HUSTLE, HIT AND NEVER QUIT

July 15, 2012

André started last week his summer tennis classes for 4 year old kids. So here there are some pics of his first week. I hope he continues with this sport, because you know tennis is all about practice, practice, practice.
I couldn't help but notice that André is a lot taller than his pals of the same age. It seems my secret vitamin is working, isn't it?  ;)

SOUNDS OF THE SUMMER

July 10, 2012

André started several courses this summer: piano, tennis, equitation and English classes in Gymboree.  He's excited with all the new friends he's making, and so do I!

To celebrate the end of his first week in piano lessons, we went to have some ice cream in the Yacht Club de Genève. He's having every afternoon, five days per week for a couple of hours, a musical course with emphasis in piano, and he seems to like it. I'm crossing my fingers for this trend to continue. His teacher is Greek and has a lot of patience and talent.

I always try to boost music in the life of my children, as it's proved that music has amazing effects in children. My baby Adrien was having music classes and baby disco in Gymboree when he was 5 until 7 months old. My older daughter Aimée was several years in the conservatory learning piano, as well as ballet, rhythmic gymnastics and dance courses.

The International Foundation of Music Research has published several researches about the benefits of music on early brain development. These studies have shown that children that had music education got higher SAT in intelligence scores. They say that music "benefit cognitive abilities, higher reasoning and motor skills, and higher achievements in language and math". Isn't wonderful what music can do for those little brains?

MADE IN USA

July 5, 2012

André is the only one in our little family that has the US passport, and we went to renovate it as it's about to get expired. What a coincidence, yesterday July 4th, was the US National Day.  Considering that we went to the US Mission in Geneva to fill his passport's application with André dressed according to the occasion, wearing a US flag t-shirt in honor of his American nationality.
Afterwards, we took a snack in the area and as the US Mission is near to Notting Heel my favorite shoe store in Geneva, I couldn't help but stop by... what can I do? I confess I'm a shoe-addict  ;)

According with this post, another shoe addicts are: Christina Aguilera, who owns 750 pairs of shoes, Paris Hilton has about 2000 pairs, Imelda Marcos, the infamous former Filippines First Lady, had 1060 pairs (not mentioning her 888 handbags, 508 floor-length gowns, 71 sunglasses, and the list goes on)  And they mention Danielle Steel, an US author, who has 6000 pairs just of Louboutins!

I shouldn't feel bad then, even my hubby has more shoes than me. But again, his addiction is stronger than mine. You can understand now why André has a lot of shoes  ;)

BUCKLE UP EVERYONE!

June 17, 2012

This Father's Day weekend we decided to go away with Adrien for a short trip to Berlin!
The first day of our arrival, we took a boat tour across the multitude of Berlin's rivers and canals. Did you know that Berlin has more bridges than Venice? Around 1700 bridges. We finished with a traditional German dinner.
The second day we took the risk of get a walking tour around Berlin. The weather was not the best, as the whole day we had a few rain showers. However, Adrien never complained and he even seemed to enjoy the tour so we finished it successfully. We visited most of the main sights in the city, included the Berlin Wall, Hitler's Bunker, SS and Gestapo Headquarters, the Parlament, etc, etc. Of course we were deeply moved for Berlin's touching history. But we finish with a happy end as we met great new friends in our tour! I wanna say many thanks to our superb guide!
We had an incredible dinner that night to celebrate Father's Day.
Last day, we had a short walk and then headed to the airport. We arrived just to Geneva just in time to have dessert with my in-laws for Father's Day family meeting. Congratulations to my hubby, my father and all dads! Remember that the best thing you can do for your children is love their mothers  ;)

DON'T STOP THE MUSIC

June 7, 2012

"Music washes away from the soul the dusty of everyday life" said Auerbach.  We can't help but agree while we were dancing with the Putumayo Kids  new cd's that we got for Adrien's Carousel Party. They are great!  But if you don't believe me, check here all the awards they have won over the last years, including the "Best of the Year" lists in the best educational and parenting magazines.
Putumayo Kids are CD's collections with children music from all around the world that introduce children to other cultures. They have child-friendly music with African, Asian, European, American and Latin songs in several languages.
My favorites collections, which I played during Adrien's first birthday party, are (you can click on the links to listen a portion of each song):

• Animal Playground, animal songs from around the world. It's my favorite and a percentage of the sale of this album is donated to preservate the famous Bronx Zoo.
• Sing Along with Putumayo, a selection of classic blues and folks.
• Sesame Street Playground, multilingual songs from Sesame Street.
• World Playground, songs from all around the world.
• Latin Playground, Latin songs. My favorite is a Guantanamera version, sung by children.
• African Playground, African songs.
• French Playground, famous French songs.
• Jazz Playground, cool jazz songs.

And there are a lot more collections...

ONCE UPON A TIME...

April 15, 2012

During our trip to Germany, we went to the civil wedding of a cousin. There, André fell in love with a cute little German girl. Since he saw her, he called her "my princess".  It seems that the "coup de foudre" was in both sides and they didn't separate from each other the whole day  :)

GERMAN CRUSADE

April 12, 2012

Spring break is a great time for family bonding. We went to the south of Germany with the children, and despite the cold weather, we enjoyed this spring break getaway and even did some shopping.  I'm starting to realize that any country in the world is cheaper than Switzerland.

THIS IS BLISS

October 31, 2011

I know I haven't taken all the pics for the blog that I should... sorry about that. But I've been enjoying my new baby Adrien every minute of his firsts five months. Here is a mix of some of his pictures from August, September and October.
This first picture is about Adrien starting his Gymboree classes. He loves it!!

WISH YOU WERE HERE

September 15th, 2011

Time to say au revoir again to "ñaña Aimée"... so sad she has to leave.  But this is her last year in high school and she's so excited about going for a trip to Disney in Florida, USA and then to Dominican Republic for her last school trip. She's even planning to go to Peru for an internship... how many challenges! Well, we decided to go to a place around Geneva that she hasn't been before: La Salève, a mountain that you can climb by cableway, with a nice restaurant in the top and a breathtaking view to Geneva and the lake.

GREAT-GRANDFATHER BIRTHDAY

September 11, 2011

Adrien's great-grandfather, Otti, turned 96th years old. He's being around for almost a century now! Many of the family members got together to celebrate in a restaurant around Geneva's lake and then we went to our home to share the birthday cake. It was a day filled with nice memories for everybody  :)

STAYING COOL IN THE POOL!!

August 31, 2011

The weather is so hot that we're literally melting. Trying to keep the children cool in breezy outfits is my goal from now on. They prefer to be naked though  ;)

POSTCARDS FROM PARADISE

August 30, 2011

Holidays time finally came!! All the family spent a wonderful time resting and sightseeing Italy. We went to Bergamo, Lake Garda, Verona, Riccione, Oltramare and San marino. What a tour!  It was pure fun!! 

In the summer, because of the high temperatures, I like to give my children something comfy and fun to wear  :)

SWISS DAY

August 1st, 2011

August 1st is the Swiss National Day and we spent the day with Adrien's great-grandfather Otti and for the night we went to the shores of the Léman Lake to watch the fireworks and bonfires surrounding the lake.
This date from the year 1291, when the first three Alpine cantons made a historic alliance against the Habsburgs at that time. They promised mutual help and eternal allegiance. While this date commemorates more than 700 years of this event, the Swiss, that are well known for being hardworkers, voted for celebrate this day and take the day off only in 1993.
During this day, there is a nice display of fireworks that you can see around the lakes. The bakeries sell bread rolls with little Swiss flags and the children carry paper lanterns during the night in their way to watch the fireworks, while the adults light bonfires in every commune.
Bonfires have a long tradition in Switzerland, for centuries they have lit bonfires on top of the mountains whenever there was danger. Even there are legends about how the barbarians fled away when they saw the reflect of the multiples bonfires reflected in the lake waters, as they thought it was the edge of the world and were about to ride off into the sky.
André loves these tales... Joyeuse Fête à la Suisse!!

THE SCREAM??

July 20, 2011

I think Edvard Munch had in mind my boys when he decided to make his famous paintings The Scream. lol.  My p'tit monstres are wearing today matching turquoise clothes for a hot Sunday in the garden.

BEETLEJUICE PAJAMAS ;)

July 19, 2011

Sorry for being M.I.A. almost a year now, but I swear I had so much going on in our lives.  Luckily, most of the changes were positives :)

My mom sent some clothes for André and he's eager to wear them all. Let's start with this cool OshKosh striped pajamas which I called Beetlejuice pajamas because of its funny look. 

André and my hubby look as they're having so much fun playing with those logos. Some times I have the feeling that I have 3 children... oh boys!