Watering the Lawns

It hasn't rained in a long time. Long enough to dry everything out. The sprinklers have been running in this neighborhood. Our cistern for collecting rain water is empty. Very strange for March. Nothing in the forecast either. 

Because the weather has been so warm and dry, I managed to fix the rotten wood under our back door. Nice to have things open when the bugs aren't bad yet. One more coat of paint today and it should be all done. 

The girls have had a sick week. Naomi will probably stay home from school for the next few days as she is still not better. Oddly, I haven't picked it up yet. Maybe it will hit me soon, but usually I would be sick by now too. 

On Wednesday the girls didn't have any school as the teacher was sick and the school couldn't find anyone to fill in. This has been common at other schools as there is a teacher shortage here, but it is the first time it has happened to us. It worked out well though as we got to go to the skate park!

Abigail had to quit early as she was too sick, but the girls helped to clean up the neighborhood!

Two in One

It felt like we crammed two weeks of stuff into this past week. It has been very busy! Thankfully the sun has been out, so that boosts my capacity. On Wednesday we had a doctor appointment and got more bad news. My test results were worse than Naomi or Amélie's, even though my symptoms are less severe. Doesn't really make sense, but now I am on a strict diet and medicine too. Hopefully it will help. 

On Thursday we had a realtor come to our house as we are trying to pick an agency to sell it for us when the time is right. Realtors must be making a killing in this market. If the current trend continues, by the time we sell our house, its value will have nearly doubled since we bought it in 2016. 

The girls had a big birthday party on Friday. They went to a movie theater for the first time. Lots of fun. Amélie got to eat whatever she wanted, so that made the day extra special for her. Yesterday Amélie and I replanted the tomatoes. We had lots of mystery sprouts that came out of the compost pile, so we will see what they turn into. 

Birthday fun!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Recovering after the party.

Naomi went to an Easter concert in Apeldoorn.

Can't figure out why the pancakes stick to one pan but not the other. Mystery.

Sunshine

We had some beautiful weather this week! It has been a pleasure to spend time outside. The girls had Wednesday morning free from school, so we went to the skate park in Apeldoorn to try out their new roller blades. What a treat to have the place to ourselves!

Busy couple weeks for me at school as it is test time. Lots of grading and such. For the Chinese business, we got a new student this week, and hopefully another one for next week. Fingers crossed! Makes up for the ones we lost recently. 

We also had an interview with a realtor in Marquette, and we really like him. It will be nice to have someone on the inside helping us out. Funny how we seem to connect more easily with people from Marquette than the people around here. 

Chamonix

We just got back from a great trip to the French Alps. Visited Chamonix and took a cog train up the mountain to visit a famous glacier near Mount Blanc - The Sea of Ice. Very beautiful. More like a puddle of ice now though. They built a hotel at the top of the train track around 100 years ago right next to the glacier so that people could walk out on the ice. At least 40 years ago the glacier had shrank to the point where they needed to build a gondola down to it so that people could walk out on the ice. Since then, they have added 600 steps down, beyond the gondola, to reach what is left. Pretty cool to be able to go inside it, and see the bubbles of air that were formed 250 years ago,  but sad that it will likely all be gone soon.

We also left a good chunk of change at the first Patagonia store in Europe and enjoyed walking around the iconic ski town. Got lucky with some beautiful weather! The girls enjoyed their day in Chamonix, but probably had more fun just playing with some sleds on the little patch if icy, dirty snow right outside our apartment. We found a beautiful spot up in the mountains. Five minutes of walking along the stream brought us from spring back into winter. 

A five minute drive from our apartment was a great little ski hill. For our family of four, including rentals, and afternoon of skiing only cost a grand total of 82 euros. And the views were incredible! Unfortunately Matt, Claire and I all got sick, but we managed to have a lot of fun together anyway. After celebrating Claire's birthday with a special breakfast and some Uno, they packed up the car and drove back to Switzerland. The next day we went back home too. Got lucky with traffic! Good to have a weekend to decompress before getting back into school. 

Just down the street from our apartment. 

Chamonix

Downtown Chamonix.

The 'Sea of Ice'

Taken from the hotel - the top of the glacier around a century ago.

Chamonix

Chamonix

The patch of icy snow by our apartment.

Hiking up the stream.

First Patagonia store in Europe.

The cog train up the mountain.

The ice caves.

The top of the glacier in 1985.

Least expensive day of skiing ever!

Birthday Breakfast.

Ice heart.

Check out the size of those loaves on the left!