Skiing in Megeve

From Sean (with help from Noah, Molly and Rachel)

Yesterday we had our first Geneva ski outing, mostly to be sure that we had the right equipment, and could figure out how to get from our house, to the ski area, and onto the slopes. It was a lot of fun, and everyone made a lot of progress in their skiing skills. We had a 90 minute lesson from a very nice instructor with th Ecole du Ski Francais. He reminded us how to fall down, how to stand up, and how to turn around in circles. These were all very useful skills which we put to good use for the rest of the day.

Our first ski destination was in Megeve, a few miles from Chamonix in the French Alps. The area had a moderate amount of snow, and had just opened 4 days before we were there. The scenery was wonderful, and the temperature right around freezing. Here are a few comments from the participants:

Sean: I was glad to have an excuse to stay on he beginner hills, which is best suited to my actual level of skiiing ability.

Noah: "It was hard. Dad made me walk through very high snow. Boo dad! I liked skiing down the hill. I liked the food!!!!!!! We had lemon sugar crepes! Very good crepes!"

Molly: "I really liked going down the hill because you get to go fast. Going up the hill was not as fun. I liked walking around the town after skiing. There were pretty shopes and horses that wee pulling wagons."

Rachel: "At first I was scared to go down the small hills but by the end I liked going as fast as I could. I liked my crepe. Everyone was wearing moon boots in town."

Nancy: "I am sorry I was not there".

Some pictures attached....

Lausanne Half-Marathan by Nancy

This is Nancy writing. So we got back from our great week in Amsterdam on Friday night close to 1am. At 9am on Saturday, my friend Nina called and said she was going to do the Montreux to Lausanne half marathon the next day. "You're kidding," said I. Then at 2pm Nina called back and said, "I just signed you up for the half marathon." So on Sunday, Nina and Sally and their two cute little boys, and Heather and Dave (Sean's sister/brother in law, who are visiting) and Molly and Noah drove up to near Montreux (Rachel had to stay home to do homework:(). It was a bit chilly and drizzling (perfect running weather) and, after leaving the gang in an Italian restaurant for lunch, Nina and I started the race (at the bizarre race time of 2pm). The key was to pace ourselves, particularly because I had not run more than 6 miles in at least six months, probably longer. The run was beautiful, it went along Lake Geneva for much of the time, wound through a few old villages with cobblestone streets. There was a different live band every 2 km. There was one particularly entertaining band, dressed in turquoise and lime green outfits and looking significantly like Dr. Seuss characters. I loved that many of the spectators had set up their little tables with glasses of wine to watch people run by. So French. It also was funny that one of the ways I amused myself along the run was to do the math to figure out how many kilometers a half marathon was. I computed correctly, but there were enough differently numbered race distance signs along the road for people doing the half, the marathon, or the 10K, that I actually was quite unsure of how far we had gone (didn't want to get my hopes up) and we were not sure until about 1/4 mile from the end that we were actually approaching the finish line. Anyway, we finished, and we were ecstatic. We indeed ran the whole time, we did it in 2 hours and 13 minutes (basically a 10 minute mile) and then started to look for our family. Nina, whose French is a bit better than mine, was the one to approach strangers to ask to borrow their cell phone. We couldn't find Sally or Heather and also couldn't reach them on these borrowed cell phones. After about an hour, we started to get cold (grateful for the plastic garbage bags they gave us to wear), but fortunately I had put 135 francs (more than $100!) in my shoe pocket (Nina had said we might need it for a cab if we couldn't run). We bought capuccinos and crepes at roadside places and, like mac and cheese when you're backpacking, nothing had ever tasted so good. We finally connected with our family, who had been gloriously sightseeing at the 1000 year old Chillon Castle, and they made their way to us 1.5 hours after the race ended. All around a spectacular day!

Amsterdam vacation by Nancy

We are spending our half-term break in Amsterdam. Yesterday, we did a day excursion to the Zaanse Schans village. It’s a place where original buildings from other parts of Holland have been assembled so visitors can see some of “Oud Holland”. We took a train and then walked about 15 minutes to get there. We did a tour of a biscuit and chocolate factory (so far, a chocolate factory in every European city we visit…) and also looked through the wooden shoe making shop, the cheese making shop, and the old grocery store. There are many sheep, goats, and cows, with whom Molly visited. Probably the highlight was going into one of the six old windmills. The one we visited was a sawmill, and the power from the windmill was used in the pretty huge space underneath to cut logs into planks, with both straight and circular saws. We climbed up to the top (reminded us of climbing the Gay Head Lighthouse) and the very nice, older, Dutch volunteer gave us a lot of information about windmills. He had apparently recently retired and just been certified as a “miller” after much studying. He stopped the blades and we touched them and learned what to do when the wind is too high. Then he let Noah pull the rope to start the blades spinning again saying, “You can now tell your friends that you set a Dutch windmill in motion”.
We have gone to the Anne Frank house, which was remarkable. Even more exhibits and sections than I remember from when I came here with Nancy Showen in college. It’s been very cold here, so when we rented bikes to go through the large Voldenpark, we had to stop at the Blue House coffee house for large mugs of hot chocolate before resuming our biking. Afterwards, we found a cheap spot to buy hats and mittens. Fortunately, we also found a place where, according to Noah, “there are the best french fries I’ve ever tasted.” I think the exact quote was something like, “They are really big, and when it’s really cold, they are crispy on the outside and warm on the inside and so good.”

Noah's birthday adventures

This is Sean writing: We had a very nice time celebrating Noah's birthday today, one highlight of which was the outing to Forestland with Samson and Friso. They had an excellent zip line course that involved a lot of walking across swingin logs and cables suspended 4 meters off the ground, and several fast long zip lines that led from one tree to another. All of the boys seemed at ease with the harnesses and hardware, and all of the techniques necessary to navigate the 1.5 hour airborne adventure course. The day went from excellent to outstanding when it was discovered that the local food specialty was hot dogs and french fries. The orders of fries was large enought that all 3 boys were able to share with their humble (and hungry) chaperone. The last hour or so included a lot of jumping and tumbling on trapalenes and large inflatable slides and obstacle courses. We knew it was time to go home when Friso took a tumble on a slide that produced an impressive amount of blood, and required a visit to the doctor for a couple of stitches in his lower lip. Everyone took that mishap in stride, including Friso's mom, and it provided an exclamation point for the sort of daredevil antics that an 8 year old is likely to remember for a good while.

You can have a look at Noah's arboreal finesse by clicking on the video below. You will hear Samson giving him important advice and encouragement toward the end.

Nancy made another one of her cake masterpieces (pictured at the top) - guided by her unique ability to identify subtle clues related to the passions and preferences of her children. In Noah's case, we are talking about sugar. He also happens to enjoy building legos. Rachel and Molly were very happy to join this part of Noah's excellent 8th birthday adventure. Happy Birthday Noah!!

Lego by Noah

This is the Lego Power Miners Underground Mining Base. It is a present from my grandma Nana. It is very big and I like it.

Recent stuff

Bonjour, C'est Rachel. We are about half way through our time without Dad. He is still in the States and has been visiting with friends. He is going to send back mail, MY SKATES, and other things. Because we were so sad he was gone, we took a trip to the lake and got ice cream for dinner! It was really good. Today we also got a huge box in the mail. It contained amazing American neccessities, like Lucky Charms and Reeses. It also contained a long awaited present for Noah, which he will blog about later. I am not one to spoil surprises so that's all for now.

Museum of Natural History and Adventure Course

This is Molly: Yesterday, my dad, Noah, and I went to the natural history museum. The museum had a real turtle that had two heads. It was named Janus after the roman god with two faces. The turtle was born at the museum. When we saw the turtle, it wasn't really moving because one head was trying to go one way while the other head was trying to go the other way. At the museum, we also saw lots and lots of dead and preseved animals in dioramas. The museum was really cool and I can't wait to go back!

Farmer's market at Rue de Rive

This is Sean with another weekend blog, and I am under orders From Rachel to keep it short. Nancy was away teaching a course in India this week, so I tried my best to keep up some of her weekend traditions, including the trip to the local farmer's market. This one is walking distance from our house - involving a nice stroll through the Parc Eaux Vives across the street, which takes you down to the beach on Lake Geneva, and then toward the flower clock which is near one end of the farmer's market. The pictures are of the children's beach on the lake (with a playstructure made of bike tires), the flower clock, and some lovely raspberries and blueberries at the market.

Col de la Faucille

Hi this is Rachel. We haven't blogged for a while, so I think I'm not going to be the only one blogging today. Anyway, I am going to talk about something we did exactly a week ago, today is Sunday the 13th. We went to Col de la Faucille, an amazing ropes course/zipline place in France. We went with our friends Nina and Sally and their adorable boys Milo (6) and Cy (4). My height allowed me to do the adult course, which is amazing, except my muscles were aching for days. The adult course goers were me, my dad, and Nina. My mom and Sally monitored the other courses. Molly and Noah did the junior course, a ropes course ranging from 6-20 feet off the ground ending in a zipline. Cy did the kiddie course. The adults course consisted of 6 ropes courses and ziplines, ranging in difficulty from green to red! It was really hard but fun, too. I am thinking about having my birthday party there come April, but then again, it is not enjoyable at all if you are afraid of heights. The adult course must have been 40 or 50 ft high! At the end, we had crepes. Yum! I have attached a picture of me going down the first zipline and one of all the kids. Left to right: Cy, me, Noah, Molly, Milo.

First Week of September

Hello! This is Sean. Saturday, Sep 5 was a gorgeous day in Geneva. Bright, sunny, and 16 degrees Celsius. In apparent celebration, we witnessed the start of a hot air balloon festival right outside our living room window (pictured above). We then had a nice family outing to the Rue de Rive farmers market. On the walk home, we stopped for hot chocolate and a lemon crepe at a little shop near Le Jet D'eau. Also pictured above is our annual first day of school photo, in our new "backyard" (see first day stories in past blogs).

Hi! This is Rachel. The video of the alpine horns has been posted on YouTube. Please check it out and come back and tell us what you think right here on the blog. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC1wU3xXFAQ.
Enjoy!

3 cheers to cheese songs

3 Cheers to Cheese Songs
By: Molly Tunis
Non-fiction
Once upon a time there lived a girl named Molly. She had just moved to Geneva. On her second day of school, she went to her first English class of the year. Her teacher was Mr. Dennie. When she entered the classroom, he was holding lots of toilet paper. He told each child to choose a small number and gave them that number of pieces of toilet paper. Molly chose 3 because that is her name. The students were confused. Each child had to say as many things about themselves as pieces they had. Some people said stuff like “I forgot my name” and other dumb stuff. The class laughed. They think everything is funny. When it was Molly’s turn she said, “I like writing cheese songs. I change the words of songs in musicals to cheese.” (She wrote the songs with her friend 2.) Mr. Dennie asked Molly if she would mind singing one. Molly said she didn’t mind and asked the class if they had heard of “Fiddler on the Roof”. Most of the class had. Molly asked the class if they knew the song “To Life, L’chaim” The same people had. Molly told the class she would sing a song called “To Cheese, the Chicken” instead of “To Life, L’chaim”. She sang it. The teacher and class laughed and clapped. They loved it. They wanted to hear more but there was no time. The girls and boys who had been in her English class that were in her other classes encouraged her to sing more songs but there was no time. Everyone had loved the song. Molly had a good day. She likes cheese.
The End
That was a 100% true story

Dogs in Switzerland

This is Nancy again. I hope that a few of you out there will appreciate the observations I have, so far, about dogs in Switzerland or, at least in Geneva. This seems to be a very dog-friendly society. Here are my observations:
1. Dogs are welcome in stores. I have been in Ikea, I have been in drug stores, I have been in markets. There seem to be dogs (mostly very small ones) on leashes IN THE store, consistently. Clearly a different set of health codes (or sensibilities).
2. Doggie poop bags are available from neat (of course) metal dispensers on all city streets. There are trash receptacles on most corners, and there are yellow dispensers of doggie plastic bags on most corners with cute little pictures of dogs on the dispenser in case you were to mix up the purpose of the bag.
3. The incredible park across the street from us is huge, beatifully manicured, and is generally spectacular. It has sections for different purposes - the section with the huge playground, the section with the soccer field, the section with the rose garden, and, of course, the section with the dog run.
I imagine most of these dogs respond to commands in multiple languages as well.

My First Day by Noah

Hello this is noah. my teacher's name is mrs. howe. she is from southafrica. i met a person named lapo. he is cool. he is from holland and his dad's italian. he is the tallest one in the class. another person at my table is named tio. i do not know where he is from. i have french class 5 times a week. i could not play with the legos in the chicken coop because they were so tempting i thought i would take them.

(note from rachel: the chicken coop is my father's nickname for the gartery, the aftercare spot for younger kids to hang out until the high school/middle school students have finished their classes)

My First Day of School --by Rachel

Hi all.

So today was the first day of school. Soooo different. At RP we walked down the hall quietly in a line. Here we have a 60 minute lunch (instead of 30) and 30 minute break (non-existant at RP). So I guess I like this style better- more independence, but still, I'd rather go to RP because I miss my friends soooo much. Apparently my French test was good because they put me in Intermediate one(pourquoi???) Anyway, here is my schedule.

Monday- Mother Tongue English (MTE), Biology, break, Intermediate math, Intermediate French, lunch, MTE, beginner Spanish
Tuesday- Geography, Mentor session, break, double visual arts, lunch, MTE, French
Wednesday- Visual arts, Math, break, French, Spanish, lunch, double chemistry
Thursday- P.E., math, break, Spanish, French, lunch, English, Geography
Friday- Double physics, math, break, Spanish, English, lunch, French, Geography

(There are three semesters. Semester 1- Visual Arts and Geography. Semester 2- Music and Economics. Semester 3- Drama and History)

I have made some friends and I like my school a lot. I had a request about grocery stores and food in them. Well, to be honest, I don't really notice the differences, except everything is so exorbitant. The chicken tastes different, that's true. And everything is also a lot nicer, like once I got some chicken and it was stuffed with spinach. Blech. Email me at rgtskates@gmail.com.

Our adventurous beginning...

This is Nancy writing. Thanks to Rachel and her technological know-how, we now have a family blog! We thought we would have a year full of adventures, and it seems like the adventures started from the beginning. Not all of you know that we were due to leave Baltimore on Monday, August 17 on a 9pm flight. At 3:30 pm, when Sean was doing our online check-in, he discovered (yes) that Noah's passport had expired in June. Uh oh. So we quickly got on line, learned what is necessary for a child's passport renewal, drove over to CVS to get passport photos for Noah, my friend from work Joe came over to our house to notarize Sean's signature that he gave permission for Noah to get the passport renewed with only one parent present, and then Sean and the girls boarded the plane without Noah and me :(. But all the angels were watching over us, and Noah and I got up at 6:30 am, we were at the DC passport office by 8:10, got a perfect parking spot (I knew it would be a good day), got Noah a big lemonade, and went to the passport office. To make a long story short, we had a new passport by 1:30pm, we rebooked for Tuesday night, and British Airways (again the stars aligned) didn't charge us the extra $2,000 per ticket that was threatened.

From Sean's end, the beginning had an adventure, too. He arrived at the Geneva airport with the girls where the very, very nice babysitter/housekeeper of our friend from whom we're subletting the apartment was set to meet our family. She had agreed to come to the airport twice since there were (supposed to be) five of us, and we had so much luggage, and of course it's a small European car. It turned out that she came to the airport along with a sick 3-year old she was watching, brought only Sean and some of the luggage back to the apartment (with the girls waiting in the parking lot with the rest of the luggage and no cell phones, no contacts, etc.), and on the way back told Sean she had to take the 3-year old to the doctor and she couldn't go back to the airport again. So Sean, never having been to Geneva before, started to drive the little car back to get the girls from the airport. The girls had been told Sean would be gone 45 minutes and it ended up being a little more than 2 hours that they sat in the parking lot waiting with no information.... But of course they were troopers!! He arrived, somehow having made his way correctly to the aiport, through rush hour traffic, and there they were!

When Noah and I arrived the next day, the rest of the family were our tour guides. They'd already found the great park across the street, they'd already ridden La Grande Roux (the huge ferris wheel that watches over Geneva), they'd already had ice cream by the lake, and we repeated all of that!

So now we've been here for 12 days, and we have been to Ikea twice (once renting a truck and driving through town), we have had a magnificent hike in the French countryside, the kids have gone swimming twice in Lake Geneva, we have dinner with two sets of "new friends", we have visited their new school and bought school supplies, and we've taken the bus all over the place. Our apartment is beautiful and we're enjoying urban living...

That's it for now. More later from everyone else... (Attached are pictures of the Jet D'eau, less than a mile from our apartment, and La Grande Roux, our local ferris wheel :-D )

The Star of Shoes

This is Noah

I am putting up a picture of our family making a star with our shoes. This was on our 6 hour hike in France,

Alpine horn players at farmers market in Carouge

Here is our second post, by Sean: Here is a picture of 3 alpine horn players who were entertaining folks at the Saturday farmer's market in Carouge (a small village in Geneva). We bought a lot of local cheese (5 kinds), honey, berries, olives, plums, crepes, pasta, etc. There were many places around the market to sit down for coffee, tea, wine, mohitos, etc. And icecream, of course.

We also had the excellent cultural experience of explaining to the local police that our battery was dead, and we needed a jump, all using creative variations of basic level french vocabulary, and english words with a hopeful french accent.

Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA7PFdLHODA to see the video of it!

Intro by Rachel

Hello people!
This is going to be our blog for the year! It doesn't matter who you know best-- me, either of my parents, or either of my siblings; we will all be contributing and the blogs will be regular. We are going to try to post pictures and videos. You can also keep track of our year on my Facebook, or my dad's, or on YouTube (we will post links). Let us know what you think of this blog!

Last night was awesome! It was windy, which was perfect. We went to the beach, which has a sort of ropes course with tire swings. For a while, I pushed Molly and Noah, but then my dad pushed me and Noah (Molly and Mom went on a walk). We all got ice cream (American sized!). Earlier in the day we went to our very own farmers market where the music (instead of guitars) were 10 foot (maybe longer) horns! The pictures above: Me, Mom, and Noah on our hike up a mountain in France; Molly, Dad, and Noah at the farmers market by a fountain (aka dad's sombrero). More pictures and videos to come! Feel free to email me at rgtskates@gmail.com.