The week with Mom

The last week has gone by way too fast yet we didn't do a lot of sight seeing with my mom.  The last time she was in Prague I took her to the main sights...the castle, old town swuare, Ptetrin hill etc.  This trip to Prague I showed her a different side of the Czech Republic.  We spent a lot of time walking in nature.  There are so many paths through the woods nearby to where we live that we took a different path every day and managed to get in a three mile walk on most days (even with the kids!).  We walked along the Vltava River, through the woods to the next village and through the woods near Okor Castle ruins. 

We spent one afternoon walking through Stromovka Park over to the Botanical Garden (pictured left) and then back through the Troja Chateau gardens.  We all had a great afternoon but we were also happy to get back home to the pool. 

We wrapped up our days of walking yesterday with a trip over to Hvezda Summer Palace.  It is one of the places that Jason and I have never managed to get to so it was nice to finally see it.  We drove over near the entrance and started our afternoon with a ride in the bike playground for the kids.  What is a bike playground you ask?? Well, it is a playground with streets and street signs that the children have to follow so that they learn the rules of the road in a safe environment.  Ali was very into following the road and going around the roundabouts but Sofia just ignored all traffic laws and rode around wherever she wanted.  Fortunately they were the only kids there and so it didn't matter if she disregarded the rules.  After playing here for a while we headed out and down the long path to the summer palace.  The kids reached the summer palace first since they were on their bikes and they quickly ditched the bikes for the playground there.  They had a lot of fun but after all that riding and playing it was time to head home to the pool again.  It was so hot that even with the pool temperature only at 71 degrees my mom was hot enough to get in!

It was a great week and we are sad that it is over.  My mom left this morning on an 8am flight.  I'm happy that she has made it safely back to the States but sad that I won't see her for a while.