Wow. One whole year.

Well, as of today, we've been in Germany for a year now. It sure doesn't feel like it. Not like the last time, at least. I think we owe a lot of that to the kids. They make time here a lot easier. We also have a lot more to do. We are always going to play somewhere or going to someone's house to visit. We have also picked up some personal goals for ourselves that make the time go by. We are working our way back towards financial freedom, so each huge payment comes way too quickly. Sarah has been busting ass learning a new language. She has spent a lot of time towards that goal. I have been training so I can keep up with a friend who is competing in the Iron Man this year. That makes weeks whiz by for sure.

So what else has this year seen? Aiden can pretty much speak German without any issues. I would say his German is about 70 to 80% as good as his English. He is managing complex sentences and expressions now, but his verb conjugation still suffers. Of course, it's the same with his English. He has gotten good enough that I have started picking up how to say things from him. He has also gotten to the point where he A) doesn't get upset when people come over that he might have to speak German to and B) he readily switches to German with bilingual kids who don't want to speak English. Briana has finally begun to speak German to a point. That was quite a hurdle. She is using German about 10 to 15% of the time at home, I would say, and almost all of the time in Kindergarten. Around us, she is still just inserting German words into her English for the most part, but she has begun to throw simple German sentences in as well. Her comprehension is just about 100%. She has finally quit getting angry with me when I speak German to her. And she will respond (albeit in English) or act accordingly to boot. There is a rumor floating around that Sarah can speak German, too. I actually witnessed it last week. I was quite impressed. I figure that she is just a couple of months of practice away from being fairly comfortable. Now all she has to do is find someone who will quit switching immediately to English when she speaks (I am just as guilty simply because I forget to keep speaking German when I am at home).

Both kids have been growing like weeds. I am expecting another growth spurt soon. They have begun eating as much as I eat during a day. That is pretty impressive for their little tummies. Aiden has gotten pretty soild on his bike. His stamina and enjoyment skyrocketed once he got stable enough for me to raise the seat up and get his form a little better. It makes me cringe to watch kids learning to ride with their knees all up their noses. We are going to start working on bike handling skills once I get a new seat post for my single speed. We have done some test rides with B on Aiden's bike (before I raised the seat), and she's close. She rode a block or two before finally veering into some bushes as she realized that I was actually lying to her and not really holding on any more. So we are looking to make that happen in the near future. I have also seen some really cool "hang your kid's bike on yours" solution here. I bought a cheap one as a test. The device sucks, but the concept is sound. Aiden and I can really move along and we can go a lot further. More importantly, when we need to maneuver through or around people on the bike paths, I just let him pedal so we don't move too fast. It's sneaky yet surprisingly effective.

Other than that, things are pretty routine. It is amazing how quickly you adapt to a foreign place. Outside of all of the walking and biking and the foreigners ;), it's a hell of a lot like living at home...