10-5-09 Kids switch to Fenix Language Institute; 10-20-09 Fenix school social

10-5-09: Gaby and Luke began a trial week at Fenix Language Institute (Mike's school) to focus solely on learning Spanish. We noticed that they were very frustrated at their other school because all the subjects were taught in Spanish and they had a hard time keeping up. Mike has them using an excellent computer program for mathematics on weekends to help them progress in math skills so we decided to focus more on Spanish language skills. Their teacher at Fenix (Lolita) has a Master's in Language Development/2nd Language Acquisition. She is giving them personalized lessons to help increase their Spanish language vocabulary as well as learn the grammatical rules. They are a lot happier now and get to see Dad during their breaks.

10-20-09: Students and teachers from the Fenix Language Institute gathered for a Spanish night social at a hostal where one of the students resided. There was a patio on the top level where we could enjoy spectacular views of downtown Zacatecas. We ordered pizza from Domino's (the kids were thrilled of course) and we all enjoyed a pleasant evening under the stars. (Pictures include the kids and I with their teacher Lolita, the Cathedral lit up at night, and a group shot).

I also included some pictures of the kids performing a chimney climbing technique in the doorway between the dining room and kitchen in our house. They would use both their hands and feet to shimmy to the top of the doorway then they would support their body weight using solely their arms or legs; quite impressive feats for our rugrats!