Jack & the Pineapple

Antonin lost two teeth in one day & now looks a bit like a jack-o-lantern.  We've also learned that our boy will do almost anything for his own pineapple (which then must be extensively photographed before it can be eaten).

Has it already been that long?

Last weekend, Lily & I (& Lori) finally managed to meet up with Jessica, a friend from the days before we'd moved from Prague. Jessica is great in general, but one particular greatness of hers: she has a daughter Lily's age: Sophia. 
Yeah!  Because Jessica is Czech & Swedish & her father, Angel, is Chilean, Sophia has grown up speaking three languages & has recently started learning English as well.  Of course, already knowing three languages has given her an amazing head start & this fourth language, although new to her, seems to be causing her no problems at all (happily for us).  When we met up, near Můstek, the girls were both shy- but by the time we sat down in Velryba (a cafe that Francine & I used to frequent in 1992 which was chosen this time because last week Lori ran into Havel, & that seemed like a fortuitous sign)- the girls at their own table- they were warming to each other & chatting away.  A week later, on Friday, Lily had her first Prague sleep-over at Jessica & Sophia's in Žižkov.  It seems that good things are afoot (except that instead of coming to our house last night, Sophia ended their date with the flu).  Lily continues to hold out hope that, she too, may become afflicted & get to miss some school... 

sweet buttery delight

How could I resist that sweet little voice imploring me to make the beloved sour-cream bundt cake? 

Obviously, my soul has not hardened to such a degree.  Luckily, it appears to be a good temporary cure for the Physics-Taught-in-Czech Blues.

Euroween

Here in Prague there seems to be a new found acknowledgment of Halloween- Lily's class had a Halloween party-with-cake/ adults headed out to parties (it was a Saturday night, after all), but there will never be a way to match the American fervor for the day- & we, naturally, missed it. Or, more precisely, we missed the trick-or-treating. It's hard to collect candy from the unsuspecting.  To make up for that (if only a little) we devised a treasure hunt for the kids- they carved pumpkins & dressed up & then we gave them clues- rolled-up rhymes complete with burned edges for effect- that lead them to some sort of treat & their next clue.  The final clue took them to the entrance of the nearby cemetery- dark & sprinkled with candles (in preparation for All Souls Day on the 2nd)- & a fitting ending.  Afterward we stopped in at our neighborhood pub for Kofola & beer. Not the madness that is the LaConner trick-or-treat frenzy, but we managed to hit the main points & they seemed to have fun- & it's probably not a bad thing that we won't have those tubs of candy around until Christmas (Really.  Not a bad thing. For the best. I don't want a bowl of delicious miniature candy bars sitting next to me right now.  So tiny & tasty. Really.  I'm glad.).

voodoo panenky

At the start of school, we noticed that all over kids had these little dolls, often hooked to their bags or belts or keys.  Of course, who wouldn't want one?  It didn't take long to realize that Kofola- that favorite crazy Czech cola (spicy & sour & yet delicious)- was a big promoter of the making of the little creatures.




One day Nikolaj came home with one from a friend, & the next day, in the true spirit of the little voodoo dolls, one appeared in Lily's bag & made her very happy.  Sometimes it's the little things that get you through...

(Hi I'm Rudolf I. If you like it and you don't have any friends you can have me.)

spotacular

It's warmer today. The sun is out.  I'm already back from a work-out. With all of this positive energy I was able to freshly appreciate the happy spotty cement mixers.  I love that cement mixers are often painted in this incongruously cheery way, providing a great backdrop for their gritty, somber handlers.

nohejbal

Yesterday we headed out to a nohejbal tournament, Blexcup, in celebration of a friend who, tragically, took his own life six years ago . It was out in a garden community on Libeňský ostrov- industrial flood plain/ island- & (quite nicely) a single tram-ride from us.
Nohejbal is played on a tennis court, three on each side, kicking a soccer ball back & forth using only feet or body (no hands).  The net they were using was tennis-height, but they had pictures from somewhere in Asia where players were jumping up & kicking the ball over a volleyball net.  Crazy.  Zdeněk brought some t-shirts (finally we have some shirts! Yeah!) & after the tournament they had a "mini tournament" for the shirts (congratulations, Blextars!).

Lemony Goodness

I don't think it's possible to overstate how super-fabulous my Lululemon work-out clothes are.  The best exercising clothes ever.  Ah, if only all of my clothes fit so well. If only I could afford to buy more of them.  If only.

 That said, I think that I should get to enjoy some comfort, however fleeting, as by this afternoon I'll probably be having to gingerly lower myself into chairs with my arms, due to my trainer's hearty enthusiasm (cruel obsession?) for weighted lunges.  I'm just glad that, when I was coming home, I managed to avoid stumbling out of the tram onto my knees- although said knees threatened such an action. Fallng from the #18, while the little old lady next to me hopped down with ease, surely would have done nothing good for my self-esteem, let alone my lovely Lululemons.

To be a True Bohemian

Last Sunday Zdeněk decided to take the kids to a march.

The Bohemians 1905 (soccer) fans were marching in protest against the Bohemians Praha (infringing soccer team).  It seems that, a few years ago, the club was facing bankruptcy & the name, logo etc was sold to another club- but, in the end, the fans stepped in, formed a cooperative & rescued the team.

They've been fighting over the name, logo etc ever since.  It looks like, eventually, the originals will prevail- but for now, they march.

On Sunday, the two teams played each other- with the usurpers supposedly insisting on an unusually-inflated ticket price- & so, they marched (&, with marching comes beer-drinking & excessive public urination,  naturally).

After the (school) drop-off: 8:00 am...

Funny morning on the #2.  There was a crazy drunk old man in the back of the tram.  He was dressed like a merry woodsman from a (frightening, old German) fairy tale, complete with dog & box of wine.  He was arguing so loudly, first with himself & then a young passenger, that he cleared the back of the tram.  When he got off of the tram (unfortunately, at my stop) all eyes were on him to see if he'd stumble off the little island & directly into traffic.  He didn't.  So ends our story.

What to do when the Pope won't make time for you

Last weekend the Pope came to town.

He arrived on Friday afternoon & headed straight to visit the Infant of Prague- in a modest church which sits almost directly on the road- causing the re-routing of all the trams & traffic that head down that side of the river.  People love that.  Lily really thought we should head out to see him, but, sadly (?), after we promised her that we would, he left for other parts of the Czech Republic.  I guess we dodged a bullet there- the crowds were ridiculous everywhere he went, with people getting there at 4:00 am for an afternoon appearance.  Just like Madonna.  Or the opening of a Wallmart.

So, to alleviate the crushing disappointment, we decided to take the kids skating in Letna- a big park at the top of the city with beautiful views-  which connects to one end of the castle grounds.  The day was sunny & warm (one last hurrah before in came the cold & the wet that we are now enjoying) & we are able to get there with one tram & very little pain- always a good start to an outing.










(And lastly, of course, one should end any successful outing by doing Burpees on the tram...)

Some of the best things come in a Bundt

Monkey Bread.

The. Best. Thing. Ever.  Everyone loved it "better than cinnamon rolls".  Lily declared that it would be her birthday cake this year & Antonin was sad that his birthday was already over & therefore, too, his chance to have a Monkey Bread birthday cake.  I'd never made it before & so, having very little white sugar in the house & unable to make cookies (but needing to bake), I thought I'd give it a shot.  It was a little  bigger job than I'd first anticipated, having to make a batch of "simple dough" & then go forward with the recipe- but not hard.  (I made more than the intended 36 uniform balls & I believe that just made it better- more ffrequent caramelly goodness.)  I used the recipe from my favorite baking book (thank you Erin) "The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book"- the cookbook put out by the Cook's Illustrated people.  I love Cook's Illustrated- so interesting & informative- but my only complaint comes with their assumption that I have every appealing cooking tool on hand.  I'm happy to hear about these tools & machines that would make my life easier.  I'm not happy to be following recipes that assume I have them & don't even allow for the thought that I may be doing things by hand- ie without this fabulous tool you'll need to use more flour/time/etc...  Humph.  Like recipes that give me "a box of cake mix" or a "can of soup" as ingredients.  (Although that is an unforgivable crime.)

Procházka

If you set off in one direction from our apartment, you can walk to the castle.  Last weekend, we decided to walk the other way- & between our place & Hvězda, there are places almost village-like (probably at one point were villages, now, simply, Prague).

We wandered until we found a sweet playground & settled there for awhile.

Everyone was exhuasted by the time we returned home- Miss Lily, of course, rallied in time to go out (as the boys prepared for War).

It was the 007 40th anniversary party &, as we didn't have a sitter, Lily got to go instead of me.  She had a great time (& I watched much of season #1 of Dexter) & so everyone was happy.

Creepy Aside:  At 007 when someone offered our Lulu a beer, Zdeněk explained that she's his daughter & only 12 (so, no beer).  Creepy Beer Offerer:  "Oh, I didn't think that she looked like your wife."

Toothsome update

Still have the tooth.  After (finally) locating the suddenly-missing tooth on the floor near the bed, Antonin was, once again, unable to part with it just yet.  He is considering writing a very nice note for the Tooth Fairy, explaining how much he'd like to keep the tooth- but that he'd also really like his gift- & seeing if she'll be understanding.

Riverfront

On Tuesday Lori & I spent the last part of a beautiful, sunny afternoon enjoying a few beers down at the river, directly below the National Theater.  It was nice to get out for awhile & appreciate our setting.
 From there we walked up to U Sudu, where neither of us had been for a very long time- from a tiny little wine bar it has really grown into something of a monster- we were a bit apprehensive.  As soon as we walked in, we ran into Olda, the owner, he recognized us immediately (couldn't believe we'd been back already two months & we haven't been by (Zdeněk hasn't been by!) & showed us out to the "garden".  (Lori: Is this new (To je nové?) Olda: Five years (pět let)).  Okay, so it's been awhile.  It's a large, lovely courtyard, full of candlelight.  When our initially abrupt waitress returned, she suddenly started speaking to us in English & told us that we were VIPs & she'd been "told all about us" & she heard that Zdeněk used to work up the street at the Ice Cream Store.  Yes, she wanted us to know, she used to go there as a child.
We had ourselves a little pitcher of Burčák (young wine).  All in all, a successful evening.

Toothsome

Antonin lost a tooth last night. 
He decided not to put it under his pillow because he wanted to spend another day admiring it.  Tonight he is going to say goodbye to the tooth (although he is a little uncertain, not having have any firm evidence that the tooth fairy comes to Prague).

FAMILY MEMBER OF EU CITIZEN

So the hours spent yesterday at the Foreign Police were well-spent.  I now have, once again, my Permanent Residency.

Such a relief.  With that, Zdenek was able to go today get me my health insurance (the real reason that permanent residency permit is so important).  Cost: FREE- until my kiddies leave home (& this includes dental & vision, because really, what is your health without it?).  Of course, my favorite benefit of the day was the stamp in my U.S. passport that says I belong to EU residents which should get me through the shorter line at the airport.

Yeah!  (Of course, Frankfurt International Airport is stocked with frightening people & they'd probably turn me back to the other line, regardless.  I hate to battle with scary airport-Germans.)

KitchenAid Kenny

KitchenAid Kenny delivered some devastating news yesterday: I can't use my beloved mixer here- not even with converters or transformers. : ( 

According to Mr. Kenny Running 60 Hz appliances in a 50 Hz environment forces the motor in your appliance to run at a slower speed, and can potentially cause immediate motor or operational failure.  Then there was some chatter about fire.  

I've already lost one KitchenAid (my beautiful yellow one) to over-taxing the motor; I don't think I could handle the loss of a second.  Damn.  It will now have to live, for a time, next to the vacuum cleaner & box of onions.  The wrongness of it all.

Oh, Gym, it's about time!

Yes, it appears that we've finally found a gym space (well, it once again appears to be so;  let's hope this time it happens).  This is actually a space that we looked out almost two months ago- if only we had known we wouldn't have wasted all this time! 

Alas, doesn't work like that.  Unfortunately, the building cooperative turned off the power/gas etc (because why wouldn't you, when you're trying to rent it out??!) & so first off we have to go through all of the drama of inspections & then having things turned back on before we can have it cleaned/ get the flooring & the pull-up bars installed.

As soon as that gets done, we're in.  I am already feeling so relieved that we're moving forward- really, what is more exhuasting than spinning in circles?

I Hate My Kitchen Sink (or, some days are harder than others)

Why, I ask you, would someone put a shallow sink- a sink that doesn't fit pots or cookie sheets or large pans/bowls (a sink that would, at the most, be at home in your van remodel) into a kitchen?  A shallow aluminum sink without a sprayer, so that when attempting to wash aforementioned larger-than-a-cup & saucer items, water will, inevitably, douse the kitchen (as well as unfortunate dish washer)?  Could that be good for the kitchen?  My annoyance levels?  Hmm.  I think not.

The Kids hate school lunches.  Getting up early.  Music class.  The milk.

Roztoky

Yesterday we were all settled in for a lazy day (the plan of walking to Hvězda was being met with resistance)- Antonín on the Wii; Nikolaj the computer; Zdeněk dozing after his early-morning bootcamp instruction & Lily & I watching yet another episode of Fringe (thank you, Minna!)- when Honza called.

He was driving by our house & wanted to take us to his cottage for the day. He has a lovely little place only about 15 minutes from us (by car)- it took Zdenek closer to 30 minutes because he had to ride Honza's bike there as we all didn't fit in the car.

It was a beautiful fall day which we spent playing badminton & Petanque (the French version of Bocce).

Then we went home & watched a few more episodes of Fringe.