Cast off! Glasses on!

Yes, we just took off Talia's cast. We got to take it off ourselves at home. Talia's in the bath, all upset since her casted arm and hand are so small.

Also, yesterday, we went down to Colmar to pick up Ronnie's glasses. He got two pair and of course, Davina sat on the better pair, the first day so now he has to go to school for the first time tomorrow with the not-as-good pair.

Talmud Torah was cancelled this morning because of at least one kid with Swine Flu. A few schools are closed. One family I know all got vaccinated, only to have their oldest come down with it a few days later (her school is one of those closed). We are going to the synchronized swimming show this afternoon and she wont be in it, a shame since she'll be away at college next year...

My mother-in-law is coming for lunch so I have to run.

Mittelbergheim

Daniel's cousin came to visit with his family and we ate at one of my favorite restaurants, Glig in Mittelberheim. I came on my own, since the kids were in school, and I took a few photos. I was there first and had a little time to kill while waiting for the rest to arrive from Benfeld (seeing my mother-in-law). This is definitely on anyone's list if they want to come here to Alsace.

Very strangely, near the parking for the Winstub Glig, there was this creepy display of the old wine-making techniques.

This one looks like Barbie, doesn't she??

Back in the water!!

Yes, I jumped back in the pool this week. This is Big News for me because I couldn't swim while I was coughing. My yearly pool pass definitely wont pay for itself but oh well...

I also am only doing 20 laps, instead of the 30 I was doing before I got sick. This 20 feels like 30 though, I'm so out-of-shape. I managed to get down there four days (which is my limit). I have the kids on Wednesdays and even when I can take them down, I have to stay with them while they do laps. Talia has about a week more with her cast.

Is it my imagination or are there twice the number of people in the pool? It's true that May through September, the outdoor pool is open and that frees up a lot of space at Schiltingheim. I also like doing the fins, which have strict schedules. A lifeguard actually comes up to the end and starts reminding people to take off their fins at 10:30am. It's annoying as they consider fins to be fins. At our local pool, they told me they'll let me use mine anytime because they're short, not diver-sized ones that some people use. It's like, why bother swimming. Two strokes and they're at the other end of the pool. I did once get sliced on the leg by one of those things (in the other lane!) I wasn't cut badly, didn't even notice until I got out of the pool but it was a bummer as I was going to have my legs waxed soon and the darned cut meant I had to run around like a bear for an extra week.

The only problem is that the local pool in Hautepierre has a funky schedule during the week while Schiltingheim is open daily non-stop. It's also 50m ("Olympic sized") while Hautepierre is only 25m (like the majority of pools in France).

Last night we went down to Colmar, a village near Fessenheim. One of the guys who works with Daniel and Leon in Manspach lives there. He threw a party for his wife's 40th birthday.  So funny seeing her and her teenaged children. I was about to have Davina when I turned 40!

It was just a long evening for me. French dinners drag on and they take forever to eat. I hardly knew anyone and it was just, long...

We were next door to France's oldest nuclear power plant, in the village of Fessenheim. I don't know if I could live there. Stupid logic, huh? I'm thinking "Please don't meltdown until we leave". I asked Thierry and Muriel about it once. They said it's major money, very well-paying with great benefits. No one minds the plant. Good for them!

Kind of like the logic I apply to airplanes. I'm used to them, having flown since I was 8 weeks old and did it for a living for 13... That would probably terrify other people but I've been in several car accidents while my flights so far, have been event-free.

Speaking of... Daniel hit a wild boar on the way home. Yes, big grey thing with fangs and all! No, he couldn't miss it. Two just popped out of the woods and started running across the road without a moments' hesitation. He could have avoided those two... and did... except about four more came running out right behind. He couldn't swerve out of the way... no time and yes, he was going too fast. Boom!

We don't actually know if it was killed or not. I think it was at least able to run out of the road because the cars behind us were able to keep going. Daniel thinks logically he did. I'm hoping it wasn't a lingering death. Daniel reminded me that he "couldn't have avoided and besides, it's just a pig". Needless to say, Daniel's membership in PETA is not pending!

If that had been my little Yaris, we would have been 3 hours by the side of the road, waiting for the tow truck (not to mention the fact I wouldn't have gotten out of the car with wild boars with tusks running around) but Daniel's Land Rover wasn't even dented. One of his fog lights is missing the largely-decorative casing but it didn't even break the bulb.

Le Vaisseau

Under Construction!

Last Sunday I took the kids to Le Vaisseu, a children's museum they love. Talia even had her birthday party there a couple of years ago. I had other plans but that didn't work out and we were in the neighborhood... I didn't have my "normal" camera so I had to take these with my iPhone, which doesn't have flash.

They usually have some sort of temporary exibit and this one was on color (the last one was on food).

Better late than never... our Vittel weekend

Here are some pictures from Vittel, the weekend we left when I started to get sick.

We stayed at Club Med, which is next to a public park. While we still had a good time, Club Med is not recommended. There were seriously flies in the dining hall. The food was not good and the cleaning staff were nasty. I had a rather unpleasant altercation with them before leaving. The evening entertainment was good though. We saw a professional dance troop and they did a tribute to Andy Warhol (sounds lame but it was actually a lot of fun).

We rented these bikes;

These were taken on one of their theme nights so we took some photos. Not the best memory as Davina got stuck in the bathroom nearby. She couldn't undo the lock from the inside. When I asked the cleaning lady to go get help, she refused. I was livid, torn between slapping her stupid face and helping Davina! Daniel came in and he managed to lift Davina up over the top of the stall. We were lucky as many times the bathrooms in France have stalls which are separate rooms. So we got Davina out and left the door locked. Served them right!!

This would have been a cute picture of the three of them if Ronnie hadn't done the "dead face"!

More bike riding, although I skipped on this and took photos.

They were having a show of this specific breed of horse, of which I will get the name! They're really big, sort of like Clydesdales (which we saw in San Diego). They're not tall but very wide and large with deep "voices".

Daniel ran into someone he knows, who brought out one of his horses so the kids could pet it.

The guy running the roller rink was very nice and help me suit up all three kids.

These are professional pictures taken by the Club Med photographer.

On the last day, before leaving, we hit the very nice indoor pool. Well, I stayed out and took photos while the rest enjoyed themselves.