Thursday, February 28, 2013

Friends, fun and a nice walk

Intimidating local flora

Today was a day of further assimilation into the ebb and flow of the local culture.  All kids were successfully delivered to and picked up from school, with one extra today.  One of Madeleine's friends, Kelly, came home with Madeleine after school pickup around 11:40.  She seems to be enthusiastic, fun, polite and speaks very little English.  At this time, the two young ladies can communicate some to each other but often come to one of us for help with expressing a thought or asking what the other said.  I imagine this will change with time.  Kelly was excited to show us a local hotel's pools, where anyone can go swim for free so long as you order some food.  Sure enough, the pools were great.  We all agreed to come back another time to swim.  We think that Henry has a friend that lives next door as well.

Pool girls

The girls chatted for a while and Madeleine gave Kelly a few small gifts from the States.  They then proceeded to organize the living room and clean it up!  We like this influence.  There was hide and seek and some homework done as well.  Lots of chatting and attempted communication back and forth.  At this point, Madeleine is leaning very heavily on her friends for a lot of help with her homework even though she often doesn't understand much of it.  It's a unique situation for her, as she is used to having all her schoolwork under control and in order.  Both she and Henry both have some discomfort at not being able to speak, read or write much but their ability to go with the flow is impressively admirable.  We've plucked them out of their comfortable school environment in Portland and transported them to a completely new situation where they have to struggle to understand what's going on.  All three kids really seem to be enjoying themselves and are learning a ton of new information at school and at home.  We really can't ask a whole lot more right now.

The boys also had great days.  Henry played soccer at recess for the first time and said he even scored a goal.  Sullivan had his first class today in the computer room which is actually quite nice.  Likely the nicest part of the school aesthetically.  He repeatedly asked us to ask him questions about it, which made it very clear he thought it was pretty cool.  Each kindergartner had their own computer and they spent time playing games putting shapes together and moving logs onto pirate ships (or something along those lines).

I walked the 4 km home from the school again without incident.  One dog started to approach me, barking, but I simply brandished the stick I'd picked up and he took off.  It's such a gift to be able to walk outside in February in shorts and a t-shirt and feel so comfortable.

Road between school in Nuevo Arenal and home

Caballo blanco

We took a moment at dinner to be thankful for the fact we've all been eating together and talking every single night.  This is something I do not take for granted, after so many years of multiple activities for the kids, hurried schedules and evening work shifts for me.  No complaints here.  We're all looking forward to our beach weekend after just one more day of school.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

The sweet life

Today we were once again surprised by the sweetness and simplicity of life here.  While we were in town around noon picking up Madeleine from school and delivering the boys to school for the afternoon, we chatted with some of the volunteers from Florida painting the school roof.  They are college students here for a week with an organization called led2serve (www.led2serve.org). They are painting schools here and in La Fortuna, as well as interacting with the students.  Today is their last day here, so Nik had the brilliant (and sweet!) idea to bring them some refreshments to show our thanks.  He bought a bunch of juice boxes, a pack of Oreos and some wee bananas, and we delivered them to the volunteers who were very appreciative.  They were making a final push to get the one large section of roof they were working on done.  

Volunteers posing on the roof
Madeleine’s new good friend, Tatiana, asked us for a ride home, as she lives right on our way.  Her request sounds simple, but it took us a while to understand what she was asking, as she speaks quickly and without very clear enunciation (that’s my excuse anyway!).  She was very patient with us, with only a few laughingly exasperated gestures and “mi Dios”es.  I am so inspired by the easy friendships here in spite of the language barrier, both on our kids’ parts and by their new Costa Rican friends.  

The Florida volunteers told us that they were going to be organizing some races for the students this afternoon at the soccer field.  I was glad we talked to them about it, otherwise we might have missed out.  Henry’s class got out early, at 4, so they could participate.   The moms from Sullivan’s class set up to sell tacos including the salchicon (sausage) that we donated, and that the giggling ladies referred to as Nik’s salchicon;).  We also donated Coke that was divided up and served in little plastic bags.  To drink, you bite a tiny hole and suck out the soda.  Reminds me of honey sticks.  Our kids tell us that this is how juice drinks are sold at recess too.

Kinder moms' taco stand
I met the directors of led2serve, who started the organization 3 years ago.  There will be more groups of volunteers, some college students, some families or other groups, coming to town through this summer.  There is plenty more painting to do!  It will be fun to follow their progress and continue to offer them some support, even in the form of light refreshment.

Madeleine initially declined to participate in the races, but once she found her friends and learned that they were going to run, she agreed.  The 5th and 6th grade girls ran together, probably about a half mile, three large laps outside the perimeter of the field, including up a steep hill next to the field and through some trees.  Madeleine easily took the lead and led the pack for most of the race, with her classmates cheering her on, until another girl caught up to her at the end to win.  All the participants received ribbons, and Madeleine passed her 2nd place ribbon on to Sullivan.

Madeleine (4th from right) and the other 5th and 6th graders lined up for their race.
Henry did not want to run in the organized race, but he did plenty of running around and playing tag with one of his new friends, Christian.  He had a smile on his face the whole time, and I just loved hearing him say a few words of Spanish to his friend.  Sullivan also had a great time running around and playing with the other kids.  It all seems so easy.  

We had our fill of salchichon and cabbage tacos, as well as empanadas, that were the 6th grade fundraiser.  We were glad to be able to buy tacos and drinks for Madeleine and Henry’s friends, since they are always buying snacks for our kids at recess.

We headed home as the sunlight started to fade around 5:30, everyone in a joyful mood.  Sully entertained us with a "spider show" he'd been planning for a while that involved a plastic spider, a Lego stage and 2 flashlights.  A real spider showed up as well and took its turn in the spotlight.  Showers for all the sweaty runners and then bed.


Arenal's church, next to the soccer field (la plaza)

Newest sighting at our bird stand, the Green Honeycreeper (Mielero verde)






Tuesday, February 26, 2013

School daze, a committee & fundraising

Sullivan's kindergarten classroom
Today was the very first day that all three kids were in school and at the correct time.  A small but important victory for us for sure.  While Madeleine was in school this morning, I managed to pay a few lingering bills from the Portland days.  Erica’s mom has been kind enough to open, scan and email anything that looks important.  She’s even found a couple of checks.  So far this system is working quite well.  

While the boys were in school this afternoon, we helped Madeleine with one of the assignments her class did today in Social Studies.  They were tasked to read passages about the six regions of Costa Rica and answer questions.  We worked for two hours and finished four of the six regions.  It was somewhat slow going but we had her read the passages out loud and then we worked to figure out what they meant in order to answer the questions.  It’s impressive how fast young brains can work.  There’s little doubt that her Spanish will be great if she keeps working this hard.  

English was her other main class for the day and she enjoyed helping out her classmates.  Apparently they were filling in blanks from a passage read aloud about visiting a farm.  She found it pretty entertaining.  Sounds to me like a romanticized tour of the "Happy Cow Farm".

Note the useful tips from English class today

Henry was a bit more subdued at pickup, saying that he’d fallen down and scraped his arm.  He didn’t want to talk about it much and denies that anyone hurt or pushed him.  He says that the boys all like to wrestle with each other, sometimes even in front of the teacher at recess.  Seems like the girls are not typically involved in this sort of mayhem.  Today was the first day that he expressed his frustration with not being able to understand what his friends were trying to tell him.  We’ll keep working.

We were told yesterday that there’d be a “reunion” for the parents after the 3:30 pickup for Sully’s class.  We found our little man fired up and running around the playground, clearly enjoying himself.  During the meeting of about 20 moms, the morning and afternoon kindergarten teachers, Erica and me, Sully proceeded to wear himself out and finally melt down.  Ironically, I first went to tend to him during the parents’ prayer.

Sully proudly shows the "hammering table"
The rest of the mothers were wide-eyed when our turn came to introduce ourselves.  They literally applauded after we finished our introductions in Spanish.  And not because they were of such high quality, rest assured.  The meeting itself lasted for about 2 hours and 15 minutes!  As Sullivan was finishing his overheated, dehydrated meltdown, Erica took the kids home and I stayed.  

I’d estimate I understood between a quarter and a half of what was being said, with some folks being easier for me to understand.  I think I have at least a vague idea about most of the conversations.  Lots of discussion about how God has given each of the children special gifts, how all of the children will be included and valued for who they are and about how the teachers saw their jobs to help make the children feel good about themselves.  There was discussion about things the classroom needed such as a new phone, new clock and some painting in addition to a bulletin board or two.  I think.  Loads of laughing, joking and storytelling interspersed.  Finally, it was announced that there was going to be a committee or group of parents to help do things and raise money for things the class needs and for activities.  When nobody eagerly volunteered, some arms were twisted, including mine.  My position is “vocal 1”.  I asked exactly what I’d be doing and was assured that we’d all be working together.  No better way to get involved in the community for us right now.  We’ll jump right in.  

Roof work a la Escuela Arenal

It was quickly decided that our first fundraiser will start tomorrow.  We’ll (term used quite loosely) be preparing food and drink to sell to the college student volunteers from Florida who yesterday started working on cleaning and painting the roof of the school!  Everyone was volunteering to bring food and they asked me if I could bring something.  About 30 seconds after sausage was innocently suggested, there was a joke whose exact interpretation I did not get.  But, the immediate burst of laughter and blushing cheeks confirmed my suspicion that a surprise double entendre had just been dropped.  Matalina, Sully’s teacher, half-heartedly apologized for the “mujeres peligrosas” or dangerous women.  We are beginning to settle in.  

I walked the 4 km home and reveled in the large and fast-moving lightning bugs all over the place.  The crew had eaten dinner and was feasting on our first family papaya, which went over quite well.  More of this in the future for us.

Fresh papaya is a good thing

Monday, February 25, 2013

School snafu… todo esta bien

Although we thought we had things pretty well figured out, we discovered today that we did not quite have the school schedule right.  We knew that Sullivan would be switching to afternoons for this week, but we did not realize that both Madeleine and Henry’s schedules also switch every week.  Nik delivered Henry to school at 7am, and Henry noticed that these were different kids waiting to go into his class.  There are two 4th grade classes with the same teacher, and they take turns going morning and afternoon.  Since Henry was there and ready to go, he joined the morning class for today and met even more friends.  Once again he was very happy when we picked him up at 11:30.  He’d even like to try going to both morning and afternoon classes one day, to have two chances to learn the material, and to have more opportunity to learn Spanish.  Henry is definitely motivated, and he has adopted his Grandpa Mike’s strategy of translating and learning phrases and sentences that he’d like to be able to say to his friends.  

While we were picking up Henry, some of Madeleine’s classmates came over to our car and explained to us that her class meets in the mornings this week.  There is only one sixth grade class, so there was no option for Madeleine to stay for the afternoon.  Tomorrow we will get it right!

Sullivan had a good second day of school, and especially enjoyed the wooden house being built in his classroom.  He tells us that there is real wood, nails and a saw, and today he added on a chimney.  He still has not seen a turtle in his classroom, but today he asked one of his classmates, “Donde esta la tortuga?”  Go Sully!  

We noticed today some young gringo women on the roof of the school cleaning the roof, and later there were some folks painting the roof green.  Nik learned in the hardware store today that there is a group of volunteers from the US working on the school.  So nice of them!  It made us feel like we should be up there helping, as our own kids will get to enjoy the fresh looking school roof.  Hopefully tomorrow we will get a chance to talk with the volunteers.

We met the father of the two boys from Montana, who told us that he grew up in Costa Rica, but laments the fact that he is still treated as a foreigner, even though his Spanish is perfect.  He said that it was hard for his sons when they first started at the school last year, as other kids were not so nice to them at first.  This left us scratching our heads, as our kids’ experience is so different.  Did the Montana boys pave the way for our kids?  We may never know, but we are grateful nonetheless.




All three in uniform.

Sully is proud of his new notebook.

This afternoon we restocked on groceries and produce.  These people must get tired of seeing us so often.  At the Super Compro grocery, we met one of our Costa Rican Las Flores neighbors who works at the store and has two kids in school.  Nik proposed getting our families together for dinner sometime, and he thought it was a great idea.

Sullivan likes his coconuts.  We bought a papaya instead this time.

Nik's new drain cleaner: note the "escud" scud missile.

Costa Rican coffee = $2 for a half pound.  Mmmm, a cup sounds good right about now, no?





Sunday, February 24, 2013

Volcán Tenorio and Rio Celeste


Volcán Tenorio


Last evening, while looking for a new adventure relatively close by, Volcán Tenorio National Park caught my eye.  The guidebooks painted a very pretty picture and I figured it’d be about an hour and a half from home.  But, the best part is that we’d get to try out the 4 x 4 on our new car.  What could be better?

The drive itself really was fun.  We went partially around the northern end of Lake Arenal and turned north towards a small town called Tierras Morenas.  The first dirt road adventure began and was probably about half an hour.  Passing through mainly farmland dotted with a smattering of volcanic rocks, we saw more cows than anything else other than trees.  There were a few caballeros on horseback.  We also ogled several huge windmills in action.  I especially enjoyed using the 4 x 4 on some of the steep rocky stretches, which was a blast.  After another 15 minutes or so back on a major paved road, we arrived at Bijagua, the small town abutting the park.  Another gorgeous stretch of rocky and at times wet and muddy steep dirt road for 9 km took us to the park.  For me it was the first time I’m sure we could not have made it without 4 WD.  

Very large windmills dominate the horizon

Before we actually entered the trail, we were shown to an impressive display of preserved dead animals that’d been found near to the ranger station.  The most interesting to me was the severed head of the deadly fer-de-lance snake.  One of the rangers mentioned that in days of old these snakes actually killed many people.  We were excited and persevered.

Snakes, snakes and tarantulas

We actually hiked 6 km and Sullivan hiked every step of the way.  This was not a straightforward trail, as there was much climbing and descending over rocks, roots and a whole bunch of mud.  It was messy but everyone loved it.  



The highlights included a raging waterfall that was only visible after going down a large number of steep stairs.  We watched one happy white-throated capuchin monkey chowing on a tasty stick.  Erica and Henry spotted a small brown snake slither away from them quickly.  Plenty of birds and butterflies but no other exotic critters were seen.  No mosquitos or other biting or stinging bugs graced us with their presence.  

Going down to enjoy the view was the easy part


Plenty of mud to go around

The feature for which the park is best known, however, is the famous Rio Celeste.  They say that when God finished painting the sky blue, he washed his paintbrushes in the Rio Celeste.  We’d been warned that it might now be quite as blue as normal because of the recent rains but were not disappointed in any way.  According to one source, the bright blue color is a result of sulfur and calcium carbonate mixing.  

Laguna Azul

Underwater grasses dance with the water
There are also several areas of hot spring water bubbling up and adding the smell of sulfur.  Even the mud-slogging back to the car was still fun for our crew.  

Jungle bridges can be fun and exciting

We finished off the day with an ice cream run into a supermercado in Bijagua for the drive home.  Another day of exploration was in the books.  And tomorrow, school begins again.




Saturday, February 23, 2013

A new used car, a Costa Rican Swiss train and a revolving restaurant





Last night around 10 pm I finally made it home with our new car.  My three hour fifteen minute drive into San Jose took about 5 hours to return, in large part thanks to gnarly Friday afternoon traffic in the city.  Only one minor non-intentional detour, which fortunately took me past the striking national football stadium.  Our new ride is a 2006 Mitsubishi Montero, with the key features being 4x4 and the ability to seat seven.  So we can take those of you to come to visit on some adventures with us.  We found and bought it with the help of a great small business that takes all the hassle out of the process of finding and buying the car.  It’s finally done.

Finally!

We were up early to return the car we rented for the day yesterday to shuttle kids around.  While in La Fortuna we pretty much completed the school uniforms, welcomed Madeleine into the world of her own cell phone, endured some griping having to old-school text without a keyboard (first world problem), picked up a baking dish to replace one that had broken and walked around the touristy town.  The church was not especially attractive on the outside but the typical Latin colorful decor inside did not disappoint.

La Fortuna's bright church


Church but no volcano in the background today

We moved on to the main attraction of the day, to satisfy our young train enthusiast and to feed us all.  Les Heroes Hotel, in the guidebooks, is reported as a Swiss retreat deep in the heart of Costa Rica on the shores of Lake Arenal.  Founded several years ago by a Swiss couple, the grounds include the hotel, two dairies with requisite cows, a very cute chapel on the hill and a real Swiss miniature train that takes guests waaaay up the hill to what is billed as the only revolving restaurant in Central America.  Was this place designed by a five year old?  How crazy is that?

Switzerland with palm trees

The Swiss mini-train grinds up the hill

It was a pretty cool 25 minute ride up the hill and the views from the top were worthy.  Plenty of the ubiquitous and ever-busy leaf cutter ants were doing their work and making trails.  

This beats walking up the hill

The revolving restaurant was fun and a first for our kids but seemed like a bit of an anomaly in the middle of the countryside.  Sullivan, of course, soaked up every minute of the train ride.  

Apparently the only 360 degree rotating restaurant in Central America

On the ride back down we chatted with a young couple, doctor and nurse, from San Jose.  He is a general doctor and she is a psychiatry nurse.  They were friendly and Diego’s English was very good.  He felt the licensing exam would not be hard for me and invited me for a tour of his hospital or a mountain bike ride sometime.  Sounds like fun.  First, some more sleep for all in preparation for tomorrow.

Ready to enjoy the view

Friday, February 22, 2013

A Happy Friday and the Long Haul for Nik

The 7am start to the school day for Henry and Sullivan was surprisingly unshocking.  Thanks to the sun and the birds and an early bedtime for all, getting the crew up and going was pretty easy.  This was Sullivan’s first day of school, and it was another great success!  How can we be so lucky?  Nik took him to his classroom, and without a tear, he took the plunge.  Henry was also eager for his second day, and his classmates were able to tell me that school ended at 11:30 today.  Madeleine did not have school today, apparently due to a teacher meeting.


A successful day for our Sully.  Love the cutie uniforms.


Nik was to head off to San Jose to return our rental car and pick up our new (used) car, so we solved the transportation issue for the day with another rental car.  Madeleine and I rode with Nik as far as La Fortuna (1 hour from Nuevo Arenal) and rented a car to drive back and use for the day.  This was my first real driving experience in Costa Rica, and it was a breeze.  I feel lucky, as Ticos do have a reputation for being insane drivers.  We picked up a very happy Sully at 10:30 and heard from his teacher that he’d had a great time and was very patient and attentive (well, I think that is about what she said).  We spent an hour in a small park near the school and at our now very familiar produce market, then picked up Henry at 11:30. 


Sully in his Kinder class area

A happy guy, ready to be sprung

Madeleine spent the afternoon at her new friend, Fiorella’s house, along with three of their classmates.  One of the classmates is a boy from Montana, Dawson, who seems to be happy to act as interpreter for Madeleine and her other friends.   I am sure this makes for easier conversation, and hopefully will not impede her progress in learning Spanish.  Their goal today was to complete a social studies project on the regions of Costa Rica, but when I picked up Madeleine at 5:30, they were outside playing tag and had not quite finished their work.  From Madeleine’s account, school here is much more laid back than in Portland, the kids in her class are more rowdy and loud, and perhaps as a result, less learning is accomplished.   I do like to hear that while kids her age have cell phones, they use them to listen to music and send texts, but they don’t play games on them.  Thus the time for lots of games of tag.


…ugh, just had an unpleasant bug encounter in which I tried to catch a large skittery cockroach in Madeleine’s bathroom, but it was too fast and left me with curled up toes, while it hid itself in some dark crevice.  Eek.

Henry reported today that his new good friend, Daniel, invited him to come to his house and swim one day.  They attempted to draw a map to Daniels house, including little circles to denote the unpaved rocky road, but will need more time to complete it.  Another friend bought him snacks at recess, some kind of dark juice/ soda thing in a bag and something else that involved a tortilla and some kind of cheese, but sounded like more than an average quesadilla.  I like the mystery of the recess snacks.  Nik and I may never get to experience these delicacies.

Nik has had a very long day, which will be his story to tell.  As I write, though, he is on his way back from San Jose in our new used Mitsubishi Montero, 14+ hours after he left this morning.  He got to experience the joys of Friday evening traffic as everyone in San Jose heads out for the beach.



Pasta by candlelight to end a great day.



Thursday, February 21, 2013

We love school!

Madeleine and her amigas with smiles galore


Could this really be the happiest place on the planet?  I’m starting to be a believer.  For our family, today was just about magical.  Madeleine and Henry went to school for the first time today and the consensus was a resounding “It’s great!”.  Even though they knew no one, speak only very little Spanish and were scared out of their pantalones, they both absolutely loved it.

Butterflies were swarming in the stomachs of all three kids last night and this morning.  The moment of greatest anxiety for them, possibly in their lives, was here.  We showed up at the school at 8 am, feeling like we were sticking out like never before.  We took Henry to the fourth grade class (he was in third grade in the States but not here) and met his teacher, Nuria.  She was full of kind words, smiles and affection, even though none of it was in English.  She put her arm around him and took him into the class.  And like that, he was gone.

We were taken to meet the kindergarten class who was in the computer room.  Sullivan’s teacher, Madaline, was also quite kind.  As we were talking to her, he began to be very sad, cried and hid behind Erica.  It was decided to show him around the classroom and have him start tomorrow.  The classroom was exceedingly cute and very decorated, especially relative to Henry’s fourth grade class.  In addition to the fancy guppies in the fish tank, it was explained to us that there are two free-range turtles patrolling the classroom but we couldn’t easily locate them today.  Sullivan was very intrigued.

Sharp-dressed man

Henry was full of smiles and good cheer when we picked him up, having had a great time.  He claimed the kids were super nice and the math was fun.  He’d made a list of new words he’d learned including “silencio” and “regla”, which means ruler.  At 9:30 everyone was fed a hardboiled egg, some beans and rice and pineapple juice.  Recess was good fun.  He was befriended by a fifth grader from Montana whose family are apparently the only other “extranjeros” in the school.  The schedule his teacher glued in his notebook looks great, includes English, Spanish, science, math, religion and agriculture among others.  What an education this will be for us all.  There are about 15 students in Henry’s class and he is eager to return tomorrow already.

English won't be so bad and Agriculture will be very interesting.


The depth of Madeleine’s terror prior to starting school at 12:10 was equal to her joy at pickup.  There was a gaggle of about 10 girls from her class waiting outside the school with her.  They’d had a great time already, were exchanging hugs and kisses on the cheek with her and planning a get together tomorrow!!  We were absolutely dumbfounded at the warmth the kids showed her on her first day.  There is no school for the sixth graders tomorrow but she will join her friends at one of their houses to work on a social studies project.  In theory, anyway.  A friend gave her a highlighter.  Another bought her a treat at recess.  Madeleine’s asking for a cell phone after her first day of school so she can go places with her friends before or after school already.  Not sure how her day could have been any better.  She was thrilled and we were so relieved.

Some school uniforms were bought and the day finished off with some special treats (fruit/ice cream shakes) from our new favorite drink place here in town, Cosechas.  This day will go down as a great day in the history of our family.  Tomorrow I’ll venture to San Jose to pick up our new used car, as our wire transfers went through today!!  It’s all falling into place.

Yummy and healthy too!





Wednesday, February 20, 2013

School progress and termales

Third try was a charm, and we found the school director at school today.  After some challenging conversation, Nik was able to understand that we needed to bring 2 copies of each report card and email them as pdf files (again).  Our kids will be starting school tomorrow!  Henry and Sullivan will go to the morning session, and Madeleine will go in the afternoon.  The kids do not need school uniforms and books right away, so we will probably get those next week.  While Nik was trying to understand the school director’s lightening-speed Spanish, I talked briefly with a boy who was waiting outside the office for the director.  He is from Montana and started school here last year.  He was interested to hear that our kids would be starting school here too.  He’s in 5th grade and knew a bit of Spanish when he started.  Alas, I did not have time to pump him for more info.  
We left feeling a little shaky and nervous (at least the kids and I were), but we are excited to be making progress and for the kids to get a couple of days of school under their belts this week.  (Or get the agonizing first day over with!)  We shopped for some snacks afterwards, and I had no problem with Madeleine and Henry picking out some comfort junk food.  

To decompress and celebrate the kids’ last day of freedom, we drove 45 minutes to Termales Los Laureles, near La Fortuna, and spent the afternoon soaking in varying temperature pools, heated by Volcan Arenal that loomed in the near distance.  We met up with some Portland friends of friends, the Murphys, who are spending 2 months in Costa Rica and Nicaragua.  Their son Simon, along with Madeleine and Henry and the braver adults among us enjoyed the water slide into the “cold” pool.  Los Laureles is refreshingly non-touristy and relatively inexpensive ($38 for our family for the day).  


Termales Los Laureles with Volcan Arenal in the background

Good news/ bad news



Enjoying the sun with Lori and Christophe.  

Henry demonstrates one of the pools


We spent a lot of time today trying to ease our kids' fears and anxieties about school.  I think that Nik and I had some darn good advice, but I am not sure how much of it sank in.  It is hard to see our children feeling stressed, but we are confident that everything really will be ok.  Still, not easy.  Nothing worthwhile is easy?  

Sullivan did share a secret with Nik and me (shhh) he is excited for school.  


Blue-Grey Tanager visitor