Holiday/Weekend Hodge-Podge of Picture Poses

Being at Stromovka Park means feeding the ducks or learning to climb trees.

Old Town Square, where May & Ella pose for pictures on a decorated walkway. Ella also got help with her first pomlazka (Easter tradition whipping stick)

Ella poses by her favorite carousel at Andel shopping mall. Though she rode it twice, we didn't manage any decent pics. We thought these 2 were cute, though.




























Ella's friend, Sasha, returned from a US visit last week. Happy friends together again.





















Same shopping mall, at the detsky koutek (kids' playground area), Dad and kids have fun (or a nap).





















Proof we take pictures of the 2nd child, too. :)

Jeff's Mom, Snowfall and a 3 Day Weekend!!

We got Jeff's mom in town. We've seen snow. And we got a 3-day weekend coming up.

Nice.

We got Jeff's mom

She arrived safe and sound last night, picked up by Mattias & Maylia at the airport. Jeff and Ella waited patiently at home, watching out the window for their taxi. Ella has been besides herself showing off everything and anything to Grammy.

Though Grammy may be feeling the jetlag, Ella woke her promptly at 7am this morning. No matter- it's safe to say, Grammy is happy.

We got some snow

Well, no, not really. We've gotten some snowfall.

For the past 2 days, it has been snowing off and on. Sounds crazy, but still no accumulation. at least nowhere downtown. For coworkers living outside Prague, they say they've have 3-5 cm (2 inches), but that hardly compares to what folks in the US & Canada are getting this winter.

It would be great to show Ella how to make a snowman or throw a snowball, but the past two winters have been too tame. :( Maybe in 2009.

We got a 3-day weekend

No work on Monday for the easter holiday. We have no plans made just yet, but we're considering it. Talk to you later and until then, enjoy all which the holiday may bring you.

And we'll add a picture of our first captured smile...

-Mom Comes Today-

Flying from Chicago to Zurich to Prague, Jeff's mom is en route, arriving around 7pm local time tonight.

Whoo-hoo!

You Just Can't Please Some People...

...like Martina Navratilova, the 9-time Wimbledon champion.

In 1975, when she was 18, Martina defected from Communist Czechoslovakia to the USA.
Today, as an American citizen since 1981, Martina is speaking out against the George Bush regime! In fact, since 8 January 2008, Martina is enjoying her renewed Czech citizenship, reinstated 33 years after her defection.

Focusing on this flip-flopper, the UK newspaper, The Guardian offers this:
Side-by-side comparison of 1975's Czechoslovakia and today's USA.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/13/usa.georgebush

Of course, I write this all with tongue placed firmly in cheek. Besides being in a tennis league all her own, Martina is an incredible activist fighting for "animal rights, underprivileged children and gay/lesbian equality." (Wikipedia)

Well, we hope she'll be content someday...
-Jeff

Health and Taxes
Kids' health is good. Or at least, better than before.

It's Sunday night, a bit before 9:00 pm, both Ella and Mattias are finally asleep.
Seems like this weekend just flew past us.

Our weekend time best spent was on Skype, getting to see Owen. What a cute li'l guy the Flynns have. Of course, seeing Dave & Catharine was nice, too. But seeing a bigger Owen is a big reminder of how much we look forward to our summer visit.

Our weekend time worst spent was attempting taxes. Simply amazing; amazingly complex. A dozen different forms and schedules -and that's "just" the US taxes. Jeff isn't even attempting our Czech taxes himself.

Last but not least- both kids' health. Neither are 100%, but they are on the mend.
Ella is still the sniffly, sneezy, coughy, stuffy, achy head manic maniac. A x-ray last Friday confirmed no bronchitis for her.
Mattias' cold is about the same, but he's found his appetite again, two-fold. :)

We're looking forward to Jeff's mom visiting - in just 2 more wake-ups!!

Till then, love to all.

Senseless Money Spent on Military Hardware

I'm not talking about US military funding. If you're interested in that, glance through the charts here: Anup Shah, World Military Spending, GlobalIssues.org, Last updated: Saturday, March 01, 2008

No, instead, I'm talking this morning's headline -- the Czech military is investing in new technology for them and it's getting big laughs from the locals.

What was the headline? "Czech military to get its first submarine"
Read the article here: http://www.praguemonitor.com/en/293/czech_national_news/19912/

Luckily since Czech Republic has no coast line, there are no plans to dock it.
The 50+ year old relic is headed to a Military History Musuem.

Couple Sickies Here

At 2 months old, Mattias has his first cold.
He caught it, we think Friday evening. Sunday evening he started a bit of a fever (38.6/101.5), but back down to normal now.
Went to the doctor both Monday and yesterday (Tuesday) and will go back Thursday. No meds, of course for a 2 month old; just a lot of monitoring, day and night. May and Jeff take turns sleeping in the kids' room with the heater and vaporizer going at full steam (yes, pun intended). Poor little guy just has big troubles, coughing and snorting. The 15-20 minute stints of steamy time in the shower room help, but just for the short-term.

And as other parents with multiple kids have warned us about: when one kid's sick, they're all sick. Ella picked up Mattias' cold over the weekend. She, thankfully, isn't so bad. Only Saturday night she gave us a scare with some barking cough, but it only happened once or twice, so we're not thinking croup.
[Why on earth do kids' colds always get so much worse at night???]
The worst thing of Ella being sick (but not real sick) is restlessness. There's only so much play time you can have indoors before everyone needs a break. When sick/tired, this kid is a manic maniac. We cannot wait to demonstrate that to folks this summer. :)

Maylia and Jeff are healthy and fine (save for dealing with a snotty 2-month old and a manic maniac). Maybe this cold business is bad karma to us for idolizing Oreos...
Take care and love to all.

-Jeff

Desperate Times...Desperate Measures?

Jeff recently discovered this store: Culinaria.
Their speciality? Imported American and British goods! And... Jeff went crazy.


One box of Kraft Mac N Cheese (that's KD for Canucks!) ... 189 koruna
One box Aunt Jemima pancake mix ... 199 koruna
One bag of double-stuff Oreos .... 289 koruna
One box of Cheerios cereal ... 299 koruna
Being able to buy this stuff ... "Priceless"

How did Jeff go crazy buying just the 4 things?
Let's try that again, but converted to US dollars:

One box of Kraft Mac N Cheese ... $11.50
One box Aunt Jemima pancake mix ... $12.00
One bag of double-stuff Oreos .... $17.50
One box of Cheerios cereal ... $18.00

Yeah, $60.00* We won't be doing this too often. But man, oh man, these double-stuffed Oreos are goooooooood!!!! So, next time you're thinking of us, grab yourself a handful of your favorite treat (unless you're on a diet or something) and count your blessings.


* (976 koruna is $59.70 dollars today, but this link will keep up-to-date)

WORDS FROM THE LONG-LOST MOM OF TWO


You haven't heard much from this peanut gallery lately. (Where the heck does "peanut gallery" come from anyway? Wait! I hear the clickety-click of that phrase being googled all over the world! I expect a response within minutes of posting this!)

So, before I collapse into bed only to wake too-few hours later in a stupor that I will remedy with a cup of strong coffee (and lots of milk to make me less guilt-ridden about drinking it), I thought I would take a moment to post a few photos and a few words. I actually just looked through Jeff's latest entries and wanted to add a few notes about other things we've been up to in recent weeks.

* * *

SUNSHINE! PARKS! PLAYGROUNDS!

Before our brutally windy weekend (yes, Mr. Klein, it was BRUTAL!) we enjoyed an absolutely glorious weekend of short-sleeves and sunshine. One thing I love about the Czech people is that they truly appreciate the sun...soaking up every ray available, and usually with a beer in hand. These two photos were taken at Letna Park, one of the two major parks within only a few minutes walk of our new flat.



Mattias was with us, I swear, he was just sleeping in his stroller...poor little second child...

* * *
SLEEPING! (or not)

Some nights are easy and some nights are....well, interesting! Here's Ella waking up Mattias and I one morning. We started out the night with everyone in their own bed, but by morning, Mattias and I were in Ella's bed and Ella and Jeff were in our bed!

* * *
BATHTIME!

Ella enjoys a special treat sent from Kit & Tom in South Korea.

And Mattias gets his bath in the sink with Ella assisting. She bathes her "babies" and also holds Mattias' ears so he doesn't get water in them.

* * *
CUDDLES!

Looks like he's starting to warm up to his sister's affection...not quite so grumpy this time.

She's a big girl now, but not too big to snuggle with Daddy. Incidentally, "Life of Pi" is now a favorite of both Jeff and I - thank you, Sarita and Caesar!

* * *

Lookin' Good!

Is this boy handsome or what?!?!

Not a Fit Night Out For Man Nor Beast - Updated

Up to now, we've had an easy winter. We've had only one bad spell of weather, freezing rain and sleet (as luck had it, on the night Mattias was born). And unlike friends in the States and Canada, we've had no snow on the ground, save one little flurry in mid-January.


Saturday and Sunday were exceptions.

We had a windy weekend - a very windy weekend.
Saturday afternoon we had a hailstorm complete with thunder and lightening. We found the wind to be absolutely crazy both days. Rounding the corners between buildings, if we weren't careful the stroller would blow over. Jeff and Ella went out Saturday morning for a walk, but Ella refused to walk.

We didn't realize how bad it was for all until Jeff got to work and heard stories from others.

Europe labeled the windstorm "Emma." The worst hit Germany, Czech Republic and Austria. then moved to Eastern Europe. Reports says wind gusts were up to 190 km/h (118 mph) - "the strength of a Category 3 hurricane."
(Update: now learned 14 people killed due to related accidents)

In Germany
Check out this video of a Lufhansa flight trying to land at Munich on Saturday afternoon. As you can see from the video, the plane crabs badly coming in, then gets a bad gust at the worst time --- yes, that's the wing hitting the ground; yikes! They landed safely on a different runway at Munich.




In Czech Republic
A coworker shows me pictures he took Sunday afternoon of his cottage in the woods. Fallen trees everywhere. He tells me that a "popular activity for the previous regime" (Communists) was to plant large, single-species forests -- just spruce trees. While not a sound ecological approach, spruces grow the fastest = good for wood production. Unfortunately, spruces also have a shallow root system, so they fare badly in wind storms.

p.s. "Not a fit night out for man nor beast" was made popular from W.C. Fields in his classic but zany parody film "The Fatal Glass of Beer" You can view the whole movie here:

http://www.archive.org/details/fatal_glass_of_beer