Day 60: Second day of school

And wow, 60 days! Two months! One sixth of the way through the year! Such a milestone, I should think of a way to celebrate. Well, we're having sausage and sauerkraut for dinner, does that count?

I also need to come up with a plan for the weekend. I think Bratislava is still a possibility, having been rescheduled from last weekend, but failing that I could use some time in the woods. Maybe a hike up Hohe Wand is in order. (We've been there before, here's a link to the last time http://halterfamilyblog.blogspot.co.at/2009/03/hello.html

Anyway, today was another successful school day. Nina really likes her school, and really likes getting out at 11:15. Two or three days per week will be a 12:10 dismissal, but not bad. I hear that there are German lessons for non-German-speaking kids on Mondays after school too, so I think we'll sign Nina up for that. Excellent.

Maggie had another day like yesterday. She was less inclined to let me read in the lobby and wanted me closer, but for a bit there she was playing by herself. Then, wouldn't you know, tigger boy found her again and the whole scene repeated itself from yesterday (including the evil eye). Here, Maggie wants you to see the evil eye:

It's actually angrier looking when she's really annoyed, but you get the gist. Interestingly, he wasn't wearing the tigger costume at first, then he was, then he wasn't again. Maybe they have costumes at school? Either way, she's not impressed and wants nothing to do with the kid.

Here's her majesty happy to get out the door:

She played with an erector set, drew pictures, painted pictures, had her snack, and played outside. She was having so much fun on the playground that she didn't want to leave. So I told her if she wanted, she could stay while I picked up Nina from school, and she said yes! Don't get excited though, she was crying before I even reached the gate. So she came with me. Maybe I'll be able to leave next week.

Here, totally random picture, but check out what Nina drew the other day:

It's the characters from the movie Madagascar. She's so good! There's Gloria the hippo, Melman the giraffe, Alex the lion, and the tiny one (he's off in the distance says Nina) is Marty the zebra. They're each holding what they like to eat, too (note that Melman has medicine. He's a hypochondriac).

And finally, also unrelated to the rest of the post, is some Nick commentary. Now, we all know that it's a running joke in the family about how Nick likes his comfort. He refuses to wear jeans or other real pants during the day, and instead wears exclusively either lounge or pajama pants. He won't sit up at his desk, but instead prefers the lounge chair in the living room.

Well, he's taken it to new heights here in Austria. Check out his new "office."

He says the couch is just not comfortable enough! Fortunately, the girls are doing everything they can to make it a little less comfortable. We don't want him getting too spoiled here.