July 16 Cornelia's First German

The girls and I spy out another amazing playground. Incredibly, it is even cooler than the first one we found. A giant turn-table you can lie on while your siblings spin you, wooden mini-cabins with ramps leading up to them, slides set into a hill so that you get to the top by climbing the hill instead of a ladder, spin-till-you-puke carousels, the works.

We get back just in time to get Cornelia to SommerLeseClub, a summer reading club for kids held at the library that I secretly signed her up for when she wasn't looking. The idea is to get her to speak some German to other kids without Therese or me pushing her in the back and whispering "Go on, now. Say something."

She is understandably nervous and says very little on the bus ride there. Only three other girls are in attendance, but the two group leaders are friendly and get Cornelia talking right away. "Ich heiße Cornelia. Ich bin aus Kanada," are her first two utterances. The group leader asks her, "Super! Verstehst Du schon alles?" ("Great! Do you understand everything we're saying?") and Cornelia nods with a smile. Fist pump!

With that, I leave her in good hands for 90 minutes. When I come to pick her up, she skips out of the room with an ear-to-ear smile. She takes me by the hand and declares her wish that the club could meet twice a week instead of just every other week. She says to me, "I discovered I really can speak German if I have to and nobody there knows English." I just about die of pride. She bubbles with excitement all the way home.