Drink Your Milk!

The last couple weeks has been a struggle to get Ali to drink her milk. This was so strange since Ali has always been a good milk drinker. We would sit and reprimand her and take things away from her and she still wouldn't drink her milk. Ali has a stubborn streak the size of the United States I think! We sat at breakfast on Sunday morning for 2 hours and she only drank it b/ i held the cup up to her mouth. While this was happening I was thinking about how my friend told me the milk here does not all taste the same and that her kids will not drink certain brands. Her kids say that certain brands of milk taste bad. I thought maybe this could be the problem since the brand that she has been fighting over the last couple weeks was a brand I had not bought before. Today was the first full day of the new milk and she is back to her normal self. Who knew different milk brands would taste different!

Last Day of School

Yesterday was Sofia's last day of school. It was a half day and they finished it with an outside assembly that parents were invited to. Ali and I went to see the assembly. Sofia has told us about the weekly assembly before and it always sounds like she has fun so I was excited to see an assembly. They really do have a lot of fun. The end of the year assembly included a little sadness since they had to say goodbye to some classmates but even with this the teachers made it a happy time. Here is a video of Sofia's class singing a song in front of the group.


One of the things I love about Sofia's school is all the singing they do. Sofia is always coming home singing a new song. Of course, she expects me to know the song and sing it with her and I have to explain that she needs to teach me. She doesn't really get that so it was nice for me to hear the songs they sang at assembly so that I can at least be ready to sing those songs. Here is a video of one of the other songs they (the entire primary school) sang during the assembly. Sofia is sitting on her teacher's lap. She was very tired since she had a restless night sleep the night before. She even managed to hit her eye on her bed and has a very small bruise.


Here is another song. It was the final song of the assembly so the children are starting to file out but they all still sing which I think is great. (Pardon the poor camera work.)

Saying bye to more friends

With the end of the school year upon us it is time to say bye to some of Sofia's classmates. One of her classmates, Elisabetta, is moving to Sweden. This is very sad since Sofia and Elisabetta get along so well and Elisabetta's brother, Morgan, gets along really well with Ali. I also get along really well with her mom, Susanna. They will be missed but Sofia keeps insisting that we will be going to Sweden for Elisabetta's birthday in January so maybe we will see them soon. How expensive can flights be to Sweden in January when it is only light for 2 hours a day! I hope that we can make the trip to see them though since we really enjoy our time together.

Ahhhh...Dell's

I was talking to my mom the other day as she was driving as I normally do. The timing just works out to talk to her on the way to the office or on the way to my grandma's house. The other day she decided to torture me during the call. As we are talking she says, "hold on. I have to go in to D. Palmieri's." As fellow RI'ers know, D. Palmieri's is a GREAT bakery. As my friends and family know I love D. Palmieri's. So as I wait for my mom to finish in D. Palmieri's I get to hear, "I'll have a dozens pieces of pizza, a half dozen pastries, oh and a loaf of Italian bread." It was pure torture. So, as I longed for RI specialties I remembered that my mom had sent me a container of Dell's lemonade mix. Today was a hot day and perfect for Dell's. I broke out the blender and here I sit with my little cup of RI. Thanks again for the Dell's Mom!

Birthday Party

On Tuesday afternoon we went to a birthday party for Dominic, Sofia's friend from school. The entire class was invited so there were a lot of kids but they all get along so well that there was never a problem. They all had great fun jumping around in the bouncy castle, running around the yard and eating cake, ice cream, and other snacks. They also had a pinata which seems to a standard activity for birthday parties here. The all had fun wacking the pinata with the stick but after everyone had gone a few times and still had not broken the pinata we changed tactics and had the kids pull the ribbons at the bottom to open the pinata. It was funny to see the difference in candy gathering ability. Some kids were really good at getting a lot of candy by making large sweeping motions with their arms and gathering a big pile in front of them to put in their bags and others , like my girls, pick up one piece at a time. As a parent I'm torn between what I want them to do. I want them to get a lot of candy because they would like it but as a mom I don't want them to have too much candy. In the end I just stand back and let them get however much they can and that is it. By the time we come home and I put it in the cabinet they forget about it anyway. The party was fun and it was nice to see all the kids playing so well together and having a great time. The moms also had fun sitting and chatting too.

Botanicus Village

A little while ago I had seen an advertisement for a place called Botanicus Village. It seemed like it would be a fun place to bring the girls since from the advertisement it reminded me of Old Sturbridge Village. I was very excited when I found out that Sofia's school was having a class trip to Botanicus village. Ali and I joined Sofia for the trip and we all had a great time. We had lunch in the beautiful gardens and then the kids ran around the hedge maze. We then had a tour of the village so that the kids would see everything that was available to them. The kids were each given 7 tokens with which they could buy things. Sofia was interested in the candlemaking so we headed over to the candlemaking building. Once we were there we decided to skip it since the methos of making the candles was to hold the wick and dunk it into a large bucket of hot wax repeatedly. This is fine for older kids but a couple kids had already burned the tips of the fingers in the wax so we decided to do something a little less dangerous and we headed to soap making. This was a lot of fun and it smelled really good. The girls each made a ball of soap which is still drying on the counter. After making soap the girls only had 2 tokens left each so we walked around to see where we could spend their money. The decided to each buy a ring. After that it was time to head back to the buses. It was a fun day. The girls have asked to go back so we may have to make another trip this summer and take Jason with us.

Ever Helpful

Since we moved to Prague I have found that the Czechs have a penchant for being helpful. I know that may sound strange to many people since I know a lot of people find the Czechs to be abrupt and often rude but it is true in its own way. Maybe it is coming from New England but I don't mind if people aren't overly friendly. What has struck me as odd though is how Czechs will go out of their way to tell me what they think. Since we moved here I have been stopped on the escalator by people multiple times to "help" me. I have been told to roll the stroller on to the escaltor backwards b/c they beleive it is safer. I have been told not to be too close to the edge of the escaltor b/c the stroller could get caught. I have been told to hold the stroller with one hand, Sofia with my other hand and then somehow hold the railing so that if the escaltor stopped all of a sudden we wouldn't go flying. That one made me laugh since I would need three hands to do what the lady was suggesting. All of these times I have smiled and said thankyou since they were trying to be helpful even though the New Englander in me was telling them mind their own business. Today was the best helpful advice I have received to date. I was stopped by a gentleman on the street to tell me that I really should not have cut Watson's hair because he could get a sun burn. If he has long hair then he is meant to have long hair. I told him if I didn't cut it then Watson would get too hot. He kind of nodded in agreement and said then he should be outside for no more than 30 minutes at a time. I just said ok thanks and continued on my way. I had to laugh at all the well intentioned advice.

Sports Day

Last week Sofia's school had a sports day. They loaded the kids onto buses and headed to a sports complex. They had all kinds of games from three legged races, sack races, jumping between hoops etc. I didn't get to see Sofia during the day but she seemed to have a great time. The school took photos during the day and posted them on the website. Here is a great one of Sofia.

Sugary Sweet Day

Ali's birthday included a lot of eating. She requested a donut from the baguette shop for breakfast so we got dressed and headed down the street. Once we were there I learned that she thinks a muffin is a donut. She chose a blueberry muffin and an ice tea. We enjoyed a nice breakfast. We came home and she wanted to watch Dora and since it was her birthday I let her watch the same episode 3 times in a row. After that she took a rest in her room and then we went to get Sofia from school. Ali was hungry and wanted chicken so I bought her a chicken stuffed with ham and cheese from one of the local shops. After picking Sofia up from school the girls requested ice cream since they were selling it in the school yard. Since it was Ali's birthday I said yes. We walked home and just before we got home the lady security guard at the bank gave the girls some chocolate. We had chicken nuggets for dinner per Ali's request and then headed onto the cupcakes. It was a very sugary sweet day enjoyed by all. I think Ali had a fun birthday. I'm sure next year we will have a big party for her since I think this was the last year we could get away with a simple family party.

Happy Birthday Ali!

Today is Ali's 3rd birthday. It is hard to believe she is three years old. She started her day with a celebratory sleep-in until 8:00am! This is practically unheard of in our house. Maybe her body was giving a strong growth spurt to send her into year 3 and needed a little extra sleep. Since today is a school day Sofia is at school and Jason is at work so Ali and I are just going to hang out today and do whatever Ali wants to do and then we will have cake tonight once Jason is home. I will post pictures of the cake eating later.

Bye Kurt and Sara

Last night we went to our friend's, Chris & Laura, flat for their every other Friday night get together. This is the second week of the summer gatherings and it was a lot of fun. It is nice to have so many of our friends together. We have fun talking and hanging out with our friends. Last night held a little sadness for us though since we had to say goodbye to our friends, Kurt & Sara, as well. They are going on vacation and then heading back to the States to return home. It is sad to lose friends who were so kind and funny. There are not many people that I can break into a Wildcat's cheers (from Wildcats the football movie with Goldie Hawn) with and now they are leaving! Even when we do move back to the States I'm sure it won't be near them which makes it doubly sad but I have every belief that we will see them again. Our next Utah ski vacation will definitely involve Kurt and Sara. Hopefully we can convince them to take some vacations back to Prague between now and then.

Prague Castle

I was concerned that Pat would not get to see Prague Castle since his back was hurting him so much but after the visit with the massage therapist and some pain medicine he was feeling up to it so we took a taxi to the castle. It isn't that the castle is far but we didn't want to stress Pat's back any more than necessary. The line wasn't too long to get into St. Vitus Cathedral so we only had a wait a few minutes. I think everyone really enjoyed the cathedral. It is an amazing place. We continued on to The Old Royal Palace, St George's Basilica and Golden Lane. We got a kick out of the small doors in the Royal Palace since Pat took up almost the entire door. We walked down from the castle to the metro and since Pat was still feeling ok we headed into the Wallenstein Gardens. The kids had fun feeding the fish and seeing the peacocks. After that busy morning we headed back so Nathan could nap and Pat could rest his back. I, of course, headed off to take Watson for a walk and to get Sofia from school. Once I got back, I dropped Sofia off at home to stay with Aunt Carrie and I took Pat back to the massage guy. I decided I needed some down time so i sat in the lounge area and read my book. Once Pat was finished we hopped in a cab and went to the beer garden in Letna Park. Jason had gotten out early and had picked up Carrie and the kids and met us at the Beer Garden. We unfortunately had not really thought about the fact that is was cold out. The last couple of days have been chilly again. So, after one beer and enjoying the view we decided to head home. We put the kids to bed and spent the evening chatting. It was a nice way to finish up their visit here. We said goodbye to Pat, Carrie, and Nathan this morning as we sent them on their way to the airport at 7am. It was great to have them here and I hope they have the chance to come again for another visit.

Chiropractor??

After tweaking his back Pat was in quite a bit of pain. I started calling all my friends to see if they new of any chiropractors in Prague. Chiropractors are just not a thing in Europe so they are hard to come by but I had two that were recommended so I gave them a call. Unfortunately neither one was available on such short notice. Pat was up for anything so I also tried calling an acupuncturist since I have a friend here who knows of a good one. Unfortunately there were no opening until next week. I found a massage therapist that also had listed "chiro-therapy" so we gave it a try. The Wellness center was in the same complex that one of my friends lives in so once we dropped Pat off to get his backed worked on Ali and I went to visit my friend Sara. It was nice to visit with her, not just because she stocked me up on things like peanut butter, oil, hot chocolate etc. (Thanks Sara!) but because she and her husband, Kurt, are leaving Prague for the U.S. on Saturday. We will miss them. After Pat's appointment we headed home by taxi. I dropped pat off and had the taxi take me out to get Sofia. Thank goodness her teachers are so nice since I got there a few minutes late. It is nice to know I don't have to worry if I get there late. It was Sport's Day at Sofia's school so they weren't actually at her school they were at a local sports complex. Sofia had a blast at sports day and came home with a medal that she was very proud of.

Walking tour and pool

I have had great fun walking around the city with Pat, Carrie, and Nathan. On Monday we went to letna park and then down across the charles bridge in the morning. In the afternoon we headed up to Petrin Hill. We took a stroll through the beautiful rose garden. The roses were surrounded by beds of mint which was in full bloom. There were so many bees in th emint you could hear the bussing in the air. It is very peaceful there. After the rose garden we headed over to the Petrin Tower. Jason and I have not yet been up the Petrin Tower (a mini Eiffel tower) since I have no desire to walk up all those steps. Pat and Carrie didn't want to walk up the steps either. I decided I would just check to see if there was an elevator. I spoke my broken Czech to the attendant and she told me that there is an elevator but it is only for the handicapped. So I said ok but no thankyou. Lucky for us there was another woman there at the time and she told me if we waitied a few minutes she would bring up us in the elevator. I couldn't believe our luck. We got to take the elevator up to the top of the tower and what an amazing view! (We will have to get back up there with Jason.) We took the elevator back down and continued on to the mirror maze. We all had a good time in the maze and looking at ourselves in the funny mirrors that make you fat and thin and double etc. We finished off the day by meeting Jason at the local Czech restaurant around the corner from our apartment.
Yesterday we hired a guide and went for a two hour walking tour. It was nice to hear more of the history of different buildings and it gave me the chance to see some things I hadn't seen before. After coming back home for a nap I picked up Sofia from school and we all headed to the pool. Pat had tweaked his back so more extensive walking was out and it was hot out so the pool was a welcome relief to the heat. the kiddie pool was all in shade by the time we got there so we ended up in the big pool. It was so nice for me to be able to go in the big pool with the girls and not have to hold them constantly. I put there arm floaties on them and they both kept jumping into the pool and swimming back to the edge to climb out and jump again. I only had to keep my eye on them and help Ali a little although she didn't want any help. It is nice that Pat, Carrie and Nathan had time during this trip to see the pool. It doesn't seem like much but it is nice to share a part of the city that is part of our daily life in the summer. I'm not sure what we will do today but it looks like another beautiful day.

My Brother is Here!

My Brother and his wife and son arrived yesterday. I'm so excited to have them all here. Today will be our first day of exploring the city. I'm looking forward to sharing the city I love with them. I will post more about what we do along with pics later in the week.

Summer Fayre

What is a Fayre? It is apparently the way British folk spell Fair. Yesterday was the Summer Fayre at Sofia's school. It is basically an end of the year celebration filled with face painting, hair coloring, pony rides, junk food, and music and many other games. We went last year but since we didn't go to the school yet we didn't know anyone and the girls weren't really quite old enough to enjoy it. This year we had a blast. The girls had a great time and the fayre was over before we knew it. Both girls had their hair colored and their faces painted. Ali's hair coloring didn't show up as well as Sofia's since she just had sparkles put in her hair but, as you can see, Sofia's green hair really shows up. They also had a chance to go on a pony ride. Ali was a little nervous on the pony since it was really quite a big horse for her. It got a little to bumpy for her and she decided she was done about half way through her ride. We opted for a smaller horse for Sofia and it was a good choice. She really enjoyed the pony ride. After the pony ride we stopped by the donut eating area. They had donuts hanging from strings and you had to try to eat them without using your hands. Sofia gave it a valiant effort but apparently it is really hard to eat a donut not using your hands when you have a little mouth. It was very entertaining to watch.

Surprise Party

Friday night our friends, Kurt & Sara and Phil & Danielle, gave a surprise party for the leaders of our church. Since our friends are leaving Prague they thought it would be a good way to thank the leaders for all they do throughout the year. Everyone agreed it was a great idea and we all got into the party spirit. The guests were suppose to arrive at 6:30 so that everyone would be early enough not to run into any of the surprise guests. Unfortunately, I got caught walking down the road by Phil and Shanna (Phil is the pastor of our church and Shanna is his wife. They are also our good friends.) They were of course wondering what I was doing walking alone on Friday night across town from my apartment. I had to think of a lie on the spot and I think I pulled it off. It meant though that I was sitting with my chocolate cream pie (which was luckily in a bag) waiting for them to move on so that I could follow after them. I arrived at Kurt & Sara's flat and made it safely to the terrace which is where we were going to have the party. The night was great! There were some really nice heartfelt words as well as a lot of laughter. I will really miss Kurt & Sara and Phil & Danielle. The life of an expat is filled with great people but it also has a lot of sad good-byes.

A Czech Sprinkler System

I had to take this picture and post it. It just made me laugh. There are a lot of flowers around Prague and they are beautiful. The thing that is interesting to me is that they do not have a sprinkler system. There are trucks that come around with water and the driver gets out and basically hoses down the flowers. It doesn't seem very cost efficient but who knows, maybe it is. I have seen the watering of the flowers happen before but I have never seen it happen in a itsy bitsy bathing suit.

Weekend

We had a great weekend. We spent most of the weekend at the pool. the kids had a blast and Sofia was swimming in the little pool. She was diving (I use the term loosely) into the water, kicking her legs and blowing bubbles. She was doing this back and forth across the kiddie pool. Ali started to copy Sofia after a while and it was amazing how long she would stay under water. After a full day of swimming yesterday we went to church and then to a friends house for dinner. The kids were playing so well together that we ended up not getting home until 9:20. Here is a picture of the girls with their friends. It is nice that the girls are old enough now that staying out that late is even a possibility.