Pontoon Pirates: 2009

Look what we have!

One plate of Thierry's excellent carrot, leek and potato soup per person,

this year's Christmas tree and...

ANOTHER COCONUT!

Turns out, Max was quite disappointed that we opened the last one without him so, of course, we had to get another one, fast. Now that it's school vacation time (and all Max and Stella's friends have gone away for Christmas), it's easier for us ALL to be together. So that last photo was ALL of us together waiting to eat our soup and veggies and then open another nut! Only this one is NOT an EASY-CUT, so we shall see what we shall see...Here's Max now(nice hat, huh?)...

...sharpening his tools and warming up for what we at EASY-CUT fear will be no EASY task.

I - Malcolm Paret, CEO of EASY-CUT Coconut Cocktails Inc - am keeping a close eye on the cutting process. This morning I had another brilliant CEO-idea and I want to make sure everything is going to work out just right.

My brother Henry drew a smiley face on the nut and Max is carving the eyes out...

Henry, as second-in-command of E-CCC Inc, is also being quite vigilant.
Stella is just being Stella.

Voilà mon idée brillante! (which means, Here's my bright idea!)
Rather than wait for hours for the coconut milk to drain out of the tiny holes Max drilled in the eyes of the nut, I said "Why not insert a straw directly into the holes and drink the milk directly from the nut?"
I guess I'm not CEO for nothing, huh?

(You all have always wondered why we head honchos are paid such outrageous salaries, haven't you? Now you know! We head honchos have brilliant head honcho ideas and mostly know how to get people to pay us for them! )

So, enjoy a first hand taste of genius!
Well, I guess Stella, Henry, Papa and Mom got a first hand taste, you all have just got front row seats.

He's a hairy ol' thing, ain't he?

...Um, the coconut, not Papa.

Mmmm! Good coconut milk! So fresh from the nut, it's still warm!
Then the opening began in earnest.

This was the Paret-Darnay family's "Wake up Fritzie!" moment. Our neighbor lady downstairs - who has been nothing if not kind and understanding over the years when it comes to noisy neighbors - asked Thierry recently if we could possibly keep the piano and trumpet playing to a minimum in the early morning... Sounds like a reasonable request, n'est-ce pas? As Max hammered away at the coconut (not an EASY-CUT for sure!), he looked up and said "This one's for you, Madame C." I admit, we had a nice little chuckle, ALL together.

So Max banged away...

...and poked and prodded and...

...pried...

...and finally got it open! He was pretty pleased with himself too...

Here are Stella and Thierry, totally inspired by the meaty goodness of the nut, composing music to accompany Max's improvised Coconut Shimmy.

Ah, another day, another coconut, that's our motto here at E-CCC.

Hear the shouts of joy?
You got it! It's been snowing here in Paris these last few days!

Even in the metro!

Even ON the metro!

But better the metro than a Vespa in this weather! Especially if you're racing to the hospital to have your fourth child or something...Just think of it!

Someone's poor, little hands are going to be very cold!

Because some bad, little kitten lost his mittens despite the string!
How could that happen, Mom?

Oh, and another bad, little kitten left the geraniums out!

Is that the Monique do you think? Covered with snow?

Don't tell me! Can it be? Omi and Opi's idol! President Sarkozy's finance minister, Christine Lagarde!!! Yes, there she is! Look a little closer!
I think haiku might be in order!