czech republic part 1: chilly prague spring

Well, for those of you who don't know, I got the chance to go to the Czech Republic for two weeks with my mom. I like to think of it as a 30th birthday present from my parents and Scott. I had never been to Europe, nor had I met many of my relatives before, so this was really special for me.

Here I am with my mom and Lukas (my mom's cousin's son...does that make him my second cousin?, I get confused with all those terms...). He graciously let us stay in his apartment whenever we were in Prague, which we returned to a few times between train rides to other relatives' houses.

Here I am with Jiri and Zorka (my mom's cousin). They helped us out start to finish, driving us around Prague, to and from the airport and even lending us their mobile phone for the duration of our trip.

We also needed them to hold our hands on the way to catch the subway, the escalator is fast and steep! On our first day, they showed us around some of the historical sites in Prague, a beautiful city even in gray, cold March when we were there.

Here's the Astronomical Clock (1891) located in the Old Town. My mom said that after the clock-maker finished building this, the powers that were took out his eyes so he could never build another one like it. Brutal!

My first Czech meal (potato pancake, roll and a sausage) almost 100% Czech except I opted for green tea instead of beer. Horrors! (I know dad...).

My parents have one of these types of carvings at their house, so I took a picture. I found myself distinguishing between what in my family life experience was distinctly "Czech" and what was just "us." I even made a list in my journal of random things that made the not just "us" list such as: changing into comfortable clothes (teplaki) when you get home from being out; picking mushrooms: blowing your nose as hard as you can and not just politely wiping it; Jesus, not Santa coming to give you gifts at Christmas...It's not strange or weird! It's just Czech!

Jiri works in restoring old artwork in historical Prague, so he knows a lot about the different types of artwork associated with each era. We had our own personal tour-guide, complete with an excellent sense of humour!

This is the ceiling in the St. Nicolas cathedral at Malostranske Namesti (1703). This is the largest of Prague's churches founded by the Jesuits. Particularly impressive is the dome fresco from Franz Palko, showing The Celebration of the Holy Trinity, filling the 70m high dome.

A view after crossing Charles Bridge.

A menacing statue against the blue sky...don't be fooled though, it was cold! I had to borrow a toque and gloves from Lukas.

This is Karlstein Castle (1348) which is about 30 km southwest of Prague. Jiri and Zorka drove us out to do some sightseeing. It became the place for safekeeping of the Czech coronation jewels, which were kept here, with the exception of several short-time breaks, for nearly 200 years.

Near Karlstein was the cemetary where my mom's uncle (Zorka's father) was buried. I had never been to a relative's grave before, it was a meaningful experience, these flowers were at the gravesite, so we picked a few and put them on his gravestone.

Also nearby is the house that my mom and Zorka inherited from their grandmother. She saw fit to give it to her only granddaughters as an inheritance, I thought this was rather amazing and forward-thinking for the time in which she lived. My mom often talks with fondness about this grandmother, she displayed a lot of wisdom in her life and had a joyful disposition, often able to smooth out the differences between people.

Zorka and my mom have long since sold this house. If I remember correctly it is near the birthplace of Martina Navratilova (the famous Czech tennis player).

big snowman and big news!

We got more snow! It only lasted a day so we had to take the opportunity to make a snowman, as (this time) the snow was actually sticky enough to roll and build a snowman. While Scott and I worked on the snowman (Scott made the bottom and middle, I just made the head), the kids fended for themselves at the little playground.

We couldn't and didn't let Eli wreck the snowman we were building so he had to satisfy that need by kicking the snow off some shrubs instead.

Here's Eli on the teeter-totter.

And Dana (the more cautious one) assessing the danger on the slide...

She did go down after all.

Voila! Our finished work--the best-looking (well most typical anyway) snowman I have ever made, not to mention the tallest (~six feet tall!). Scott and I had to both lift the middle section together to get it on its bottom section.

And Scott, the one who did the lion's share of the work:

The one on the left just received a full three-year scholarship to do a Master's degree in Modern Chinese Literature! We are really excited at this opportunity! Without the scholarship, we could not, would not consider doing this, but all is paid for! He even has an office on campus that he uses as his study space. Scott has been reading as much as he can as fast as he can as a result(yes, in Mandarin!), he has really jumped in with both feet!

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Since Scott has a study space on campus, we have decided to move to a slightly smaller place closer to Eli's school. Eli and Dana share a room now (since Thailand) and so a 2 bedroom is all we really need. It didn't take long to find a suitable one and now we are poised to move on May 1st.

thailand part 2: early morning impressions

For the last few days of our holiday, I got in the habit of getting up and out of the house bright and early. These pictures were taken on the last day of our time in Thailand. Here's a shot of a monk walking along the beach. I didn't want to be too obvious and so in my haste, the shot was blurred. I imagine his life a lonely one, I wonder what his life is really like...

I sat down on sun-bed that I didn't have to rent because it was still so early and just read a bit and took in the sunrise. I don't want to miss another sunrise when I am in such a picturesque place again. I am definitely more of a sunrise person rather than a sunset, as it's the beginning of a day and there's still hope and ideas for what might happen.

Oh that delicious feeling of toes in fine, wet sand! I took this picture because I never want to forget what that feels like. There is so much pleasure in the little things sometimes.

And now, here comes the sun...

--And here's the dog that took in this scene with me, I was pleased to get his profile just so. It was a great way to start the day and a memorable way to end our vacation.

thailand part 1: great family times

Okay, so one of the first things we had to do in Thailand was go to Swensens for ice cream. Eli had been talking for some time about "strawberry ice-cream with a cherry on top" and that's just what he got, with a cone thrown in, which he ate first.

Of course we had to get the exact same thing for Dana...

Scott got some kind of chocolate-y kind with pour-it-yourself fudge on the side.

Besides eating, we went and played either at the beach or the pool most days. This is a poolside picture in which the kids are playing in the showers...turning them all on and running through them like sprinklers, filling up cups and watering the plants nearby. (Eli also did a different sort of "watering" of the plants which I more than once pretended not to see...)

Eli and Dana in their "dragonboat" in the pool. Eli's sunglasses fit me too, I was originally going to buy them for myself, but they became Eli's when he tried them on. He wears them right side up most of the time.

We went out one afternoon to get pictures for the kids' visas as they had expired, so they had naps in the stroller as we went along afterwards.

Eli used some of his own money (given to him for Chinese New Year) to buy a toy "tuk tuk" which he fell asleep clutching in his lap.

Some of Eli and Dana's favourite foods at the restaurant where we were staying was spaghetti and meatballs. It got so we just stripped them down and didn't bother with shirts or bibs...you can see why...

And if one dropped a meatball, so did the other...we had a good conversation about the song "On Top of Spaghetti..."after this happened...

One of the fun things that Scott got to do for three afternoons was rent a scooter and go exploring. He almost made it to Burma one afternoon, and he came back later than expected. I was so relieved when I saw him, I was reallly already imagining him bleeding in a ditch all alone somewhere...the things husbands put their wives through! The helmet was too small for Scott, but at least he had one that at least looked more durable than a coconut.

Ahhhh...the best part. The ocean, and the beach where we played in the sand, and jumped into the water on an alternating basis. I would hold Dana in my arms and wade in and she would point to the middle of the ocean and say "DIS WAY!" she just wanted to stay in the water and keep going further out with me.

The kids got short rides on the scooter in our parking lot. They (especially Eli) loved it. I like how Eli is trying to figure out how the scooter works in this picture.

A good shot of Dana concentrating on her "rainbows" which are actually toy horseshoes.

I'll never forget chasing Eli along the beach with a pail full of water to dump on him, or dipping Dana in the water and singing goofy songs to her, Thailand was a very refreshing time indeed.

Eli goes skiing

Scott and Eli went with another father and son (Eli's best buddy Caleb) to try skiing for the first time. It was a huge success and Eli wanted to go again the next day (and the day after that...). He really got the hang of it, so now we are hoping that his success with that will rub off on his learning how to rollerblade.

Chinese New Year almost here!

I am off school as of yesterday for the Chinese New Year holiday and tomorrow we fly to Thailand. A neighbour said it was good timing as there is talk of a blizzard coming on Saturday. In any case, we will really appreciate the warm weather, clean air and the ocean, not to mention Thai food...


They have been busy decorating our xiao qu (neighbourhood) and even supplied us with posters to put on the outside of our doors with the character fu (福) which means blessing. Red and gold posters, red paper cut-outs are everywhere, ushering in the year of the Ox.

We recently went for a walk to a park nearby which had some ice. You might be thinking, 'oh they went skating, how nice...' but no, we tried something we'd never seen or heard of before.

It's a cross between skating, sledding and cross-country skiing. The little sleds have two blades that enable them to glide along the ice, and usually they are self-propelled via two small ski poles. The ski poles looked a little dodgy to me, and frankly dangerous with the inch long spikes on the end of them, so we went without.

At least three of us could fit on at a time and I would push, or Scott would use the short ski poles. Eli preferred to push Dana and Dana liked being pushed in the sled so it really worked out well. Where we live is pretty flat, so this is as close as we got to going sledding this winter.

I was glad that I actually had a use for those winter boots I bought the kids this year. I bought them in faith that we would 1. get some snow and 2. be able to do some winter activities...plus they weren't all that expensive. Although it seems mild here most of the time compared to where we're from in Canada, the wind can get pretty chilly here, cutting to the bone as you walk or bike where you need to go.

As we walked back from the park where we went ski-sledding, we must have passed at least three of these roadside stands selling firecrackers. Chinese people prefer to start their New Year with a bang and it is LOUD...like, don't bother trying to sleep kind of loud! I didn't ask how much the different kinds were, but I couldn't resist getting a picture. The whole country will soon be erupting in firecrackers and fireworks on Chinese New Year, I hope you do your part in celebrating too, even if it's just ordering Chinese Food or shooting a cap gun.

Scott is 30 now too!

For Scott's birthday, I tried my hand at making Scott's favourite cakes: angel food cake and pineapple-upside down cake. These were his Grandma B's specialties. Let's just say I have a long ways to go to get to her level! Maybe by Scott's 60th I'll have them down.

Scott let Eli blow out the candles. He still hasn't quite figured out how to do that, he would blow and then try to keep blowing even after he had run out of air. His face would redden from the effort, but the candles would stay lit.


I took Scott to an Aircraft Carrier Theme Park on his birthday. We took a taxi, a light-rail, then a bus to get there (about 2 hours) and toured the circa 1970 Soviet Aircraft Carrier. It was in use for some time, retired and sold to China in 1999.

This was on the top level, the bridge of the aircraft carrier, the "cockpit" so to speak.

Scott posing in front of one of the fighters.

I'm posing with a Russian sailor holding some kind of artillery shell. At first I thought we were in the wine cellar!

Some of the best advice I've heard in a long time...could also serve as inspiration for developing New Year's Resolutions.

On one of the lower decks, one of the many control rooms, with a poster of V. I. Lenin. I figured my dad would enjoy this one. I also wished my brother Albert could have come with us, with his knowledge of Russian and military stuff, I'm sure I'd have learned a lot more. When he comes, we will have to go again.

Here's Scott posing in front of the Aircraft Carrier itself. It is not the biggest as far as Aircraft Carriers go, but still formidable.

I think this sign was made by the same people who made the sign by a park near us "Civilization walk the dog" it says, (meant to tell you to keep your dog on a leash).

Civilization Happy New Year!