Wit Over Ignorance

Birthday girl

So daughter number three made it to her 10th birthday, and Sylvie and I were in shock most of the day. Our baby so big. You know the kind of thing.

We were joined by Cleo for a special birthday dinner at Mon Ami Gabi, and Anouk celebrated by eating all her own steak and most of her mother's (I carefully protected mine by smothering it au poivre, a taste Anouk hasn't yet acquired). Later Delaney tuned in on Skype, and I think Anouk had a wonderful day.

I tried to take some pictures, the girls amused themselves in the usual manner by failing to co-operate with boring old Papa, and an elderly couple at a nearby table stopped as they were leaving to say it was the best show they'd seen in ages.

My first shot shows A and Z heading off to school in the morning (a very rare moment of comnparative calm):

Here's Anouk being kind to Papa in the restaurant, and Zelie suddenly spotting the roast giraffe we ordered for dinner (or something):

Cleo proving she can look stunning when she wants to:

But these pictures don't quite convey the "How can we get Papa to put his camera away" mood. This one, on the other hand, comes close:

And we can always rely on Zelie to stick her tongue out at the wrong moment....

 

Happy Birthday, Anouk !!

Au revoir, Hugo et Marie

And so we bid farewell for now to our French nephew, Hugo, and Sylvie's mother, aka Grandmere. They've been with us for the past two weeks, adding the tastes and sounds of France to our suburban American lives. They were the quietest, most unobtrusive of visitors, but we are always happy to pretend we're back in the Ain and the Savoie (aren't we, Zelie ?) and I think they enjoyed their taste of the good ol' US of A. Especially the burgers, eh Hugo ?

Here are a few touristy shots from Hugo's visit to Old Town, Alexandria. Bon voyage and see you soon !

Chien lunatique

This past week or so we have been playing host to our French cousin, Hugo, a second-time visitor to America, and to Marie, my well-travelled mother-in-law. Shamefully I've failed to manage a full photographic record of their visit, but here are a few shots I've picked up along the way. That chien lunatique lives in Georgetown, DC, btw, and is in no way intended as a commentary on Hugo's behaviour - he is the calmest, politest, sanest young man you could ever hope to meet. I just wish I'd got a picture of him falling off my bike....

In Georgetown, Washington DC:

At the Vietnam Veterans memorial:

With Ferris, the giant dog belonging to our New Jersey cousins, Jean-Eudes and Debbie Haeringer:

And lastly the ladies who lunch: Marie Deroche and George Haeringer:

Connected

Mrs Allen-Mills with her loved one close at hand. I refer to the iPhone, of course. Her other loved one is the annoying dude with the camera. That would be me. I get that look of bemused tolerance a lot....

Wacky hair day

I don't know how they dream up these things, but the school nominated today as Wacky Hair Day, and my dear daughters were only too happy to oblige (with a little bit of help from their wacky mother)....

The answer to all further questions is no

Our friends had some kittens. Or rather, their cats had some kittens. So for some reason we have been visiting our friends a lot lately. Luckily, Papa has remained firm in the face of intense provocation. Yes, the tiny little kitty witties are indeed tremendously cute. Yes, I do in fact know that our friends are giving them away for free.

To all further questions, the answer is no.

 

Spring break

I love this time of the year, when the greys and browns of our frigid urban winter landscape explode into colour, and suddenly our field is full of.....oh, wait a minute.

First day of Spring Break for the girls: three inches of snow. It's melting fast, though, so tomorrow we'll have three inches of mud instead.

I do love Spring.

Happy Sunday

Somehow, they persuaded Papa not to ride his bike, but to lead a family walk through the woods instead. So off we headed to the Cabin John trail, where eight milliseconds later two small daughters and one large dog found themselves marooned on an island in the middle of the river. If only Sylvie and I had taken our chance and run for it.

 

Instead, Sylvie felt obliged to lead (some of) them to safety:

 

 

But one of them got left behind:

 

 

 

Much to the dismay of the dog:

 

 

In the end, though, the family was reunited, and we even managed to rescue a lost dog, Mr Sprinkles, who had started to follow us home. Now they've all gone off ice-skating (the humans) and I'm having a well-earned rest. Happy Sunday !

 

 

 

The mold is spreading !

Off we went to the school science fair the other evening. I'm happy to announce that daughter number three's high-tech project was a resounding success, and she established beyond a shred of scientific doubt that if you leave a piece of damp bread long enough, it becomes extremely disgusting. The practical applications of this knowledge cannot be understated: if ever America needs to empty a major city of people, it need only bombard the population with Anouk's mold-infested crusts. 

It's always fun on these occasions to watch the kids manufacturing electricity from lemons, floating eggs in Coca-Cola, and setting fire to their desks. Here's hoping Anouk finds a way of monetising her scientific genius - her ageing Papa will need the dough.

Ms Smartypants

We took some out-of-town friends to the Mall for a look at some of Washington DC's monuments. We parked the car next to the Albert Einstein memorial. Naturally, my clever daughters felt a special affinity with the inventor of gravity, or whatever he was. Here they are posing with their usual reverence. This was shortly before Zelie posed the inevitable question: "Papa, what's e=mc2 ?".