filme après.

Trace had an artistic episode during the film and decorated the Christmas Cake. Geraldine approved of the decoration, as we all did ... looking forward to eating it next week.

Pendant la filme, Trace a décorée le gateau de Noel avec les bonhommes de neige. Elle a trés bien fait, nous allons le manger avec plaisir la semaine prochaine.

Rango

2011-12-17T22:48:00.000+01:00

I loved this film, as did the kids. I don't think it'd make Trace's all time list of movies though! Johnny Depp carries this off brilliantly. His range of voice makes the different sides of Rango come alive. There is also a morale to this story, not overproduced, but makes you think what humans have done to the world.

JIT Holidays / Enfin les vacances scolaires

2011-12-16T22:25:00.001+01:00

Just In Time Holidays, arrive just in time. In this case all we're all ready for a break from school and from the routine. Especially little Geraldine who has been out of sorts for a couple of weeks now, nearing exhaustion it seems. Nearly too tired to sleep, she went to bed early. Sami and Gabi are happy out it is the holidays, Mathieu, as usual was at gym!

Les vacances scolaires ont arrivés en bon moment. On es tous prés pour un changement de la routine rituelle, et qq jours de repos de l'école et des activités. Notre petite Gégé est crevée. Depuis plusieurs jour elle est malcontente, mais ce soir elle a demandait d'aller au lit a 17h 30! Par contre, nos deux grands sont plein de joie et plein de vie pour les vacances!

Family Fun / La famille fantastique

2011-12-13T21:05:00.002+01:00

The regular family photo shows how big the kids are getting, thankfully that masks how old the adults are getting! This is one for the calendar next year.

On a pris un photo des familles ensemble dimanche, comme d'habitude. C'est possible a voire comments les enfants agrandissent, heureusement c'est plus difficile a voire les adultes veillassent.

Mylo Xyloto

2011-12-12T08:43:00.000+01:00

Inspired after seeing ColdPlay perform on the Graham Norton show we got this album. It is not brilliant, but is very good. Every track stands on its own, the outstanding track is 'Paradise' of course!

Dear Santa / Cher Père Noel

2011-12-11T20:54:00.001+01:00

Christmas is very much on all our minds at the moment. The kids more so than the adults. The original Christmas Santa movie, "Santa Claus the Movie", 1985, was again shown in our house. 6 kids were glued to it, as were the adults when they crossed the screen.

Le Noel est la, presque. On est tous impatient maintenant pour Noel (les adultes et les enfants). Pour bien prepare noel, les enfants ont regardés la premiere filme de père noel, qui a sorti en 1985. Trace peut se rappeler d'aller au cinema pour le regarder!

As soon as the movie was done (and we had eaten) the letters to Santa Claus became the next thing to do. All 6 got the paper and markers out, each writing his own letter to Santa.

Dés que la filme a terminé, les enfants ont voulu écrire leurs lettres a père noel ... toute de suite. Nous avons du sortir du papier et des stylos ...

As we did last year, we went to see Santa in the afternoon in Wittenheim. Samuel brought all the letters brought in the morning and made sure they were posted right.

Et puis, comme nous avions fait l'année passé on est allé visiter le père noel a Wittenheim. Samuel a apporté les lettres, et les a mis dans la boite aux lettres pour le père noel.

Scrap Saturday / Un samedi pourri

2011-12-10T23:32:00.001+01:00

From the point of view of the weather it was a day to forget. A day that started overcast and got gradually worse until it was raining all the time.

A propos la meteo, c'était un jour oubliable. C'était un jour pourri, avec de la pluie toute la journée.

Luckily for us, Shane, Keira and Reamonn arrived around lunch time. So we had someone to play with, not to share the iPad with and of course to fight with!

Heuresement nos cousins zurichois ont arrivés pour manger a midi et a restés avec nous pour la journée. Il y avait quelq'un a jouer avec, a pas partager avec et bien sur de disputer avec.

Christmas Tree / Le sapin de Noel

2011-12-07T21:24:00.001+01:00

Gustave brought us Christmas tree hunting today in the forest. But first he showed us a badger's warren in the middle of the forest. It was windy, lovely being out among all the trees ...

Gustave a nous emmené aujourd'hui a sa foret pour chercher un sapin de noel. Mais d'abord il a nous montrés ou habite les blaireaux.

... then it was time to get to work, with Trace picking a tree and Gustave making short work of cutting it down. Of course the kids all wanted to help, driving home with the back doors of the car open was fun.

... et puis au travail, Trace a choisi un sapin qui ca plaisait, Gustave l'a vite coupé, j'avait que le mettre dans la voiture.

Then of course we had to decorate it, the kids more than happy to pitch in and help.

Et bien sur, nous avons du le décoré. Les enfants ont aidés beaucoup (en fait nous avons aider le enfants).

I had to go to work in the afternoon, but came home to a lovely decorated tree and a crib with twice the normal actions going on. It seems, as if there were will be two Jesus's this year.

J'ai du aller au boulot l'aprés midi, mais en rentrant il y avait un sapin décoré qui m'attendait et une creche avec deux Jesus!

St Nicolas / La fete du St. Nicolas

2011-12-04T21:46:00.001+01:00

We celebrated St. Nicolas, as we have done for the past few years, with Jeanne and Gustave. They had invited us down for hot chocolate and cake this afternoon. It was lovely taking some time on a Sunday afternoon to enjoy a drink, something to eat and a chat with them.

Nous avons continuer notre tradition de feter St. Nicolas avec Jeanne et Gustave. Ils nous invite chaque année pour boire du chocolat chaud et de partager un 'grattimanla' avec. C'etait trés relaxant de prend l'aprés midi tranquil chez eux, les enfants ont joués ensemble, les adutles ont beaucoup parlés.

Bingo buzz / Loto du footballers

2011-12-03T22:16:00.001+01:00

Despite the jet lag we (me and the big ones) are at the bingo in the community centre. We haven't won anything, and don't seem likely to, but at least we're all still awake!

MalgrÃ© les horaires des dÃ©collages on est allÃ©s jouer au loto dans la salle polyvalente. On va pas gagnera grand choses, mais on n'est pas la vraiment pour gagner des prixs!

Breakfast at the airport / Le petit dej a l'aeroport

2011-12-03T08:04:00.001+01:00

Sent from my iPhone

Frankfurt Ha / L'attente a Francfort

2011-12-03T06:06:00.001+01:00

Sent from my iPhone

Boston Sandwich / Le sandwich americain

2011-12-01T02:47:00.000+01:00

There is too much to eat, too much to do here, not possible to cut the mustard in a few days! A very cool place if you are into robotics, gene sequencing and all that pavlova ... class. Everyday sandwiched between a load of meat in the morning and a load of meat in the evening ... I better go home before I get surcharged by the airline for bringing too much weight back!

Il y a trop des choses a manger ici, trop des choses a faire, c'est pas possible de tout faire pendant une petite semaine. Si on est fasciné par les robotiques, les recherhes, c'est un vrai paradis ici avec tous les institus des recherches et l'université (MIT). Chaque jour des choses trés interssant et 'sandwiché' entre trop de viande le matin, et trop le soir ... je dois faire attention, lufthansa va me demander encore de l'argent demain pour le surpoids!

No Boston Bad Guys / Pas des méchants

2011-11-29T12:44:00.000+01:00

The kids were worried, especially Gabriella, that the bad guys would get me in America. So I took great care strolling downtown this evening. First I had to get past the disnosaur ...

Les enfants ont m'a conseillés de faire attention au cause des hommes méchants en Amerique. Alors j'ai faisait beaucoup d'attention, mais d'abord j'ai du eviter le dinosaur ....

... the bad guys could not catch me as I ran through the city, but eventually I had to take shelter in an Irish pub to get away from them. It was tough but I had to!

... et puis j'ai enfui vers le centre ville, mais personne n'a pas me déranger. Quand meme j'ai du rentrer dans un pub irlandais pour prendre un repos. C'était le seule chose que j'ai pu faire, je n'ai pas vraiment voulait aller au pub!

Boston Baby / Bonjour Boston

2011-11-28T04:22:00.000+01:00

After a long time sat in aeroplanes, unable to sleep (the films were too good) I've arrived in the sweet town of Boston. Christmas is here, there are decorations already. These pictures are for the kids!

Aprés avoir etre assis dans u avion pour presque toute la journée, je suis arrivé sain et sauf dans la ville de Boston. L'hotel, et beaucoup des magains, ont decorés déja pour le noel ...

Woodland Walk / Une promenade 'hivernale'

2011-11-27T22:02:00.001+01:00

Another sunny day, a little cloudy at times, but dry. As it was the end of November we donned hats, scarves and gloves to go for a walk in the woods, but we needn't have bothered! Once we were out of the breeze it was quite warm!

Il faisait encore beau, avec du soleil aujourd'hui. C'est le premier dimanche de l'avent, le fin du novembre, alors on a mis des gants, des écharpes et des bonnets pour aller se promener dans la foret. C'était meme pas necessaire de s'habiller comme c'était l'hiver.

Garden Fun / Dehors dans le jardin

2011-11-26T21:54:00.001+01:00

Today was lovely and dry, with the sun shining all day. Granted it wasn't too warm, but it wasn't cold either. We all spent the morning in the garden, with the intention of working on the kids house, roofing it before the snow comes. That was the plan, but the kids had more fun playing with the leaves than helping to roof their hut!

Il faisait beau aujourd'hui avec un grand soleil toute la journée. Toute la famille a sorti pour jouer ou travailler dans le jardin. Nous avons mis des fausses tuiles (des shingles) sur la cabane des enfants, mais les enfants n'ont pas trop aider. Ils ont joué beaucoup avec les feuilles qui a tombait du grand abre au dessous de leur cabane.

Fortunately Trace stuck with me and we got the shed roofed by the end of the afternoon. We couldn't go to Sami's football match or Gabi's basketball match but we think the kids are happier when we cannot go! Kneepads would be a good Christmas gift this year :-)

Heuresement Trace m'a beaucoup aider, nous avons termine le fin de l'aprés midi.

Traffic Lights / Les feux rouges

2011-11-23T22:06:00.001+01:00

"Red" ... "Red" ... the cars in front of us idled, some spewing out exhaust fumes while we waited at the lights ... "Red" ... "Red"; some of them start to rev ... "BLUE" ... "BLUE" ... "BLUE" - thanks Geraldine for the running commentary on the traffic lights!

"Rouge" ... "Rouge" ... chaque qq secondes Gégé m'a dit les coulers de feux ou nous avons du attendre avec tous le monde a St. Louis. Et puis, soudain, les feux ont changés ... "BLEU" ... "BLEU" a crié Geraldine!

Happy Birthday Gabi / Joyeux Anniversaire Gabi

2011-11-19T22:42:00.000+01:00

Gabriella is 7. Jewelry and a wig (so she could have hair like Maman) were the wishes for this birthday. Jeanne and Gustave came down to share the cake (rhubard tart and an apple tart ... Gabi loves fruit). Shane had come earlier with Keira and Reamonn, there were plenty to share the cake and sing Happy Birthday.

Notre Gabi a eu 7 ans. Elle est devenue une grande fille, elle a demandé des bijoux et une peruqe (elle veut avoir des cheveux comme Maman). Elle n'a pas demandé des barbies etc. Gégé a aidé Maman faire une tarte aux pommes et une tarte aux rhubarbes pour l'anniversaire. Jeanne et Gustave ont venus nous aidés les mangés. Nous avons bien fait avec Shane, Keira et Reamonn, il reste pas grand choses maintenant :-)

Still Six / Toujours Six ans

2011-11-18T10:17:00.005+01:00

Gabi's enjoying her last day as a six year old, looking forward to her birthday tomorrow. Geraldine is looking forward to it too, but they are bot looking forward to different presents (Geraldine insists that Gabi wants a Barbie doll for her birthday, Gabi insists it is ear rings ... we'll see tomorrow!)

C'est son dernier jour comme une fille de six ans, et Gabriella est prete pour son 7eme anniversaire demain. Geraldine est prete pour le feter aussi, mais elle insiste que Gabriella veut une barbie comme cadeau, Gabi a demandé des bijoux ... on verra demain qui a raison!

Growing Geraldine / La Grande Gégé

2011-11-17T22:10:00.000+01:00

Our littlest one is getting bigger, indeed all the kids are getting bigger. This week she officially passed the one metre mark, so we have no little kids left at all!

Notre plus petite est deveneu une grande. Cette semaine notre docteur a la mesuré, elle est un metre maintenant, on a plus des petits enfants!

Hyperion

2011-11-13T22:29:00.001+01:00

The iPad has opened up our horizons in terms of what books we read. It is now really easy to sample a book and see what it would be like before buying it. This was one such book, normally I don't read Sci-Fi, but this book was quite intriguing. The book is basically the stories of the 7 pilgrims in the book. What happens at the end, is of course, not clear. This is one in a series of books. I'm not sure though if I'll bother with the next.

Slow Sunday / Un dimanche du repos

2011-11-13T22:00:00.000+01:00

This was the picture all day Sunday, all day sitting around, reading, watching TV, playing cards, playing games ... we went out swimming in the morning, Mass in the evening, otherwise we didn't budge from our armchairs.

Nous avons pris le dimanche pour recouperation. Nous n'avons pas bouger de notre maison, sauf pour aller nager le matin et aller a la messe le soir. Apart ca, nous étions tous devant la tele, ou avec le nez dans un livre pour toute la journée.

Kung Fu Panda 2

2011-11-12T21:34:00.001+01:00

Po is back, the furious five have matured and face (and defeat) a new nemesis. This film is great, with Jack Black taking up where he left off in the first film. The kids loved this one (again they had seen it in the cinema months ago, we were playing catch up ... again). The characters are fleshed out now, with the viewer getting to know the characters in more detail. There is scope for much more. Po has become a family hero, he was adopted too!

Scrap Saturday / Un samedi des morceaux

2011-11-12T21:28:00.001+01:00

Playing football, changing tires, walking in the sun, picking stones, making tarts, gathering leaves, baking cakes, singing at a wedding, watching a movie, eating dinner, walking the dogs ... the main highlights of our day today!

Jouer au foot, changer des pneus d'hiver, se promener sous le soleil, ramasser des cailloux, preparer une tarte aux pommes, ramasser des feuilles, chanter au mariage, regarder un filme, manger du jambon, se promener des chiennes ... encore un samedi passé!

Working Wednesday / Mercredi du travail

2011-11-09T22:36:00.000+01:00

Wednesday working from home, so everyone was working. Mathieu and Gabi did the hoovering while Sami and Gégé helped in the kitchen, squeezing orange juice.

Un mercredi a la maison, j'ai travailé de la maison, les enfants ont aidé beaucoup, Mathieu et Gabi ont aspirés partout, Samuel et Gégé ont preparé le jus d'orange dans la cuisine.

Shoe the Donkey / Une chanson irlandaise

2011-11-07T22:12:00.002+01:00

The kids are learning to play a bit of music with me. Their current favourite is 'Shoe the Donkey'. There is a song and a dance to go with this ... everyone loves it.

Nous apprenons ensemble un morceaux de musique en ce moment. C'est une chanson irlandaise, on joue la musique avec les instrumentaux musicales, et chanter et danser avec.

Soccer Sam / Samuel du foot

2011-11-05T18:05:00.000+01:00

I could not go to Samuel's match today, but he drew the pitch and starting team layouts on the iPad when he came back. Guess which one is he ...

Je n'ai pas pu aller regarder Samuel jouer au foot aujourd'hui, mais il m'a dessiné le terrain du foot, avec les deux équipes quand je suis rentré. On peut deviner laquelle est Samuel lui meme!

Robot Dancers / La danse de robots

2011-11-04T23:16:00.000+01:00

The film 'Un monstre a Paris' has such a good soundtrack we had to buy it. Since then we've nearly not stopped playing it, the music is infectious, turning us into robots

La musique de la filme 'Un monstre a Paris' est si bien qu'on a du acheter l'albume. Depuis nous n'avons pas arreter de le jouer et danser avec, hier soir, comme des robots.

The Road

2011-11-03T23:17:00.000+01:00

Another book on the iPad. I got this book as I couldn't watch the film. Like the 'I am Legend' film, the thing that terrifies me the most is what humans are capable of doing to other humans. The book is enthralling, I couldn't put it down and read this book in record time. Much sleep was missed as I couldn't put it down. A brilliant story, a chilling idea, but the book is not about Armageddon, but what life might be like for the survivors.

Bye Nanny and Granddad / Au revoir Mami et Papi

2011-11-02T21:32:00.001+01:00

Nanny and Granddad went home this evening, on the late flight from Zurich. We had some time today to spend with them, and share a lovely lunch in the lovely restaurant Hotel de l'europe.

Mami et Papi ont rentrés ce soir sur l'avion du Zurich. Mais nous avons pu rester toute la journée ensemble, en partageant un repas du midi delicieux a notre restaurant preferé a Hotel de l'Europe.

Halloween Fun / La fete du halloween

2011-10-31T23:19:00.000+01:00

The traditional halloween games, dressing up as scary monsters and then a late card game with Nanny and Granddad made Halloween 2011 something to remember.

Nous avons bien fetés halloween cette année avec beaucoup de déguisements et beaucoup du jeux.

First we tried to capture the apple on a string ...

D'abord on a essayé d'attraper une pomme suspendu par une fiselle ...

... then there were the controversial nose nut races ...

... et puis les cours du noix (on a du le poussé que avec le nez) ...

... the new (thanks Ais) treasure hunt in the monster's brains ...

... et puis on a cherché du trésor dans le 'cerveau du monstre' ...

... the flour and cherry game (Gégé is perhaps the best, but loves getting herself covered in flour) ...

... et puis on a joué avec une colline de farine avec un bigareaux toute au bout ...

... of course ducking for apples and money ...

... nous avons essayés d'attraper des pommes et de l'argent dans un bassin de l'eau ...

... and finally a game of cards with Nanny and Granddad before bed.

... et enfin on a joués un jeu de cartes avec Mami et Papi avant d'aller au lit.

Relaxing Day / Un jour relaxant

2011-10-30T01:18:00.000+02:00

The last Sunday in October was a beautiful day. The mercury rose to over 20 degrees in the afternoon, during a day when we did a mini tour of Alsace ...
... starting with Hartmanswillerkopf ...

Il faisait tellement beau le dernier dimanche d'octobre. Il faisait plus que 20 dégrées pendant l'aprés midi, un temps ideale pour aller visiter les montagnes, d'abord le Vieil Armand ...

... then a picnic at 'Le Grand ballon' ...

... et puis on a pique niquer au sommet du grand ballon ....

... a tea break in Orschwir ...

... et puis nous avons pris le gouter dans les vignobles, a Orschwhir ....

... and then a small apero in Turckheim.

... et enfin, l'apero a Turckheim.

Snuff

2011-10-29T19:19:00.002+02:00

The 39th book in the Discworld series. My first book on the iPad. I don't know if it was the iPad, but it took me a while to get into the story. But once in I was hooked. Another great story from Terry Pratchett. Vimes has to go on holidays to the country, it is there this book is set. A whole raft of new characters are introduced, with the established characters only making brief appearances. One I can read again and again now it is on the iPad (the only problem is getting the iPad off the kids)

Pumpkin Pride / Les potirons de Halloween

2011-10-29T19:18:00.005+02:00

Halloween will be here on Monday, we're buys getting ready. Disguises, games and of course pumpkins are on the list.

C'est la fete du Halloween lundi, on prepare pour le feter en ce moment. Les enfants ont des déguisements, les adultes preparent les jeux, et tous ensemble ont fait les potirons aujourd'hui.

The kids helped today to carve the pumpkins for this halloween. Later disguised as monsters and witches they held a meeting (maybe to discuss the pumpkins ... they didn't say)

International Evening / Une soirée internationale

2011-10-28T23:30:00.000+02:00

A trip to the swimming pool in France, and then a lovely meal in a fine restaurant in Bad Bellingen (in Germany) made for a lovely afternoon and evening. The kids all eat well, even though they were knackered after the trop to the pool.

On a nagés dans la piscine a Village Neuf, en France, et puis on a mangés dans un trés bon restaurant a Bad Bellingen en Allemagne. Une soirée internationale alors!

Museum Magic / Écomusée ensoeilé

2011-10-27T00:50:00.000+02:00

Another beautiful sunny day during this October holiday, and a lovely visit to the museum that is akin to the country life museum in Castlebar. This museum has all the old alsation houses, the trades (such as cooper) and the tools and animals to complement life as it was at the beginning of the last century.

Il faisait encore trés beau cette aprés midi, on a bien profités pour visiter l'ecomusée avec Mami et Papi. Matt et Gégé ont restés avec Maman pour aller a la piscine, nous sommes aller a Pulversheim. C'est un trés bon parc, avec beaucoup des choses a visiter et admirer.

The weather was perfect, leading to what was a perfect afternoon strolling round the museum and inspecting every house / article in detail. It is funny when your parents remember using some of the tools that were on display, our history is not that long ago at all.

C'était un aprés midi ideale pour se promener dans le soleil. Nous avons (presque) tous visités, mais je le trouvé drole, quand Maman et Papa ont se rappelé de certaines choses qu'ils ont utilisé dans leur jeunesse (comme le coiffeur, et les moissoineusses ...)

Full October Sun / Du beau soleil

2011-10-26T23:44:00.002+02:00

I don't know what Nanny and Granddad did to the weather, but they have certainly brought the most wonderful sunshine with them. Today was more like an Irish summer's day than a day at the end of Autumn. The sun doesn't help take good photos, but we are not complaining in any way about that.

Le soleil en ce moment est magnifique. Nous avons eu du soleil, et du chaleur (oui) aujourd'hui. C'était un vrai plaisir de se promener dans le soleil, sur la paserelle, entre la France et l'Allemagne, et plus tard autour du village, chez nous.

Nanny and Granddad / Mami et Papi

2011-10-25T23:40:00.000+02:00

Nanny and Granddad are here! We went to Zurich to pick them up

Nous sommes allés a Zurich chercher Mami et Papi, ils ont la

Rio

2011-10-25T01:40:00.000+02:00

We picked up this DVD today, the kids had seen this at the cinema, but I hadn't seen it yet. As we're on holidays I thought it was a good opportunity! Anyway, as the blurb says 'A perfect family flick'. The kids love the animation, the colours the birds and their characters. The adults loved the wit and the dialogues between the main characters. Now I know where my (erstwhile) favourite game on the iPad came from (Angry Birds)

Basketball Bunch / Lundi des baskets

2011-10-24T21:54:00.002+02:00

The first day off school, so some fluting about at home, playing in the house, tripping in to St. Louis to bring Matt to gym and then some basketball training before a DVD : Rio.

Notre premier jour sans école, alors nous avons beaucoup jouer dans la maison, et puis un petit voyage a St. Louis pendant l'aprés midi pour emener Mathieu au gym. Et puis un peu de basket avant un DVD devant la télé : Rio.

Un monstre a Paris

2011-10-22T23:05:00.000+02:00

What a film. Absolutely excellent. We went to the cinema to see this, and unfortunately I slept through part of the film (not a fault of the movie). But all the kids and Trace enjoyed this film immensely. We've been singing the songs from the film since and have even bought the soundtrack. This is a film we'll be getting on DVD and I'm sure watching over and over again.

Mid term break / Les vacances commencent

2011-10-22T22:56:00.001+02:00

It's mid term break and the holidays started today with a beautiful day, a football match, a trip to the cinema and a lovely dinner in a restaurant in Mulhouse. The kids were just starting to go crazy at school, the break has come just in time. The parents are happy enough with the break too and everyone is looking forward to lots of fun in the week to come. Going to the cinema to see 'Un monstre a Paris' was a good start!

C'est les vacances scolaires, ils ont arrivés au bon moment. Les enfants ont commencé d'etre fatigués avec de l'école et nous étions presque au bout avec beaucoup des choses. Les petits vacances ont bien commencé, avec un match de foot pour Samuel a Waldighofen (ils ont gagnés 4-3), et puis nous sommes allés au cinema ('Un monstre a Paris') et puis au resto.

iPad Creations / Les creations d'iPad

2011-10-19T22:50:00.000+02:00

The iPad is truly a great yoke, the kids have loads of fun creating different things on it. The current hit is the drawing package, lots of creativity ongoing, especially from the two bigger kids.

Les enfants aiment bien jouer avec l'iPad, et je trouve que c'est un excellent outil pour eux. Ils l'utilise pour beaucoup des choses, en ce moment dessiner ... surtout Sami et Gabi.

Fish n Chips / Carpes Frites

2011-10-16T22:20:00.000+02:00

Fish, Chips, Wine, Music, Dancing, Coffee, Raffle, Talking ... carpes frites October 2011.

Des carpes, des frites, du vin, de la musique, du café, un tombola et un aprés-midi en parlant avec Jeanne et Gustave ... Le repas carpes frites, octobre 2011.

Through the language glass

2011-10-15T23:06:00.000+02:00

An excellent book investigating the link between culture and language. It poses questions such as 'Can a person not understand a concept as the vocabulary is not in their language?'. The answer is no. When you analyse the question, it is quite insulting anyway! Maybe I am a bit sensitive here, with the work I do I have to learn new concepts all the time, and learn new vocabulary on the way.

The Guard

2011-10-15T22:48:00.002+02:00

An absolute cracker of a film. Brendan Gleeson portrays the country garda perfectly, albeit pronouncing every eccentricity to the maximum. Our (the Irish) innate racism is to the fore a couple of times, making the film memorable on more than one occasion. An excellent film, one we'e already watched twice, once with Nanny and Granddad who thought it was brilliant also.

Basketball Gabi / Gabi qui fait du basket

2011-10-15T22:36:00.002+02:00

Gabriella is has joined the basketball club in the next village. Today was her first match. She seems to be really enjoying it, we think it has brought here out of her shell a little.

Gabreilla a fait du basket a Attenschwiller depuis des semaines. Aujourd'hui elle a joué son premier match pour le club. Elle l'aime bien, on pense que un sport d'equipe lui fait trés bien.

Garden Shed roofed / Le toit du cabane

2011-10-15T21:39:00.000+02:00

Before the snow comes we have to get the roof finished on the garden shed. Today is maybe our last chance, it was a beautiful day and was perfect (a little cold) for the work.

Avant que la neige arrive il fallait mettre le toit sur la cabane. Ce weekend est (peut-etre) la derniere opportunité pour le faire, il faisait beau, mais un peu frais dehors du soleil!

Camper Van Return / Le camping car est du retour

2011-10-14T22:39:00.000+02:00

Keira and Reamonn brought back our camping car and then stayed for the night last night. Great fun around the dinner table, we heard about the cows, the restaurant and then finally about the crocodiles that they got to see on their camping car holiday.

Keira est Reamonn ont revenus avec notre camping car, et ils ont restés la nuit avec. Nous avons tous mangés ensemble, Keira et Reamonn ont nous ranconté leur vacances dans le camping car.