Well after the torturous rainiest weekend I think I have ever endured in my life, today we have been rewarded with an absolutely beautiful day.

We spent the morning at the pool which was lots of fun. Except after all the rain the pool water was FREEZING. Yesterday the temp was down in the 70's and it felt down right cold outside. G wore her cardigan sweater to school, people were wearing jackets... so weird.

B left for work on Sunday and will be gone until next Sunday. He was home on reserve for quite a long time so it feels funny to have him gone.

This is the last week of school for my kids this week. The school year is much more like what I imagine year round schooling would be. All the schools start sometime between August 16-September 1. And summers start sometime between June 20th and July 12th or so. So it's basically the same as the USA but the holiday breaks are a little different making summer break a bit shorter. Hong Kong schools get two weeks off for Christmas just like schools in the USA. But instead of a one week long "spring break", Hong Kong schools have two more weeks off in February for Chinese New Year and then another two weeks off in April for Ching Ming Festival. Most expats just call that one "Easter break". Seems like a lot of time off in the spring but, with no Thanksgiving, there's no long breaks in the fall. Just long weekends here and there.

I had the end of the year teacher conference with G's teachers this afternoon. --Remember she has one Mandarin speaking teacher as well as an English speaking teacher. Wow, they had some really great things to say about my baby. I am so very proud of her. She got an excellent report all around. But they both raved and raved about how amazing she is with picking up Mandarin. Too cool. I asked if there was anything we should work on this summer to get her ready for next year and they both said they couldn't come up with anything but the Mandarin teacher begged that we get her a summer tutor. When I told her that I was going to check a place out on Friday with another mom for a twice a week summer program she was thrilled. The Mandarin speaking teacher will be moving up a grade so G will still have her again next year.

After overhearing all we talked about at this conference (G was there for it) she was really free with the Mandarin tonight. She was singing songs I hadn't heard her sing before and I could tell she was feeling extra confident about it. And during the conference the teachers were joking that G's Mandarin is better that Miss N (the English speaking teacher). Miss I (Mandarin) started speaking to G in Mandarin, saying a few sentences, and G just laughed and responded to her IN MANDARIN. How crazy is that?

Tonight I am feeling very happy and relieved. I feel so lucky and blessed to see that all the decisions we've made and everything we've been through the last six months (really the last 2 years) making all this happen have led us to a point where we are settled into a comfortable routine. It has been a fun challenge, though completely overwhelming at times I am not gonna lie.