Flying visit

This weekend we had a quick visit from Abatha (or Abita as Wilder says), Lila (Nina as per Wilder) and Nate (still Nate). Wilder is still asking where they are every morning since they went home. We showed them what we could of our local surroundings including:

Friday lunchtime we all got to go to Ilona's classroom to hear her read her story about when she lost her first tooth.

We managed a walk outside at Putnam Park

And after German on Saturday morning, lunch at the Rye Ridge Deli in Stamford

First day back at school

Finally our exceptionally long summer holidays are over and Bluet and Ilona returned to school this morning - Ilona to First Grade with Ms DeBonis, and Bluet to Third Grade with Ms Pimental. They were up bright and early, dressed and fed, teeth and hair brushed and out waiting for the bus at least 15 minutes early, so excited were they. Of course, Wilder also wanted to put his backpack on and wait for the school bus. 

Videos of Connecticut life

The last few days have been very cold here, and the water in our garden amongst the trees is frozen into what Bluet regards as an ice skating rink:

Meanwhile, Wilder is continuing to learn everything about the world. First, here is how he says goodbye to his sisters every morning when they board the school bus:

And here is how I entertained him for half an hour whilst his sisters were in German class:

And finally, Wilder shows you how to enjoy music: First, get the volume and sound right, and then you can dance, putting your hands in the air like you just don't care

First Day of School

It's been a while so maybe we can work backwards from where we are now to Wilder's birthday, and see what happens. So yesterday was Bluet and Ilona's first day at their new school. Bluet is in Second Grade while Ilona starts kindergarten. They were both overly excited to discover that this meant that they would get to ride the school bus every day. It stops just outside our new house (which should come up in a later post if we are going backwards), and picks them both up around 7:30AM - so a nice early start for everybody, especially as we now have to make 2 packed lunches and 2 snacks every day.



Here we all are waiting for the first bus yesterday. The excitement levels in the house about riding the bus got so extreme that we had to go out many minutes early to wait, and so were outside for a while. Then the bus arrived, they both clambered on and off they went to school. The bus then returned around 13:30 to return Ilona (kindergarten has half days for the first week) and then around 15:30 to drop off Bluet. Both of them were extremely happy when they got home, and Bluet was so excited to go to school this morning that she had trouble sleeping last night.

Erste Classe

It is the beginning of a new school year, and after 2 years in kindergarten with Frau Felliser, Bluet has moved up to Erste Classe. The new classroom is very close to kindergarten, but with a whole different playground, and some kids have moved with Bluet from Kindergarten to this new educational experience (including Tara (who speaks English) and Louis, who she walks to school with every day). So a nice mix of new and familiar. Anyway, we all walked there last Sunday to check it out.



Then on Monday it was the first day. Here is Bluet ready to go for the first time, and then Louis coming to pick her up for afternoon classes after lunch



NB this is our garden, not a jungle



And Bluet`s first piece of homework (ever) was to draw her house



So far it has been a great success, and Bluet already said she wishes she could be at school all the time

Waiting to go to school

Every morning at around 8.10 Bluet meets her friends Louis and Francisco, and they walk to school together without adult supervision. This usually requires picking up sticks and scrambling through brush, getting muddy in the process, but somehow they haven't been late to school yet. Anyway in the morning we wait with Bluet at the post box, and entertainment is found behind and in between the recycling bins and by climbing on roadsigns.




On Wednesday, for Carnival, Bluet got to dress up for School; she was very excited to go as a princess

not a magician

Bluet's Commute

Now Bluet goes to kindergarten, she has to learn the route to walk, because here after a while kids walk to school by themselves. Fortunately it is not very far - 5 minutes for an unaccompanied adult, or 10 minutes for an adult with a slowly moving kid. This is the way we go.

This being Zurich, there is of course an enormous hill to go up before you get there. At this point Bluet inexplicably decides she needs to push Ilona. This does not last long.

Running up the school steps with excitement

And then when we get there the doors are not yet open, which is why Bluet looks sad