Vacation week

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





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



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

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

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

Easter markets

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

Naked Day!!

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

Watson Vacations

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

It's warm!!

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

Difference of words

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

A Sunny Day

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

Half Marathon Pictures

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

Half Marathon

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

Car

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

Loft Bed

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

Sandwich for Watson

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

Hi Elisabetta

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

Easter Egg Hunt

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

Illness

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

Busy week

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

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

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

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

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

Final stop then home!

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

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

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

Birthday celebration #2

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

Skiing

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

Sledding

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

Sofia Sledding


Ali sledding