Happy Hannukah, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

Happy Hannukah, Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noel, Feliz Navidad, Bonne Annee, Chuc Mung Giang Sinh, and Meilleurs Voeux 2017!

I didn't get my act together quick enough to send holiday cards again this year, so this post will have to do.  With that said, it doesn't diminish the fact that we thought about each one of you in 2015 and 2016.  To our new friends, we're so happy to have you in our lives.  To our old friends, thank you for the continued laughs and muchas gracias to those with the superpower of keeping in touch because those of us without truly benefit.  And to our family, we love you so much.

Even though we're far away, we have been lucky enough to see so many friends and relatives who have come to Paris and Europe in the 16 months we've been here ... and we seriously hope that continues in 2017.

We have so many kind, funny, smart, and wonderful people in our lives and we'd love to see more of you in the new year.

Some highlights:

Fun fact:  We traveled to over 34 cities in 10 different countries since we moved to Paris.  The kids get 2 weeks off of school every 6 weeks, so we'll be seeing a lot more.

When we are in Paris ...

I take French lessons.  Je peux parler du quotidien (I can talk about everyday life).  It's not eloquent, but I can get my point across with lots of hand gesturing.  I understand about 65% of day-to-day conversation and the other night, even cracked a joke en français!  I'm also taking cooking classes and can make a mean tarte bourdaloue (pear tart).

Jared Solowheels.  As some of you may already know, Jared is addicted to his Solowheel and makes it look so easy.  In one year, my husband has seen all of Paris and most of its suburbs thanks to this one-wheeled machine.  If Jared is not at home, I know he's on his Solowheel.  Since the first one he has didn't have enough battery range, he just bought a second and now rides 3-4 hours a day.  I love that it makes him so happy so I actually don't mind being a Solowheel widow.

The kids have playdates, go to school, and make way too much noise (remember, we live in an apartment).  They like school, speak French, and have made both Francophone and Anglophone friends.  Since moving here, our little girl has celebrated her 5th and 6th birthdays and our little guy celebrated his 8th and will celebrate his 9th at the end of next month.

Happy holidays from the City of Light.  Also, a big shout out to my little brother who turns 29 today!  Happy Birthday Phi.

Love,
The Slosbergs

Girls Ski

Don't let those chubby cheeks fool you, this six-year-old has been tearing up the French Alps.  This is Rocky's first ski of the season and she skied 7 days in a row.  That takes a lot of stamina!  Rocky is a solid debutant skier who can manage the blue slopes pretty well.  She's been practicing her turns and was proud to tell me that she knows how to do "French fries".  (Adults know them as parallel turns.)  I wonder if her ski instructor calls them "French fries" or pommes frites.

A Skiing Peanut

Jared (who is behind Peanut) describes Peanut as a fast and adventurous skier.  Last Christmas, Peanut was fast and reliably in control, but this year, he has technique.  The only glimpse I get of Peanut skiing is when he departs from the resort (hence these few shots of him in action) and I can see that he knows how to lean into the turns like the good adult skiers I see whizzing down the mountain.  In comparison, I'm still making wedge turns.  Who knew that this chill, goof-ball, 8-year-old would be so fierce on the slopes?  Like father, like son.

The Prettiest Ice Skating Rink in Paris

From mid-December to early January, the Grand Palais, which normally houses fine art and other exhibitions, gets transformed into the world's largest non-permanent ice skating rink.  How did I not know about this last year?  But as soon as I discovered this little tidbit, I knew I had to go.  And boy, Le Grand Palais des Glaces didn't disappoint.

We got there so early that I felt we had the whole place all to ourselves.  Peanut is a whiz on skates, unlike his mother.

Even though I don't know how to ice skate, I couldn't miss out on the fun or bragging rights about skating at the Grand Palais in Paris.  So, I strapped on a pair - of skates - and hit the ice (luckily, just figuratively).  I didn't know I had a death grip on the rail until I was preparing this post.  

Don't you love our skates?  Orange is the new black.

There was even a beginner's section, which Peanut and Rocky didn't need, but they couldn't resist the fun toys it offered.

Then, somehow, these two convinced me to be the engine on this crazy train.  I'm so glad I did it because it reminded me of the stupid, but ridiculously fun things my cousins and I used to do when we were kids.

When you stay almost 8 hours, you see lots of changes.  One, for instance, is the rink gets lit up with purple and blue lights in the evening.  Lasers bounce off the ice and white lights twinkle making the whole place is just magical.

Samsung must have paid beaucoup d'argent to have this set up beside the rink.  The Samsung Life Changer virtual reality park was completely free and they were cool with kids participating.  We downhill skied, rafted down a waterfall, and rode a roller coaster all under the roof of the Grand Palais.

Our First Thanksgiving in Paris

Thanksgiving 2015

1 Parisian apartment + 4 families + 8 adults + 9 children + 1 very loud sing-along + lots of food and wine = a great way to celebrate our first Thanksgiving in Paris.

Our first Thanksgiving in Paris was shared with new friends we met through Peanut and Rocky's school.  These Americans, who have lived in Paris for 3 months to over 10 years, shared this holiday of family and friendship with us.  We even had a special visitor all the way from Miami, Uncle Adam.

Jared, Peanut, Rocky, and I have so much to be grateful for.  We are healthy, safe, living a dream life filled with loving family members and friends who genuinely care for us and us for them.  I get emotional as I think back to the events in Paris on November 13th and the number of phone calls, texts, Facebook messages, emails, and more from family, friends (new and old), and business colleagues reaching out to make sure we are safe.  Even those who I haven't talked to or seen in a long time reached out.  I love this experience of living abroad, but at times, it can feel as though we're alone here without our support network.  The unfortunate events a couple of weeks ago assured me that we are not alone and have so many generous, caring, and loving people in our lives who are near and far away.  To me, all the money in the world cannot replace these relationships.  I hope you were able to spend this holiday sharing laughs, good food, and creating new memories.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Oui ou Non: Is Halloween Celebrated in Paris?

Oui, sort of.

It's certainly still a holiday led by the Americans in Paris, but French children and retailers are catching on, and for the latter, cashing in too.  Around the third week in October, I started seeing signs of Halloween with chocolatiers making pumpkin flavored confections, but very few advertisements in storefronts about the holiday.  About 20% of the stores had anything to do with it all month.  Starbucks, on the other hand, had posters about their exclusive fall PSL since early September.  I know it's not Halloween related, but it does show the contrast between when Americans and French start marketing campaigns.

The English-mother-tongue (they use this distinction a lot here) parents at my kids' school put together an extremely well-organized three-day Halloween blow-out for the students held right before their 2-week October break.  The school was decorated from top to bottom.  The first two days' events included pumpkin carving, cupcake decorating, and story telling.  On the third day, over 40 parents in costume cheered the kids as they strutted into school on the orange carpet.  Later that morning, we took them trick-or-treating around the school.

Halloween here is focused on being scary.  I saw so many bloody 2nd grade zombies to last me a lifetime.  I think the Anglophone kids were the only ones dressed up as something other than a witch, black cat, skeleton (although that was Peanut's costume), and pumpkin.  Also, all the French moms and female teachers were witches (with a "w" ... and I'm only talking about their costume, sort of, but I'll share that story later).

Trick-or-treating from house to house in Paris does not exist.  Parisians live in 6-story apartment buildings that require a code to get into the foyer, then a key fob to get into the rest of the building, so it's just not feasible.  Instead, on Halloween, we went to the American Library in Paris in the chic 7th arrondissement and enjoyed their annual Halloween celebration.  They had story time, crafts, magicians, scary tours for the older kids, and of course trick-or-treating where the children got candy from nearby local businesses.  Peanut, Rocky, and their friends went trick-or-treating at bakeries, chocolatiers, flower shops, and more ... the best one was a pharmacy.  I had to go in to see what the pharmacist was giving away and it was just boring candy.  Nothing fun to report.

The next morning, we surprised our kids with a second day of trick-or-treating.  This time at the Jardin des Tuileries by the Louvre.  Much cooler than any Halloween trick-or-treating I ever did as a kid.  About 600 American kids and adults participated and the event was organized by volunteers of a message board group I joined when we arrived.  Seeing that many Americans all at once was a little surprising.

Halloween was our first holiday in France and it turned out to be quite fun.  Thanksgiving is next and I'm on the lookout for all the meal essentials.  I'm certain we will not find a fried turkey here, but am confident we will have the best bread to go into our stuffing.

Photos from our first Halloween in Paris.

Obligatory shot in front of the Eiffel Tower

Outside of our apartment building

Americans taking over the Tuileries Garden

The kids' classmates with the Louvre in the background

We hope you had a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Halloween

We love you and miss you very much.