Geocaching at Rutland Water

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A rare half-decent photo of me, so I thought I would put it on!

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Incredible to think that everything was covered in snow not so long ago. Today was a glorious Spring day - all sunshine and snowdrops. A good opportunity for Joe to try out his new hat- he bought it yesterday in preparation for our trip to the US (in October!)

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There are three geocaches on the Hambleton peninsula at Rutland Water and we found them all today. This was by far the most exciting - it had to be lowered down on a rope that was hidden inside the tree. Great fun.

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Here are a few more pics.

Dib, dib, dib!

Joe was invested into Scouts on Wednesday. Here he is bare of badges. Watch this space for him in all his finery (once Mum has managed to sew everything on, that is). Elaine has been busy unpicking all of his old Cub badges so that Joe can sew them (yes, he will do it himself) onto his campfire blanket.

Dob, dob, dob!

Back to Burrough

You might have thought we had had enough of snow, but no! Couldn't resist taking a trip out to our favourite hill for a bit more sledging. It started snowing as we left, so we might be back again soon for some more.

Luke and Joe - Ski Champs

Well we are back home now and on a real computer and internet link, so I have managed to upload a few videos. This is Joe doing one of the jumps at the Jam Park (i.e. the fun bit for jumping and stuff - heavily populated by boarders).

Luke got the bronze medal (they don't do silver so that was just a step down from gold!) Joe got a 3 star medal. They were both very pleased with the results as you will see from the photos.

I have added a few more photos and videos to the Flaine webfolder.

Birthday Balloons for Elaine

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It took some organising but nothing's too much for my girl!

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Last night was the chef's night off so it gave us an excuse to find somewhere special for Elaine's birthday. It was only a pizzeria but it was very nice - excellent pizzas and a very cozy atmosphere.

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The skiing just gets better and better. I went off on my own this morning to do a 14 km run down to Sixt and then a bus back to Samoens to get the lifts back up and over into Flaine. It was great. I spotted some chamois on the mountain (look carefully at the picture of the rocky mountainside and you will see a few at the top of the mountain). Turns out that Joe had seen a chamois rather than a marmot!

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Luke and Elaine were feeling weary this afternoon, so Joe and I went off for a blast - off piste, moguls, red runs - no problem!

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I've added a few more photos.

The Sun has come out!

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Actually it was out quite a bit yesterday as well.

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It is still wonderful here. There is loads of snow - nearly as much as back home! There are hardly any queues and we have been keeping our eyes open for marmots as Joe saw one from a chairlift yesterday when he was with his ski instructor.

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It is the chef's night off tomorrow, so we have booked ourselves into a very cosy looking pizzaria. It is Elaine's birthday as well so we can have bit of a celebration with pizza.

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A few more pics added.

We're in Flaine

We have had a fabulous first full day after a very mixed arrival day. We had to get up by 3.30am to get to the airport in time, so we felt like zombies all day. We arrived to bright sunshine though, and loads of snow. we got here just in time for lunch and got kitted out in a deserted ski hire shop - bliss!

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There are a couple of free lifts here so we were even able to have a quick ski in the afternoon. We were all pretty tired though, so not sure it was such a good idea - Joe was a bit wobbly and forgotten some of his moves.

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Another downside was that Cath Rich and her hubbie Chris and their kids Ruby and George were going to come and ski with us, but Ruby was unwell yesterday and George and Cath have caught it today. Quelle domage! We may seem them in the week but I'm not sure - the kids will have school I expect.

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Today was a little bit snowy and overcast. The snow is fantastic but we had flat light which makes it difficult to see the piste. Joe and Luke had great instructors and Joe was back on form again by the time we joined up at lunchtime. We had laugh on the sleds to wind off the afternoon.

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Here are some pics.