Who Needs Snow? ... Or Translators?

Last weekend, after much research and prayer, we bought a playground/swing set. We worked on it the entire weekend, but it still needs a fair amount of work (I am hoping to post the pics whenever it is done). The pieces came in four large rectangular cardboard boxes, which Ethan converted into South Carolinian toboggans. Ever heard of one? We hadn't either until Ethan invented them. He and another little boy enjoyed themselves for hours sledding down the hill in these, and they still have plenty of life left in them. Here is a clip of Ethan's toboggan:

They actually work surprisingly well! Who needs snow when you have cardboard boxes and a little ingenuity :-)

The next day, Ethan continued sledding and was joined by our neighbors' two year old son, Jakob. The family is from Germany and the parents speak English, but Jakob, as far as we can tell, only understands German. That doesn't stop the boys from communicating though... most of the time. There are times when they don't seem to understand one another, and that's when we, or Jakob's parents, step in to fill in the gaps. Michael, Jakob's dad, was stepping in on such an occasion. He said some really long sentence in German to explain something to Jakob, and when he was done, Ethan said, "That's a great idea!" It was hilarious! Apparently, Ethan speaks German... or at least enough to recognize a good idea when he hears it :-).