On Vacation - Piedmont, Italy

After leaving Lake Como we headed south west to Piedmont in the Monferrato Hills.  This area is known as undiscovered Tuscany.  To that we can attest there were very few tourists anywhere.  Our apartment rental was nice and had a lovely pool that the kids really enjoyed.  The owners also had two dogs and two cats which the girls just adored.  I was not happy when we found a cat in our apartment since I'm allergic but otherwise I was happy for the animals to be around.  They were all very cute and tollerant of being petted a lot.  We spent the mornings traveling around to see different towns and the afternoons by the pool.  The mornings were definitely more difficult than our last trip to Tuscany.  The first reason is that we were there in August when everyone in Italy apparently is on vacation so many shops were closed and towns were like ghost towns.  The second reason is becuase it is undiscovered there are really no books out there listing the towns that are must sees.  We did our research, albeit only two days before we left, and came up with a list of towns that people had recommended online.  Some of these towns were a hit and others were not. We drove about an hour south to Alba since it is one of the main towns in the area and we thought it would be a good place to start.  Unfortunately the day we were there was the day that all shops in that town are closed.  Fortunately we had other towns we wanted to see so we headed out. 

The driving around Alba was beautiful as it was hill after hill of vineyards.  If I were to go back I would definitely find a rental in this area.  We stopped in the town of Barbaresco which was basically deserted except there were two wineries open.  One had just opened and the man there had just gotten back from Holiday and the other was a local family winery.  We stayed there for a while and Jason chatted it up with the the man while tasting the wines.  I didn't worry about the girls being in the winery since the guy running the shop had a small boy who was pushing a stroller around and crashing into everything and the man was completly at ease. 

We all had to laugh when he picked his son up and had him smell the wine and the little boys face lit up in joy.  He gave him a quick sip and the boy was off to play.  Jason bought some wine and then we kept talking and the man ended up giving us a free gift which was another bottle of wine.  I'm glad Jason remembered what it was becuase when we got home we realized that it was a completely unlabeled bottle.  It made for a nice end to our exploring that day. 

During the middle of the week we had a chef come to our apartment one night and teach us how to make a piedmont meal. Paolo was great. The kids really liked him and he was really good at including them in the cooking and having them help. We made a ricotto/olive mousse with toasted bread, vitello tonnato, cheese risotto and tiramisu. They were all wonderful and we made so much that we ate it for three days! I'm looking forward to making them again since Paolo also gave us his cookbook. It made such an impression on Ali that since we have been home she has asked to help me cook a lot.

The day after Paolo came we headed to Torino.  It is where Paolo is from and he made a good argument and told us exactly where to go.  It was not my favorite city though and dragging to kids around a city on a hot day didn't last long before we headed back to the apartment  and the pool!  On our last day we went to another random town and ended finding a great little village.  Not a foreginer to be found and daily life just happening around us.  We stopped at the local bar for our coffee and then went to the bread shop, cheese shop and salami shop.  It was a nice way to end our visit to Piedmont.

On Vacation - Lake Como, Italy

the "road" to our apartment

After spending the day in Venice we did not feel the need to go back into town in the morning so we packed up and headed to Lake Como.  The drive was mostly highway and we didn't have any traffic so it was uneventful.  It took us about four hours which now seems simple after our 12 hour trip to Slovakia last year and our 8 hour drive to Slovenia on this trip.  The girls do well in the car and keep themselves busy with their leapsters, coloring, watching movies or talking to each other.  After leaving the highway at the southern end of the lake we followed the road along the lake until we came to Menaggio and then we started heading up the hill.  We wanted to see Lake Como and have a balcony to enjoy the view so in order to get that in a rental that was in our budget it meant we had to head up hill.  I'm glad we did becuase the apartment we rented was in a tiny village where we may have been the only English speakers.  It was a very cute village complete with farmers and roosters.  It seemed every night there was a soccer game on the the town field which we enjoyed seeing from a distance.  Around seven every night our neighbors were out on the street talking and laughing which was fun to hear even if we couldn't understand what they were saying.  My only problem with the apartment is that there was something there that I was very allergic too.  It also bothered the kids allergies but not to the extent that my allergies were irritated.  In the end it was fine though since we spent most of our day outside.

We usually started the day with breakfast on the terrace.  It was such a beautiful view of the lake but you definitely needed your sunglasses!  In the picture to the left, Ali and Sofia forgot to bring their sunglasses up to the terrace so the picture of them isn't the best but you can see our wonderful view.  In the mornings we would wake up hearing the village rooster and then shortly thereafter we were here the tractor fire up.  The buildings are so close together though that you couldn't actually see anybody from our terrace except for the people in the house above ours on the hill or on the roof terrace on the house below ours.  It was a very quite village so while on the terrace and walking through the village we had to institute "village voice" with the girls so that we were disrupting everyone actually living there.

After we settled into our apartment we headed back down the hill into Menaggio.  We walked along the boardwalk and stopped for some go-kart riding.  I have such fun memories of riding go-karts on vacation that I was excited for the girls to give it a try.  Sofia has ridden them before but it was Ali's first time.  Sofia rode laps around Ali but Ali did well for her first time.  After getting her going in the right direction she slowly got going faster as she went around the track.  We kept trying to get her to smile but she was concentrating so much that she looked very serious.  She did say though that it was a lot of fun. 

After exploring Menaggio for a bit and having dinner we had to stop for a gelato. You can't be in Italy in the summer and not partake in a gelato!  There were so many flavors to choose from but through the trip we seemed to choose a lot of the same flavors..lemon, melon and mint with an occassional variation from these three. After choosing our flavors we went for a walk along the boardwalk to enjoy the setting sun over the lake and mountains.

After breakfast everyday we went out to explore.  We started by taking the ferry to Bellagio.  Bellagio is really very small but by the time we took the ferry there we needed to stop for a snack to power up for our sight seeing.  This was how we went for the remainder of the trip...breakfast, get dressed, head out to destination, stop for coffee/snack, sightsee, then lunch and one (or sometimes two) cones of gelato.  After our snack we decided to follow a walking tour itinerary we had for Bellagio.  Our first stop was to go by a pillar that had the marks of previous floods which we couldn't find so we continued on to walk by the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni and out to the tip of the promotory called "Punta Spartivento".  It gave us amazing views of the lake looking towards the northern mountains as well as Menaggio and Varenna.  There were steps down to the water which the girls wanted to go down and touch the water.  When I could no longer resist myself we allowed them to take there shoes off and step into the water.  There is just something fun about putting feet into a new body of water. 

After playing in the water for a bit it was time for lunch.  Fortunately one of the restaurants that we had read was good was right on the point so we were able to eat lunch by the water.  It was an excellent lunch.  Once we were finished we headed into the town and walked around the few streets that make up Bellagio.  The town is very small so this didn't take long.  After exploring a bit we headed back to the ferry and enjoyed our trip back across the lake to Menaggio.  After a cool morning the afternoon had warmed up.  It didn't make sense to drive back to our apartment for bathingsuits so we let the kids go in the lake in the underwear.  Along the boardwalk in Menaggio and most towns we visiting there are steps down to the water.  For the most part people were not swimming in these locations but there was one in Menaggio that had a couple swimmers so we figured it must have been acceptable for kids to jump in the water there.  The girls were very happy to be in the water.  I wanted to join them as well since it was hot but I didn't think that would be appropriate. :)

We visited the village of Tremezzo and Villa Carlotta and Varenna all in one day.  It was a full day since we spent about two hours on the ferry.  It was nice to be on the ferry as there was a good breeze to keep us cool.  We started with Villa Carlotta which Ali claimed was her house.  We explored the beautiful gardens and then Ali gave us a tour of "her house".  It was cute to see her going from room to room and decided what happened in each room.  She claimed her bedroom but then changed her mind when she saw the next bedroom.  It would be nice if we could give her this house upon her marriage like Carlotta received but for now we will just pretend she already owns it.  After visiting the villa we walked into the village of Tremezzo for lunch and then back on the ferry to cross back across the lake to Varenna.  After having our after lunch gelato and walking around the village a bit, which was a really cute village, we hiked up the hill to Vezio Castle for a bird show with hawks and owls.  It was a 15 minute hike uphill but worth the trip.  There were some amazing views over the lake and it was fun to see the hawks and owl flying around and landing on the trainers arm.  After watching the show for about a half an hour we decided to head back down the hill for a short play at the playground while we waited for our ferry back to Menaggio.

The next day we headed to the village of Lenno.  I think this was my favorite village on Lake Como that we visited.  It was small and not busy with a lot of tourists.  There was not a major road between the restaurants and the boardwalk so it was very peaceful.  We parked the car in a lot across the main road and headed to an olive oil producer we had read about.  As we walked into the parking area there were three giant dogs laying around which I was a little unsure of but we moved slowly until we got to the office and found someone who worked there.  He assured me the dogs were very friendly and the girls were off to pet them while Jason and i decided on how much olive oil to buy.  We had read good things about this oil and this producer has been making olive oil since 1850.  It is also fun to try olive oiles from different regions becuase they all taste slightly different.  After buying our oil we headed down the hill across the main road into the village.  We walked along the boardwalk towards Villa Balbianello (where part of Casino Royale was filmed) but the day we were there you could only see the villa by boat since the garden entrance was closed.  We didn't feel like committing the money and time to see the villa for an hour so we decided to check out the Lido.  After looking at the quite lido we decided we would skip the lido in Lenno since it was more couples and small.  We didn't want to have to worry about the kids making a lot of noise and disrupting people. So we walked back along the boardwalk and found a cafe on the water for our morning coffee/snack.  After walking around the town a little more it was time for lunch.  We went to a restaurant that we had read about and had a nice meal.  Jason had fish, the girls had ravioli and I had a pasta with a gorgonzola sauce with pieces of melon.  It sounds odd but it was delicious. 

After a good morning we decided it was hot enough that we needed to hit the beach.  We went to the Lido in Menaggio.  The Lido had two pools, a couple restaurants, cabanas and a few other sport activities.  You needed a swim cap to go in the pool which we didn't have so we stayed by the lakeside which was fine with me.  there was a small rocky area to enter the water where the kids spent all their time finding interesting rocks and smoothed glass. 

Becuase the lake drops off so quickly the cement wall that meets the lake can be jumped off without touching the bottom.  This is where I spent all my time in the lake since unlike the kids I found walking on the rocks very painful.  Sofia wanted to make the jump from the corner of the cement pictured right but in front of the cement there is another walkway of cement just under the water and we didn't think she would be able to clear it so she swam off the lido in front of where Jason is standing in this picture. It was very interesting to me that there was no big beach area to enter the water.  It just never ocurred to me that the lake would get so deep so quickly.  It is so different from any swimming we did as kids and so different from any swimming we have done in Spain.  The girls didn't seem to think anything of it and were just happy to be in the water finding treasures.  I love giving them these opportunities to see how different things are in different parts of the world.

On our last full day staying on Lake Como the weather was not as nice so we skipped the beach and decided to drive over the border into Switzerland to Lake Lugano.  The lake had a very pretty green/aqua color to it but once in Lugano it is not a cute village but a large city so it did not have the same appeal as Lake Como.  They did, however, have paddle boats that we thought would be fun so we tried to find parking to give it a go.  Unfortunately, we could not find parking.  We kept following signs for parking but never seemed to actually find any so we gave up on the idea of going on the paddle boats and headed to the Migros grocery store.  I was excited by this trip since ever since last summer when my friend Tim brought back Frey chocolate from a Migros store in Switzerland I have tried to figure out a way to get more.  It is that good!  We went into the shop and bought a large quantity of chocolate.  Now that we are home I recognize I may have over done it!  The shop also had 7Up light so I bought some of that as well.  The parking lot for the grocery store require us to pay 1 swiss franc to get out of the lot but we didn't have any so I had to go take money out of the bank.  I went back into the Migros to ask where I would find a bank.  To my surprise everyone that I asked did not speak English.  After being sent to a few different places someone finally pointed me in the direction of the bank which was apparently right next to the Migros!  The smallest bill the bank machine would dispense was a 50 which is approximately $50.  So I went back into the grocery store to spend the money since we were not planning on coming back to Switzerland.  I spent it well and came out with 1.50 francs remaining...enough to pay to get out of the parking lot.  We headed back to our apartment and beganpacking up for our next destination...Piedmont, Italy

On Vacation - Venice

In Piazzale Roma - The beginning of our
trip down the Grand Canal

After relaxing in beautiful quiet Slovenia we headed southwest to Venice, Italy.  It is just over a two hour drive from our friend's house in Slovenia to Venice so it was an easy trip.  We found our hotel which is on the continent side of Venice and not on the islands themselves.  It was cheaper to stay off the islands and just a lot less complicated given that we had our car.  After checking in and dropping our stuff off in our room we headed out to catch the bus over to the Piazzale Roma.  This is the lauching point for taking any boat into venice so it was quite busy.  We eventually figured out where to buy a ticket for the water bus.  This was the cheapest way to take a trip down the Grand Canal.  By cheapest I do not mean cheap.  It cost us 36 Euro (and that is with lieing about the kids ages...they were 3 and 4 during our time in Venice!)  which gave us some insight as to the expenses of visiting Venice.  We took the boat all the way to Piazza San Marco.  It was fun to be on the boat and see the Grand Canal and the girls loved being on the ocean.  They kept commenting that it smelled like the beach and also wanted to know if they could go swimming.  We had to tell them that swimming was not an option and after a while they finally stopped asking.  As we arrived at Piazza San Marco we could not believe how many people where there.  Since we were all hungry because it was lunch time and neither Jason or I are big fans of crowds we snapped a couple pictures and tried to get out of the crowds.  This was a little difficult given the number of people in Venice but we did manage to slip into an uncrowded restaurant for lunch.

Sofia and Ali taking a minute to emjoy

one of the many canals.

 

After lunch we had the energy for more sight seeing and found some less crowded streets.  It was quite pleasant and very pretty when we could walk at a leisurely pace and look at the buildings and canals.  It was fun to wind our way through the streets always unsure if it was going to lead to a dead end with a canal or to a bridge over the water.  We let the girls choose our directions for a while since they like to be the leaders.  It allows us time to enjoy our surroundings and not feel like we are dragging the kids around.  After the quiet of the side streets we braved the crowds again to see the Rialto bridge.  We had to take a walk over to it since on the boat ride on the Grand Canal the kids were very excited to see it because it is in one of the episodes on Little Einsteins that they like to watch. 

I thought this was going to be the shop
but they decided on white and it wasn't
available in this shop.

We made our way through the crowds and stopped in a bunch of shops along the way since the girls wanted to get a carnival mask.  As the masks were so fanciful I didn't blame them for wanting one.  They had a tough time choosing but in the end they both ended up with pretty white masks.  We finished our day in Venice with dinner.  Our friend had recommended a restuarant so we went in search of the restaurant but unfortunately it was closed for the weekend.  Fortunately there was a restaurant next to it that was open with outdoor seating.  The restaurant was in a big open piazza so while we waited for our food and once the kids were done eating they were able to chase the pidgeons all around the square.  It was a busy full day.  I'm glad we stopped and saw Venice for the day.  It is an amazing city.  I would recommend going to Venice if given the chance but I would recommend it only if you could go in a time other than August as August is too hot and way too crowded.

On Vacation - Slovenia

I have not blogged for over two weeks and that is because we have been on vacation.  The past three summers we have vacationed in Spain but this year we decided to do something different.  This year we traveled to Slovenia and then onto Italy and Austria.  We started our trip off by heading to our friends house in Slovenia.  We packed the kids in the car and headed out at 4am.  We wanted to avoid as much traffic as possible and we also wanted to catch the car train.  We did get off on time but we hit some rain and then traffic around Munich but we made it just in time for the car train. 

We did not want to miss the car train because it would mean driving over the mountain on some narrow winding roads which would make the eight hour trip even longer.  We also did not want to miss it becuase we had really talked it up with the kids.  Fortunately we made it with a few minutes to spare and there were only two cars behind us on the train.  We were breathing a sigh of relief that we were not the car that was turned away because the train was full.  If you are waondering what a car train is, it is a train that you drive your car onto, turn the car off and pull the emergency break.  You then sit in your car as the train travels along the tracks.  This car train brought us through the mountain rather than over the mountain so the majority of our time was spent in a pitch black tunnel.  It was really fun and the kids enjoyed it.  The train that we caught only brought us part way through the mountain pass though so instead of having a five minute drive to our friends house we had a forty-five minute drive down the mountain.  I didn't mind this part of the drive though and just enjoyed the scenery as much as possible while driving down a windy mountain road.  The eight hour drive was well worth it.  My friends house is absoultely beautiful even in the rain.  The kids were excited to see their friends and quickly separated from us and off they went for a fun filled weekend.  I was also happy to see my friend Beanie since I hadn't had a good chat with her since school let out.  Another set of our friends, Colin and Kim, were staying for the weekend as well with their son, Bryn, so we had a lot of fun just hanging out.  We chatted, had great lunches and dinners and shared a lot of laughs. 

On Saturday morning we all went out to the pool since the sun was shining.  Our friends have a natural swimming pool which is now on my wish list of things to have in my yard.  A natural swimming pool doesn't require any chemicals and makes you feel like you are in a beautiful pond.  There is no fiddling with chlorine and Ph and there is no concern of the kids eyes stinging or their skin getting irritated.  It was great!  After time playing in the pool we headed in for lunch.  During lunch the clouds rolled in and the rain started.  That didn't stop the fun though. 

We all headed into a nearby town for the boys to do a bit of bridge jumping.  I did not take part in the bridge jumping since my bikini would not have stood up for the jump (9 meters or 29 feet) into the water and even if I had a one piece I'm not sure I would have the nerve to actually make the jump.  I'm usually nervous about jumps into unknown water but our friend Guy had made this jump before so I knew it was deep enough but also the town had a platform installed on the bridge for this specific purpose.  The Soca river is a beautiful river that is torquise in color and even in the height of August it is still very cold.  Jason guesses it was probably about 60 degrees (15 C).  I did my part and took pictures of Guy, Jason and Colin making the jump.

We all had a great time visiting with friends and seeing Slovenia.  Slovenia definitely tops my list of one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Final Good-Bye

We said our final good-bye to the Noordhuis Family yesterday.  We met them at the playground in our village and let the kids play while Inge and I chatted.  When it was time to go the kids all gave hugs and were silly with each other which was nice to see.  I gave Inge a hug and squeeked out good-bye past the lump in my throat.  It is hard to say bye to friends here since it means that you are usually saying good-bye forever.  I hope though that Inge's next move or the move after that will bring her back to the States where we can reconnect.  Sofia seems okay with Lars leaving since she definitely sees it as temporary and when they are adults they can find each other again.  It is a great way to view it.  In the meantime she plans on writing lars regularly to keep in touch.  Here is the picture of all the kids playing at the playground.  They must have felt sympathetic to me becuase there was no complaint over the photo taking.

Stolen

I'm sad to say that Jason's bike was stolen from our house yesterday when I took Watson to the vet.  I don't know who comes down a dead end dirt road to steal a bike but they did.  I'm happy that nothing else was taken but still upset at the loss of an expensive bike.  I'm sad that our family bike rides will be put on hold until next summer and I'm a little creeped out that some stranger was here.

Family visit

Last week we had our family here for a visit.  We were so busy sight seeing and hanging out together having fun that I had no time to blog.  The girls had such a fun time with their cousins.  To spend every day with their cousins and then to have them sleeping in their room was just pure bliss.  Bed times were blown away and the kids didn't get in bed until nine almost every night and then they would stay up talking for a while until we finally pulled the plug.  We revisited the Prague castle, Wallenstein gardens, old town square, Wenceslas Square, the Powder Tower, Mala Strana and Charles Bridge.  We also took a trip to the Torture museum which we had never been to before.  It was quite fascinating to see all the old torture instruments.  I'm happy I didn't live in a time when they were used!  I was a little concerned that the girls would be scared in the museum but they seemed equally fascinated and would just say things like, "ouch, I wouldn't want that." or, "they would be dead right mommy?" or, "of course that would hurt.". 

We did have one warm sunny day so after some sightseeing we headed back home so the kids could hit the pool.  They didn't seem to find the cold temperature and jumped right in.  After they had gotten cooled off and had come out of the pool I couldn't take it anymore and had to jump in myself.  It was refreshing after a warm day in the city.  The boys followed my lead and had some good brotherly time in the pool.  Jodi and I couldn't resist capturing it in a picture.  Such a touching brotherly moment when you realize they are really very similar!

One of the great things about having family with us was that we also got to celebrate Jodi's birthday (her 27th I think??).  I made the cake and Jason and Matt prepared orange chicken.  Orange chicken is one of our all time favorite dishes that we make and is often the request for special occassions so we offered this to Jodi for her birthday dinner.  It is time consuming but well worth it.  This time around Jason had Matt's help in the kitchen.  Another moment of brotherly bonding.

On their last day with us we took a trip out to Krivoklat Castle which is about 45 minutes outside Prague.  The kids loved seeing another castle.  We took the tour that was in Czech but they gave us reading material in English.  Keely and Sofia were the most interested in the reading material so I read a lot to them.  One room in the castle was about the lady Philipa, the merchant's daughter,  who married the Arch duke Ferdinand.  Given their differences in status they married in secret and kept their marriage a secret for 19 years while having four children.  The girls all really liked this love story and I had all their attention. 

After finishing the tour we went for a walk around the castle.  There are marked walking routes in the area of the castle so we took the one that was the shortest at about 4km.  It was a pleasant walk through the woods that brought us to a zipline and playground area near the half way point in the walk. We let the kids have fun on the zipline but then even the adults had to have a turn.















We finished their last day by walking to our local pizzeria.  The kids had a blast playing around the pond at the pizzeria and seeing the baby ducks.  We decided to take the path up to our house rather than the road since Matt, Jodi, Keely and Alaina wanted to see what it was like.  We decided to give it a try and see if it was just too overgrown to walk through.  To our surprise it was well (relatively) maintained this year.  The kids got to see a lot of slugs and a snake during the walk.  As Keely said, it was the best day of the trip!  I'm glad we ended on a high note!  They left yesterday morning and we were all sad to see them go.  It was really a lot of fun to have them here and I'm sure we will be hearing about how much fun Sofia and Ali had with their cousins for the foreseeable future!

Cousins Cousins!!!

Today marks the arrival of Keely and Alaina.  They are the girls' cousins.  Of course, Matt and Jodi are also coming but for Sofia and Ali the important event is the arrival of their cousins.  They have talked about it for the last two months at least.  I have repeatedly answered questions like, "when are they coming? How many days? How many sleeps, When they get here can we do (insert any possibility)?  Can we save this strawberry for when they get here?".  The questions have been endless.  I love that they are so excited for their cousins to arrive but I will be happy to stop answering the unending questions.  Jason and I are also excited to have everyone here.  It is fun to share Prague with our friends and family.  I'll post all the adventures we have over the next week.  I'm sure we will get some priceless moments with the kids.

Sunflowers

I went for a bike ride this morning and brought my camera with me so that I could capture some of the beauty of my ride.  I had biked this route two weeks ago and came across a few fields of sunflowers that I wanted to capture.  I'm glad I decided to ride today becuase some of the sunflowers are already starting to pass.  I kept putting off getting pictures of the fields of poppies and then the fields passed and I missed my chance so I'm glad I didn't miss my chance with the sunflowers.

Week recap

Summer has left Prague this week.  I have been wearing jeans most days and making the kids where their sweatshirts/fleece when we go out.  We have had a good week though despite the cool weather.  The upside of the cool weather is that the kids have been sleeping really well and catching up on much needed sleep.  I thought the week would drag by since the kids couldn't be in the pool but our week has been filled with two birthday parties, a trip to the movies to see Shrek and a trip to the zoo.  It was actually fortuate that it hasn't been hot since our pool has not been swimmable.  Our chlorine levels had dropped to zero so I went to the pool store to ask them what to do.  They told me to shock the pool and sold me the chlorine and told me how much to use.  They obviously did their math wrong becuase we are over a week later and the chlorine levels are still too high although it is getting closer to a swimmable level.  The weather is suppose to warm up over the weekend which should time well with our chlorine levels.  Then we will just need some sustained high temperatures to raise our pool temperature which has dropped again below 70 (F) .

Beans

This year in Ali's class the kids all planted their own "bean stalk".  Ali would talk about it from time to time and would occassionally bring me outside to look at it growing.  The end of the year came and the plant was still small and it was sent home with us.  I eventually got it transplanted into a bigger pot and have been very good about watering it.  I didn't want the flood of tears that would have gone along with a dead plant.  Ali would check on her plant and ask, "will it grow all the way to the sky?".  To which I delicately answered since I didn't want to burst her excitement for a beanstalk like Jack and the Bean Stalk.  All my watering and tending of this "bean stalk" has paid off this week.  The kids came inside all excited to tell me there were two beans on the plant.  I assumed they were small since I hadn't noticed anything but they were, in fact, two full size beans.  I have not picked beans since I was a little girl so I wasn't sure when to pick them.  I told Ali she would have to call Grammie and ask her so we gave Grammie a call and with Ali's very limited phone ability the girls learned they could pick the beans and eat them.  I think that was the beginning of green beans entering our household meals.  I cooked beans tonight and the kids loved them so my green bean ban must come to an end.  I even tried to get away with not eating any green beans but the kids noticed and asked me why I wasn't eating any.  I told them there wasn't many and I wanted them to be able to enjoy them since I've had them plenty before.  They weren't exactly happy with that so I did take two beans and eat them.  Luckily this satisfied the girls and they ate up the rest of the beans.  I will admit I don't hate green beans with the passion I did as a child which I guess is a good thing as I will be making them more often.

Bike Ride

It was overcast today and not a great pool day so we decided to go for a family bike ride.  We originally thought we would go to the next village and back but the kids were doing so well we continued on the path and we went a total of six miles.  We did take a couple stops along the way to look at different things in the woods but none of our stops were very long.  The kids liked seeing a new path that they hadn't seen before and they liked hearing about Watson's favorite spots in the stream.  Jason and I were a little worried as the return three miles were on a slight uphill most of the way but the kids did amazing.  On some of the steeper uphills Ali had to walk her bike but as soon as she was able she hopped back on to ride.  As Sofia pointed out , "it is good exercise, very tiring but also a lot of fun". 

Pool Time and Bubbles

The last week has been hot so the girls and I have really been enjoying the pool.  (Jason enjoys it as well but since he has to go into the office he only gets to enjoy it after six o'clock.)  The pool has warmed up to a lovely 75F (23C) and is so refreshing.  Ali still uses her short wetsuit to stay warm but it means she stays in the pool for a long time.  She is now swimming down "like a whale" to get dive sticks off the bottom of the pool and swimming along the bottom so her belly touches.  She surprised me the other day with an excellent canonball.  I had to run inside to get the camera so I could take a picture of her cannonball since she had such good form!  Besides dive sticks and cannonballs the girls just enjoy swimming sround the pool, playing on the floaties and noodles.  They love doing "motor boat" which is a fun thing that I played as a child with my mom.  I love that I can pass down a memory to them so even when I'm tired of doing "motor boat" I do it again as I'm sure my mother must have done when I was little.

We had a slightly cooler day on Thursday so we didn't spend the entire day in the pool.  The kids played in the playroom for a while but I like them to be outside in the summer so I had to think of something to entice them outside.  I started with bubbles that they could play with which they very quickly used up.  I was pretty proud of my mothering skill when I thought about making my own bubbles.  I made LOTS of bubbles that day.  I even used pipe cleaners to make giant bubble wants so the kids could make big bubbles which they loved.

Watson

This week we took Watson to the Vet and the groomer.  It was time for his check up, or so I thought, so I stopped by his vet and scheduled his apopintment.  We went in yesterday and I found out that I was suppose to have brought him in earlier so we are basically starting his vaccinations over again.  We will be back at the Vet next month and then again in November.  At least I know now what I need to do for him and the Vet gave him a good bill of health so we are all set.  I brought him to the groomer today for a hair cut because he has been so hot lately that he has not been himself.  He is very lethargic and while he is still willing to play fetch, we can't play it with him for long for fear of him getting too hot.  He has been so hot he willingly stands and gets sprayed by the hose!  Anytime he hears the hose turned on he comes running to drink from it.  He does have water in his water dish but he just loves the water from the hose.  Anyway, I called a new groomer to make an appointment since I didn't want to drive to the groomer we used last time and I wanted to save some money since the new groomer would cost less than half of what I paid last time.  Unfortunately I got what I paid for!  I specifically said I would like his hair short but NOT shaved.  Well, Watson is pretty much shaved.  Ali thinks he looks great but I think he looks a bit silly.  At least Watson doesn't know what he looks like and seems much happier now that he is cooler.  Here are pictures of Watson before and after his haircut.

The Dentist

I have not been as good about going to the dentist since we have moved to Prague.  It is a bit overwhelming to find a dentist.  There are the many expat dentists that charge an arm and a leg which I paid the first time I brought myself and the kids to the dentist.  I had amazing sticker shock though when we had our teeth cleaned for the first time in Prague that again I waited longer than recommended to go back to the dentist.  Fortunately my friend gave me the name of the dentist that she used for her daughter so I didn't have to go back to the same dentist and spend a small fortune.  I went yesterday for my cleaning.  I was very impressed with this dentist.  She used a laser to clean the plaque and tartar of my teeth and then polished them with some kind of water system.  I feel like my teeth are cleaner than they have been after any previous cleaning and they seem a bit whiter also.  The big bonus though was that it didn't hurt.  There was no horrible scraping of the teeth just the laser moving over them.  It was easy.  Today I brought the girls in to have their teeth checked.  Sofia did great and sat in the chair without any problem.  Ali was afraid of the dentist so the dentist let Ali sit on my lap for the exam.  Sitting on my lap gave her the courage to open her mouth big and wide for the dentist.  I'm happy to report that we are all cavity free. Since I'm not overwhelmed anymore with finding a new dentist or with the cost, we will be visiting the dentist again in six months.

Biking

After I dropped my mom at the airport this morning I needed something to occupy my mind and give me space to have quiet so I went for a bike ride.  I wasn't sure where I was going to go when I started down my road but then I decided I was going to ride the bike path from Stromovka Park to Kralupy.  I have always seen the signs for it when I run on the bike path from Stromovka but since it is so far away it just isn't feasible for me to run the distance but I knew I could do it on the bike.  I didn't take into consideartion though the really bad sections of the trail.  I assumed it was a nice bike path the entire way but I was WAY wrong.  There was about a 2 mile stretch that was very sketchy.  The beginning and end of the sketchy section of the path was barely visible behind all the overgrowth but that wasn't even the worst of it! The worst part was being on a very narrow path that had a minimum 6ft straight drop down to the river.  There were times that I had to get off my bike and walk it becuase I was afraid that if I had any mishap my bike and I would be in the river after a long fall.  I didn't want to swim and I didn't want to lose my bike either!  I did feel a little better when I got off the horrible section and stopped to brush myself off and check for ticks that the guy who came out behind me told me that he also had to get off his bike and walk.  It made me feel like I wasn't a complete wimp.  After getting through that bad section the path was nice again and I made it to Kralupy but now I had to find my way home from Kralupy because I was not going back the way I came.  I just couldn't face that terrible section of the path again.  After going back and forth in Kralupy I finally found my way out of town and back in the direction I needed to go in order to get home.  My bike ride was a little longer that I anticipated (33 miles) but it gave me the release I needed to accept my mom's leaving.  I have also learned that I will NEVER take the bike path along the river to Kralupy again!

The week with Mom

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

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

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

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

Salzburg and The Sound of Music

My mom arrived last Friday.  We were all happy to see her.  The girls had been counting down the sleeps until Grandma arrived (and so was I) so it was exciting when we picked her up at the airport.  She arrived just before lunch so we were able to have a leaisurely afternoon and send her to bed early to catch up on her jetlag. 

On Saturday my mom and I headed off early to Salbzburg, Austria while Jason stayed home with the girls.  Since we were just going for one night and going on a four hour sound of Music tour it would not have been a fun trip for the kids.  It also gave me some alone time with my mom which was nice since with the girls chatting away I was finding it difficult to get a word in!  The drive to Salzburg took six hours since we hit some traffic but we still managed to get there at a reasonable time so we checked into our hotel (which we learned didn't have air conditioning) and headed out to check out the old town and the fortress on top of the hill in Salzburg.  We managed to get in about four hours of walking around before dinner.  The Old town is very small so we also took time to stop in the shops to see if there was anything worthwhile. :)  Before we called it a day we took the railway up to the fortress which was amazing.  To think they built it 1,000 years ago seems incomprehensible.  After spending time walking around the fortress we headed back down to the town and found a restaurant for dinner and then headed back to the hotel for showers and bed.

In the morning we got up, had breakfast and waited for our pick up for the Sound of Music Tour.  We were both excited to see the places in the movie that we had watched together so many times.  I was a little skeptical when I realized it was a giant tour bus but it turned out to be perfect.  The bus kept us nice and cool and we stopped at most of the sights and got out of the bus to take pictures.  We saw the back of the villa on the pond where the kids fell into the water off the boat, the lane she was walking down singing, "I've got Confidence", the glass gazebo from "Sixteen Going On Seventeen", The monestary from a distance, the church where Maria and the Captain were married, and Mirabell Gardens where the kids are singing "Do Re Mi".  It was a lot of fun.  After finishing the tour we got back in the car and headed home.  We didn't have any traffic so we made it home before the kids went to bed.

Teachers

The kids have both had good years this year and a large part of that is becuase they have had good teachers.  Thankyou Mr. Haig and Mrs. Jelinek amd Mrs. Falk! (Mrs. Jelinek and Mrs. Falk taught Ali's class this year.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to snap a pic with Mrs. Falk on the last day.)

Last Day of School

Well, we made it to the last day of school.  There have been so many activities in the last two week of school that it has been difficult to get to everything but I think we managed to join in in all the fun.  Last Wednesday was the last day of school. 

I joined Ali at her school building for the Early Years leaving assembly in the morning.  Ali received her swimming certificate.  She has achieved level two this year.  This stage focuses on developing safe entries to the water, including jumping in, basic floating, travel on the front and back up to a distance of five metres, and rotating the body to regain an upright position.   She was very proud of herself.  The leaving assembly was also a time to say good-bye to friends that are leaving, Grace and Nils.  Grace is going back to England and Nils is off to Qatar.  We are sad to see them go.  Fortunately we still have Nils around until August.  After singing a few songs and saying good-byes the leaving assembly was over and the kids headed back inside to have some fun. 

I picked Ali up early from school to bring her over to the primary school.  School was a half day and the primary leaving assembly was from 11:00 - 12:00 followed by a BBQ so I didn't want to miss anything to pick Ali up at twelve.  I'm glad I did because Ali joined right in with Sofia's leaving assembly and sat right next to Sofia for the entire time.  Again good-byes were said to all the kids and teachers leaving the school this year.  For our kids that means saying good-bye to Olav, Lars, Sofie, Jose Miquel, Alex, Sophia, and Louis.  Each class did something different for the children who are leaving.  Sofia's class made a book for the two children leavingfrom her class.  The book was made with everyone in the class making one page with either writing, drawing or pictures of the children.  It was very cute and a really great memory book for the kids to take away with them to their next home.  The assembly also included the kids singing songs which they all seemed to have a lot of fun doing.  Here is a video of one of the songs.