I had a morning of meetings, and then Zari and I went running around noon. It's fun to have someone to keep me motivated, and vice-versa.

I did lots more video editing today and produce a first draft of a new pedagogical tool. Next step is to test it out in some workshops and get feedback!

Dio is busy studying for a big math exam. He's frustrated with his teacher, who just writes down solutions but doesn't explain them. So they're left to try to figure it out on their own, and then the class average is really low because they often don't understand the material. Sigh... I do wish there were a stronger commitment to effective pedagogy here. It can be so inflexible and top-down, with the teacher as the unquestioned authority.

Inga is working on an oral presentation about sexism in women's football (soccer).

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Busy day filming and then video editing. I got caught up in it and didn't manage to go running. I'll do it tomorrow!

Zari just finished a big scholarship application. I told her that tomorrow is job search day.

We really need to buy groceries...our poor kids are complaining that there's no food.

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Our New Zealand friends treated us to an amazing breakfast this morning! The kids were in awe. My Sunday morning pancake breakfasts now seem boring in comparison :)

Ivy was gone almost all afternoon helping her friend at her little brother's birthday party.

Inga had a game this afternoon, winning 4-0. Inga scored 1 and assisted 1.

We watched a movie version of La Peau de Chagrin (Dio is prepping for a writing assignment about the book). It was low budget but actually pretty enjoyable to watch.

A picture of Ivy with the 2 youngest girls...

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Inga came home at 6 am this morning after an overnight bus ride from Barcelona. She didn't sleep more than an hour on the bus, so she went to bed and didn't get up until 1 pm! (And that was after we had to wake her up 3 times.)

Zari and I went running this morning, around the port and then up and over the Chateau.

Ivy had a game and scored a hat trick, with the overall score 6-2. She said she did some of the most beautiful goals she's ever done.

Dio and Inga went to the Vauban sports stadium to exercise.

Our friends visiting have been having so much fun--especially their 3 little kids. They adore Ivy and Inga. Ivy went with them this morning to an activity and came home saying, "Wow, it was so tiring to have to keep an eye on all their kids!" It's so cute--they're always saying, "Ivy! Ivy! Ivy come over here!"

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Life has been speeding by. Inga is loving her homestay family in Barcelona. They have a dog so she is in heaven.

Zari had her firefighting day. They had to dress up in full firefighting gear, go into containers with their vision totally obscured and find the mom and baby mannequins, and put out fires. Her instructor told some crazy stories--some really tragic--about his time firefighting.

Eric has a friend from his university days visiting with his family. He's now a creative writing professor and is finishing a study abroad program in London. Fun to catch up with people after all these years. Two of their boys played soccer on Monday night with Eric and Dio and had a great time.

We have more friends arriving on Friday from New Zealand (well, they are living in France but originally from NZ)!! Super excited.

Dio is memorizing an English presentation. He's been walking around uttering phrases about the downfalls of the gig economy and the illusion of independence among self-employed contractors.

What else? I gave a MFM Series Grand Rounds for the Kaiser system this evening. It went really wall and marks the start of a pilot program offering vaginal breech birth at two of their hospitals in Northern California.

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Inga leaves early tomorrow morning for a school trip to Barcelona. She'll be gone for almost 5 days. Very exciting!

Zari had her first day of STCW Basic Safety Training, most theoretical fire-fighting. Tomorrow is partly in the water, practicing basic survival skills such as deploying life rafts. Wednesday she gets to suit up in firefighting gear and put out fires!

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Lots of changes around here, mostly fun ones! Zari arrived on Wednesday and is working on summer job hunting. She's doing a course all next week (STCW Basic Safety Training) so she can work on boats. The yachting industry is huge in this part of the country, and we hope this may open up job opportunities.

Ivy and Eric are currently at a tournament in Montpellier.

My cousin and his wife visited me--besides seeing him briefly at my sister's wedding (which I don't remember with any specifics, unfortunately!), I hadn't seen him since I was a kid. It was fun to catch up on our lives, children, etc. Zari and I joined them on a hike to Mont Boron and then a quick tour of the coulée verte.

Inga has some exciting soccer news but we can't say anything about it yet. But she has new motivation to work on her physical and mental conditioning.

We watched Exit 8 tonight. Great movie.

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