Happy Birthday Jason!!

Today is Jason's birthday! He is now 36 years old. It is hard to believe or I should say it is hard for us to remember, a sure sign the years are mounting! Jason told someone the other day that he was 37 and I had to correct him. When I get my age wrong I always go a year younger and I am sadly surprised to find out I'm a year older. At least with his assumption of 37 I was able to give him the good news that he is only 36! :) Anyway, despite the cold weather and lack of yard, I made his party a summer BBQ with deviled eggs, burgers and sausages, melon, and chips. We finished off with cake and ice cream for dessert. Here is a picture of Jason blowing out his candles (or really his candle since I didn't have any birthday candles).

More ear infections

Poor Sofia has another ear infection. Two ear infections to be precise, one in each ear. Yesterday we went to the hospital and we were told to wait and see how it was on Monday. Today her ears were hurting her more so I brought her back to the hospital, although a different hospital than yesterday. We came home with antibiotics, ear drops and nose drops and an appointment to come back on Tuesday. That is more like it. I'm hoping that Sofia will be feeling much better by tomorrow.

We like to Move it Move it!!

Now I'm not talking about moving house because we all know the process of moving is not fun. What i'm talking about is the girls love of the song Move It Move It from the movie Madagaskar. In our house we LOVE to move it move it. Here is a video of the girls showing how much they love this song.

Swim lessons

Our friend Shanna has started teaching swim lessons again this year. She runs the lessons for 9 days so that the kids are in the water everyday and they can really make great improvements wih swimming. The girls took lessons with her last year and really did great. Sofia started swimming on her own by July last year. We have had two days of swim lessons so far this year and they are both doing great. We had been swimming at my friend Kerry's pool last week and Sofia wouldn't get in without a floatie and then even with the floatie she started to panic. Well, Shanna already has Sofia in the pool with no floaties swimming across the pool by herself. Ali is making strides as well but still not swimming by herself. I'm hoping that by the end of this summer Ali will have figured it all out. Here is a video of Sofia swimming.

Playground

Yesterday we went to a playground that we hadn't been to in a while. It is a nice playground with a lot of challenging equipment that the girls couldn't really use much of the last time we went. This time was different. They have definitely grown and could use everything at the playground...the zip line, the climbing structure, the fire poles etc. Ali was really enjoying a spinning toy so much that she didn't feel well. Even a few minutes after stopping she still couldn't walk straight. She said her stomach didn't feel good either. We feared she would throw up but instead she fell asleep on my lap for 45 minutes. Our friends joined us at the playground as well which the girls were very excited about. After playing on the playground together and after Ali woke up and got a little more playing in we headed out to Statenice. We showed our friends where our new house is and then we headed to the restaurant at Statenicky Mlyn (a new development in Statenice). They have outdoor seating which was perfect since the weather was beautiful. There is a pond next to the patio and since some of the girls other friends were eating at the restaurant too, the kids all had fun running around the pond. I can foresee a lot of dinners at this restaurant since the food was good and the kids can play and it is within walking distance of where we will be living.

The Jungle Book

On Friday night the kids school put on a performance of The Jungle Book. Every year the school puts on a performance and all children in the primary school except for nursery are in the show. We didn't attend the show last year since our kids were too young and were too tired on a Friday night to go out. This year Sofia was in the show so we went but left Ali at home with the babysitter. I wasn't sure how this would go but Ali was fine to stay home. She even said she didn't want to go because she was too tired. All the kids in the show did a great job. Each class was a different animal...monkeys, elephants, vultures etc. Sofia's class was a snake. It was interesting to see the difference in performance skill between each year. Here is the video of Sofia's class being the snake.

Exercise

I have recently started running with some friends. Which is another added benefit of the car since now I can drive out of town to a friends house and run with her from there. Anyway, there are sometimes two of us and sometimes 4 and it has really been a lot of fun for me. As a solitary runner for my life as a runner, except for a random run here or there, it is enjoyable to know I will have someone to run with two days a week. In addition to running I think I am going to take up pilates or at least give it a try. After a very hectic work schedule Jason is getting back to the gym as well as playing squash. All this exercise is good for our health, it allows us more time to be with our friends, and it shows our children a lifestyle that will keep them healthy for the rest of their lives. I'm grateful that our move to Prague opened up a more healthy lifestyle for us.

The girls are continuing with all their activities as well. We will be adding swim lessons to our schedule starting on Monday. They will have 2 weeks of swim lessons and then after that I will need to find someone to teach them once a week. Sofia is looking forward to another after school activity. She really has boundless energy! Mondays she has gymnastics, Tuesdays she has club at school, and Thursday she has Czech lessons. She really wants me to find swim lessons for Wednesday. She is amazing. Ali does get tired and so she currently only has gymnastics on Thursdays but she is really looking forward to swimming lessons. Hopefully I can find someone soon who can come out to our new place and teach them in our pool!

Cesky Krumlov

This past weekend I headed to Cesky Krumlov for a women's retreat with our church. For all our friends and family, again, don't worry. I understand your concern...when I hear church retreat it still feels a little strange to me but in fact it was a lot of fun. Cesky Krumlov is a beautiful village a couple hours south of Prague. We stayed in a hotel right on the river with a beautiful view of the castle. There were 37 women (I think it was that many) and we all had a great time together. There was time for prayer and thoughtfulness and time for chatting and having fun. On Saturday a bunch of us went rafting on the river. It was a little dreary at first but the rain stopped and the sun came out and we had a great time heading down river. Our boat did get stuck on a rock at one point and required some "in river" time to get the boat off the rock but it just made it that much more fun. It seemed the weekend was over before we knew it and it was time to head back to Prague. It was such a cute town that we will have to head back as a family soon so that Jason and the girls can see it.

Suburbia, here we come!

We have lived in Prague in an apartment for the last 2 1/2 years. It has been wonderful being in our apartment but times change and kids grow and need space. After buying the car our options for places to live grew. The thought of moving hung out there for a while and then we finally made the decision to move. With the nice weather the kids wanted to play outside, we wanted to BBQ, and we all want to invite friends over. We decided if we wanted to do all those things we needed a yard. We started the search by figuring out what towns would work for us since Jason will still need to get to/from work by public transportation. After narrowing the towns by public transit, we narrowed it down by length of travel time for Jason to get to work and the amount of noise we could handle from planes flying overhead. We ended up with a happy medium...not too close to the airport and not too far from town. It will be a 15 - 20 minute bus ride into town or 10-15 minutes by car and the drive to the girls school will take about the same as it does now. We will be living in the same village as a number of our friends which will be great for us as well as for the girls.

In any event, we have signed the reservation form and paid our deposit. We will sign the lease on Tuesday. The house is very cute. It is small but bigger than we have now. We will have three bedrooms instead of two as well as two bathrooms! Two and a half years of only one toilet is coming to an end! YAY!! When guests come to visit they will no longer have to sleep in the livingroom (hint hint guests...come visit us!!). We won't be living in a world of white walls as the house has other colors inside like yellows and reds and the girls room is already painted pink and green. The yard is nice and it has a small pool which will make for a very fun summer. Here are a few pictures I took with my iphone (so they won't be perfect). We can't wait to move in July!!

Car

So since we have bought the car we have had a crack in the windshield, one headlight go out and one brake light go out. While in the U.S. I wouldn't think much about it, here it requires more thought. I am proud to say that I have managed to tackle it all. On the second try I bought the right bulbs and replaced both the brake light and headlight myself. I brought the car in today to get the windshield fixed. The insurance lady (where we bought the car) helped me schedule the appointment and put it through with the insurance so I didn't have to do much but it was still nice to drop it off and pick it up today. I also bought our highway sticker today. (You need to buy a highway sticker in order to drive on the highways here otherwise you can get fined.) Now I just have to finally get our new plates and summer tires and we should be all set.

Little Racers

I had no idea we had two little speedy runners in our family. Today is the Prague International Marathon (PIM). We didn't run the full marathon but PIM also holds a 4.2K family mini marathon. We decided to run it with the girls so they could get a taste of running since they always see Jason and I going out for runs. They were very excited to run the race. We had to keep explaining to them about how to run a race and to not just go all out in the beginning. We explained what the start would be like and how there would be a lot of people. Well, this morning was race day and we headed off to the start. We met up with some friends and lined up to run the race. The girls didn't seem to be bothered by the number of people around them. We told them they could walk when they got tired but they did surprisingly little walking. Ali held a nice pace throughout the race where as Sofia was more into the bursts of speed. Jason ended up running mostly with Sofia and I ended up running mostly with Ali but at the end we were running together. The girls were so excited to finish and get their medals. They finished the race in 33 minutes, 42 seconds...that is a 12 minute, 54 second per mile pace! I can't believe how well they did. I'm very proud of them. They still have energy which is also amazing!

Gymnastics

Today I brought Sofia to her first gymnastics lesson. She is going to a different location for gymnastics than Ali. Since Sofia can't do the class on Thursday with Ali because she has Czech lessons she will go on Mondays. Petra, Watson's babysitter, also teaches gymnastics and has offered to take Sofia with her on Mondays when she goes. Today was the first time that Sofia went so I went with her much to Sofia's dismay. I had to explain to Sofia that I needed to see where she would be taking gymnastics and what it would be like. I have agreed to let her just go with Petra next week....my baby is growing up. Sofia had a great time doing gymnastics. Ali tried this class for a little bit but decided it was a little too hard for her. I agreed with her since this class is much more hard core than Ali's class on Thursday. Sofia settled right into the class and didn't seemed phased by all the czech spoken around her. The other little girls were very interested in Sofia and that she spoke English. It made me laugh when they all crowded around her and said "how are you" in Englsih over and over again. They all spoke to her in Czech and while she didn't really do any talking she did smile and laugh a lot. She did mention that it hurt a little bit to do the gymnastics but I assured her once her stomach muscles got use to being used and her legs became more flexible with stretching that it wouldn't hurt anymore. I also told her she didn't have to do a full split the first day of gymnastics. She is very competitive though and she just keeps trying until she gets things done. I think this class will be good for Sofia athletically but I think it will also be good for her Czech as well.

Witches Night

Thursday night was Witches Night in the Czech Republic. It is believed to date back to the iron age and it signals the end of winter. We went to Roztoky (a village just outside Prague) again this year for the celebration. The girls dressed up like witches and joined their friend, Kiera, running around and playing. They were both a little hesitant at first but then seem to settle in and have fun. There was a wooden house that was on fire (pretend) and the firemen would spray there hoses on the house knocking over the flames. The girls really liked exploring that. Kiera sang a song as did a bunch of other kids but Ali and Sofia were too shy to get on the stage. Ali decided at the last minute that she wanted to sing but by then the singing was already finished. The highlight of the night is the burning of the witch. This is a picture of the witch before she was set on fire. The kids loved watching her burn. It was exciting waiting for her to fall over! After the witch was burned the girls roasted sausages over the fire with our friend Radek (Kiera's dad). Sofia loved roasting the sausages but the fire was to hot for Ali so we had to stand a little bit back from the flames. After having some sausage there was a witches parade. All the little kids who wore witches costumes went up on stage to show their costumes and were given a chocolate bar and a small flashlight. Sofia was very shy and didn't want to go up but she decided at the last minute to go up with Kiera and Ali. I thought she was going to cry onstage but she held it together and was so excited to have her very own flashlight. Just after the kids came off the stage it started to pour so we all ran to our cars and headed home. It was another great witches night.

Jason goes to the U.S.

Jason went to the U.S. on Monday so this week has been just the girls, Watson and me. We managed pretty well this time. With the kids getting older it is easier to handle everything alone when Jason is away. Having the car was also helpful too. The girls were really good about getting ready in the morning so that we could take Watson out before we left for school. They were also ok with taking Watson out right before bedtime as well. They did end up going to bed a little bit late every night since I tried to take Watson out as late as possible since he would have to wait until 8am the next day to go out again. Luckily we have a dog who can hold it for a long time! We went to my friend Natalie's house after school on Tuesday for a playdate. Natalie's daughter, Ellie, is in Ali's class. She has a son as well who is older than Sofia but Sofia loves playing with him and he is really nice to her. We had a lot of fun. On Wednesday we had an impromptu playdate at my friend Shanna's house. The kids were excited to play especially since they thought we were going straight home from school. On Thursday I brought Sofia to Czech lesson and then headed off to bring Ali to her frist gymnastics lesson. My friend had told me about this gymnastics class so I decided to let Ali give it a try. The class is taught completely in Czech but Ali doesn't seem to mind. She even told me that she was speaking Czech to the kids in the class. The teachers are really good with all the kids and Ali did great. I'm happy that she will have this activity to do while Sofia is taking Czech lessons.

Beautiful Weekend

Saturday, Jason and I took the girls to the park since it was so beautiful. We made a day of it and brought a picnic blanket, snacks, lunch and smoothies to drink. The fresh air always seems to make the girls ravenous so we wanted to make sure we had enough for them to eat. We took Sofia's training wheels of her bike for the first time. She was a little hesitant to try riding her bike without them but she did a good job. She didn't spend to much time on her bike though since she was having a lot of fun kicking the soccer ball around and trying to play baseball with Jason.

On Sunday we went to a birthday party for Sofia's friend, Jose Miguel. The party was in a hotel in Nebusice which is now easy to get to since we have a car. Sofia got right into the party when the clown arrived. Ali, on the other hand, separated from the party when the clown arrived. Ali has seen clowns before and actually had even seen one of these clowns in particular but for some reason she was very scared by them. She wouldn't leave my side unless it was to be at Jason's side. After a while, Jason got her warmed up and she joined in on the fun with the clowns. I enjoyed talking with the other mom's there while Jason minded our girls and spoke with the other dads there. The party was fun and the kids were very sad to leave. We decided to continue the fun at home with a game of chutes and ladders.

Back on Schedule

Monday was back to school for the kids after a two week vacation. They were excited to head back and see their friends. I wasn't sure if the morning routine would be difficult after vacation but the girls fell right back into it. There were no problems getting ready which I think can be partly credited to having to wear uniforms. The girls are still loving the car and how easy it is to get to school now. The weather has remained beautiful too so after school we have played on the new school football pitch (soccer field) or played by the river. This is were I feel the enjoyment of the car because I can let the girls play until exhaustion without worrying about getting them to walk home.

Spring has sprung

Over the last two weeks of school vacation we have really enjoyed the warm spring weather. It was beautiful everyday until Friday when it turned a little colder and rainy. The girls and I enjoyed seeing all the forsythia and tulips in bloom.

Fried Computers

So last week our computer stopped working. I had been hoping that it was something to do with the CD drive since when you put a CD in the computer it didn't do anything. I was wrong. Today I picked up our computer from the store and found out that our hard drive had fried. The guy didn't really speak English but said, "hard drive....kaput". This is a very sad thing as it means I have lost all our pictures from March as well as a lot of videos of the kids. Luckily I had just burned CDs of all the photos for the previous 6 months. I will be burning CDs more regularly now as well as DVDs of the videos!

Vacation Week 2

This second week of school vacation has flown by. The weather has continued to be just beautiful . . . blue skies, sun shining, perfect temperature. Monday was a holiday here so Jason had the day off. We spent the day just hanging out as a family and then we went to our friends house for dinner. The girls had so much fun playing with their friends, Vivi and Michelle they didn't want to leave when it was time to go. We had to draw the line at some point so we headed home around 8:30pm and put the kids to bed. It was our first time to our friend's, Kelly & Michal's apartment. While we could get there by tram it just never seemed to work out. With the car it was so easy. I am looking forward to more dinners together with them. Tuesday was a pretty low key day. The girls had there yearly check ups at the doctor. It was there first yearly check up since being in the Czech Republic. I did slack a little bit on the yearly check-ups but don't worry they did see the doctor often enough with ear infections, knee pain etc. They did great on their check ups and are in perfect health. In the afternoon, the girls and I had lunch in a square near our apartment before bringing Sofia to Czech lesson. Wednesday was big day for us since we went to the Zoo with their friends Vivi and Michelle. Vivi and Michelle's grandmother joined us for the trip to the zoo too since she is in town visiting. It was such a easy pleasant day at the zoo. The weather was perfect. The kids were all behaving and I had good company to talk to while the kids enjoyed the animals.



Thursday we went out to my friend Emily's again. The kids had fun playing in the yard and in the house. My friend Shanna was also there with her three children so the kids had a lot of fun running around together. All of these things we have been able to do during this school vacation have been great and made so much easier and more enjoyable because we have the car.




On Friday we decided to head to the IMAX theater with my Laura and her son, Owen, to see the Dolphins and Whales movie in 3D. The movie wasn't as action packed as I had expected but the kids still had fun watching the movie. It was so funny to watch then as they kept reaching out to touch the dolphins and whales. I have to admit I reached out a couple times too since it really did seem like they were swimming right over us. After watching the movie we headed out into the mall and gave the kids McDonald's for dinner and then let them play in the McDonald's play area. They had a blast and were all hot and sweaty by the time we headed home. Yesterday we went to see my friend Joanna and her family in the afternoon. We hadn't seen them in quite a while since their trip to the united States started just when we got back from the United States. It was nice to see them and catch up on the last couple months. Today we will relax and prepare for the return to school tomorrow. It has been a fun and busy two week vacation.

Karlstejn Castle

Karlstejn Castle has been on our list of "to do" since we moved here. There is a train to get to Karlstejn but it always seemed like such a trek that we just hadn't made it there. With the ease of our car though we finally made the trip (45 minutes) to Karlstejn. Saturday was another beautiful sunny day and perfect to be outside. We arrived at Karlstejn at lunch time so we parked the car and went to the closest restaurant with outdoor seating. They had a little playground so the kids played while we waited for our food. After filling up we decided to head to the castle. It is about a 1.5 kilometer walk up hill to get to the castle so we decided to take the horse and carriage ride to the top. I'm so glad we did b/c the hill was pretty steep in places and the girls would have been exhausted by the time we reached the castle. Orignally Jason and I planned to just walk around the outside of the castle but the girls begged to go inside and take the tour. Since they really wanted to do it we figured we would give it a try and hope they lasted the full hour. Sofia did great. She asked some good questions and was really very interested. Ali did well in the beginning but then her tiredness got the better of her and she fell asleep in my arms. At least my arms got a good workout! After finishing the tour we headed back down the hill into the town. Ali woke up and walked down the hill and we found some ice cream which we all enjoyed. It was a gorgeous day, perfect for walking outside. I'll post some pics once we get our other computer back.

Vacation week

The girls are on vacation for two weeks. Luckily for us it has been quite nice outside. On Monday we decided to head out to the river near the girls school. I love the location. It is so pretty next to the river and very quiet and peaceful. The girls had ice cream and fed the ducks. I couldn't believe how close the ducks came to us. I guess they get fed very often and are not as afraid of people. I had to keep telling the girls not to walk quickly toward the ducks b/c they would fly away but I don't think they really got it since they kept doing it. Oh well, they had fun anyway.





On Wednesday, the girls and I headed into town to meet Jason. We went and helped him pick out sunglasses and then had lunch. We went to a pizza place Jason had been to before and while the food was good the service was terrible. Fortunately the girls were well behaved when they had to wait a long time for their food even when they were starving. After lunch we said bye to Jason, who headed back to work, and we headed to Vysteviste to go to the Lunar Park. It is a fair that comes to town I guess once a year although I'm not sure about that. It is basically a traveling carnival. The girls had a blast going on the kiddie rides and jumping on a trampoline. Having reached the point that I didn't want to spend more money I called it a day. We walked home through Stromovka park which was so peaceful and beautiful. The trees/shrubs are all getting their leaves and some of the trees have already flowered. I do love spring! It did rain during our walk home but it was still fun.



Thursday was also a beautiful day and we headed to my friend Emily's house. It is great having the car since Emily lives out of town. It was so easy to get there and stress free. No worries about catching the bus. The kids loved playing outside in the grass and on the swing set. There were games of hide and seek and racing around the house as well as playing in the sand box and making mud. We ate lunch outside and Emily and I had time to chat, although we had a lot of unfinished conversations as we were helping the kids quite a bit.

Friday was a low key day. The girls and I brought our computer into the shop since it died on Wednesday. It is very frustrating since we just bought the computer in November! The guy at the shop was helpful and easy to deal with so it was pretty quick to drop off the computer. He told me it would take 4-5 days to fix it. I was happy with that b/c I thought he was going to say 4-5 weeks. After dropping the computer off I decided to check out the markets in Holesovice since the computer store is right next to them. I had heard about the markets but had never made it there to see what they were all about. Now I can say that I didn't miss out on anything in the last two and a half years. The market was full of junk...clothing, sunglasses and purses. We came home for a rest and then headed out to see if we could find easter shaped cookie cutters. We had no luck and we took a lot of time so I didn't get the chance to make the cookies with the girls but luckily when Petra came to babysat she was happy to make the cookies with the kids. Jason and I headed off to our italian place for dinner where we ate dinner with our friends, Chris and Laura. We had so much fun with them we talked so much that we didn't finish dessert until 11pm! Time flies when you are having fun!

We completed a fun week with a trip to Karlstejn castle on Saturday (which I will post about next) and then Sunday we went to our friends house for dinner after church. It was nice to be able to have dinner on Sunday night and not worry about how late the kids are staying up since they didn't have to get up in the morning for school. We hadn't had dinner with our friends, Phil & Shanna, in a while so it was nice to hang out and chat with them. The kids had a blast playing in the yard and then preparing a show for us to watch. The show contained dressing up with a lot of jumping and twirling. It was quite entertaining.

Easter markets

On Saturday, after going to he park and having a rest at home, we all headed into the Easter Markets in old Town Square. It is fun to walk around all the stalls and see all the Easter decorations. The girls enjoyed ice cream and Jason and I had some Trdlo, a soft yeast dough which is wrapped around a hot metal pin and cooked over a flame, then rolled in ground almonds and sugar. After having our snacks we headed up on the raised platform to watch the performance on stage. Their was a high school band playing and the girls really enjoyed watching. I was surprised at how long they wanted to stay and watch. After a while we were ready to go and figure out dinner but on the way we crossed the area where they have horse and carriage rides. We have always said we wanted to take the kids on one and the girls really wanted to go so we decided it was a beautiful day to do it. We took a 20 minute horse and carriage ride which the girls loved. They waved to people as we passed just like princesses. Most people waved back with smiles which made the girls happy. At the end we stopped in a restaurant for a quick snack and then headed home.

Naked Day!!

Friday was a half day for the kid's school, kicking off the Easter break. My friend, Inge, invited us over for lunch and playtime after school. Inge's son, Lars, is in Sofia's class and her son, Nils, is in Ali's class. It was such a beautiful day that we spent the entire time on their patio and in the yard. Inge also invited our friend , Elizabeth, over as well. (Elizabeth's daughter is in Ali class.) It was interesting to see how the kids played together. Sofia had great fun playing with Olav, Inge's oldest boy. All the kids started off fully dressed playing in the sand, making mud, and running in the yard and as time went on they became hotter and hotter and as a result more and more clothes came off. After some time the kids found the hose and before long they were running around soaking wet yelling, "it's naked day!!" It was pretty funny to see 6 children running around stark naked and having a blast. The kids all play so well together that I didn't get up once to intervene. It was very relaxing to sit with my friends, Inge and Elizabeth, and enjoy lemonade while listening to the happy sounds of the kids playing. I, of course, forgot my camera but fortunately Inge took pictures and shared them with me.

Watson Vacations

When we go on vacation so does Watson. Watson gets to go with his friend, Petra. Petra is our babysitter's daughter who sometimes babysits the kids as well. She is very nice and the kids and Watson love her. She is Watson's best friend. He gets so excited to see her and always seems a little sad when his vacation is over and he has to come home. I don't blame him, I'm always a little sad when vacation is over too. Petra brings Watson everywhere. He has been out to their country house and has been mushrooming. He has been to Karlstejn castle, a place we have not even been yet. On his last vacation, while we were in in the States, Watson headed up to the moutains. He had a great time playing in the snow. Petra always takes lots of pictures of Watson so for those of you who have requested more pictures of Watson here you go...

It's warm!!

As most of you look at this picture you will see Ali. While she is beautiful and fun to look at and take pictures of, I see much more than that...I see the joy of laundry hanging on the line outside!! The winter is always a trial with the laundry. I have my pegasus tower for hanging laundry but it is not enough when you have sheets. There is always the question of where to hang things once I run out of space on the tower. Then once you have everything hung up it can take a couple days to dry. This is good for our humidity levels in the apartment and we don't need to run humidifiers but it is a pain when you just want the clothes to dry. The beginning of warm weather means hanging clothes on the line where they can dry in a few hours. It means just hanging things up without having to strategically hang things to optimize space. So while most of you just see Ali, I see so much more ...the beginning of easy drying!!

Difference of words

There are words that, while they are English, are not used very often in everyday speech in the U.S. We have found that after two years in a British school, our English (especially the girls) has changed to include the following words: lovely, quite, keen, sweetie, trousers, rubbish, proper. Some examples: "It is a proper croissant", "This is quite lovely mommy isn't it?", "I quite like it.", "She is really keen to play outside." , "Mommy, can I have a sweetie?", "I got my trousers wet today." Some of these words Jason and I have accepted with ease but ones such as "trouser" are a little bit harder to accept. In the end I have to smile whenever I hear Ali say trousers b/c it just sounds so strange to me. It is just part of living in another culture that is interesting.

A Sunny Day

This week did not start out well. Sofia woke up a lot on Sunday night and then got up in the morning feeling terrible. I brought her to the pediatrician and she has strep throat. Luckily, I brought her in early and started her on antibiotics right away. She was feeling much better by yesterday afternoon. Today she was still at home with me but bored out of her mind and wanting to go back to school with all her friends. Looking at her this afternoon you wouldn't know she was sick at all. Thankfully today was a beautiful day so it was not a strain to load her into the car to go pick up Ali from school. (Yes, the car!!! I love it!!) The weather was so nice we even went over and sat by the river after school and had a snack and fed the ducks. Some friends joined us by the river which was fun. I'm looking forward to many more nice sunny spring/summer days to enjoy by the river.

Half Marathon Pictures

I was sooooo fast that my friend, Mark, was only able to capture my back..hahahahah. This picture is about 5miles into the race. I was happy to see my friends along the way. You can see my friends, the Davis family, encouraging me along in this picture. Having friends along the race really gave me a boost to keep doing my best. The race organizers also take pictures of you as you cross the finish line. Here is the picture of me on the blue carpet giving is a strong final push to the end.

Half Marathon

Yesterday was the Prague International Half Marathon. I have been training for it for quite a while and really looking forward to the race. I figured I would definitely finish it in under 2 hours 10 minutes. My goal was to finish it in 2 hours 5 minutes. My stretch goal was to finish it in 2 hours. I'm happy and proud to report that I finished in 1 hour 59 minutes and 43 seconds!!!! It was a great race for me. I had friends that I saw all along the route which kept me going when I needed it. I was a very warm day which made it a little difficult since I have trained in cold and rain and hail but not sunny and warm but it was all good and I'm glad I ran the race. Jason also ran the race and was doing great until the end. He had to stop about 300 meters from the finish line at 1 hour 42 minutes b/c he almost passed out. His target time was 1:45 so he was on track until that happened. He was severely dehydrated and just couldn't even get up and walk a straight line for about a half hour. Unfortunately he didn't cross the finish line until 2 hours 10 minutes. It was very disappointing for him since he had such a great race up until that point. After coming home and showering the girls and I headed out to dinner with two of my friends who also ran the race. (Jason stayed home since he really wasn't feeling well.) It was fun to get together with them and their families and celebrate all our hard work. (For the parents who are worried, Jason is fine today and no longer dehydrated.) I will post pictures soon.

Car

We finally made the decision and bought a car. We have gone two and a half years without a car but the time had come to buy one. With the girls getting older they have more friends and playdates. The majority of their friends and our friends now live out of town which isn't easily accessible without a car. We didn't want to spend the money for a new car so we bought used. Not speaking the language though and fear of car troubles we decided to buy a used car with low mileage. We had initially thought we would buy a really small car but then the reality of putting two bikes and a dog in the back made us upgrade the size we were looking to buy. We ended up buying a škoda octavia combi (pictured here). It is basically a small wagon. I'm excited to have the freedom of a car. Not only does it mean the school pick ups will be easier and we can see our friends out of town more but it also means we can take more road trips....dresden, berlin, salzburg etc..here we come!!

Loft Bed

Sofia has a few friends who have loft beds and she loved them. She has asked for a loft bed for a while but we weren't sure if she was really ready to be sleeping high off the ground. That along with the expense we didn't want to just run out and buy one right away. We decided that we would make the loft bed her present for her 5th birthday. We couldn't put off the purchase for very long anyway since she was outgrowing her toddler bed! After our trip to the U.S., we came back and started the hunt for a loft bed. Most of the loft beds I found in Czech were really low to the ground which to me negates the benefits of a loft bed. Ikea had a few loft beds but they were ugly or made of pine which I didn't want. I finally found a company online based in Germany. After some laguage translating thanks to google translate, we ordered Sofia's new loft bed. We had to send the money via wire transfer rather than credit card which is still akward to me even after two years. All went well though and Sofia's new bed arrived 11 days after I ordered it. Jason and I figured out the directions and assembled the bed. We bought a new mattress and tonight will be Sofia's first night in her new big girl loft bed.

Sandwich for Watson

Even after 2 1/2 years Watson is still loved and spoiled by the people in our neighborhood. The security guard from the bank on the corner of our street loves Watson. She will often give him some kind of snack and, of course, Watson loves her. There have been times when I have walked by the bank only to have her come running from inside the bank to give Watson a cracker. This last friday took me by surprise though. I was walking down the street WITHOUT Watson and I stopped at the bank machine. I was finishing up when the security guard came out to give me a sandwich for Watson. Not a piece of a sandwich but an entire sandwich! I had to put the sandwich in my purse since Watson wasn't with me. I'm glad Watson is so well loved here.

Hi Elisabetta

Last year we went on the Easter Egg hunt with the Sofia's friend Elisabetta. Sofia and Elisabetta became very good friends but Elisabetta moved to Sweden last summer. Sofia often thinks about Elisabetta and today we thought it would be a good time to say hi to her. We also missed her birthday which Sofia really wanted to go to Sweden for but with going to the States we just couldn't add that trip as well. Here is the video the girls made for their friend who is far away but not forgotten.

Easter Egg Hunt

Every year the girls' school holds an easter egg hunt. The hunt is not what we normally have in the U.S. In the U.S. an easter egg hunt has eggs hidden in a yard or big field. Here we head out to the Suchdol woods. We trek through the woods looking for 8 stations where the teachers can be found. The teachers ask the kids a question and, given the correct answer, they give the children chocolate. It is a lot of fun running about in the woods. The girls were really excited when we found their teachers (pictured here). A few of the teachers even dress up in easter bunny outfits and we have to look for them as well. Last year we had fun and only found about half of the teachers. This year we found all the stations but still didn't find two of the "rabbits". We are making progress! The weather was a little chilly today but we were happy to have the sun shining on us at the end for our picnic. I, as usual, was not as prepared as a some of the parents but we still enjoyed our picnic. The kids questioned me as to why I didn't bring a blanket to sit on and why I didn't have hot tea to drink but they were content to sit on the ground, eat sandwiches and drink water. Next year I will come prepared with appropriate picnicing supplies!

Illness

This week started out as busy but Ali caught a cold and we kept her home from school on Tuesday. It was a disruption in plans but it was good for Ali to catch up on sleep and it was nice for me to have a day of doing nothing (although I was sad to miss out on my friend teaching sushi making!). Wednesday it seemed the rest and extra sleep had cured Ali. She had a great nights sleep and woke up on Wednesday her happy chatty silly self. We were happy that she was better and sent her to school. She apparently did fine all morning and then started to crash around lunchtime. By the time I got to school to pick her up she had a fever. My planned parent/teacher conferences had to be canceled and I brought the kids home. Ali (and therefore, me) had a long night last night. She was coughing quite a bit and when the meds wore off her fever would shoot up. I have kept her home from school today just so she can rest since her fever is gone this morning. I'm hoping her fever stays gone and doesn't show up around 2pm when I will have to start getting her ready to pick up Sofia.

Busy week

The week has flown by since we returned to Prague. We have all done remarkably well with the jet-lag and the girls have slept threw the night from our first day back. Take the night flight out of Boston seems to be the way to go since last year we took the day flight and the jet lag was horrible.

One of the things that has filled our time this week is discussion over the new location for the early years program at the girls school. We had a meeting with the school this week over the displeasure felt by most parents regarding this change (ourselves included in the displeasure). I don't think we made any difference voicing our concerns but at least we told the school our thoughts. We will see next week what the final decision is but at this point it looks like Sofia and Ali will be in two different locations next year. I spent more time at the kids school for a PTA meeting and just catching up with people. Being away three weeks is a long time. It has been great to catch up with friends.

Yesterday I had a full days of baby showers. I went to a shower in the morning for my friend Joanna. It was nice to see everyone as well as it gave me my first look at my friend Laura's new baby, Elliot. It seems it is just raining babies here in Prague. My friend Laura had her baby while we were int he states so I was excited to finally meet him at the shower. It was a fun shower done as a tea party so there were all different kinds of tea as well as scones, mini sandwiches and cake. After leaving that shower I came home picked up a second gift and headed out to my friend Emily's house for a shower for my friend Kirsty. Again, I was really looking forward to seeing my friends. I hadn't seen Emily in ages since between her trip to the States, our trip to the States and colds I hadn't seen her since November I think. I had seen Kirsty in January but when someone is pregnant there is a lot of change in a month. It is hard to believe her pregnancy is almost over....it always seems like pregnancies go so quick for other women!

While I was having fun with my girlsfriends Jason and the girls were hanging out at home. It was good for them to have a chance to relax. They also made a trip to the grocery store and had dinner ready for me when I came home.

I'm hoping this week will settle down a little bit and go a little slower now that we are back into our routine. It is nice to be home.

Final stop then home!

We packed up on Friday and headed 3 hours south to Massachusetts to stay with Jason's brother, Graham and his family. His parents came down on Saturday as did his brother Matt and his family. The girls were really looking forward to this time to spend with their cousins. Sofia was excited that it would be just like when we were in Scotland and they had so much fun together. It was nice to see the cousins playing together so well. I should really say it was nice to NOT see them playing since they all spent most of the time together in the playroom and I didn't need to go in since their was no fighting! Unfortunately I didn't think to take pictures early enough and I didn't get any of Keely and Aliana but here is one of the girls with Alex and Justin.

The weather was beautiful over the weekend and we did spend time outside since the weather was very spring-like. It may have even hit 60 degrees (F) on Sunday. I went for a run on Saturday and I was so hot I wished I had been wearing shorts! On Sunday we headed to the airport with the help of Graham. We had so much stuff to bring back that it wouldn't fit in our rental car. Graham was kind enough to help us load everything into their SUV and drive us to the airport.

The plane ride was uneventful. The kids slept a little and we arrived home yesterday at 11am. It was so nice to visit with all of our family. It was fun to shop and ski and relax. The sun was amazing! I think it was cloudy three days while we were there. We were greeted in Prague with clouds and rain today. Even with the clouds though I am happy to be home. Three weeks is a long time to be away. It was nice to walk to run errands today and it was nice to speak with my friends here again. The girls were excited to go to school and they were greeted by their friends today with such joy. It will be nice to get back into our daily lives.

Birthday celebration #2

Sofia got to celebrate her birthday twice this year. We had a party for her at my parent's house and then we celebrated again on her actual birthday, March 4th, at the farm. Grammie made cupcakes with the girls and had the girls decorate the cupcakes. After a fun morning of skiing we went back to the farm, had lunch and then sang happy birthday and enjoyed the cupcakes. Grammie had gifts for the girls. (We also celebrated an early birthday for Ali since we won't be with Grammie in June.) The girls LOVED their presents especially the dresses they received. Unfortunately for us the dresses play music VERY loudly. Let's hope the batteries die quickly! :) For dinner, Grammie made Sofia's favorite dish, lobster. We followed the lobster up with more cupcakes. I think she had a good day!

Skiing

Last year we rented skis for the girls and just had them go down the snow piles at the farm. This year Sofia was old enough for a lesson so we took the kids to the mountain. We decided to go to King Pine. We had never been there before but in an effort to save money we gave it a try. It was perfect for Sofia's lesson. The resort offered a 1 and 1/2 hour ski lessons with a lift ticket and rentals for $37. This is almost half the price of other mountains close by and they were great with Sofia. She immediately started talking to another little girl in the lesson and before I knew it she was shuffling off in her skiis. I had to call her back to start the lesson. The teachers sent the kids up the magic carpet and had them come down the small slope. Sofia did this over and over again without stopping. I couldn't believe it when she actually snowplowed to a stop! She did a great job and was exhausted after one hour so we called it a day. Ali also did a great job although not in a lesson since she is too young. Ali enjoyed starting at the top of the hill and going as fast as possible down the hill into Jason's arms. I can just envision her giving me heart attacks when she is older whipping down the mountain. We gave the girls the next day off from skiing and then headed out to Shawnee Peak the following day. Shawnee Peak is another ski mountain close to the farm. We decided to skip the lessons and just let the girls goof around. We went up the magic carpet first. Sofia again did great going up and down this area. We realized that Ali just doesn't have the leg strength to make a snow plow yet and decided to just let her ski between our legs. We wanted her to have fun since we want the girls to love skiing like we do. After a little while on the magic carpet the girls asked to go on the lift. With their enthusiasm at a high we headed over to the lift. We helped them on/off the lift but they still had to do some of the work and they did great. I thought for sure Ali would fall getting off the lift but she didn't. I held ali between my legs for the trip down the mountain but Sofia did it all by herself. She had a lot of fun and while Ali was too tired for another trip of the lift, Sofia and Jason went for another turn. I'm glad they had so much fun. Jason and I had a lot of fun skiing with the girls and we also had a lot of fun skiing by ourselves. Thanks to Jason's mom and step-dad we got two days and one night of skiing in without the kids. It was a blast! I am looking forward to next winter and skiing here in the Czech Republic or Germany or Austria...maybe even all three!! Here is a video of Sofia's first ski lesson.

Sledding

One of the great things about being at the farm (what we call Jason's parent's house) is all the snow they get in the winter. They get a lot of snow and that added with snowblowing the driveway/walks as well as the snow falling/shoveled off the roof there are some big snow piles that are perfect for sledding. Jason and I packed down a train next to the barn and had a great time sledding with the girls. Here are a couple videos of the girls having fun.

Sofia Sledding


Ali sledding

Ice Skating

Since we took the girls skating in December they have been asking to go again. Things kept coming up and we never had the chance to go skating again. Jason's mom bought skates for the girls and researched the area skating rinks. We quickly set off for the ice rink in Fryeburg. We all had fun and we were the only ones there so we didn't need to worry about the girls getting bumped by anyone. Ali really enjoyed trying to spin.

On the road again...

After visiting with Jason's dad we headed off to his mom's house which is still in Maine but a two hour drive from his Dad's. It was nice to arrive and know that we would be staying put for the next week and a half. The girls were excited to have all the snow. While I went into town to do a little shopping, Jason and the girls got busy building a snowman . . err . . . snowlady. She was very attractive with her big eyelashes and beautiful hair! I made sure to take a bunch of pictures.

Off to Maine

We stayed an extra day in RI with my family since the news was calling for a big snowstorm the day we were going to drive up. We didn't want the 5 hour drive to be any longer than necessary. I'm glad we waited since they got about 2 feet of snow! We had a nice visit with Jason's dad and step-mom. They have three cats which the girls loved playing with. One cat stayed hidden under a bed for most of the time we were there but the girls kept checking on it. One cat would come darting in and out of the room and the

girls would look around the house to find it. The other cat loved attention and let the girls pet it and brush her. Luckily the cats do not have front claws since Sofia, who is use to Watson, got a little to in the cat's face and the cat whacked her upside the head. Sofia was stunned and cried a little bit and we comforted her accordingly but it was still pretty funny since she wasn't actually hurt. We had planned to build a snowman while there but the air had dried the snow to the point that it just wasn't possible. The girls still had fun climbing the massive piles of snow. It was such a nice visit and it was good to see Jason's dad in good health.