We are leaving for Antigua, Guatemala on August 28. It can't come to soon for me - I am ready to go. So...specifically we are going to "Centro Linguistico Internacional" in Antigua which I'm told is one of the most 'storybook' cities in Guatemala. It is old and quaint and a little slice of the not-so-real world. Can't wait. We are going to be part of their "Learn Together" program which will allow for Reid, the girls & I all to have Spanish classes. Some individual instruction but for the most part we will learn together for approx. 4 hours per day. We will be living with a Guatemalan family for these two weeks which will hopefully force us to engage in conversation! What an adventure!

Caris will be missing the first 2 weeks of Grade 9. This fact bothered her and I guess as I watched her reaction to missing those weeks, I was bothered. Reid & I had to take her misgivings seriously but to be honest, I couldn't for the life of me see the issue! In the end we all agreed that 2 weeks of Grade 9 (frankly probably most of Grade 9!) will be a small and mostly insignificant blip in her life. A 3 three week adventure in Guatemala - will register a far bigger blip. She is excited. And has quickly been able to put everything into perspective. She's a wise 13 year old.

So it's time to start making lists. Lots of lists....