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.