Beautiful Weekend

Saturday, Jason and I took the girls to the park since it was so beautiful. We made a day of it and brought a picnic blanket, snacks, lunch and smoothies to drink. The fresh air always seems to make the girls ravenous so we wanted to make sure we had enough for them to eat. We took Sofia's training wheels of her bike for the first time. She was a little hesitant to try riding her bike without them but she did a good job. She didn't spend to much time on her bike though since she was having a lot of fun kicking the soccer ball around and trying to play baseball with Jason.

On Sunday we went to a birthday party for Sofia's friend, Jose Miguel. The party was in a hotel in Nebusice which is now easy to get to since we have a car. Sofia got right into the party when the clown arrived. Ali, on the other hand, separated from the party when the clown arrived. Ali has seen clowns before and actually had even seen one of these clowns in particular but for some reason she was very scared by them. She wouldn't leave my side unless it was to be at Jason's side. After a while, Jason got her warmed up and she joined in on the fun with the clowns. I enjoyed talking with the other mom's there while Jason minded our girls and spoke with the other dads there. The party was fun and the kids were very sad to leave. We decided to continue the fun at home with a game of chutes and ladders.

Back on Schedule

Monday was back to school for the kids after a two week vacation. They were excited to head back and see their friends. I wasn't sure if the morning routine would be difficult after vacation but the girls fell right back into it. There were no problems getting ready which I think can be partly credited to having to wear uniforms. The girls are still loving the car and how easy it is to get to school now. The weather has remained beautiful too so after school we have played on the new school football pitch (soccer field) or played by the river. This is were I feel the enjoyment of the car because I can let the girls play until exhaustion without worrying about getting them to walk home.

Spring has sprung

Over the last two weeks of school vacation we have really enjoyed the warm spring weather. It was beautiful everyday until Friday when it turned a little colder and rainy. The girls and I enjoyed seeing all the forsythia and tulips in bloom.

Fried Computers

So last week our computer stopped working. I had been hoping that it was something to do with the CD drive since when you put a CD in the computer it didn't do anything. I was wrong. Today I picked up our computer from the store and found out that our hard drive had fried. The guy didn't really speak English but said, "hard drive....kaput". This is a very sad thing as it means I have lost all our pictures from March as well as a lot of videos of the kids. Luckily I had just burned CDs of all the photos for the previous 6 months. I will be burning CDs more regularly now as well as DVDs of the videos!

Vacation Week 2

This second week of school vacation has flown by. The weather has continued to be just beautiful . . . blue skies, sun shining, perfect temperature. Monday was a holiday here so Jason had the day off. We spent the day just hanging out as a family and then we went to our friends house for dinner. The girls had so much fun playing with their friends, Vivi and Michelle they didn't want to leave when it was time to go. We had to draw the line at some point so we headed home around 8:30pm and put the kids to bed. It was our first time to our friend's, Kelly & Michal's apartment. While we could get there by tram it just never seemed to work out. With the car it was so easy. I am looking forward to more dinners together with them. Tuesday was a pretty low key day. The girls had there yearly check ups at the doctor. It was there first yearly check up since being in the Czech Republic. I did slack a little bit on the yearly check-ups but don't worry they did see the doctor often enough with ear infections, knee pain etc. They did great on their check ups and are in perfect health. In the afternoon, the girls and I had lunch in a square near our apartment before bringing Sofia to Czech lesson. Wednesday was big day for us since we went to the Zoo with their friends Vivi and Michelle. Vivi and Michelle's grandmother joined us for the trip to the zoo too since she is in town visiting. It was such a easy pleasant day at the zoo. The weather was perfect. The kids were all behaving and I had good company to talk to while the kids enjoyed the animals.



Thursday we went out to my friend Emily's again. The kids had fun playing in the yard and in the house. My friend Shanna was also there with her three children so the kids had a lot of fun running around together. All of these things we have been able to do during this school vacation have been great and made so much easier and more enjoyable because we have the car.




On Friday we decided to head to the IMAX theater with my Laura and her son, Owen, to see the Dolphins and Whales movie in 3D. The movie wasn't as action packed as I had expected but the kids still had fun watching the movie. It was so funny to watch then as they kept reaching out to touch the dolphins and whales. I have to admit I reached out a couple times too since it really did seem like they were swimming right over us. After watching the movie we headed out into the mall and gave the kids McDonald's for dinner and then let them play in the McDonald's play area. They had a blast and were all hot and sweaty by the time we headed home. Yesterday we went to see my friend Joanna and her family in the afternoon. We hadn't seen them in quite a while since their trip to the united States started just when we got back from the United States. It was nice to see them and catch up on the last couple months. Today we will relax and prepare for the return to school tomorrow. It has been a fun and busy two week vacation.

Karlstejn Castle

Karlstejn Castle has been on our list of "to do" since we moved here. There is a train to get to Karlstejn but it always seemed like such a trek that we just hadn't made it there. With the ease of our car though we finally made the trip (45 minutes) to Karlstejn. Saturday was another beautiful sunny day and perfect to be outside. We arrived at Karlstejn at lunch time so we parked the car and went to the closest restaurant with outdoor seating. They had a little playground so the kids played while we waited for our food. After filling up we decided to head to the castle. It is about a 1.5 kilometer walk up hill to get to the castle so we decided to take the horse and carriage ride to the top. I'm so glad we did b/c the hill was pretty steep in places and the girls would have been exhausted by the time we reached the castle. Orignally Jason and I planned to just walk around the outside of the castle but the girls begged to go inside and take the tour. Since they really wanted to do it we figured we would give it a try and hope they lasted the full hour. Sofia did great. She asked some good questions and was really very interested. Ali did well in the beginning but then her tiredness got the better of her and she fell asleep in my arms. At least my arms got a good workout! After finishing the tour we headed back down the hill into the town. Ali woke up and walked down the hill and we found some ice cream which we all enjoyed. It was a gorgeous day, perfect for walking outside. I'll post some pics once we get our other computer back.

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!