From Skiing to 1st and 4th Grade

Nothing like holding on to vacation for as long as possible.  We returned home from skiing and hurried to get everyone into bed.  The following day was the first day of school for Kate and Jake after all!  Is it truly possible that we have a 4th grader?  And shouldn't Jake be in kindergarten for at least another couple of years?!    

They were all smiles despite getting up at 6:15am in the middle of winter.  Seriously cute kids.  Kate was pumped.  Jake...a little hesitant for all of the newness.  

Standing at the original Nido de Aguilas school bell.  Notice that it is STILL dark outside and school is about to start in just a few minutes!  Crazy.  

When Jake found out that his friend Paden would be in Ms. Amber's 1A class with him, he brightened up quite a bit.  He found his name and took a seat.  I could tell we were going to like his teachers immediately.  Here we go, 1st grade!!!

Kate knew right where to go.  We walked into her classroom after saying goodbye to Jake and met Mr. John, her 4th grade teacher.  She had heard that he handed out raffle tickets during the week and on Fridays kids could win American candy, free homework passes, and more.  So she was PUMPED!  This one was ready to get the year started.

Joe and I said goodbye to our kids and started our trek back to the car (the school is built on a huge hill, so there are stairs and steep inclines everywhere).  As we got close, we both turned around and looked at Nido and the city down below.  "Did you ever imagine we'd get to a point where we felt completely comfortable here?"  He asked.  It was true.  We have lived in Chile for almost two years.  And walking away, I felt the very same.  Shocking when I look back to when we first arrived and our whole world was turned upside down.  As we walked around the school and saw all of the new parents trying to figure out where to go, we realized something.  Now we were the ones showing the newcomers where to go and who to tip and how to drive.  We were the ones giving South American vacation advice.  I truly never would have thought it possible.

But enough of all of that.  We had to get home.  Did I mention the movers were coming in an hour?  Yes.  The first day of school was also our moving day.  Nice planning, huh?