Verbier!

Finally!  It's SKI time! 

It's been over two years since Team Sasso has attempted to ski! Of course, we did try Ski Dubai, which frankly does NOT count unless you like to ski without making any turns as someone in a giant human hamster ball wearing a ski-burka tumbles ass over teakettle down the run next to you.  We were super excited to get back on the slopes!  And not just any slopes- the Alps!  We spent a week in Verbier, Switzerland and we were lucky to have great weather, great food, great snow and great company!  Per usual, we were joined by our great friends Shauna, Geoff, Taylor and Daniel Walker.  Here are things I learned about skiing the Alps:

1) The Alps are very high mountains.  Very.

2) A single run can take you over 30 minutes going straight down without stopping, so you'd best think about doing some squats to prepare.

3) There is a high percentage of AWESOME expert skiers, so bring your A game.

4) Prada makes ski outfits!

5) It is possible to pay $20 for a hot chocolate

Here are some pictures to demonstrate! We were skiing above the cloud line!

Check out the gorgeous terrain! (That's Caroline, looking sharp. She picked out her own outfit.  It's very "EuroSki")

One of the amazing things about Verbier is that it is part of the Four Valleys.  The Four Valleys allow you to ski the resorts of Bruson, Evolene, La Tzoumaz, Nendaz, Siviez, Thyon les Collons, and Vevsonnaz, as well as Verbier.  They're all linked together by the gondolas and lifts and what not.  That's 412 kilometers of downhill skiing!  It's never ending! But also guarantees that I am 100 percent lost, 100 percent of the time (not to mention mildly disgruntled that MY ski outfit is not Prada).

It's also interesting that it is completely permissable to ski "Off Piste".  The "piste" being the ski run, going "off piste" means that you are free to ski out of bounds, not on groomed trails.  This is always forbidden territory in US resorts, because it can be really dangerous.  I believe the philosophy here is that you are either a) Good enough that you are able to handle the terrain or b) Stupid enough to think you can handle it and thus deserve whatever injury you sustain.  Augusto is solidly in category "a", and he took this pic off piste:

The kids both did a fantastic job skiing!  Even Georgia, who was previously our "lodge girl", went out every day!

But I think they looked forward to the apres-ski more...which for them meant hanging in the snow-igloo they found in front of our villa:

And getting cosy with their buddies!

Another thing that was new to us on this trip was the concept of a "Fully Catered" villa.  This is essentially when you rent a villa or condo, and breakfast, high tea, and dinner are provided.  We assumed this would mean standard ski-fare - burgers, pasta, chili...good hearty food.  Oh no.  No, no, no...

We won the Super-Lotto of villa catering. Our Chef, Gerwin, was trained in both Michelin 2 and a 3 star restaurant - where he was also the head pastry chef!  Gerwin would show up faithfully each morning, and spend the entire day creating the most unbelievable culinary creations completely from scratch.  Honestly - it was like living in a 5 star restaurant!  The only picture we got before the food was devoured was one of our desserts - a passion fruit souffle with home made ice cream:

I will not tell you how much weight was gained that week.  Let's just say it's no longer the "Expat Eleven". 

The town of Verbier is also incredibly charming.  It's all tucked up on to the hillside, and looks just as beautiful as the Matterhorn area at Disneyland...only bigger:

We are already planning our ski trip for next year!  But for now, looking forward to spring break (with some SPECIAL California visitors!) and some fun in the sun!  Lots of love to all!

Snow Day!

Hooray!  The Californians are SO excited!  It actually SNOWED! 

While we have been to the snow to visit many times, it was super exciting for the kids to have snow right in their own backyard!  In preparation for the big event, we invited our extended Expat family - the Walkers and the Goulds (minus John and Geoff who were travelling) - over for a good old fashioned sleepover!  We had popcorn and M & Ms, watched so-bad-it's-good TV, and ate takeout Chinese.  When it started to snow, you would have thought my kids and the Walker kids had won the lottery.  The Gould kids (Alex in 3rd grade and Eva in 4th) were likewise excited, but having come from Connecticut, home of the 10 foot snowbank,  thought perhaps we had just all eaten one too many Junior Mints and lost our minds.  The kids ran inside the house screaming for 10 minutes, then outside the house screaming for an hour.  It snowed all night long, and when the kids woke up they made the most of it!

Here's the crew!

Toby, being a true California dog, does not care to be wet or cold.  He is the only lab in existence who is terrified of water and gives the swimming pool a wide berth.  But even he couldn't resist joining in the festivities.  Although he absolutely refused to let go of his favorite "baby" - the SantaPig. 

There was enough snow to give sledding a whirl:

And even build a snowman - albeit a rather grassy, dirty one. 

Lots of running and snowball fighting. 

The Fourth Grade Crew:

Third Grade Pals:

Later in the day we took a family walk in our neighborhood to enjoy the beauty of the snow covered landscape. 

The interesting thing about London is that it really is not prepared to handle any real snow fall.  The threat of snow incites a bit of panic, and actual snowfall completely shuts the city down.  It's kind of like California and STORMWATCH.  Elbows are thrown at the grocery store to stock up on supplies (my favorite was the woman behind me who had a cart with only 3 bags of frozen chicken parts and 3 bottles of vegetable oil.  Yep, that should do it for a few days), roads grow quiet and people generally hunker down at home.  There's still snow on the ground, and it looks like we might get more next week - but we'll be off on our ski adventure in Switzerland!

We thoroughly made the most of our first London snowfall, and everyone (including Toby) is looking forward to the next one!  Love to all!

West End Girls

One of the coolest parts about living in London is definitely the easy access to amazing THEATER!  The girls have developed a real love of musical theater, and have made several trips to the city to see shows!  The Theater distict in London is in the West part of central London, and is usually referred to as the West End (evidently, they are trying to re-brand it as "Theaterland", but so far I haven't noticed that one sticking.) The West End is home to shopping, dining, and of course dozens of theaters.  It's an easy train and tube ride from our house! 

The love of the theater started when we took them to see Phantom of the Opera on our first visit here.  They were absolutely riveted, and Georgia has listened to the sountrack when she goes to bed every single night since. 

The girls went to the Shrek show with Uncle Francis!  What a good uncle!!

Then the big kids went to see Rock of Ages with some friends.  Rock of Ages is set in my favorite era - the 80's - on the Sunset Strip in a club that bears a striking resemblance to the Roxy.  It's laden with chart toppers such as Sister Christian, Every Rose Has Its Thorn, Wanted: Dead or Alive...you get the picture.  We had a delicious dinner at Hakkasan and hit the theater!

And our last outing was to check out the new Michael Jackson show...Thriller LIVE!  Yes, it was a Michael Jackson tribute show.  Yes, it was super-cheesy.  And yes, the kids LOVED it and now listen to MJ all of their waking hours.  Georgia wants to have an MJ themed birthday party (???) and spends a lot of time practicing "the lean" (you know, that gravity defying move he does in the Smooth Criminal video?)

So what's up next??  We're still trying to get tickets to see Matilda: The Musical - but we may opt for this one...a classic! 

Time is flying and we can't believe we've been here nearly 6 months already!  We've survived our first 100 Days of Darkness, and Spring is just around the corner! 

Love to all!