Do they speak my third language too?

It took me four months(!), but I have finally finished reviewing my Turkish language book.  I am thrilled to have met this goal, although it took me a month longer than intended.  I am encouraged by how much I remembered and discouraged by how much I have forgotten.  I have such a long ways to go, yet I am thankful to not still be stuck in the middle of the book.

Next goal: build my vocabulary!  I am constantly stuck searching my memory for a word I used to know.  Grammar is not helpful if you don't know the words to place into it.  I think my neighborhood conversation partners get a kick out of my ability to say a complex sentence mostly correctly in contrast to my inability to remember simple, every-day words.  This is what happens when you don't really use a language much for ten years!

As an aside, Nathanael now thinks that he can speak Turkish, since he has mastered a few phrases.  Of highest importance to him is this one:  Bir tane simit, lütfen! :)  And of course, it is followed by a muddled, five-year-old version of Teşekkürler.  We were chatting last week about the bilingual school he'll hopefully go to in a year, where they speak BOTH his home language and his Kindergarten language.  And he responded, "But Mom, do they speak my third language too?"  He was referring to Turkish!

Our bike-rider!

I was too busy running alongside Nathanael or watching out for Eva to snap pictures, but I did capture this one right before we quit the other night.

We're so proud of our son for not giving up and pressing on into this challenge.  It took a few days to get the hang of it, but he's now riding on his own, and we're looking forward to when he'll be stable enough to really go on bike outings together.  Soon!

Please Mind the Gap

I told myself I would blog tonight, so here I am.  I really wanted to share my heart a bit about our time in London, but I am completely spent right now.  The kids demanded so much today, as is often the case, and as I come to the point where they are actually quiet in their room, all I want to do is crash.  Thus, this post will be simply pictures from our time in London.  Hopefully I'll get around to sharing my heart about the time later.  In case I don't (which is quite probable), I'll write two things quickly here.

1. It was so amazing to visit family.  And to welcome a new person into our family!  We all fell in love with Desmond immediately, and we loved seeing Angie and Andrew as parents.  They are a wonderful family, and we love having them "near."

2. It was so amazing to be in an English-speaking country.  We were not prepared for how relaxing it would feel to not have to think much about what we were saying or hearing.  Absolutely amazing.  We're glad we haven't been in an English-speaking country for the last three years; it would have been very, very hard to return to Vienna in the midst of culture shock.

And now the pictures.

Gregory and Desmond meet.

My turn, with my little cuddlebug right with me, of course.

She loved "Baby Des" and still talks about him with a sparkle in her eye.

Look at Nathanael's admiration!

We went on multiple walks every day, so of course Desmond wore adorable jackets!


Nathanael's favorite London walking partner

Mom, look what we walked past in a window display!  Look familiar?!

The amazing multi-tasking mom!

Eva warmed up quickly to her Auntie and Uncle.

Our spoils...they only lasted one day.

Food was definitely a theme.  It was all so familiar, other than the baked beans for breakfast, which we actually thought were delicious.

Our attempt at a picture with the cousins

oh well

We miss you, Bryans!  Can't wait to see you again soon!
Yea for living on the same continent again!!!