Tons o' Fun

You know it's going to be a good day when you see this van pulled up at your school. :-) Today was the first of four days of Oliver's "Atelier Cirque" (Circus studio) and he came home utterly thrilled - practised his juggling (they're starting them out on handerkerchiefs) diligently until dinnertime. They'll be doing this all week, 3 hours a day. Now that's what I call cool (Oliver, too). He said that he understood everything and there's going to be a show at the end! Vive le cirque!

One's heart soars and sinks at such an Easter display, eh? The colors, the glitter, the glow - the choooooocolate. My poor kids, now that I see the photograph, I have no idea how we all got out of there without 8 kilos of chocolate each to our name. Well, I didn't fare so well today and each kid got a little treat (chocolate hens for Iris, chocolate eggs for Oliver and Eleanor). As Oliver reasoned with me this morning when I told him we should wait until Easter morning, "Well, we eat Christmas chocolates before Christmas Day." Touché. This display may look like any in the States, and yet there are key differences.



Enormous chocolate bell anyone?







Or how about some birdhouses with chocolate eggs in them? Or (my favorite) a chocolate egg in a keepsake Hello Kitty egg cup? (Sorely tempted to get those, as the soft-boiled egg is a hallowed thing in our home...)



But let's be honest about who owns Easter: it's the Kinder people (ooo, nice demo of the toys inside at the Wikipedia page - truly, there is a Wikipedia page for everything under the sun). This is what caused Oliver to stop in his tracks - those chocolate bunnies are calling his name. Yep, renewal, spring, desires for pleasure and heavenly sweetness - let Easter come!

And then, as if the Circus and the promise of Easter wasn't enough, Mademoiselle Iris had a surprise for us all..



Ta-daaa! The Tooth Souris strikes again! (That's three teeth lost (all at school) since we got here!). Tooth souris!





Eleanor was leading the charge home - you can see Iris getting used to her new mouth. I put this picture in here because I actually love the outfit that Eleanor chose for herself today - very hip and understated for a 3 year old, don't you think? Of course, her teacher is super hip (wears all black and knee-high boots - no heels, though) and maybe that's rubbing off on her. Go, Eleanor!


So now I have two out of three toothless kids - Iris is so proud of her gap-toothed grin she looks like she's going to eat the camera; Oliver is in the process of giving his up (front tooth number two is making an appearance); and Eleanor, well, gee, I just love those little tic-tac teeth.

There's lots more to muse over today, isn't there? WOW! The Health Bill passed! They've been playing Nancy Pelosi banging the gavel in confirmation of its passing all day here (and yes, the French news gently let is be known that America, "richest country in the world," is finally going to spend some of that money to give people healthcare, something that all European nations (and yes, I'll say it, France in the forefront) have been doing for generations). And the Socialist Party here in France absolutely cleaned up in the regional elections (21 out of 22 regions went Socialist) - to the point where Sarkozy's government has undergone a "mini-remaniement" (a mini-rearrangement: the Education Minister had to go for some reason). And tomorrow is a nation-wide strike: 126 demonstrations forecast all over the country - Iris and Eleanor's teachers will be in Vannes - let's hope voices are heard: clearly, the French people have spoken! For now, though, having read yet more of the history after François Ier that takes me all the way to Henry IV, I'm going to finally watch La Reine Margot, loaned to me by our friend on the island - oo! with whom we are spending Passover - truly, a wonderful spring!