German Kindergarten

Mom and the kids at the Alhambra, Granada, Spain

Both kids have started German Kindergarten (Kindi) in the past few weeks.  We're still going through a compulsory transition period with Nora but Joe's been in full-time for a good while and he's loving it.  It's rare that he doesn't come home covered head-to-toe in sand and he still has a hard time leaving every day because he's having such a good time.  His German is improving quite rapidly and he's already saying things I don't understand, which couldn't make me happier.  I'm so happy for both of my kids that they get this privilege of growing up in another country and having two primary languages, which I hope will give them opportunities later in life that I can't even think of.  Even without new opportunities, though, I'm happy that they can grow up in another culture and have the perspective of the world you can only gain through travel that I sorely wish I'd had as a young kid.

Speaking of travel, we've done a decent amount of it recently with a trip to Spain just this past week and France in March with my aunt Nancy and cousin Alice.  Although he was pretty hesitant about having to learn yet another language when we went to Spain, Joe picked it up a few small phrases and is still quite proud of himself at knowing Spanish.  Nora's learning both English and German at quite a fast pace and she amazes me every day with the things that come out of her mouth.  She still gets frustrated when we can't understand what she's saying or she can't think of the word to describe something, but we're almost at the point where that will all be past us.

Both kids are very well behaved most of the time, and for the most part they are very loving and affectionate with each other.  The times they're not... well... they are little kids and we understand we can't hold them to adult standards.  They generally go to bed and wake up happy and affectionate with us, and I don't feel like I can ask for any more in life at this point.  I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have these two wonderful kids in my life and I'm grateful for every amazing moment I have with them.