Here we are in March already. Here's a review of what's been going on:

We had Sandi, Don and Nik come visit with us over Christmas and New Year's, which was great fun. It gave us the chance to catch up with them, do some touristy stuff (back up to the top of the Eiffel Tower!), and have some wonderful food. And, while they took a side trip trip to Germany and the UK, we did a weekend trip to the Loire Valley town of Blois, with a stop in Chartres on the way back.

February brought us Tasman's 6th birthday and coincidentally, the loss of his first two teeth at right around the same time. Fortunately, the Tooth Fairy does come to Paris, and even makes payouts in Euros! Around the middle of the month we had Lise, Cyrille, and Wendy visit us while they were attending a fashion designer's exhibition in the city, and really enjoyed hearing about how their textile design business was just getting off the ground.

The last week in February then gave us the chance to finally take a real vacation - our long anticipated week at the Kinderhotel in Switzerland. The concept is brilliant - the hotel is family friendly, with big rooms, a fantastic kids' play room, meals included, and child care provided all day long for those who want it. The kids get to play to their hearts' content, and the parents get to go out and do things. We had wanted to give both kids the chance to take some ski lessons during the week, but after a first day sledding run that was a little bit too fast, Atlas resolutely refused to have anything to do with the snow for the rest of our stay, so he played with other kids and hung out with mom and dad. Tasman was game though, and really enjoyed his lessons. Crystal and Adham got a chance to do a couple days of skiing, and also took a day trip to the tiny neighboring country of Liechtenstein.

Here are some pictures -