Back to School

The holidays couldn't last forever,something I think we were all grateful for. As much as we love spending time together, the grocery store isn't always the best place to let democracy reign. Armed with the list of school supplies and a good friend to help us through the maze of lined, unlined and graph books we headed en masse to the big shop to make sure we could get everything under one roof.

This photo was taken quite early in the piece. Everyone was being very 'helpful' wanting to make sure I got everything on their list, even if they didn't have a list (ie the Mouse). As the next two hours past it got a bit chaotic because you have to make sure it is A4 or A5 and if it is portrait or landscape layout. LUCKILY I am a massive fan of stationery and enjoy the attention to detail. Still I was pushed when it came to the crayons and mistranslated water soluble for non water soluble...yes another trip was needed to return and replace but I did that one alone. As the hours ticked by the Mouse was the first to wander to the picture books which were very helpfully located in the same aisle. The Bear was the next to peel away and find a magazine so that left the Monkey and I to try and work out if buying a fountain pen was really necessary. The answer is yes but last year's colours were much cheaper.

Luckily there is still time on the weekend for playground fun. What started as a quick 10 minute pause on the way home from the library turned into nearly 2 hours of rollercoaster sickness on this little piece of equipment.

Fun for everyone that is...

especially when you find the right balance.

As school finishes ridiculously early, sometimes for the Monkey at 11:30am there is a bit of time for box fun. I tell you these kids love boxes and are now looking to build the box car a petrol station and snacks stall.  They get homework everyday and it takes us a bit longer than the average family but we are all learning together. I did have to put in an emergency call to Herr F to buy a junior dictionary as our very tiny English/German dictionary that is falling apart wasn't really helpful.