Building new memories (and ski school story) :: in Briancon ::

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend - and Mothers Day if you are in the UK! I love going through my holiday pictures. I have great plans for them - as always, and hope to find the time to make it happen. However I have not taken my camera out as much as I had hoped, it is sometimes so easy to rely on my phone. My plans do not require big size pictures so I should be able to get away as far as quality is concerned, but it is not great for posting on my blog. 

So instead of getting a lot of pictures of Baby MiH skiing, here are some pictures of Briancon, the main town near our resort. We went there the worst day of the week - mainly because Mr MiH had a bad fall and there was no point in risking another fall due to poor visibility. And as Baby MiH was having a ski school crisis, retail therapy was very much needed that afternoon. Unfortunately the one yarn/craft shop was not yet opened for business (didn't they know I was in town) - it is selling mainly cross-stitching and I could have done with a new cross-stitching project. I have not followed a grid for a long time. 

Being on holiday was great fun of course. But we are really happy to be back, near Leo of course. Baby MiH is happiest at home, he cannot wait to go back to nursery. He was not really happy at ski school (he chose the ESF one) - nothing to do with the skiing, and everything to do with the social aspect of it. He is missing his friends, and did not manage to make friends in his group. Last year, it was a much smaller group (4 of them) and he loved going there. It is a shame. We took him out one day, we left him the following day - and went undercover to check out on him every half hour. I know - don't judge, I cannot handle tears. In fact I was not allowed to drop him off, Mr MiH did it. 

As you can imagine I went through French ski school, and I can ski well. However I would say that French ski school is a bit harsh sometimes. We only left Baby MiH for 2 hours and a half and then my parents were looking after him, or we would ski with him a bit. I am a bit annoyed that he still cannot slow down or stop - it is his second year of ski school, and this is a pretty key skill to acquire. I will be working on it over this year at our nearest snow dome. 

I like the idea of him mixing with other French kids, and learn skiing in French. I cannot teach him in English. But I don't want him to resent being with other French kids. It is a fine line to strike with bilingual kids - he is French and yet he is not at the same time (ie he is not in a French system). We will carry on going to Serre-Chevalier, mainly because our babysitters in chief (aka my parents) go there, but I might try to look for ski schools with smaller groups - where I think Baby MiH will thrive better. 

Have you got any tips for me for taking bilingual children on holiday?

There will be other pictures of skiing as I wore my Fidra every day out there, and managed to get Mr MiH to stop and take some pics. 

My soul country

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope you are all having a good week so far. We went back to the Netherlands for the weekend, and now back into some sort of routine. Mr MiH spent 5 years of his life out there (and I a mere 6 months) - before we got married (although it was close, as we only moved in together a week before our wedding). We still have friends out there, in fact my brother now lives there - so as you can see plenty to get on with. 

Whilst I was out there, I started to play 'what if...?' I am not keen on playing that game, especially now - because well, you know there is no point in discussing what if .. because, yes, everything will be different if... Anyhow it reminded me that at some point Mr MiH and I were discussing actually living in the Netherlands, him sticking to his job, and me finding one - and buying a house, we already had views on one. As you can see we were ready to make the commitment. But it was not to be, and I was the one who stayed in the UK job, and Mr MiH who found a job back here. It has been busy in the last 5 years, and I never had time to reflect on what if... 

Could the Netherlands be my soul country? I knew the UK was my soul country - the country you want to live in even though you might not be able to speak the language properly and knowing that your parents would (utterly) disapprove. I knew when I was 16/17. I moved across when I was 19. It was the right thing to do, I saw a landscape, and just knew it was the one I had seen in my vision. And I gave up everything in France - not that there was a lot to give up, my studies mainly, and made a life for myself in Britain. I was given the opportunity and I took it. 

Even after what happened to Leo, I did not regret living my decision. As you can imagine, I received a lot of (unhelpful) comments telling me that it would not have happened had I been in another country (mainly France). In fact it had happened, I researched  the topic extensively, and there are similar cases to ours. It does make it better (at all), it just means it could have happened elsewhere. 

So have I missed the opportunity of a lifetime not sticking with the Netherlands, and giving up at the first hurdle - was it my soul country? It was really appealing - I love the sea, the water - this is a country according to my own heart. We had many friends nearby, we had a life out there (we did not in London). Amsterdam is a very exciting city, and yet not as big London and therefore manageable. The pace of life is a bit slower than here near London. But on Sunday I was glad to be back, and it made sense that I gave up after the first hurdle. My soul country is still Great Britain. I asked Mr MiH whether he missed being in the Netherlands, and thought we missed an opportunity. No was his answer, so I suppose we will stick to Britain for the time being!

Have you got a soul country? Did you give up a life to do what feels right?

Building New Memories :: in Lewes ::

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the fireworks over the weekend (if you are in the UK). We had a great time at friends, and managed to sneak in a visit to Lewes. I wanted to go there for a while, I saw shops featured in my favourite magazines based there, and a house featured on the TV show Grand Designs. I saw neither the shops nor the house, but we still had a great time building new memories for Baby MiH and us. 

Baby MiH was happy to go along with it (you will see some pictures of him tomorrow) because we were visiting more friends afterwards. I am wondering whether he is not bored of us at the moment. You should see how excited he is about spending an evening with his grand-parents rather than us. Maybe it is too much attention, and he is not used to it anymore. 

Anyway if you are based in the UK, and have not been, it is totally worth a visit. I found it quite calming as a town but big enough to keep me interested. We will probably do more of these one-night trips, what do you recommend we visit next?

And here is a sneak peak at tomorrow's pictures... I just have to steal the beanie hat for a day so that I can take proper pictures of it and tell you all about it. 

#travellingwiththekids

I am finally recovering from our week away with both kids - and Little Baby MiH first flight. It was a much needed break, and spending some time with my whole family. Mr MiH and I were very (very) lucky and skied every day and so did Baby MiH who went to ski school this year! He can certainly go down the hill - but cannot stop yet - yes, it is an issue, just not as far as he is concerned. 

We go to the same resort every year (Serre-Chevalier). When I was younger, I thought that this was the most boring ever, when there are so many resorts to try. Now that I have kids, I love that everything is familiar, I know where to rent skis, the pushchair, the sledge and the route to the resort.. I am all about the routine, and at the end of the day there is so much excitement a girl can take after a flight with 2 kids. 

The weather was fairly good - but as time on our own is SO precious, it did not matter. We went skiing every day, and if the weather was bad we made the most of our lunch en tête a tête, and spend quality time together. There is no way I am wasting a babysitting offer. Time as a couple has become scarce, and therefore important. 

The flights were ok. It was a dream on the way there, I should have done better... The way back was a bit more challenging, starting by the baby being sick of me before we boarded the plane, and a serious case of ear popping. By the time we landed, The wonderful woman who invited us to take the 'special assistance' passport lane (ie avoiding 20 minutes of queue) literally saved my life. Gatwick airport clearly have a family friendly policy, and has been a wonderful experience (if you are based in the UK and a choice). 

We are back. I will be back on the blog. I have a few projects that are finished, and need posting, and few others in the works to share soon. I intend to be around more frequently now.