Serre Chevalier 2010

Our wintersport trip was a little bit different to usual for a few reasons. We went to Serre Chevalier (never been that far south before), joined Dave and Tamsin in a catered chalet type place (great to eat delicious food made by a gourmet chef for a change), drove there in our little Peugot 106 (1400km each way plus ferry between Dover and Calais) and all that with two little boys in tow (hard work but very rewarding as they were both delighted by the snow and all the activities that come along with it). It definitely won't be the last time we go on a wintersport trip! Hopefully next time more of our friends, especially those with kids, will join us!

One thing I learnt from my parents is that the journey is part of the holiday and I always strive to make every journey interesting and exciting for my kids. It must be working because they are both such good boys and travel very well even if they are stuffed in the back of a small car packed to the rafters including two snowboards. Nicholas loved exploring and comparing the ferry to the one in Richard Scarry's 'What do people do all day' book.

It dumped the few days before we arrived and on our first day the snow kept falling. We were lucky to have loads of fresh powder even though it was already April and the resort is quite low at 1400m. The rest of the week was mostly sunny and warm. What more could we ask for!

Serre Chevalier is not a purpose built resort typical in France but consists of lots of old villages dotted around the valley. Here is our rustic little village, Les Bez, in the background. The resort is also characterised by lots of trees and scenic pistes which make the somewhat dated lifts seem insignificant.

It wasn't all boarding and apres ski for us now that we have two little boys to think of. We had loads of fun doing other things that you do in the snow. It doesn't matter how tired the kids were - they were always rejuvinated by the sight of the snow and didn't want to go inside even when it started getting dark and cold.

Snowman

SnowballsSnow angelsSledding
More sledding

Gondola playground

Danny was an absolute star and always had a smile on his face. He thought the feeling of the cold snow with his bare fingers was the best thing ever and loved being dragged around by his big brother in a sled. He even got a go down the slope strapped to dad's chest (no photos as battery died at the wrong time). He is a bit of a thrill seeker/risk taker so I have no doubt that he will enjoy the snow more and more as he gets older!

Nicholas enjoyed ESF's Club Piou Piou Ski School where he learnt the basics with other little ones younger than 4 years. They were so cute following each other around like little lemmings. He did really well and had no fear - just pure delight. Next year he'll be ready to graduate to proper lifts and pistes. How exciting!

Here's Dad showing off his new Evil Twin board. As you can see the boys were very impressed.

One of the other nice things about going with kids is that you have a good excuse to do a lot of chilling and I must say I quite enjoy it. The way we managed the logistics this time was finding a nice spot somewhere and then taking turns to board and to chill. It worked well but wasn't really ideal as we could never board together or too far. So next time we hope someone will join us who will be happy to share the babysitiing!

A couple of awesome portraits

Some great group shots

Latest Family Photo

We're back from an awesome week in winter wonderland. As usual I took hundreds of photos so there's a lot of sorting out to do before I can do a post about our holiday. In the mean time here's a shot of the four of us enjoying the sunshine and the snow.

Happy Easter!

We left for South Africa on the 15th of December hours before the first snow arrived and got back on the 22nd of March just in time to witness the arrival of spring. Pretty good timing I'd say except for the fact that we love snow so we're sneaking off to the French Alps for our annual fix. Anyway, here are some photos of our week, which was filled with fun Easter activities with our lovely neighbours.

Happy Easter everyone!

Healthy Appetite

After the shaky start Daniel has a developed a healthy appetite. We're much more relaxed second time around so there is no wonder that the little chap has a sweet tooth. He happily eats anything we offer him (even purity) and is already eating pretty much the same as us blended up (doesn't mind a chunky texture). He must always have something that he can hold or pick up so finger foods are very popular. Like his big brother he loves yoghurt. Here he is trying to eat the tub.

Life back in London

Although we had an awesome time in sunny South Africa we are all happy enough to be back in London. It is great to be surrounded by our friends and our home comforts again.

Nicholas is over the moon to have all his books, puzzles and toys back. Some things never change: he still loves collecting sticks and still adores Phillipa.


We realised how much Daniel has grown because he is too big for many things like his crib, his car seat, his bumbo, his playmat, his rocking chair and nearly his jolly jumper too. He is a real little mischief and can't keep his hands off anything.


Nicholas is very comfortable in his own little bed. He sleeps very well with only the odd waking due to a nightmare, for some water or to go to the toilet. Sometimes we find him in odd possitions though.


Daniel is another story. Sometimes he wants a midnight snack, sometimes a snuggle - mostly both simultaneously. Sometimes he just decides it's time to wake up and play - how can we ignore this gorgeous face beaming up at us. Hopefully he'll learn the meaning of 'SLAAP' sometime soon.

Mini Reunion

We got back just in time for a visit from Caroline and Sophie. Here are some photos of Nicholas and 4 of his orginal girl friends on the banks of the Thames (pity Evangeline and Tully were not there too).

Snug as a bug

This was at 9am this morning. At the crack of dawn we let the two little bugs into our bed not thinking that our London bed is much smaller than our Joburg bed. There they were as happy as can be in the middle while we hung like fruit bats on the edge. It's not very comfortable, but if it means we can lie in a bit then we'll just have to do it, won't we.

Christmas Photoshoot

I did a photoshoot of the boys early in December with the intention of using the photos to make Christmas cards. Things were so crazy before we left for South Africa I never got that far. Some of the photos are really cute and it seems like such a waste not to share them.

Hope you all had a wonderful festive season and that 2010 is a year full of fun, adventure, excitement, happiness and love for all of you!

Back to reality

We've just got back to good ol' Blighty after a lovely long escape to sunny South Africa. I'm not sure how to catch up (or if I will attempt to) but I'm back on-line so watch this space.

Soon after we arrived

Just before we left

Nicholas changed from this

into this

Daniel changed from this

into this

And we all had a ball!