DI Tournament

Welcoming the teams

This past fall we launched a new English-language program, Destination Imagination, at the French School. It offered advanced-level English speaking students a way to use their language constructively, and it ended in grand style. We agreed to host the DI 2015 Tournament at our school; there were 10 teams from the four international schools in Tbilisi. In all it was a lot of trailblazing, but next year we'll be all the wiser.

The best part of the day for me was, when it was over, my brother and sister-in-law were there to walk home together. They volunteered at the tournament, along with hubby, and their combined support was crucial. Another landmark Larson experience in Tbilisi.

Team Introductions

Central Challenge Presesentation

Central Challenge Presentation

Central Challenge Presentation

Decompressing

The winning teams

Victory Cake

The Geniuses

The Dragons

The Brain Zoomers

*Also thanks to Melissa Stonehill, who photographed the whole event!

Batumi and other diversions

The beach in Batumi was calling to us,

we responded to the call, 

and were rewarded.

We made another visit to the botanical gardens, but this time instead of walking we took a trolley to the park's farthest extent,

which made the kids very happy.

Our guests, too.

We were back in Tbilisi just in time for Georgian Independence Day and a host of festivities around town.

We also spent a lot of time at a lot of restaurants.

My brother and his wife did their fair share of romping around outside the city, with and without us.

We had grown-up night at Gino Paradise, where they opened up the waterslides just for us.

And we luxuriated in the spa. Time well spent.

And lest you take exception, we also visited the largest Georgian Orthodox church.

Sameba was as sunny and windy as ever.
We thoroughly enjoyed hosting my brother and sister-in-law and, for the record, we still have one year left for those who want to squeeze in a visit . . .

Familiar faces

Something wonderful arrived that we didn't think we'd ever see: our extended family in Georgia. My brother and his wife came for a generous amount of time and were able to experience many of the delights that Georgia has to offer (all of the images shown from their visit were captured with my brother's camera).

Tbilisi, from a new angle.

In Batumi, we attended a worship service in an Armenian Apostolic church.

To be fair, we also visited the Russian Orthodox church.

We saw nearby Colchis/Roman/Byzantine/Ottoman ruins at Gonio Fortress.
A remarkable span of history.

They were having traditional Georgian battle reenactments on site.

It was engrossing.

They were accompanied by vigorous drumbeating.

A humble peace offering.

En bord de mer

Gassin

On a hilltop not far from our place was a charming village that made the coveted Les Plus Beaux Villages de France list. I was not equal to the task of capturing it's scope, but I made a record of our time there, nevertheless.