A good day...starting with sprint intervals early enough that it wasn't too hot. Ivy was awarded a prize for being an "élève méritant" and got a 15 Euro gift certificate to the local bookstore. We went to the ceremony (couldn't really hear anything, but oh well!). Through some miscommunication, Inga also thought she was supposed to come and get the same award, but it turned out not to be the case. She was quite disappointed.

Inga's team won a game tonight 11-2, with Inga scoring 2 goals. Dio had a practice that went really well. He's moving up to the higher-level team next year, which is exciting!

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The music went on much later than in recent years...still crazy loud and noisy around 3 am. I couldn't get to sleep until things quieted down. Oh well...it's just once a year.

I got my normal walk in this morning--a bit more sedately due to the heat. We relaxed in the afternoon and watched and episode of X Files. Inga went directly to a waterpark, with giant inflatables on the ocean, after church so she and Eric were gone until mid-afternoon. It was with her soccer team so Eric talked with the parents while the kids played.

They're upset because after Inga cinched the victory that brought her team out of district and into regional level, her coach decided to keep them in the district level. His main reasons? It's a long more driving and he doesn't want them to drive really far and then lose and feel demoralized. The parents are quite upset because it was a huge deal to move up a division and the coach turned the opportunity down. Eric feels like it's sexism in action to turn down this opportunity for the girls. If it happened to a boy's team, it would be headline news and everyone in the club would be supporting them.

Welcome to France.

What else? Most of us had a nice swim this afternoon, then dinner (Eric's turn: salad, leftover rice, and duck breasts cooked with shallots, balsamic vinegar, & honey). Then more X Files.

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Fête de la musique

I love that all of France celebrates the summer solstice with a huge music party. I hate that much of it is doof-doof electronic music. It was quite nice around here until 10 pm; acoustic, jazz, classic rock & roll. Then the doof-doof started. Ugh.

I met with a friend who having her entire apartment redone and talked through her electrical plans. It's quite the shock to see what the estimate is to have her electricity totally redone. Granted, it's in a huge apartment (huge for France, small for the US). That is why I could never pay someone to do something when I know I could do it myself and save like 20x the cost!

Ivy had a tournament all day in Antibes. The rest of us had a relaxed morning. I started them off with several wakeups (teenagers!) and French toast. We watched an episode of X Files after lunch, took some short naps, and then went swimming. Eric joined us at the beach after the tournament. The first two games they lost, but the last two they won.

More X Files after dinner. We just started it this week and the kids are enjoying the early 90s vibe, complete with cheesy music and effects.

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Even though I didn't feel like it, I went running this morning. I'm glad I did. And the water was so gorgeous that I jumped in at the end to cool off.

Lots of sitting down the rest of the day. I also had a podcast interview with Dr. Stu and Triumphant Birth Podcast about our twin home birth paper.

After dinner I went to my friend's apartment that she's having renovated. The crew just started demolition last week and all the small dividing walls are gone and there is rubble everywhere. Ahhh, reminds me of old times in the communist apartment. I'm happy I don't need to do that again for a while!

Zari may have failed one of her catch-up exams from 1st semester (law class). She's not too worried about it because she only has to get a certain average overall to get credit for the missed first semester.

Eric caught two fish today: barracuda and marbré. Dinner tomorrow!

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Whatever ailment it was last night, it was gone by morning. It took me a while to get to sleep. After I woke up the kids at 7, I went back to bed for a little nap.

I was sedentary today--unusual for me--except for a late afternoon swim. The water was gorgeously clear and calm. It's like swimming in a crystal. Zari found several treasures: a glow-in-the-dark fishing lure, a big hair clip, a little napkin, and some garbage.

Eric and I had dinner with BWB instructor Whitney Rose Pinger and her husband; they're staying at The Chateau tonight before heading back to the States. We're already planning a 2026 breech retreat. Can't wait!

A few pictures from this past week's breech training

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Something is disagreeing with my stomach and I've been holding very still the past two hours on the verge of puking. No fun! I hope it subsides enough to let me get to sleep.

What else from today? Eric went spearfishing and almost caught a big fish. I went to the beach after dinner with Ivy. It was overcast and windy so I opted out of swimming and just chatted with my friend while the kids played.

Inga's soccer team won 15-0 with Inga scoring 4 of the goals. Eric is very excited about the new girls coming on next year (many of whom are trying out right now) and thinks they'll have an amazing team.

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I'm catching up on my inbox--still not there yet!

I tend to wake up early this time of year because it gets light out early. Despite having shutters, some light comes through and bing! I'm up. So today was 6 am for me. I definitely didn't sleep enough but there was no going back to bed, knowing I'd have to wake kids up at 7.

I did sprint intervals fairly early this morning, and I'm glad I did.

What else? Dio is doing a 2-week internship with me (required by his school). I'm putting him to work moving our website over to a different host.

Orthodontist appointments today...

I didn't make it to the sea. Too much going on.

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I was tied up all week with our huge Train the Trainer event, which took every possible waking moment and many sleeping moments. I'm still recovering and let's just say that I have not yet conquered my email inbox but I'm getting closer!

It was an amazing week, both invigorating and exhausting in the best possible ways. We now have 12 new BWB instructors who will be going all over the world, from South Africa to Australia to all over the EU. I'm excited to see our presence grow and develop locally.

Meanwhile Eric has been crazy busy with back-to-back soccer tournaments. I've hardly seen him the past 7 days.

Ivy had her much-awaited "boum" last night (rainbow-themed dance party) and it was a huge success. It was hosted by a friend who brought together 2 groups of girls from 2 different schools who didn't know each other and now they are all great friends.

Anyway it's time for bed and hopefully I can find some pictures of what happened this past week.

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Too busy to write much...day 2 of our Train the Trainer program completed. 3 more to go!

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TTT minus 1

Our Train the Trainer week is about to start! I've been working nearly nonstop to get everything ready. It's a relief to have it start so I can do it instead of prepare for doing it :)

I met up with several instructors/attendees this afternoon, from the US, Australia, and South Africa. We went to the beach, along with Eric and Zari, after discussing a few training items. It felt amazing to swim. The waves were big today, with that classic fluorescent blue water near the shore and dark blue further out.

And of course, guess what I was doing at 10:30 pm? Installing a kitchen faucet and soap dispenser. We finally got our 2nd countertop piece 2 days ago, and I knew that if I didn't install the faucet and dispenser now...we'd be without water for a week! I didn't have time to get the backsplashes installed; that will have to wait until the TTT week is done.

Tomorrow is a school holiday, so everyone else is going to have a beach day at Hyeres with a few other families.

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We went to the drone & fireworks show last night, which was INSANE. I have never seen so many people in one place, ever. The entire beach, standing room only. The entire Promenade des Anglais + parallel streets and sidewalks, standing room only.

I caught a bit of the end of the drone show on camera.

Eric, Ivy, and Inga have been gone all day at Ivy's tournament. Inga stayed at the nearby campground to play with her friends. Eric had to come back to Nice for a book signing and then drive back...so he'll have been driving for 4+ hours today!

I've been preparing for the big Train the Trainer event next week. So many things to put together. Today we did an A/V test of our setup for livestreaming to those who cannot attend live. We (me and my assistant) bought loads of snacks. We need to get fresh fruits/veggies and juice/sparkly water tomorrow.

I had to load up on gloves and lube for the simulators. I hope the brand of lube I bought is one of the good kinds! You never know what will work on these simulators. Some are amazing and some are sticky and worthless...and I have LOADS of it now.

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Quatorze boules de glace

Our ongoing inside joke about buying 14 scoops of ice cream came to fruition yet again. It's my brother's last night here in Nice before he has to be a real adult again and work for a living. We got lots of funny looks as the workers were adding scoop after scoop.

Pictures from last Saturday when we carried the huge carpet home...

ps, any handsome* French** men*** looking to meet my brother? He's single! Every year we are determined to find him a "sexy French boyfriend."

* Somewhat subjective
** I suppose English-speaking is ok, too. And he also speaks fluent Russian!
*** Sorry ladies, this one is non-negotiable!

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Sprints and sailing ships

Dio has a fitness program from his US soccer coach, so I volunteered to do the exercises along with him. Zari joined in, too. Today was 30 second sprint intervals, with 30 seconds of rest between. We did 5 reps, rested 3 minutes, then did 2 more reps.

On our evening walk around the port, we enjoyed looking at several sailing ships and catamarans that have moored here for the UN ocean summit.

Inga had her regional game today--they lost the first game 3-1 and won the second one 1-0. It's a one-off event with a specially selected team of the top few players from each club. Eric is worried he got a speeding ticket on the way home. His phone told him the speed limit was 130 and right after that, he passed a speed trap and saw a 110 sign.

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Cap d'Antibes

My brother spent the day at Cap d'Antibes, and Eric and Zari joined him mid-day. Eric was hoping to catch some fish...but no luck.

I had a busy work day preparing for the Train the Trainer event here next week.

What else to report? Not a whole lot. I found a little Syrian side table to serve as a TV console for Le Catamaran, plus a 16-piece cafe set (espresso cups & plates) for 5 Euros. We officially removed our winter comforters. It seems like warm weather came much later this year. I've only started opening the windows consistently this past week.

When we went on a walk this evening, there were big changes at the Port (site of the huge UN conference on the ocean starting this weekend). All of the yachts along 1 side had been removed for an art installation: polar bears sitting isolated on their tiny icebergs.

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Book nook done!

Ivy finally finished her book nook, which she started at Christmas. It's so intricate. The picture doesn't show the top and back, which have all sorts of little rooms and retractable windows.

2 more to go...

My brother treated me and Eric out to lunch at L'eau de Vie. Soooo good!

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Victory for Inga!

The day after a 4-day soccer tournament, Inga's team had the most important game of their season: a game that would decide if they were moving up into the regional division. They were playing against Grasse. They lost to Grasse 2-0 last week, which meant they had to defeat Grasse by at least 3 points in order to move up a level (and Grasse would move thus be downgraded). So each team was highly motivated to win, or in Grasse's case, to not lose by a 3-point margin).

It was a nail-biter. Inga was put in defense at the beginning and there was not much action. Sometime during the first half, the coach finally put her back in forward. She soon did a beautiful assist and another striker scored the first goal!

The second half arrives. Within 5 minutes, Inga scores a beautiful goal, running past all the defenders and putting it in easily. I was already there with Eric and my brother, but the other kids were en route. I was so sad they missed it, and I didn't film it either!

Inga's team continued to dominate the field and, after the whole family arrived, she scored again! This time I caught it, although with some jumping around :)

Inga had several other shots on goal that she missed, but still the game ended 3-0, meaning Cavigal is moving up divisions. We were all so thrilled. Eric feels vindicated for all of his advocacy trying to keep Inga as an attacking player.

What else happened today? I had my usual walk to Cimiez and back in the morning. Eric had one of his Wabash students over for dinner (he's been doing a study abroad since December in Aix). We also went on a post-dinner walk.

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