Saturday, 31 March 2012

Taking the kids to Paris.........

......well almost all the kids.............

Mum came over for a visit and the week before the Easter hols and although she always says she is happy to potter in Luxembourg city, we finally had some decent weather and I thought it was about time I took her around to see a bit more of Lux....it's not that big after all....no excuses!!!!



We went to Echternach where there is a lovely lake you can do a circular walk around and a park at the end to entertain Ruby whilst we sat and rested!!  I even packed a picnic.  We went to the little town square and sat out in the sunshine drinking coffee.....kind of relaxing if it wasn't for ruby jumping up and down out of her chair every two seconds!!!!!

Whilst we bundled Ruby off to creche for a couple of days, we ventured up north to Vianden, where there is a rather grand castle up on a hill and cobbled streets town down to the river.....a real tourist place and all the americans LOVE it.........for us brits with a whole lifetime of visiting castles and old towns......I never feel the same "WOW"!!   These americans can't get enough of them so they are in their element around here!   It is pretty cool as there is a chairlift that takes you from the town, across the river and up towards the castle on the hill........which is also where the forest is with a rope climbing course.......fun :-)

So having given my mum a nice week lunching and visiting different cafs for coffee and cake (she is German don't forget!).......the deal was we would leave Ruby at home with her, whilst the rest of us buzzed off to Paris pour le week-end :-)

It all sounds great in the planning......leaving was not such a great experience......the poor love was crying at the window as we all piled into the taxi :-((  My mum tells me she was as right as rain 5 minutes after we'd gone and behaved equally well the whole weekend..........meanwhile Shaun and I in the taxi both agreed we would NEVER do it again!

Mind you - once we were on board the TGV and found our 4 seats with table and were playing cards together for the quick 2 hour journey to Gare de l'est........we were having an equally lovely time!

We stayed in the St Germain des Pres area which we love........all the pottering around and cafes to rest our legs in and watch the world go by! 


we stayed in a lovely hotel which had a very French feel..........


and the kids had fun showing it off.......


Millie never one to miss the chance of a pose.......


of course we took them to the famous landmarks :-)




yes we waited in line to get up to the top of the Eiffel tower........i was super-organised and booked our tickets ahead of time and then we arrived to only 1 lift working and had to wait anyway..........we weren't quite dressed for the weather and huddled together for an hour before we could escape into the tower!

By Sunday, the sun shone and we were warm again!  Especially after climbing the hill and steps to reach Montmartre. 





 
 
 

We had fun and enjoyed spending some quality time with C & M without having to chase down the street after our little monkey! 
A fun weekend.......you can never get enough of Paris however many times you go!!!

Friday, 30 March 2012

1st day in big-girl pants....................

that's not me by the way.....i haven't quite got to the stage of needing belly warmers yet.....but getting there more quickly than i'd like!!!!!   Anyway - Ruby had her first day without a nappy today :-)   and she was amazing......not 1 accident!    I'm sure it was a fluke and she didn't seem to drink as much as normal!   Anyway there's no turning back now..............



she was so proud of herself..............and also got to wear her skinny jeans (never quite fitted so well with the huge nappy padding!!) which she seems to have fallen in love with.........a fashionista at 2,  OMG another 16 years of clothes battles........aghhhhhhhhhhhhh

As if that wasn't enough..........We also took a visit to the opticians to get Ruby her 1st pair of glasses...... this is going to be a painful experience.......for me I mean trying to get her to wear the bloody things for more than a second at a time!!!!!   I couldn't even get her to try the damn things on!   not that it mattered too much as there was only ONE pair that were small enough for her!   so we' ve got a week's grace before we can collect them and the chore begins!  photo to follow (if i can get the camera ready quick enough before she rips them off!)

Monday, 27 February 2012

and we thought Luxembourg was expensive...............

...................but after our little ski jaunt to Switzerland.......we were mistaken.............OMG.......we need to take out a bank loan to buy lunch there!   By the end of the week I was making sandwiches and carrying a little backpack to the slopes!!!!!   Given the quantity of food we took with us from Luxembourg, I might as well use it up!
A great week all the same and again we were so lucky with the weather and snow :-)

We skiied with our friends, the Bakers, although for whatever reason I don't seem to have any pics of them!!!!!   They were rather unfortunate in that 2 of their girls got sick halfway through the week :-(  A fun week but not sure we'll be visiting Switzerland anytime soon!!!!!
















Wednesday, 8 February 2012

Monday, 6 February 2012

January turns out to be a busier month than most?!?!!!  not sure how that happened.....shouldn't we all be recluses at home avoiding alcohol and waiting for the weather to get better and nights to get lighter!?!?!!!

Thankfully no repetition of last january when the kids seemed to spend the whole month sick!
Conor gets a day off school to play in the Luxembourg schools chess tournament - Conor is the only representative from the international school (chess hasn't managed to breakthrough there yet!) and does amazingly well to win the  U11 tournament and comes 7th in the total competition (up to 18 year olds and a total of 70+ entrants!!) Millie relishes in wearing his medal as Conor is too embarassed to show it off!!!

Another cultural little visit is planned and a few of us head off to Metz in France to go to the Pompidou museum and the Bivouac exhibition.




I manage to escape for a night with 3 friends and we head off to Belgium for a spa weekend :-)
It was really fun and we all chatted far too much for the other guests trying to relax and have some peace and quiet!!!!!!
Boozy lunch and dinner so not much of a "healthy spa" trip but i managed to sleep until 10am......my "roomy" Cathy woke up at 8am apparently and was reading but I was away with the fairies and she tells me as soon as i stirred at 10am she started chatting so I didn't get a chance to go back to sleep!!!!!   I'm sure I would have slept all day!  Can you believe after heading off home after lunch I felt exhasted when I got home??!  not sure how that works!!

The following weekend we head off to the mountains of Les vosges for a couple of days skiing with some friends!  This year we managed to miss the Friday exodus from Luxembourg to France and so 2.5 hours later we arrive and meet our friends for dinner and the obligatory too much wine associated with any skiing hols!!  The sensible thing would have been to rent skis that night to avoid the morning queues............ho hum.......how we wished we hadn't been so dismissive of the idea the night before!  we eventually got out on the slopes...............................






Having become fairly niftty at packing and unpacking from all our jaunts here and there I just have time to get it all sorted before Ruby and I head off to the UK for 3 days!  Having not seen my Nana since the summer who is due to turn 104 in a couple of weeks, we made the trip over to Leeds/Bradford.......although leaving Luxembourg is obviously not the most straightforward of journeys (and getting up at 4.30am never seems a problem when booking the flights but at the time seems like the craziest thing ever with an almost 2-year old in tow!) we have a wait in Amsterdam where I relish my Starbucks coffee ;-)))))  We arrive Friday morning and visit my Nana who is unfortunately in hospital but thankfully recognises me and in a chatty mood (kind of making my €450 trip and middle of the night waking truly worthwhile :-))  To top the whole thing, snow falls during Saturday and almost mucks up my Saturday night plans (my friends hubby save the day and comes to collect me in his 4-wheel drive :-)) and gets me worried that I won't make it home on Sunday!!  I do make it home late on sunday but have to say I don't ever remember so much snow unforecast overnight in north England......typical huh?!



Sunday, 1 January 2012

A real white Christmas

October to December always seems to pass in a state of chaos and panic trying to keep up with all the birthdays, christmas events and school concerts / plays etc etc aswell as trying to get organised for christmas.  Since being here, this has been compounded by the fact that we always seem to be rushing to get away as soon as kids are out of school......this year no exception!

We had some great weather through the autumn and made the most of getting out and about with the scooters..........................Ruby now well in on the act and wants her own vehicle to manouvre........very slow progress made nowadays!!!!!   Anyway - here are some pics of a walk in the forest close to where we live.




Ruby in the shopping bag........    



Luxembourg Christmas Market is a big hit with the McCabes..........plenty of mulled wine and sausages............and the kids happy with the entertainment provided!   Ruby refused to get off........!!



We had a fleeting visit to the UK for a few days and got some shopping and outings in..........we managed a good night out in Harpenden involving too much wine and plenty of laughter...................




A visit to the Rainforest Cafe............................



After arriving back in Lux after a 4-day whirlwind trip we had a day to re-pack and then it was off to Les Gets in France for Christmas and skiing :-)    



Millie on Christmas Day morning opening her stocking and scoffing her chocs and sweets from the off!   Somehow it felt ok with the thought of skiing in a few hours!   Extra energy!!


The chalet we rented was fantastic..........with in-house chef to boot!  Amazing breakfast everyday with choice of breakfast cooked to order!!!   We were soon all out on the slopes............



and had AMAZING christmas weather............and Shaun was a bit hesitant beforehand about spending Christmas away skiing????!!?!!?!?!?  


Even Ruby loved her playing at the creche and in the snow :-)

Christmas Day afternoon we followed the lighted path to visit Santa's grotto in the forest........


One of Santa's little helpers.........

and it was then time to enter the grotto and get a peep at Santa................ssshhhhhhh......he's resting after his busy night :-)