Soccer and Pretzels

This morning Alex was unusually hungry and so after breakfast we stopped at our local bakery on the way to school, so he could munch on a soft pretzel as we walked. When we got to school, he immediately ran off into his classroom and climbed up unto a loft bed that is used after lunch for those kids who still nap, but the rest of the day, kids can build forts out of pillows and cushions and this has become one of his favorite first stops of the day. I could barely find him to say god-bye.

I headed back to our apartment to get to work for a few hours, which would be great if there were at least one comfortable place to sit. The apartment has 2 desks and we have 6 wooden chairs, which look really cool and modern, but are truly uncomfortable. Then there is the one couch, but it, too, is exceedingly uncomfortable. It seems like a very silly thing to complain about, but alas, it will be one of the main reasons for me to find a different spot to work. Is a moderately comfortable chair too much to ask?

When I picked Alex up from school this afternoon, he was outside kicking a soccer ball around with a bunch of other kids. It had snowed a little earlier today and was quite frigid, but there they were, the little kids, joyfully kicking the ball around in the frozen mud. What a delight. When I could finally extricate him from the group, take his mud pants and rain boots off, so we could head out, he said to me: "School was awesome today." How great is that?

Here's a quick clip of Alex and some other kids, playing soccer in the backyard of his school today:

We then headed off into the city where we had a few things to pick up, including a pair of tumbling slippers (kind of like soft ballet shoes) so that Alex can participate in the gym/tumbling activities at his school. Along the way, we, of course, had to stop at a bakery where Alex had his second soft pretzel of the day. Look at the joy on his face as he takes a bite: