I have not written anything in over a week so lots to catch up on!  Last week started out slow as the two littles had the week off of school.  The french school system has 2 weeks off every 7 weeks!  On Wednesday we went to France Miniature.  What a fun place to be on a nice fall day! The amusement park is a miniature of all of the French regions.  Each region displaying monuments or villages in their towns.  The girls especially enjoyed the centre of France miniatures- the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and even a mini Vaux-Le-Vicomte!  We took lots of photos of places we have been and would like to visit. The park also had 6 or 7 rides all of which were self-operated.  Kids had to push buttons or pull strings to start the rides.  However, the lines were short and everything seemed to run more smoothly than with an attendant!

Miniature Eiffel Tower

Emilia and the Arc

Luciana in a mini-Montmarte

Miniature St. Michel

Miniature St. Tropez

Emilia and Luciana trying to make it to the top.  Of course Chris was the only adult on this playing

Chris and Emilia pulling themselves up to the top of the spinning tower

 Thursday was Halloween and the older kids had a parade and party at school.  I volunteered to help with Olivia's party so I took the littles with me so they can have some Halloween fun as well.  They do not trick or treat in France so I decided to have an after school Halloween party at our house since it was a holiday on Friday and kids didn't have school. About 20 kids came over and a few parents. They played games and had lots of fun.  Olivia decided to make it into a sleepover and had three of her friends spend the night.  It was exhausting!

My angel and poodle

Olivia, the nerd

Alex, the ninja

5th graders music ensemble- my nerd is front and center!

Kids playing in our yard after school

Alex had his first hockey tournament.  He did fantastic as his team took 1st place after playing 11 games in 2 days!

We are finally getting back into a routine with school and activities.  Luciana made a new friend at her gymnastics class who is from Ireland so she in enjoying speaking English to another 3 year old.  Emilia is having a bit of a difficult time- she is so talkative and friendly and she really needs an outlet outside of school.  So I have arranged for some playdates with girls her age from the American School.  Emilia also suggested that her and I take a trip to London.  I asked her why London and she said "because they speak fluent English in London and they say "zed" instead of "z"- it is real English not American English".  How can I say no to that?  I am hoping to go one weekend with the older girls sometime soon.   Chris and I went to the dentist on Thursday.  Seems like every time we see a new dentist- we have new issues....I really do like her though and plan to have the kids go in January.   We then went to Galeries Lafayette which is an upscale shopping center in Paris.  It is beautiful and is already decorated with Christmas decorations.  Since there is no Thanksgiving- as of  Nov 1st the stores already start selling christmas goods and we thought it was early in the states!!!  So the kids already started letters to Santa- Alex wants an iPad, a motor cross bike and a brother!  This is the first time I am considering the iPad!!!

Thursday I went to the hair salon.  Now- I have heard several horror stories of non- speaking French people getting their hair done in France.  Each one saying that they were unable to communicate exactly how they wanted it done and if even they did, the hairstylist would convince them they needed something different.  One friend had her hair cut way too short, another asked for the same highlights but he thought red would be better for her and another came away with nothing she had asked for.  So these are stories I know of first hand and everyone knows someone who had bad experiences.  So- I opted for a recommendation from the American Women's Group of Paris to a place run by an Australian woman and all is in English.... Even though my hair is 6 inches shorter and a very dark brown, I am happy to say I am pleased with the results and now everyone is asking where I went!   Alex has another hockey tournament this weekend and a birthday party...Chris is off to Chicago on Sunday and of course kids have another day off of school on Monday......Looking forward to my sister and nephew coming to visit in two weeks!

the new hair cut