Behind Our House

We went for an evening stroll up the hill behind Bertie's sister's house (Evs might remember having taken much of the same walk with us a few years ago). Not a bad view really!

It was a much longer walk than we had thought so quite a lot of complaining from one LissaLou on the way up, but a bread and nutella stop improved things vastly! JoJo was particularly excited by the cows below - animals are definitely his thing right now.We decided to take a short cut over the above field, only to be met by a wire fence between us and the path. Uh oh! Nothing for it but to squeeeeeeeeze on through! Then we met another one! This time we caught Bertie in the act of squeezing!

Two hours later we made it back - 8pm and the sun still high in the sky. Can't get used to this northern hemisphere! (Nor can the girls, they are convinced they shouldn't be going to bed until it is dark....)

Photo Time!

Cousins Siblings

Siblings amongst the corn Helping Daddy

Looking beautiful in her new dress from Tatie

More Cousins

Going Going....Gone From Gwada

Well our year has come to an end, sniff! Our final three days were quite manic, getting the packing done, the flat emptied and cleaned, the car cleaned etc.

Due to waiting for Mamie's boxes to be packed, we were an hour off schedule on Monday for our checking in and trip to the beach, so we missed the farewell lunch that we hadn't realised was happening for us!! However, it was lovely to be checked in nice and early, comfortable in the knowledge that we were within our kilos and that nothing more could be slipped in our bags.

Then we made a final trip tp Ste Anne, where is POURED and the wind BLEW! We could have been on a UK beach! That made the transition back home much easier! As you all know, the best place to be when it rains is...in the sea! It did feel like hail was hitting us though. Just a short dip before we headed back home for more cleaning and preparation. And just in case you are wondering, people still managed to slide a few more things in my hand luggage!

If I am foolish enough to move again, remind me that it will take at least twice as long as I estimate, so I shall start well in advance! It would have been nice to have had more time to sit chatting with people rather than rushing around. I am not even sure that Bertie had time to cry, but his parents very kindly said how much they had enjoyed having us and both specified that they liked me very much, which was sweet of them.

However, we made it to our plane on time and were whizzed through security thanks to all these children. The girls were hyper, bouncing around the place in their excitement at going on the plane. We didn't get a baby cot so JoJo slept on me all the way back, which meant I didn't sleep very much at all. I was thankful for my ipod, and for everyone else sleeping!

Apart from a bump on takeoff and various bits of turbulence, the flight was fine, the meal edible. After an hour of waiting for our 8 suitcases (I was waiting for someone to ask, are you moving or something?!) we were met by Patrice and Richard, who then took an hour of wandering around the various Orly car parks to find their cars!! The girls and I fell fast asleep on the way home.

It was so nice to step into the fresh air and enjoy the different climate, and to see the beautiful scenery, to play out in the garden without being burnt by the sun, to pick fresh strawberries, to have a long summer's evening, to see the bees buzzing around my sister-in-law's lavendar bush...Ah, it is good to be back in France! The guest room has also been done up and is beautiful, with a top bunk for the girls and a bouquet as the perfect finishing touch.

We popped off to the shop this evening and almost collapsed at how cheap everything was. Bertie and I both got a bunch of grapes and they are both nearly finished, yum yum!

We all slept this afternoon so it was awfully hard getting the kids to bed before midnight (!) but they are finally there and we shall head off now. Oh, and we had a lovely anniversary meal with the family, thanks to Bertie's sister. 8 years, hurrah!

The Kids Part Three: JoJo

Ah, the beautiful JoJo! A joy and delight to us all, most especially to his adoring Papy and Mamie who will be very sad at his departure. It is interesting how well he gets on with them both, especially compared to the girls. He will run over to Papy, and I don't think it is solely for his biscuits! The other day he practically ran down the stairs dragging me with him in order to sit on Mamie's knee!

Bertie took JoJo to the dispensaire for his final check up last week. Vital statistics:
10.3 kg (a bit under the half way line, so he is no longer a big boy!)
82 cm (over the half way line)
I forget head circumferenc and who is bothered anyway except the French health system?!
Bertie took him this time and returned to tell me that JoJo had had two vaccinations, much to my horror! He received the second MMR and the DPT booster, which according to my red book are for 3-5 year olds. I worried over this and crazy french doctors for a while then was relieved to read online that the second MMR can be given a month after the first. He will just need one more vaccination (pneumaccochal) when we are back then that is him done for many years! (Barring swine flu of course...)

He is definitely taking after his daddy in most features, very slim and with a definite M head! His hair is riotous curls now, I had to cut the fringe a bit as it was down to his nose! I think he could be mistaken for a girl (LissaLou was playing hairdressers with him today and had it tied up! Nevermind, he will just look like his maternal grandfather...). He has so many teeth, possibly only two left to come through. And the loveliest smile, that still crinkles up his little face and puts a horizontal crease between his blue eyes. (Do words convey the same effect that one little photo would?)

Food - JoJo is his grandparents' (and parents') delight as he eats more or less everything and with such gusto and enjoyment! He feeds himself pretty much entirely now (ironically we still have to feed CassCass and occasionally LissaLou!) and will not start his meal until he has his fork in his hand. He loves drinking out a proper cup now, though does spill it a bit. Still a morning and evening breastfeed. He enjoys it so much (!) and I figured it would make flying and settling into the UK a bit easier for him. And me!

Movement - JoJo doesn't walk now, he runs! A funny little toddling run all around the place! He is constantly investigating here and there, following chicks and people, and to my horror crawling up the stairs and bumshuffling back down again. He is very confident and will go anywhere, or climb anything. The French word for him is casse-tete which I find very appropriate! He has plenty of war wounds, which may have worried me if he were the firstborn but just seem par for the course now.

Playing - JoJo is perfectly happy entertaining himself, if people let him get on with it. They don't usually though. That spoil sport mother of his is always taking him off the stairs, his sisters always remove the toys, his grandparents always shout to get away from the water etc. Honestly....
He is getting interested in Happyland now and likes placing objects in boxes etc. He has also done a couple of scribbles.

Reading - still loves it! Particularly anything with animals. His latest favourite book is the one mum and I made following our trip to London Zoo last year. He moos his way through it, despite there not being one cow within, and gets very excited with the penguins!

Speech - not a lot happening here. Well, there probably is a lot happening, but it is still all internal so not a lot to report! LissaLou is always telling me he said this or that, and he does occasionally repeat a sound. I think he repeated JoJo and he repeats rhythms accurately. He still does a great lion roar. His most regular word is Amen! after we have said grace! It is more like AhhhhMennnn!

GBH - plenty of this. He is constantly thwacking his poor sisters, particularly annoying in the car when we are limited to stop him. We are considering sticking him on his own in the third row...! He loves banging his hands down, with or without something within. First thing in the morning (we are talking before 6am) he will climb on Bertie and jog up and down and then....THWACK! throw his whole body and arms down on his poor father! We can definitely see the difference between girls and boys, he is so much more physical and daring, even than CassCass was.

Obedience - life is certainly a lot simpler with a 16 month old, but you can already see that glint in his eye as he redoes the action that you just said a very firm no to.... Won't be too long till another one will be learning about the merits of obedience!

Piou Piou, The Friendly Chick

We haven't been doing very much this week, just chilling out, or rather boiling out! It is so hot, I often go in the girls' room and find them resting on their beds and I can sympathise!

Today Bertie was at Pika preparing for our Campfire tomorrow which started off as a small do for friends and family and now sounds like half the town has been invited....

At home, we carried on with different activites in the company of our friendly Piou Piou. Have I mentioned him to you? He is LissaLou's schoolfriend's little chick and Mamie is babysitting him whilst they are away in France. Only, I am not sure how much she is remembering that they will be taking him back!

The initial plan was to take him to Pika and put him with the other chickens, to protect him from the mean mangoost that ate his sibling, but Mamie said the other chickens and hens wouldn't accept such a small chick on his own, so he stayed for a little while. And then a bit longer. And now he is still here and there is no more talk of taking him to Pika!

Piou Piou is a people chick, loving company. He sits next to Mamie and Papy, or if possible on their shoulders! He wanders around all day pecking at food (a chick with fine taste, he enjoys JoJo's spilt porridge, and today's brown rice was gobbled up!) and making the noise that gave him the name. There was no one around downstairs today so he must have been feeling lonely - he hopped upstairs and proceeded to wander around our flat, eating who knows what under my bed and pooing all over the place. He also loves water melon so I put that out for him, until JoJo got hold of it.

Needless to say, JoJo in particular loves Piou Piou and follows him around pointing and saying "nah!" which is his excited response to most animals in books or live. Thankfully he hasn't squashed him yet; in fact, as fascinated as he is, he is also scared of him and usually ducks away at the last minute.

Mamie told us with a chuckle that whilst all the other hens in the neighbourhood go to bed at sunset (the ones opposite us fly up in to the trees, quite a sight!), Piou Piou stays up faithfully at Mamie and Papy's side until 11pm or whenever they shut up and turn the lights off! Definitely a people chick!

Out And Abouts

LissaLou said how nice it was to have Daddy at home and to go out together as a family, and I have to agree! We are profiting from these days!

Other recent trips have included...

Walking down by the sea to watch the Tour de Guadeloupe by boat which arrived into our port one lunchtime. As we walked through the trees to get there, we stepped over mango after mango and picked up a few to add to our picnic. Bertie spent most of his youth going down that way to the sea (rather than the less muddy and hilly route by road that now exists but is much longer) and walking through smelling the very strong fragrance of fresh and rotting mangos reminded him of those days.

One of our churches had a Campfire out in the country and we enjoyed singing mostly creole songs around the fire, whilst being eaten alive by mosquitoes! Unfortunately by the time we left at 10pm with one sleeping and two tired wee ones, the food still hadn't been served....

Last Friday at the girls' special request we returned to La Ferme Ti Bou, this time with two other families. Needless to say the girls had a fantastic time, seeing the animals, trampolining, bouncing but most of all going round and round and round and round...(you get the idea!) on the go karts. The cool pool water was very much appreciated as was our water melon! Jojo was also able to appreciate it a lot more this time and had good fun in the ball pit.

Yesterday was a family outing to Port Louis to visit Bertie's nephew at a holiday camp he is working on. Not a job I would wish for!!! I thought they were camping but turns out their tents have bunk beds inside, easy life!

We then went on to the beach and enjoyed splashing and diving with all the family. Well, we would have if LissaLou hadn't had a meltdown and cried out the whole visit... These are few and far between now but still painful to live through!

Not many days left now so we shall see what they hold.

Bits And Bobs

No Wimbledon coverage here, but we are following Andy Murray's progress (and Roger Federer's outfit) with interest.

Tomorrow is the final day of school for LissaLou! Hurrah! She has been moaning about going for weeks now so I am looking forward to that stopping and having fun at home with whatever activities we come up with. We have to sign her livret scolaire tomorrow and then get to take her books home. Most schools have finished now and there is a holiday feel in the air. Very soon they will all be getting ready for 3 week long colonies, holiday camps either here or abroad, or simply attending activities and soutien scolaire for July. I am impressed at how hard the French work to ensure their parents can get back to work and not have to spend much time with their children...!

To the triumphant sound of La Marseillaise, President Nicolas Sarkozy is honouring the island of Martinique with a visit and will touch down here tomorrow. Bertie already recognised his special plane flying over with his advance team. Unfortunately, my request to go and photograph the occasion was met with a firm no from the staunch anti-Sarkozyite! On referring to him in conversation with his mum as "ton president" she retorted "ou anglais!" (You're English!)

On the moving plans, Bertie checked out the shipping company AGS. Coming over we had half a metric cube of stuff so that is what we paid for. Going back, we have to pay for a whole metric cube whether we like it not, so we are busy going around seeing if anyone wants to slide in a few more items. Unfortunately, people mostly like to send over fruit and veg and frozen things which we are certainly not shipping! I have sorted through the bags of stuff I need to give away - sadly there is no such thing as charity shops here! I did have a good 40 or mor pair of shoes for the three kids - WHY??? I have resolved to be far more fussy in what I accept in the future! All that clutter only leads to more mess! (Additional goal - reduce significantly CassCass' wardrobe. She wore FIVE separate outfits the other day! That is not necessary - and does not help reduce our extortionate water bill!!)

At Pika, we are enjoying pomme d'eau and the first of the carambole, the very last of the mangoes and a very occasional cythere. Plus the pineapples are through, hurrah! They all go straight to JoJo but he kindly shares the odd one with me!

Speaking of JoJo, and in fact speaking of speaking, he is now much chattier and great fun to hear. He makes a sound that is very like "ca va?" though it could be "papa", for now the jury is out. He stands and says it as he watches people pass by the house so it could be the former. He generally gets a reply though! He imitates really well, and does a great lion noise when he sees one (tends to be in books as opposed to outside....). He also snaps his hands for a crocodile and makes a clicking noise for a rabbit. So cute!

Bertie is preaching on Gideon this Sunday so we actually have this laptop to type his sermon up. Best give it back to him....

Daily Life

It is hot hot hot now! I made it to the park at 8.15am this morning with JoJo and CassCass and the thermometre said 28 degrees - so who know what it reached by midday! There are more mosquitoes out as a result and also we have had an influx of cockroaches. Grr! Downstairs they have had mice so the poison was put out, and a few dead ones have been discarded of by the brave men of the house.

Speaking of poison, I watched a cat across the road writhing in agony yesterday and asked Bertie if they had rabies here. He replied that it must have eaten the poison. It was a sad sight and I said if I had a gun I would put it out of its misery. Later I saw it on its side and felt glad that it was at peace. Then Bertie pointed it out the next day walking along with no worries in the world!! Apparently cats really do have 9 lives! Good job I have no gun! He added that when he was younger, he always saw poisoned cats when it rained (it was torrential yesterday) and thought that it was the rain that poisoned them! Well, that may be a fair conclusion in London....

I would add that that very same cat is believed to be responsible for the recent mysteries in our house, where we have awoken to find a chicken carcass tipped on floor, but oddly enough other things too which you wouldn't associate with a cat! Thankfully my initial fear of giant cockroaches has proved unfounded.

One final cat story - the cat opposite caught an iguana today! Amazing, they are big creatures!

Back to the rain - following the incredible torrents yesterday morning, we had an infestation of flying ants, that got everywhere, even down my top! But they disappeared by the afternoon so I am not sure which predator got them but am very grateful to them!

Away from wildlife, Bertie's lessons are all but finished now, though the school term carries on till the start of July. Apparently no one bothers going to school after our town's fete which is next week, in honour of St Jean. Today in the town we saw them painting the town hall, putting up red and yellow banners and the podium. They have also resurfaced the road by LissaLou's school, a sure sign that the fete is on its way. Bertie says the town has to look its best!

Bertie does have one pupil every morning from 8-10am however, which has meant that LissaLou is late for school every day. No real loss, as the teacher is always chatting to people for the first quarter of an hour anyway... This pupil is hoping to be a footballer and has just been to France for a selection game. How exciting to think Bertie may have taught the next Thierry Henry!

Bertie's biggest excitement is his one and only water melon that reached maturity this week - a beautiful and tasty specimen it is, I can assure you. Now he is waiting for his melons and marrow. Papy brought home the latter weighing 5 kilos but apparently has had one weighing 22 kilos! Wow!

LissaLou has started to learn writing en attache (cursive) which is such a french thing. It really is impressive how nice it looks and that even small children manage it. I am not sure why we are so against it in the UK - I remember we were not allowed to write like that (or with pens) until perhaps year 5 and Bertie says that hasn't changed. We are doing her learning via a Dora book (what else!) and she is making a great effort, presumably as it is on her initiative.

After the drama of the dentist, Bertie finally took LissaLou to the doctors to see about a kind of fungal wound she has had for a while now (a recurrence of the one she had last November). You know you are in France when you go in for one wound and you come out with a prescription for....
Antibiotics for 6 days (disgusting despite its pinkness!)
Disinfectant spray
Cream
Plaster
Sellotape stuff
Doctor's visit: €26
First 3 items on prescription €20 !!!
We explained to our BIL how you would get sent away with a fly in your ear and empty hands in the UK! I told Bertie if all that doesn't do the trick then we will obviously have to amputate the foot...! (Joke, mum!)

CassCass currently enjoys playing with toothbrushes (don't ask!) and cycling Meddy's bike which now seems to live here, and taking lengthy afternoon siestas which mean she is up and about till waaaay too late at night!

As for JoJo, well he is into everything, climbing everything, risking his life and our sanity at every turn! He delights his Mamie and Papy with his little noises and by stuffing into his mouth with gusto any food they give him. He gets all excited when given food now and holds it, looks at it, turns it around, all the time whilst laughing and smiling and making oooh noises! He has a very cute crease between his eyes when he laughs, which I do believe is the same as his tonton who is here right now!

As for me, I have managed 8 letters this week so am feeling very pleased with myself! My BIL will post them in France for so much less than the €3 they extortionately charge me here (not to mention the hour long queue thrown in for good measure! I was so pleased at our last visit to the Post Office to see Mamie at the desk, so I nimbly joined her there and got seen to hey presto!)

I am also working on my packing up list, though it is best not to mention our departure to Mamie, it is the source of much sadness for her...

As it stands, we need to...
*Work out what we are sending by cargo, pack it up and send a good month in advance
*Change the Phone bill to Bertie's mum
*Get travel insurance
*Paint the house
*Bits of shopping
*Persuade Mamie to make us some ponch a coco and confiture de goyave
*Give away additional clothes etc (I will count one of these days, but would you believe these girls have amassed about 20 pairs of shoes between them!)
*Make a list of all the things to do on arrival

Definitely not as long as the list I had before coming!

Les Marches des Esclaves

It amazes me how the locals here do not visit their beautiful island! I was horrified to find out that Stella has never been to the lovely calm lagoon at Porte d'Enfer so off we went yesterday to put that right.

On the way we crossed another visit off our list and delved into Guadeloupean history as we stopped at Petit Canal and visited Les Marches des Esclaves (the slaves' steps). In the days of slavery, the boats would pull in at Petit Canal and just metres from the port you can see the steps that they went up before arriving at a market area where they would be examined and branded then finally sold.

There is not much to be seen now and they could certainly add more information panels - we had been told of a prison ruin but couldn't find it either. However, as Bertie said, there was a certain sad atmosphere there that he has never felt anywhere else on the island.

When I was in Senegal many years ago I visited the Ile de Goree where slaves left for the Caribbean, so it was very interesting to see the arrival point and wonder at their impressions and emotions as they pulled up and left the boat.

We left Petit Canal somewhat solemnly and made our way to to the other side of north Grande-Terre, enjoying on the way the sight of fields and fields of sugar cane being cut down by huge machines and then loaded (or often overloaded!) into big lorries called Titans to be taken to the last remaining factory at Gardel. This is the end of sugar cane harvest season normally, but the strike has meant they are very behind and working flat out to catch up.

Porte d'Enfer was pretty empty and after a delicious lunch of chicken and pasta (makes a change from sandwiches!) we enjoyed the sea all to ourselves. It was amazing how the fish would come swimming right up to our toes and inbetween our legs, apparently not in the least in awe of us. Thanks to our high temperatures now, the sea was boiling!

JoJo is getting so confident in the water, he wanders around without being held, right up to his neck! (We stand right by him I hasten to add!) Then he loses balance and falls neatly on his bottom with a splash, always a fun sight!

After our bathe, Bertie climbed a tarmarinier and threw the tamarins down for a rather bemused JoJo to pick up. They are so sour!!! I am not sure who will be eating them! We got magnums instead on the way home....

Update On The Kids

Sorry I have not worked out how to put photos on here!

The kids are all well. LissaLou has been off school for a few days as it is closed to deal with rats! What really made me laugh was the rumour that they resulted from the grandmother of one of my nephew's cleaning out her house.... She has my sympathy though, we have had an invasion of cockroaches this week after arely one a week all year. I now walk around eyes constantly scanning for any unusual dark shapes and then it is out with the flip flop and....wham! It is really hot now and we wonder if that is causing it. There are certainly far far more mosquitoes. Guadeloupe is far nicer Nov - April, believe me!

Back to LissaLou....she and CassCass spend hours playing together with their Happyland/trains/polly pocket toys and it is lovely to see and hear them creating stories and personalities together as well as discussing and checking with each other for approval. Still fights and disagreements but it is much better now.

LissaLou came home from school and told me 2 + 2 equals 4 and a few other sums so we tried some addition and subtraction and she got the hang of it really well. CassCass and I have been singing the alphabet together and she can do perhaps a third of it now, plus she recognises maybe ten letters and loves writing names.

With all the recent rain I invested in some playdough which has been much enjoyed, by the teenagers in the house as much as the small ones!

Both the girls have lovely new sandals, pink for LissaLou (of course!) and yellow for CassCass. LissaLou also has new trainers for when we go walking. She has improved vastly in her walking, dating back to the 5 hour trek up the Soufriere which I yet to blog about. She didn't moan for four hours of it would you believe!! Since then we have done a few more walks - it really is a beautiful island and lovely to discover this way - and she has been great. I have high hopes for our return home! Now we just have to work on CassCass who is not quite so obliging....

Healthwise CassCass seems to have heat rash poor thing and LissaLou FINALLY got her filling at the dentist. Only for it to come out few days later. So she returned and got another one, brave girl. Only for it to come out a week later. So I think we will see if we can hang on till we return for a better quality dentist...

As for JoJo, he continues to be a delight, and his Mamie is already telling him how sad she will be when he is gone... He went through a horrible teething patch recently and that was no fun for anyone - I have never had teething problems in the girls so it was a real shock. I think it must be because they suck their thumbs and that assuaged the pain. But we didn't see a smile for a good few days and it did not help in the gradual stopping of breastfeeding process!!

However he is over that and back to his sunny self (except when hungry). Actually, if he is thwarted in his desires or efforts he will scream! He loves wandering around exploring, trying new things, climbing the most dangerous things. But his favourite activity of all is...reading! Ah, he is his mummy's son! He will bring book after book out for us to read to him, but if no one is around he will sit in the corner and leaf through piles of them. So cute! No words yet but if I roar like a lion he copies me!!

Ste Anne

Tuesday 7 April

The nice thing about having visitors (and there not being a strike on!) is that you are motivated to get out and about far more than you would usually. I am afraid we have become very much like the locals, taking the beach for granted and almost forgetting about it much of the time! But what a wonderful place it is, with fun and exercise and beauty for the youngest to the oldest, all for absolutely nothing! What's not to like?! (Apart from the salt and the sand of course. But that might just be me.)

It is definitely getting easier to go there now that our trio are a bit older, and to see the immense joy it gives JoJo to go running and splashing in the water before splatting the castles so carefully constructed is worth all the effort of getting our bags and bags of stuff ready (you wouldn't believe we were just heading off for a couple of hours) and all the rinsing, changing, sand in the car, washing etc etc.
The day sped by and our departure to Ste Anne was much later than planned, added to by that sad feature of Gwada Life, a lengthy traffic jam. However, the later you arrive the more chance of finding a parking space (the beaches were packed out all week due to it being school holidays) and the fewer the people on the beach. We also stayed late enough for a new experience for me - moonlight picnic on the beach! We watched the moonlight streaming across the water and gobbled down our hot potates (great suggestion for beach tea - warms up the coldest bodies!) before it got simply too dark to see them any more. Bertie kindly queued for our chi chis (with chocolate sauce - delicious!) and then we fumbled around in the dark hoping not to leave anything (or anyone!) behind. In fact, we actually made it home with an extra swimming ring!

Our Kids

JoJo loves....dancing...putting things in boxes or tubs or water....splashing....climbing (the more dangerous and precarious the better)...yelling for food....giving you things....taking them back again....and giving you them again!....knocking over building blocks....

Here he is placing some objects in a pot with great precision and concentration!
LissaLou had her Conseil des Parents last Friday which I duly attended. I was not very impressed though, as it was all about targets targets targets and how they have got behind as a result of the strike (they are four and five years old!!!) so a week of the Easter holidays and the May half term as well as all school outings (including swimming) have been cancelled. Honestly! Don't they realise there is value outside of sitting at your desk and colouring pictures in? When we came out, another mum and I looked at each other in despair and asked "but when do they play?" They even want us to do workbooks at home to ensure the kids don't get behind!! Groan...
Here is a picture of our family

This is all fine for LissaLou as she loves these kind of activities but what about those kids who don't and would rather discover the world in a different way? I was also annoyed by the teacher telling us that one child has been promoted to the Champion's group (LissaLou's) for hard work - what is that telling those not in that group I wonder? And finally she told us that those in the Support Group were doing really well, especially LissaLou who has made great progress. Fantastic! Er, hang on, what support group? Nobody mentioned this to me! I discovered she has been seeing the Language specialist twice a week to enrich her French vocab (other children in the class are creole only speakers).
LissaLou learnt to draw a Poule from using her hand at school - note the ou sound that they learnt at the top in red.
CassCass comes out with the funniest things. This week she asked for a biscuit because "it is shouting CassCass at me!". When we discussed that we liked the same food, she told me "nous sommes copines Maman" - ah!

I can't believe how good her pen control is - presumably due to copying LissaLou in part. Her pictures of people are coming on well

And here is her writing (I think she was writing her name).

She likes to walk to school with LissaLou and me carrying LissaLou's bag like a proper little schoolgirl! She keeps telling me she has her own school too! At home it is lovely to see her and JoJo playing a lot more together (when she is not stealing his toys from him) and they provide each other with a lot of laughter. And CassCass' day is not complete if we have not had a Dora storytime!

Out And About In Basse-Terre

Today we headed off to Sofaia which is known for its thermal springs, great for those with arthritis and rheumatism (for readers with a map, it is just a bit below Sainte-Rose on the northern part of Basse-Terre). It was very exciting as the route there was one that not even Bertie had ever taken before. We were expecting a basin to bathe in but on arrival we discovered that this has been replaced by a communal shower! Okaaaay....we decided to leave that for a day when the water goes off and headed off to the beach instead.

[I was going to photograph the shower but there was a lady taking a shower - in her bikini I hasten to add - so I didn't quite like to!]

On the way down we got to enjoy the most marvellous views of the Grand Cul Sac Marin (the big bit of sea to the north of Guadeloupe) and Anse-Bertrand over to the right. Unfortunately the photo can't convey how wonderfully fresh the air was too, bliss!

We decided on the beach at Deshaies - Mum and Evs will recognise from our photos that this is the second beach we stopped on with them on our whistlestop tour around Basse-Terre.

The sea along this side of the island is very rough and though it was a bit calmer here, we still had to hold tightly to JoJo to stop him being swept away and the girls kept close by. At one point all five of us stood in a row holding hands and being battered by the waves! JoJo was esctatic each time he got smashed by a wave (strange boy!) and kept going back for more!

After drying off we wandered around the town of Deshaies (two streets) which is very pretty - I like the way you get a glimpse of the sea between each house, it reminded me of Mousehole in Cornwall.

Since Sunday, JoJo has been more on his feet than his knees - much less wobbly and not always with his hands out front like a zombie! So today I decided to get him walking and dug out a pair of ... sandals! He was so cute tripping over them at first but then got the hang of it.

In any case there were plenty of folk on hand to keep him upright!

Our next stop for lunch was another beach visited previously - Plage des Amandiers near Ste Rose. There are great picnic huts here - though it has to be said the kids spent more time wandering around than sitting and most of JoJo's lunch ended up covered in sand.

Here is the inspiration for the name of the beach - one of many amandier pays on the beach with leaves in glorious shades of red right now. The girls helped Bertie collect the amandes and then he broke them open with a stone - closely watched and imitated by JoJo. A tiny but tasty amande is the resultThis is probably the nearest we will see to autumn here - just look at all these leaves from the overhead amandiers!

The nearest the girls will get to sledging here!

Enjoying a rare moment sitting

I am quite pleased with this one - that was the view from our picnic table. Since I didn't have my camera last time we came it was nice to make up for it todayYou may remember that last time we were here, LissaLou's sandal got swept away (we reckon it is over in New Zealand now visiting Esther!) so we learnt from our experience and all removed our shoes before enjoying a game of How Close Can You Get To The Sea Without Getting Wet! The huge waves swept in and had us dashing up to shore, which had JoJo in fits! LissaLou loved the game but CassCass (remembering our past experience perhaps) kept a safe distanceThe world is a safe place when Daddy is holding your hand

We got home to discover....the water has gone off! (And remained all day and night, meaning cold showers for those poor girls). Hmm, we should have stopped by Sofaia after all!

Celebrating With JoJo

JoJo was delighted with his presents (as were the girls!) when he attempted to open them on Monday morning (luckily his sister was on hand to help....)

(We woke Bertie far too early and he was still coming round!)
Lunch was delicious - Annabel Karmel's Bang Bang Chicken (a real favourite here with children and adults alike!) and Sweet Potato Gratin (maybe a bit sweet for me though) and boiled plantain, yum!

Then came the big occasion - JoJo's cake (you may notice a decided resemblence to LissaLou and CassCass' cake. You would not be mistaken!). He spent his time trying to catch it then the girls kindly blew out the candles for him before we all dug in. This was JoJo's first official slice of chocolate (or any!) cake and he relished every mouthful! Just look at him stuffing it in!

On Tuesday we went to the Dispensaire for his year review. It was a new doctor and I didn't quite get a lot of what she said, so I am hoping it was not important! She did mumble away lots I must say. The important facts were:

weight - 9.65 kilos

height - 77 cm

head - 47 (yes, they faithfully measure this every time in France! But what if there was a problem, how would you know? they asked me incredulously when I said back home this wasn't done after 6 weeks. What indeed?!)

Poor JoJo got his MMR and 2nd Hepatitis B jabs, both in the butt, so he was not a happy bunny. I think that he is up to date on all his jabs except the 2nd Pneumancocchal (Prevanar here) which I want to do back home as here we would have to pay for it.

12 Months - Joyeux Anniversaire!

The big day is here - today Baby JoJo celebrates his first birthday and graduates from being a Baby to a Toddler. In honour of such an occasion, I shall no longer refer to him as Baby JoJo (sniff, I miss my baby!) but quite simply as JoJo.

It seems quite amazing that this time last year we were in London, it was about to snow, I had been waiting and waiting for JoJo to come and finally they set the date for my induction at 16 days overdue. To think that after his birth I was spending my nights on the couch listening to him snuffle and snore away whilst I tried to get a few hours sleep. The next months saw me planning and planning and packing and moving. That in the time it has taken him to go from 3.63 kg and 54.5 cm to 9 or 10 kg and 74 cm (will get the accurate figures on Tuesday for his year check up) we have moved continent and gone through so many changes!

JoJo continues to do well, and be a happy smiley little boy who loves laughing and really gotten into shrieking and screeching ear piercingly (ouch!). Evs would tell him "no!" and he would stop - if I say the same thing with the same voice he just cracks up - no fair!

He loves his mummy so very very much and is very clingy right now, though his daddy comes a very close second. It means I carry him around a lot which is getting rather hard on my back. When he comes to his mummy there is often one thing and one thing only on his mind - milk! He is eating fine but somehow (mostly the strike) I have got into feeding him on demand. Uh oh! I think it is also a comfort for him, as he has never sucked him thumb or a dummy (though he always puts his fingers in my mouth when he feeds). So this month we will be putting an end to that and I have started by cutting his feeds down to three a day - which he is not at all happy about!! I foresee some hard work ahead!

The walking is coming on well - he can go across the patio to get to someone, albeit very wobbly steps, but if he falls down he will generally just crawl rather than get back up again. He is surrounded by family cheering on his progress which is lovely to see.

He loves crawling around or cruising along investigating everything in his path, and particularly likes playing with water (a real no-no here) or mud (ditto!). He is such a happy boy in the sea!

If he sees food, especially that he recognises (fruit and anything sugary now!) he gets so excited and noisy, shouting and grunting till he gets what he wants. He will also put his hand in Papy's bucket from Pika and help himself to a goyave or anything else that takes his fancy! He has 7 teeth now and can eat most things. I always find it funny that today he is not allowed honey and tomorrow he is!

JoJo loves reading books and will sit happily for quite a while looking at pictures and listening to a story, turning some of the pages himself. Unfortunately he is very taken with the tv, which he sees when the girls are watching their daily Dora allowance. He used to try and turn it off but now he prefers to watch it himself!

No words yet but plenty of sounds, mostly mamamama and dadadada and type.

Now when we go to the playpark he will no longer stay in the buggy, but get out and crawl constantly up the slide before sliding joyfully back down again. Time and time again! Great fun to watch but a bit heart-racing keeping him from doing himself too much damage. He has had so many falls and bumps already, I hope he has a very hard head!

I shall try and post a bit more about our birthday celebrations and first year review later in the week.

Leaving On A High

Sister Evs' three weeks which have sped past came to an end this past Wednesday. Despite her visit being marred by the strike, she had a good time and got to see a few choice parts of the island. However, there is still so much to see she will obviously have to return for another visit in the future!

The day before she left, we took her along to the beach at Ste Anne (for what is a trip to Guadeloupe without a bathe at Ste Anne....). She was suitably impressed and agreed that this is what you expect when you come to the Caribbean - clear blue sea and soft white sand etc etc. We thought the water was cold (the kids' teeth were chattering!) but she loved it!

It was so quiet there - on a school day there are only retired tourists there - well, at least until our crowd turned up! They must have breathed a sigh of relief when we set off again!

You will see from the photos that Mum and LissaLou are missing - LissaLou finally went back to school to her delight and Mum kindly stayed behind to collect her. We all had a great time - Baby JoJo just loves splashing and wading through the water now (whether or not someone is holding him...!) and CassCass had a great time mostly on my back. We also enjoyed watching fish swimming about the rocks. Even Baby Luke entered into the swing of things!

Before leaving we treated ourselves to a magnum each - and at £3.30 each it certainly was a rare treat!! Somehow I don't think magnums will be on the list of the 100 basic foods to have their prices reduced!

Evs has put lots and lots of lovely photos and her own perspective of her stay here on her Got Passion site - go look, enjoy and comment!

A Nice Day Out

Our church organised a morning walk and afternoon bathe for Ash Wednesday - happily everyone had petrol to get us there and our friends gave us a lift to sort out our lack of car space. We began the day at a place called An Ba Bwa La (looks exciting but simply means In The Woods!) which actually begins at the train station for the little Beauport train we took through sugar cane fields. No sign of the train though - presumably on strike for a better way of life.
Our walk was a good two hours and (we reckon, based on our exhausted feet and burnt arms and necks) at least four miles. At least! The scenery was beautiful, with all sorts of delightful plants to admire and photograph. On the far right top and bottom is the mahogany tree and its seed - looks nothing like the wood I must say. The bottom left photos are of a baby version of the passion fruit - delicious! No idea about the names of the others but they look pretty.There were also plenty of sugar cane fields to admire - these should be being harvested right now but...you guessed it, they are not due to the strike! However, the owner was driving through and he kindly gave Bertie a couple of canes to enjoy. Mum enjoyed using them as a Lechy stick!
The second part was through the woods and much cooler to our relief. Unfortunately, LissaLou spent a good hour of the walk moaning and crying - must work on her walking skills, as it is something we love and intend to do lots of in the future.

Baby JoJo was in our backpack for the first time and loved it - look at the cheeky boy stealing a bit of bread from the pocket!

After completing our walk and enjoying our well-deserved sandwiches, we set off for the beach. We returned to Porte d'Enfer a place that Bertie and I visited as a young, carefree couple in 2000 and have never been back to since - what a difference a few extra children makes!

It is a beautiful calm lagoon, great for children, with a grassy area all the way down the side complete with trees for shade and huts for picknickers (though you have to get there very early to bag one of these!) and a distinct lack of sand, hurray! At the end of the lagoon is the actual Porte d'Enfer, or Gate to Hell, where the Atlantic and Caribbean meet and the sea becomes ferocious. Venture along here at your peril! For some interesting details on the name (in french) have a look at this blog I happened upon.

Mum and Evs went for a walk along the cliff to Trou a Man Coco where you are meant to see water crashing in but for some reason they didn't (oh of course, it was on strike!). I must look at my photos from 2000 and see what it was like on our visit. The girls enjoyed the sea, Baby JoJo had a happy time scrabbling in the dirt, and Bertie made a great comeback to triumph in a game of Petanque with some of the other guys!

We stopped off at a viewing point of the magnificent coast before returning home.
Ah!
Mum and Evs have the proper Mother & Daughter photos but I quite liked this angle! Can you guess who is who....
We all slept very well that night! The only downside is that Bertie lost his mobile phone somewhere on the 2 hour walk...so we may be doing it all again!