Matilda's birthday

Last weekend we went to Matilda's birthday party. Matilda is one of Sofia's friends from school. Sofia was excited to see her friend since she hasn't seen her since the last day of school. She was also excited to be at someone's house. We drove out to Statenice, which is a village just outside Prague where Matilda lives. It was nice again to have a car since otherwise we would have taken a taxi there. There are busses but on the weekend they are few and far between. Their house was beautiful but I was particularly envious of their yard. They had a nice sized yard with an inground pool. The yard was beautifully landscaped and well maintained. I thoroughly enjoyed taking my shoes off and walking barefoot in the grass. The girls had a blast at the party. They went swimming, went in a bouncey castle, bounced on the trampoline, and played in the giant doll house. In between playing with all those things they had cake and had fun with the pinata. The time flew by and before we knew it it was time to go.

Back to the Aqua Palace

We had so much fun at the water park on Saturday that we went back again Sunday. We brought our camera but never even got it out of the locker since we were having so much fun in the water. We headed down the lazy river and made our way over to the slides. We were just as excited as the kids. I headed back to a slide I had been on the day before. It is a completely enclosed slide that is dark inside. You start down the slide into darkness but then you see a red light flashing so you can still see in front of you but once you leave the red light behind you are in complete blackness until you reach the next lighted area of stars and then back into complete darkness. It is a little disconcerting but after going on it a couple times I decided the girls could do it as long as they were sitting on our laps. The girls loved it and we went on it a coupe more times. We also tried this orange slide that has no turns but isn't that steep or long. I went first and decided Sofia could go on it too so we went down at the same time since the slide is wide enough. She loved it. After seeing Sofia do it Ali wanted to give it a try. Ali hit the water at the bottom of the slide so hard it flipped her over so that she went face first. After that we decided she definitely could not do it again. We went out to an outside kiddie area for a while to give the kids a rest from the slides. Jason and I would take turns checking out different areas while the kids played. We both went down the rapids. Jason enjoyed it much more than I did. I didn't find it much fun to get slammed into stone walls but somehow Jason found it enjoyable and went on three times! We all had a great time at the water park though. After 3 hours of playing in water we decided to head home. We played a lot and when I woke up this morning my body was sore from all the activity. I guess I was using different muscles than usual.

Fun in New and Old Czech Republic

Today we had a busy and entertaining day that mixed some great new and old sites. We started the day with a drive to Konopiště castle (more information here), about 50 km south east of Prague. The castle was originally founded in the 13th century and its most well-known modern inhabitant was Archduke Franz Ferdinand. We took a horse drawn wagon from the parking lot up to the castle (because Sofia seemed so excited to do it) and then enjoyed a picnic lunch on a bench just outside the castle. The castle itself is not a fairy tale castle like Hluboka or a large sprawling castle that is almost its own town like Prague Castle but it is indeed impressive and it's always interesting to think about the amount of history that has been seen and lived inside those walls. We took a tour of the castle and it is fascinating inside. The castle has a great collection of weapons and hunting trophies. The girls did a great job on the tour but after walking around outside and then taking the tour they were ready to go. We got a snack before getting in the car and then both girls were quickly asleep. When I packed things up this morning I threw together everyone's swim things just in case we wanted to go to a pool. As we were driving back Mary remembered that Aqua Palace, a new waterpark, is on the way back so we decided it was worth stopping.

Aqua Palace (check out their site) just opened in May and while I heard some good things about it I was stunned by what we found there. For startes the place is enormous. When we entered we were sent to the blue locker room area. The place is so big there are three different locker room areas and you are assigned to one. The kids were initially thrilled that there was a "river" weaving around a large standard pool set up a bit higher than the river. The river was about a 1.4 meter deep narrow channel with a current that you can swim in but the girls could just float and got pushed right along; great fun from the start. Before long we found the next big section of the complex: this is filled with a pirate ship with small water slides, a pool area with spraying fountains, a little kids pool area with a variety of mini slides and spraying entertainment, and a large wave pool. I think Mary and I were as excited as the kids so we quickly jumped around from one thing to the next exploring everything there. Mary suspected there was more there so we followed another river that carried us from that indoor area outside for a while, past other pool and eating areas and then back inside to the water slide area. I think there are seven or so different water slides in this indoor area. At first Mary went on a slide and then went to take Sofia on one while Ali and I continued to drift around and play in the river surrounding this section. One of the slides turned out to be perfect for both kids (and Mary and I thought it was fun too). After a few turns, Sofia and Ali were both going down by themselves and loving it. Mary and I then went by ourselves on what they call the "water bowl" slide. This is a steep narrow covered slide that shoots you into what is essentially a large bowl with circling water. You shoot out of the slide into this bowl, slide all the way around a few times before losing speed and dropping through the bottom into the pool below. I can only assume this is similar to being flushed down a toilet. I had a great time but Mary, with her lesser mass, couldnt get up as much speed and as result received a less then smooth ride, dropping down the hole at the end head first.

We arrived at Aqua Palace at 4:30 but had to be back in Prague for 7:30 because Mary was meeting someone to go grocery shopping together so they could share a car. We stayed as long as we could and then rushed out the door, drove back to Prague and the kids and I were jumping out of the car at 7:28, just in time for Mary to meet as planned. Overall, it was great to be able to tour a castle originally built 700 years ago and updated over the centuries and then move on to the largest, most modern water park in the Czech Republic.

Dentist

Today I took the girls for their first visit to the dentist. I had debated for a while if I should bring them to a Czech dentist or pay the money and bring them to an ex-pat dentist. I eventually decided to pay the money (40Euro each and that is only for an exam, no cleaning) and bring them to an expat dentist. Yes, I could have brought them to a Czech dentist but I wanted their first visit to the dentist to be easy. I didn't want to have to explain what I wanted in broken Czech and I didn't want to ease the fears of going to the dentist on top of explaining to the kids what the dentist was doing. In any event, I'm happy with my decision since the visit went great. Both kids were happy and did not show an ounce of fear. The dentist was really nice and was great with the kids. I wish I had brought my camera since the girls looked really cute laying int he dentist chair. The dentist gave them glasses to wear while they were in the chair so that the light wasn't too bright in their eyes which made them look even cuter. The dentist said that their teeth look great too so all in all a very successful trip. Now I have to go on Tuesday...hopefully it will be as easy.

Weather update

Weather Update: The weather STINKS!!! It is now July 24th and it is still cold out and today mother nature is just rubbing salt in the wound by raining. The weather had been calling for 86 degrees and sunny for tomorrow but when I looked at the weather forecast this morning it says 77 and partly cloudy. My hopes are slowly being dashed for a nice day tomorrow. I need sun and warmth. At this point I will even take 70 and sunny. I won't be greedy and ask for pool weather, just something that resembles summer.

New Car Seat

Today we went out and bought Sofia her first booster seat. Since our friends are letting us use their car this summer while they are in the States we had to break out the kids car seats and use them. When Sofia climbed into her car seat she seemed too big for it so when we got back inside I measured her height, weight, and seated height. She had an inch to spare on height, 3lbs to spare in weight but she was an inch over on the seated height. Now, if we had been in the U.S. I would have broken out the consumer reports and read up on what was the best booster seat. This would make me comfortable knowing that I did my research. Well, here we don't have consumer reports. Even if I could see the U.S. Consumer Reports it wouldn't really matter since most of the models are different here. So I basically had to go on brand recognition. Now this doesn't make me very comfortable but there isn't much I can do about it. I have to believe that the car seats are approved by the EU regulatory body that oversees this stuff. Sofia loves her new booster seat especially becuase she is buckled in just like me.

Vacation Bible School

This week the kids went to Vacation Bible School at our church. Ali was very excited to go to "school". On the first day she told me that she was a big girl now and that she is big enough to go to school. She told me she wouldn't cry or bite anybody. Ali does not bite often but she will occassionally bite Sofia. The last time she bit Sofia I told her that she would not have any friends at school if she bit them. Apparently she must have taken my words to heart since she recalled them upon her first trip to school. Surprisingly Ali did better with the separation than Sofia did. The first two days Sofia was clingy at drop off and Ali was ready for me to leave. They both loved going to "church school" as we called it. The VBS was taught by six interns who are here for the summer. The kids loved their teachers. Ali particularly like Jeremy (or germy as Ali called him since Jeremy is apparently a tough name for a 3 year old to say) and Sofia would often talk about Hannah but they really enjoyed their time with all the teachers. I'm not sure how Ali will be on Monday when I tell her there is no more school for a little while. I guess I will start having to talk up the czech intensive school they will be attending in August for a week.

While the girls had school I took the time to get a haircut which was very overdue. I hadn't had a haircut in 12 weeks so it was a desperate situation. I ran a few other errands as well but mostly I got to hang out with friends. It was so nice to have just adult time. We sat and had breakfast and talked for hours. It was very nice. Here is a pic of my friend Joanna, me, and my friend Laura enjoy a leisurely breakfast. I had to copy the pic from Joanna's blog since I kept forgetting my camera every day.

The Taxi Driver

Every day I walk Watson down to the end of the street around lunch time for his mid-day walk. More often then not I don't have anything for him to play with and I just let him off leash on the grass so he can do his stuff. The area that I go to is also next to the taxi parking. the taxi drivers are all very friendly and say hi to me and the girls. We converse in basic Czech and they all love Watson. There is one driver in particular who really loves Watson. He usually will break a stick off the tree for Watson and will throw it for him. This will continue until Watson breaks the stick. I have seen this taxi driver in other parts of town when I am running and he honks and waves to me. I'm sure it isn't me he recognizes but Watson. Today when I brought Watson to the end of the road our taxi driver was there. Watson saw him and perked up. I let him off leash and Watson greeted the driver. The driver then opened the trunk of his car and pulled out a ball to throw for Watson. It is great. I don't have to try to give my dog exercise anymore while I'm also trying to watch the girls b/c other people will do it for me. Watson has a lot of friends here and I don't mean just other dogs. He has the taxi driver, the bank security guard (who has given him half of her lunch) and other random people who we see regularly who always stop to pet and talk to him. I love that Watson is so well loved here.

Where oh where has summer gone??

This weather stinks!!! It is July 17th and it is in the upper 50's!!! How can that be?? I have spent this week dressing with more and more clothes every day until today when I finally had to cave and wear pants, a sweater shirt and a JACKET!!! This is not right. Where did summer go?? The kids are in vacation bible school this week and I should be spending my mornings at the pool relaxing without children. This isn't fair!!

The Best Laid Plans

We had one day that began very cloudy so we decided to check out a market. The market was about an hours drive from where we were staying but we figured we could see the market and then stop into Puerto Banus (a very wealthy port with huge yachts) for lunch and then head back in hopes that the clouds would clear out and we could spend the afternoon at the pool. We arrived in Estepona for the market and we didn't see one. We stopped in at tourist information and learned that for some reason the market wasn't happening this week. This was a bummer. Now what do we do?? We saw an advertisement for an aquarium so we decided to drive another hour and fifteen minutes to get to the aquarium. Once we were in the town we saw signs for Selwo Marina and we thought oh this must be the place so we drive there and park. We wait in line and pay to get in. Once we are in it is of course lunch time so we get food. After fueling up on food we start to wander the park. We look at the schedule of events and it appears we are late for most shows (dolphin, sea lion etc.) and the next set of shows isn't until late. We then start wondering were all the fish, crabs, sea stars etc are and we realized that we aren't at the aquarium at all. We decide that since we had missed most of the shows that we would bag it and go find the aquarium. Before we left the "marina" the girls did get to ride dolphins though. Ok, they weren't real but the girls had fun! We headed over to the marina and the day finally started going right. The aquarium was perfect. It was nice and cool inside which was nice since it had gotten pretty hot and humid outside. The kids loved seeing the sharks and tortoises and jellyfish and all the rest of the marine life. They really enjoyed the interactive area since they got to touch sea cucumbers, starfish, snails etc. The thing that I thought was great was that at the interactive area there was a sign saying that you could touch everything in the tank. After we touched some sea anemones the monitor there said, "Don't touch those they will sting you." So much for the "you can touch everything" sign. Luckily we didn't get stung. We finished the aquarium with a stop at the gift shop. The girls chose balls filled with water which had plastic fish inside. Unfortunately both balls started leaking water before we even got back to the hotel. We got back to the hotel and went to the pool. The girls forgot about their leaky toys and the day of plans gone awry ended with fun pool time.

Ronda

We took one day and drove to Ronda. It was a pretty drive on a windy road through the mountains. You could see quite a distance from the mountains since it was such a nice day. We could just barely make out the coast of Africa and the Rock of Gibraltar. We arrived in town and drive around and around looking for parking. We kept seeing signs or parking which we thought would lead to a parking garage but we soon realized the big "P" signs were just signs saying you could park on the road. We eventually lucked out and found a good spot and got out to see the town. We fortunately parked across from a chocolate shop so we stopped in for a little sugar boost. He headed to the tourist information office for a map of the town. The main attraction of the town is the bridge. The Puente Nuevo crosses a nearly 330ft (100m) deep gorge. It was a beautiful gorge and amazing to think about how this bridge was built. After seeing the bridge we stopped for a quick lunch and then walked though the old part of the town. It is a very cute town. We continued on into the new part of town to go back to our car but first we needed to stop for some churros y chocolate. For those of you from the U.S. who are about our age you may have had a Spanish text book called "Churros y Chocolate". This always sounded good to me since how can fried dough dipped in chocolate ever be bad?? We learned that churros is eaten for breakfast and is not generally served in resaurants in the afternoon. Luck was on our side though and we came across a Churreria which served Churros all day. We finished our day in Ronda eating our Churros and then headed back to the hotel for more pool time.

Back from Spain

Today we arrived back in Prague. It was quite a change in weather. We left sunny 85 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degree Celsius) sunny Spain and we were greeted in Prague with clouds, rain and 57 degrees Fahrenheit ( 14 degrees Celsius). We had a wonderful 11 days in Spain. We spent most of our time at the beach and the pool but we also took one day to drive to a town called Ronda and another day to visit an aquarium. We also met up with some friends who were also on vacation in Spain.

The day after we arrived we headed over to a friend's condo. Sofia's friend, Thomas, was staying with his Mom and Dad 5 minutes from where we staying. They own a condo in Spain and vacation there about 5 weeks a year. They invited us over for a BBQ and we accepted. It was fun to see friends while on vacation as well as enjoy a nice BBQ. Sofia had a blast playing with Thomas. He is actually 2 years older than Sofia but that didn't seem to matter. Thomas had Sofia making running leaps into the pool soon after we arrived at their condo. It was nice for us too to have adult conversation while our kids had fun playing together.

After our visit with friends we had the rest of the vacation for family time. We headed to the beach most mornings. The kids really liked playing in the sand at the beach and collecting shells but they were still a little hesitant about the waves. When I say waves I do not mean big swells. I mean small waves that seem big to a 3 and 4 year old. Although they were happy to go in the shallow water with us, it didn't really matter if they did since they had a great time playing in the sand. After time at the beach we would head back for lunch and nap. The afternoon was pool time. They both loved the pool. We started the week in the kiddie pool with small bursts of time in the big pool. Once Sofia figured out how to swim without her floaties on we spent the majority of our time at the big pool. This was a lot of fun for all of us since it meant we could really play in the pool as a family. When Ali saw Sofia's fingernails painted she kept practicing her swimming without her floaties. She is so close to swimming on her own. She goes completely underwater and blows bubbles and kicks really well but she just hasn't figured out how to get her head completely out of the water to get another breath. Maybe she will get it by the end of the summer. (That is if we get weather warmer then 57 degrees!) If she doesn't learn by the end of summer it is fine. She is having fun just going under water and blowing bubbles and waving to me. Here is a video of the girls jumping in the pool. Sofia was starting to get fancy with her spinning jump. By the end of the vacation Sofia was even jumping in without her floaties since she was so proud to show off her swimming abilities.

Great Achievements

Today Sofia swam all by herself. She has been working on it since we came to Spain and today was the day she succeeded. We are very proud of her. The video above is Sofia swimming all by herself. She was very excited to be able to swim alone not only for the ability but also because it meant she could have her fingernails painted. I promised her if she learned to swim by herself that she could have her nails painted. She has been asking forever and I have always said no so it was a big enticement for her. After her success today we headed to the salon for her first manicure. Can you imagine a 4 year old getting a manicure?? It was very cute. She even sat still for 30 minutes after to let the polish completely dry. She is very excited to have the same polish as mommy.

A Final Goodbye

As I sit here on my patio in beautiful Spain it doesn´t seem possible but my family has suffered a great loss. A woman who some people called wife, mother, cousin, aunt, friend but Grandma by me passed away. She was an amazing woman. When I was a child, grandma was always there for us. I remember big wonderful family meals with all my aunts, uncles, and cousins. For those of you who don´t know, we have a BIG family so dinner was a hectic affair yet some how grandma made it all seem seamless, at least for us kids. Thanksgiving and Christmas were times of great joy at Grandma´s house. There was always lots of talking and loud laughter.

Grandma used to cut our hair. She would make us clothes too and yet still waitressed full time. After I had my first waitressing job I remember going home to grandma and telling her how amazed I was that she could feed nine children on a waitressing salary. She must have been exhausted! I was exhausted from working just for spending money. When I told her how amazed I was with her she just gave a little chuckle like it was nothing of great importance. She just did what needed to be done. After having my two daughters and having two in diapers I was again in awe of my grandma. How did she have 4 kids in diapers at once?! I still don´t know how she did it. Grandma was always calm.

Every year my family would join together for "beach week". When I was younger that meant that Grandma and Grandpa would rent a two bedroom house near the beach and all my aunts, uncles and cousins would pack in. Every available space on the floor and couches was taken up with sleeping people yet somehow Grandma made this fun. She would take the kids (me, my brothers and cousins) with her on her daily walk first thing in the morning. We thought this was great fun especially because she would buy us an egg, sausage and cheese breakfast sandwich. I realize now that she was probably getting us out of the house to give the adults some space but at this time we loved her attention. Her time with us didn´t end there though. She would take us to the tennis courts and patiently "play" tennis with us. She played with us over the years from when we couldn´t really play at all until we would hit our rackets on the ground in frustration. She kept with it every summer while we learned. Her patience and understanding really knows no bounds.

Her house was always open and you could stop by unannounced and be greeted with joy. Before we moved to Prague we knew that Grandma would probably die before we moved back. Not because she was old because she wasn´t. We knew it because she had cancer. Grandma understood my desire to move abroad and gave me the freedom to follow a dream. She could have been silent and I would have wondered if I should go or not but in her great goodness she said, "Mary, go to Prague and enjoy life. I have lived mine." Doesn´t that just say it all about the selflessness of the woman?! Since she is in heaven now she can see and hear us. I would like to tell her thank you for being a wonderful grandma. Thank you for giving me a sense of family. Thank you for teaching me to be loving, patient and kind. I love you and I will miss you greatly.

Grandma making me laugh
4 Generations: Grandma, Mom, Me, Sofia and Ali

Preparing for Spain

I can't wait to make our return trip to Spain. We will be staying in the same place as last year so there is no stress about figuring out where we are going or where to find the grocery store or pharmacy. We also have a direct flight this year so hopefully our luggage won't get lost. Since the flight was cheaper to fly direct it made sense for us to stay some extra nights in Spain. I would rather spend my money on the hotel than on an indirect flight so we ended up with 4 additional nights this year so we will be there for 11 nights. I am looking forward to enjoying the beach and pool every day. We will probably take one or two days to sight see but this is basically a beach vacation. We definitely need a vacation. We have just been very busy lately so it will be nice to get away. Sofia is really looking forward to this vacation as well. Every day she tells us how many days left until we get on the plane. She remembers our Spain trip last year and in excited about the beach and pool. I have most things packed and the dogsitter is all set to come and take care of Watson. Now I just have to wait. I can't ever remember being packed early for a trip. I guess I'm looking forward to it as much as Sofia.

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.

Another great pool day

This morning we were suppose to go to Sofia's football (soccer) practice but the weather was just too nice. We skipped practice and headed to the pool. The temperature had to be in the low 90's today (Low 30's celsius) so it was great to be at the pool. We arrived at the pool and it was very busy but we got a spot next to our friends and the kids jumped in the kiddie pool. After a little time in the kiddie pool they were ready for the "big kid pool". This is pretty exciting for us since it is a big change from last summer. The swimming lessons the girls just took have really given them the confidence to go into the big pool. They love going under water now and practicing their swimming. The other thing we did today is we went down the water slide with the girls. Last year Ali went down once with me but half way down the slide she wanted it to stop and was not happy by the end and Sofia never went on the slide last year. It was great today to see the change in them. They both loved the slide! They aren't old enough to go down by themselves so Jason and I go down with them so it is really a fun thing to do as a family. At the end of the day we moved away from the kiddie pool completely since someone pooped in the pool. It didn't really matter though since the girls were excited to go down the slide and go in the big kid pool.

New Stylist

We have a new stylist in our family and her name is Ali. Yes, Ali has apparently decided she is going to be the hair cutter for the family and today she started with herself. I was picking up the apartment at the end of the day while the kids were playing. They were coloring and cutting paper which was fine. They were happy and it let me have the time I needed to get the house picked up. Just as I finished picking up everything and walked into the living room to tell the girls to put their pajamas on I saw Ali with the scissors in her hand cutting her hair! I could believe it. I know kids cut their hair and it is no big deal but mine had never shown any sign of interest until today. Ali has definitely hindered the ability to put her hair in pigtails but lucky for her she has curly hair and any damage is hidden by her curls.

Birthday Party

Today we went to a birthday party for Louis, Sofia's friend. Louis's parents, Vanessa and Hanley, are very nice and Hanley often gives Jason a ride in the morning after drop off. They live in Roztoky, a village outside Prague. It is easy for us to reach their house though since there are buses that go to the village as well as trains. They have a beautiful house and a great backyard. Jason and I had fun talking to our friends and hanging out in a backyard. Being in the city is fun but there are times when it would be nice to have a backyard so we always enjoy when our friends invite us to theirs. There were a lot of kids there too so our girls had a blast. They enjoyed playing with the other kids on the trampoline as well as swimming in the pool. It was a little stressful for me to have them in the pool since it was the first time the girls have been in water without an adult in the water with them (and the pool was 5ft deep). They did great though and had no problem getting around with their arm floaties and rings. It is so strange to think that they are getting old enough to be able to do things without me!

Swimming - Day 4

The girls an I headed off to swimming lessons again today. We have figured out the routine which is nice. They are excited to go and they get a small snack on the way there, usually when we are waiting for our first bus. We change buses and head up to the pool. The girls quickly change and are ready to hop in the pool. They are both learning so much so quickly with the lessons that I am thrilled I am able to bring them. After swimming the girls are usually freezing and are ready to warm up in the locker room and get dressed. They also look forward to this time becuase once they are dressed they can have food. Swimming has made my girls ravenous. From the time we leave the pool until the time we get home they eat a PB&J sandwich, a banana, an apple, a few cucumber slices and then a dessert. It is amazing how hungry they are! Once we are home it is either play time or bath time. The girls have been playing really well together this week. Not that they don't usually but I think the swimming has given them another connection. I am looking forward to going to the pool this summer so that they can continue to learn how to swim. Here are a couple videos of the girls.

Swimming - Day 3

Today was the third day of swimming lessons. I can't believe how well the girls are doing. Ali is still a little hesitant but I think a lot of it is that she is getting really cold in the water. She says her favorite part is putting her entire head underwater. The problem is that she just holds her breath to go under and her teacher is trying to get her to blow bubbles while she is under water. Shanna told me today that she thinks Ali will be really swimming by the end of this summer. Sofia on the other hand is doing great and doesn't really seem hesitant at all. Today she actually swam by herself. Granted, it wasn't any great distance and it was under water but it is a start. I can't believe that she has learned so much in 3 classes - essentially 1.5 hours which is split between three kids. Here are a couple of pics with Ali underwater. I will post a video of Sofia swimming tomorrow.

Swimming Lessons

Today the girls started their swimming lessons. My friend, Shanna, use to teach swimming but hadn't done it since moving to Prague. Lucky for us she decided to start teaching again. Both of my girls LOVE Shanna so I knew they would be comfortable with her in the pool. I was a little worried that they would be too comfortable so I made sure I told them that Shanna was going to be their teacher so they had to listen to everything that she told them. They did great! Shanna really is an excellent teacher for this age. I couldn't believe it when she got both kids (but Sofia especially) to put their heads under water. I mean completely underwater! Sofia jumped off the side of the pool into Shanna's arms and under the water she went. It was amazing. There were no tears or cries for mommy. A couple of times Ali turned back to look at me just to say she was listening to Shanna and doing everything she was told. By the end they were both cold and ready to get out of the pool but it was a fantastic start to swim lessons. I will try to remember my camera for tomorrow so I can post pics of the girls learning to swim. We will have swim lessons every day for the next two weeks so I will have plenty of opportunity for picture taking.

The Pool is Open!

The girls and I had our first trip to the pool this season. I wasn't sure if we would go today since this morning Sofia had football (soccer) practice. Sofia's practice means that we don't get home from that until after lunch but since Ali decided (after screaming fits) that she wasn't going to nap I gave up and let her just have some quiet time. While the girls were being quiet and the afternoon stretched ahead of me (and Jason is at work today) I decided to make the most of Ali being awake. I decided rather than stay home and find ways to entertain that we would head to the pool. I brought my ID chip thingies so that I could purchuse my hours for the summer but I forgot to get money out and the pool doesn't take credit cards so I couldn't fill up my chips for the summer. Oh well, next time! Luckily I did have enough cash to get us in for the afternoon. The girls were very excited to be going back to the pool as was I. When we walked over to the kiddie pool there was noone there. The kids had the entire pool to themselves. Unfortunately, our afternoon was cut a little short since a large rain cloud came over head with some thunder but it was still worth the trip to the pool. By the time we were packed up and leaving the cloud had moved on but by then we were all ready to go. I'm looking forward to our pool trips this summer. Now that Ali is old enough it is nice not to have to bring the stroller with me too.

Good Friends

One of the things that we have found here are good friends. The vomiting spree that went through our house last week hit me on Monday night. I spent most of the night being sick. I was suppose to meet up with a friend on Tuesday morning so that we could hang out and our kids could play. I had to cancel with my friend b/c I could barely function. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the kids since Jason had to work but I figured I would let the TV babysit and do the best I could. Lucky for me I have great friends. My friend, Susanna, quickly called me back and asked me if I wanted her to take the girls for the day. I was so relieved. I had never expected that call. She picked the girls up in the morning and I was able to crawl back in bed. She watched my girls and fed them and took good care of them the whole day. She brought them back to me at the end of the day so that I didn't have to go anywhere to get them. It was a wonderful occurrence during my illness and one I won't forget. The next day I was a little better but still not great. Sofia had school so I was fine handling Ali by myself but I didn't know how I would be able to walk to Sofia's school to pick her up. Again, fortunately for me we have good friends. My friend Shanna said she would pick up Sofia for me and bring her home. It was such a relief. Our friends here have been amazing. When you need something someone is there for you. Another example of this was last week after Sofia's surgery. My friend, Shanna, sent over a lasagna for us so we didn't have to cook dinner and my friend Emily came by with banana muffins even though she is in the midst of moving from her small flat to a house just outside Prague. It is a great community we live in and once again I am so happy to live in Prague.

Big Girl Bike

Yesterday we decided it was time to buy Sofia a big girl bike. There is a bike shop just around the corner from our apartment so we headed there. Sofia has been looking at a bike in the window for a while. We had stopped into the shop a few weeks ago so that Sofia could look around at the bikes and we could get a sense of price. I thought she would like a different bike than the bike in the window since there were other more girly bikes with baskets and tassels but she stayed firm about the bike in the window. Sofia was very excited to get her new bike and she picked out her helmet as well. She quickly took off her hat to wear her helmet. We rode around the neighborhood a little bit and then had lunch in the square and came home. Today we headed to Letna park so Sofia could ride her bike. She did a great job riding it there and back and seemed to really enjoy riding around the park. Ali, unfortunately, went over the front of her little "bike" and got a fat lip. That ended her riding for most of the time we were out. By the time we were coming back home Ali was once again ready to get back on her bike though which was good.

At the river

We joined some friends down by the river the other day since it was such a beautiful day. Sofia was doing fine after the surgery and Ali seemed to be doing better from her stomach bug so we walked to the end of the road and hopped on the bus to Sofia's school. There is a potraviny just after her school where we got sandwiches and fruit and joined our friends by the river (which runs in front of Sofia's school). We sat on the bench and enjoyed the day and then we walked along the bike path. The kids had fun picking up rocks and singing and playing. Here is a video of Sofia with her friends singing one of their songs from school.

Sofia's surgery

This morning I got up after a long night of child illness to bring Sofia to the hospital to have her adenoids out. We had to be across town for 7:30am so that meant being up and out the door by 7am. Sofia was definitely hesitant and she was very tired so I carried her the whole way to the hospital. I figured it was the least I could do for her. We got to the hospital and got checked into our room. They had a couple DVD's for Sofia to watch which was nice. The nurses and doctors were great with Sofia. They were very patient and helpful. They took things slow with her and didn't rush her into anything. The nurse gave Sofia a sweet drink to make her sleepy. Sofia was excited about this since she was VERY thirsty. I was excited about it since it would make it so Sofia wasn't as nervous. I should have known better though...my daughter doesn't get sleepy! The nurse came back in a little while later to see if Sofia was asleep but of course she was wide awake. Oh well, Sofia had started to calm down a little bit watching the video so it was fine. The time came to go into surgery and Sofia started to get worked up but the staff was great. They gave me scrubs and let me come in the surgery with them. While I was changing they were talking to Sofia and playing with her. They put a cap on her head to cover her hair and they also put a cap on Sofia's stuffed animal, puppy. Sofia really liked that puppy had a cap on too. Once we were in the surgery room the doctor showed her the instrument that clamps onto your finger. (I'm not sure what that is called but if you have ever been in admitted to a hospital then you have seen it.) Anyway, the doctor put it on his finger to show Sofia and then he put it on mine too. Sofia finally agreed to have it put on her finger and she liked seeing the monitor show what the clamp was measuring. It was interesting for me to see the heart rate of each of us. The doctor was by far the most relaxed which made me feel good. Sofia didn't like it though when they had to put the gas on her face. They talked her through it but she still cried. In true Sofia style she fought sleep as hard as she could. She cried until the moment she was asleep. Once she was asleep I went back to our room and waited. I read my book and talked to a friend but was surprised when they came back into the room so quickly. The whole thing only took about 25 minutes. The doctor came back in carrying Sofia in his arms all wrapped up in a sheet. She looked like a little baby. The next 30 minutes was not fun since Sofia was coming out of the anesthesia. I remember the feeling well so was very sympathetic. I held her and sang her songs which seemed to calm her down a little. I was waiting for the vomit to hit since that is what happened to me and sure enough it came. Once she got that out though she calmed down a lot. The doctor had told me that Sofia should sleep for two hours but I found that hard to believe. I worked to get Sofia to sleep and she did finally fall asleep but only slept for 30 minutes. Though the nap was short it did wonders for Sofia. She woke up looking better and seemed to be feeling much better. By the time my mom called, Sofia was standing up naked in the window laughing! The doctor came to check on Sofia and gave the OK to start liquids. The nurse brought water and, in true Czech style, she also brought tea and piskoty. Sofia thoroughly enjoyed having her snack. We left the hospital and I carried her back home again. She is definitely tired but is in good spirits.

Vomit Central

The last two nights brought vomit to our apartment. Ali started on Sunday night (or really Monday morning) with vomiting. We thought it was just a one night thing since she didn't vomit at all during the day on Monday. We were wrong. At bedtime on Monday night Ali went straight to sleep which we were happy about but Sofia started to vomit. After an hour of sleep Ali woke up and vomited. Now we had two kids covered in vomit! We got them cleaned up and Ali back in bed. She slept the rest of the night. Unfortunately Sofia proceeded to vomit every ten minutes until about 11pm and then slowed to a leisurely pace of every 40 minutes. She finished up around 1:30am and then fell asleep. We were a little concerned since she was scheduled for surgery on Tuesday morning but we figured we would just get through the night before we started to worry about the surgery. Sofia woke up early and I ended up sleeping in her bed which even for me being short it was still a tight fit. Jason woke me up at 6:30am to get ready to bring Sofia to the hospital.

Jason is home

Jason came home on Saturday. The girls and I were happy to greet him at the airport. We went home and unpacked the duffle bag of food that he brought back with him. I had to find a place to put the nine bags of cheerios that he brought back! I know, cheerios seems boring but when you can't get them they are like gold. Anyway, we unpacked and we did some house cleaning before settling in and relaxing yesterday. It was nice to have the house ready for the week. Unfortunately Ali got sick in the middle of the night so the week is not starting off that great. We have been very vigilant about washing our hands and making sure Sofia doesn't go near Ali since we don't want her getting sick since her surgery is tomorrow. I'm hoping that Ali's illness is just an overnight thing since I need to be able to bring her to a friend tomorrow while we bring Sofia to her surgery. If she is still throwing up today then I won't be able to bring her to a friend and Jason and I will have to figure out how we watch Ali and take Sofia to her surgery as well.

Dresden

Since Sofia had the day off of school b/c it is a Czech holiday the girls and I decided to make use of the car and we headed off to Dresden this morning. Why not drive to Germany? It is only a two hour drive. It is like driving from RI to NH...easy! I printed off a few things that I thought would be of interested, set up the TOMTOM and off we went. It was a beautiful ride through the mountains to get to Dresden which was nice. There was NO traffic which was really nice. I think the TOMTOM might need to be updated since I kept seeing signs for highway driving to get to Dresden but I'm glad we went the way we did. It was very relaxing and peaceful. Going across the border was a little strange since the passport control buildings are all still there but there was noone to be seen anywhere near the border. It made me think of a ghost town. Anyway, we got to Dresden and found a place to park and headed off to find the tourist information office. Apparently it was a holiday in Germany too though b/c all the stores, including the tourist information, were closed. This turned out to be fine since there were all different markets going on so the girls and I enjoyed walking around the markets. We had sausage/hotdog things for lunch and then random snacks along the way...chocolate covered banana, little donut hole type things, gummy worms etc. The kids got to ride on a couple of small kiddie rides as well which they loved. After spending some time at the markets we headed off to the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum . By the name itself it does not sound interesting (at least, not to me) but it is actually a great place for kids. It is a children's musueum that is designed around the five senses. The kids had a blast checking out everything there and since Sofia s currently learning about the five senses in school it fell into a school related activity. There was a huge floor piano that the kids could walk on and make music. There was a mirror maze that the kids and I loved. I have never been in a mirror maze that was done so well. I actually had to walk with my hands out to make sure I didn't run into a wall. Ali had to learn that lesson the hard way. She saw me in a reflection and came running fall steam and before I could say stop she slammed into the wall. She was fine, although a little startled. It was hard not to laugh since it was like a scene in some cartoon. After playing in the children's museum it was time to leave Dresden. We didn't get to see any of the old town or any historical building but that is fine. Next time we go we can venture into that part of the city. Today was a day for leisure, snacking and playing. It was great fun for all of us. I will post some pictures soon.