woo!

personal record up Narbonne (~20 minutes from pinsello to the last steep spot)

Schoooooools out for summer

It was the last day of school today, and I noticed a sign indicating that the kids would be going to the park near our house for a treasure hunt and activities today. Not being able to resist watching Zoe running around with her classmates, I asked the teacher if I could join. It turned out that they were looking for help from parents, and I was soon recruited into the gymnastics section. The complete pool of ~60 kids were broken up into groups of ten or so, and several activities were set up. The only ones I could see from my side of the field were a sack race, a relay race, and gymnastics. The gymnastics involved somersaults, cartwheels, hanging from the bar with their knees ('Cochon pendu'), rolling all the way around the bar, and the coup de grace: walking along the bar. Walking along the bar was the clear favorite (for the kids), but also the most strenuous (for the parents). It basically involved hoisting the not-so-light kids onto the bar, walking along with them, and them hoisting them up into the air and then down to the ground. My back and shoulder were in a fair bit of pain by the end, but it was still great to see Zoe in her école environment. Of course, after escorting the better part of the ecole maternelle along the bar without incident, I managed to lose hold of Zoe and she fell onto the bar. This engendered much crying, but the teacher saved me and Zoe calmed down. I'm not sure how she did it! Zoe then got a very special teacher assisted beam walk:

Other pictures: