I love fete season. And I think Sassy might too.
La grande fete is more extravagant than the usual (sideshow rides!) and a little fancy (I had a French red with my vegetarian paella, and the most divine mille feuille as a sneaky treat). Norma, the little vintage caravan, also made an appearance (we love her). We scored some great secondhand books, watched the spinning tea cups and maypole dancing (the Little One joining in with her own special jig on the sidelines), and I wandered about the familiar grounds thinking of my days teaching at this lovely bilingual school.
K speaks to Saskia in Portuguese (when he remembers), and we've always agreed about how important this is to us. We'd love her to grow up knowing another language and attend a bilingual school. Do your little ones know another language? Do they attend a bilingual school? I'd love to know how others have approached this. We found out about this great organisation at the fete and I'm keen to know more. Hoping my (very limited!) Portuguese will improve at the same time.....
What a delightful day! I adore fetes. They have such a beautiful community vibe. I beleive it's so very important to pass on another language to your child. My hubby's Nana is from Corsica and when she immigrated here many moons ago she left her language and her culture behind her. Hence Darren's Dad learnt nothing of his ancestry and can't speak a word of French. Only now is she starting to pass on her world back home. Friends of ours send their poppet to a French school. It sounds like such a wonderfully nurturing environment and at the age of 4 and half their little girl's French language skills are phenomenal! Wishing you a beautiful week filled with cups of tea, sunshine and sloppy bubba kisses :)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thisbrownwren.blogspot.com
That's just the reason we love them too. And such a lovely gentle atmosphere, with just the right amount of action for little ones...The experience of immigration is often so bittersweet - the chance to begin a new life in an interesting world - and the leaving behind of a language and a familiar culture. It's lovely to hear that your little ones' nana is beginning to pass down stories and language of her first home. K's family always worked with other Brazilians here in Australia so they still speak a lot of Portuguese. I think that's helped them to retain their native tongue...Hoping your week is just as wonderful as your kind wishes x
DeleteFetes are a new concept for me today, I've never heard of them!
ReplyDeleteThey look lovely though, wish we had something like that here in Chicago. And here I am breakfast time craving some crepes now from seeing your photos... haha. Just beautiful!
Oh Kate - fetes are just the best. Schools put them on as a fundraiser once a year, usually around spring - perhaps like little fairs? There's jam stalls, second hand books and clothes, raffles, plant sales, rides or activities for kids. Fun atmosphere...Hope you got the crepes you were craving x
DeleteIt looks like a wonderful day.
ReplyDeleteI popped over to look at Norma. Oh, how cute she is. I can see why you love her.
Isn't she lovely? Pretty genius idea x
Deleteohhhh my gosh she's turned into a little girl! :-) love her sweet blue bow. x
ReplyDeleteI know. K and I had this beautiful moment where we were walking across the grass and she was tottering about in front of us, and K said, oh this is the sort of moment I always thought parenthood would be about, she really feels like she is a little person who is an active part of the family now...Thanks G x
Deletei love little sassy's overall skirt/dress. amazing.
ReplyDeletewhat a beautiful way to spend the day.
Her Grandfather picked that out in Zara when they were in the States a few months ago! He's got great taste x
Deleteshe's walking?!!
ReplyDeleteour little poppet's dad speaks to him only in French, and so now - not even two - he understands two languages. It's amazing. He's only just starting to speak and it's mainly English, but more and more french words are creeping in now. Encourage him to keep speaking Portuguese... - it's a gift! (and yes, it helps your own language skills improve too!)
Oh yes! Or can we call it running?! And the funny thing is, I think we are all much happier for it. Much less frustration!....That's so great that he's picked it up (and that his father is so dedicated and persistent), Joanna. Yes, definitely a gift x
DeleteG is Chilean so i wanted him to speak in Spanish to our girls, but he rarely does - for a few reasons, we're away from his family (in Melbourne) so there's no one to really speak it to and he forgets words sometimes now and doesn't like it! I'd love them to speak Spanish but apart from taking them to classes (which seem really expensive... or is it just the ones I've found?) I'm not sure it's going to happen.
ReplyDeleteLove it, love it, love it and what a beautiful child as well. You are all so lucky to have such love in your lives!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a beautiful, love filled (even over brimming at times) site. Impressive, inspiring and evoking.
The following statement is amazing and brought tears to eyes - talk about evoking memories of experiencing being with my children at my first home when they were young!!!
"This was the garden I played in as a child. I know where the pavers become bumpy near the shed, where the spiders love to spin webs, where garden sculptures rest. And I love that Saskia is now discovering this little backyard world."