Waterslide Video

Here's our first video - of course, it's at the pool. It features Phil and Clark sliding down, a scream from Shanna, Shanna and Lucy sliding into the pool, quickly followed by some random Czechs. Enjoy!

New Medical Research

We've just been informed by Scott and Cindy that it really isn't the age-to-height ratio that's important. It's actually the cheek-to-body ratio. In this scale Clark is exceptional - the 110th percentile. We're so proud.

zofin

Our first outing with Scott and Cindy is to our new favorite place to go Zofin. It is on the river and has a great covered outdoor area to have a drink or dinner, an amazing play area for the kids and even one kids menu item it is a bit overpriced but worth every penny in our minds for a peaceful dinner out! And then of course the second outing out was the pool!

Aunt Cindy & Uncle Scott

We are experiencing a little sliver of paradise because Aunt Cindy and Uncle Scott are here! They have been serving in Rwanda for the last year with World Relief and are heading back to the US where Scott will be going to Business School at Harvard. They walked in yesterday and it is as if no time has passed. Lucy and Clark's cheeks have been kissed off and they are running and squealing with delight at the arrival of our sweet frineds. They will be here with us for a week of fun!

how tall is clark???

Clark's half birthday was June 16 and he was so excited to get measured. He had been waiting every day since Lucy got measured. So for 5 days each time he would pass by he would look at the growth chart, point and make a noise as if to say "me?". So finally his time has come and he measures at 30.25 inches tall which places him in the 5th percentile for height. We are so excited that he is on chart!

Of course, if you include his hair, he's really at 32.25 inches and in the 50th percentile! It's all relative...

bath time

Lucy and Clark spend on average 3-4 hours at the pool at least every other day, and sometimes everyday. They love the water... so no matter how much time they spend at the pool they are still ready for bath time. They would play for hours if we would let them. They love bubbles, color tablets (changing the color of the water), and the new favorite is to go fishing. They have little nets and tons of plastic fish and bugs that they fish for (thanks Yaya!).

summer

Pool days are God's magical gift to me. As a child my mom would drop my sister and me off at the beach around 9 or 10 and pick us up late into the afternoon. We would be armed with lunch money and anticipation of the day. Sun, salt water, sand, all day every day in a bathing suit is what I fondly remember of my childhood. Freckles cover our body to remind us of those summers etched into us. I lived for summer and to a degree still do, I love the thought of ice cream and lazy days, where things move a bit slower. I miss the beach and all that it represents in my life but as I start to make new summer memories with my children I am so thankful for this large communist built pool that we run to each morning that the sun is shining in our short European summer. It has all I need- cold water, a few trees, sun, ice cream and Lucy and Clark. This is God's gift to this California girl.

same ol' same ol'

just another typical afternoon at the davis house!

The ladies of Prague

Once a year Prague has something called "Museum Night," where all the state-owned museums are open for free from 7pm - midnight. This was on Saturday night, where our little group waited outside the Gothic Cellar of Prague's very first fortress, called Vysehrad. And these are the fun-loving girls in our group that night - Becca, Lauren, Shanna, Lauren, Christa, and Sunny.I borrowed/stole this picture from Becca's blog, which has more pictures from that night, including more World Cup chaos.

Sunday Team Fellowship

We had our first team fellowship on Sunday morning, which was a great time for the group (7 adults and 3 kids) to get together, worship, and study the Word. Chris and I played guitar, even though neither of us really plays guitar. We had a brief lesson on Jonah, chapter one, and then closed in prayer. It was a good glimpse of what a church could look like one day, and we were excited to kick it off with the summer interns.

Our team (L to R): Owen, Laura, and Chris; Lauren; Becca; Christa; Lucy, Shanna, Clark, and PhilAn excellent lunch followed, and then our weekly team meeting.

From School to Pool

Now that summer has finally arrived and it's actually HOT, we paid our first (and second and third) trips to the pool this week. It's not as "pulled together" as the Charlotte YMCA. For example, kids, it's OK for you to run around or ride down the water slide completely naked (ouch!). Adults, there's actually a sign saying that Speedos are the preferred swimwear, and women, tops are optional.

But after getting past these cultural clothing barriers, it's a great pool - there's a super area for kids, and the water slide is one of the best we've seen. Lucy and Phil like to do that together. And of course, there's ice cream. We went with some new South African friends, Leigh and her daughter Charlotte (and little son Jethro). The three bigger kids held hands on the sidewalk on the way. New this summer are little paddle-boats for the kids. Again, clothing is optional. (And we are opting for clothes - we haven't gone THAT European!)
It's the closest thing to California in this beautiful, but land-locked, city.

School's Out for Summer!

This was Lucy's last week of school (although she has 2 more weeks of "camp" starting next week, which is basically more school). Her class had a big party with food, music, and a performance of "Snow White." Lucy played the part of Bashful - perhaps a little too well. Her lips moved for her lines, but very little sound came out. There was definitely some stage fright.

After the play there were presents and GreenTree School graduation hats, complete with tassels. The food, just like the school, was truly international - some of the items on the table were pizza, mac and cheese, sushi, chips and salsa, assorted Czech cakes, and several unidentiable pastries.






The best part, Clark and Lucy agreed, was the ice cream.

Red, White, and Blue - but which one?

So, America decided to NOT show up for yesterday's big World Cup game against the Czech Republic. I will confess that I was torn as to whom to root for. But given that I knew more players on the Czech team (1) than the US team (0), I was genuinely excited to see the Czechs do so well.

We went to Old Town Square to watch the game, which was extremely packed with people. They had two large-screen TVs that people were trying to see. We have had some friends visiting us the last few days, Kathryn and Patrick Brown, and they staked out some nice seats at a cafe with a semi-decent view of one of the TVs.

Each time the Czechs scored, a huge roar went up from the crowd, and big Czech flags were waved.

We had a great few days with Kathryn and Patrick, who used to live in Charlotte and went to our church. They now live in Spokane, Washington, and they took a free military flight to England for a couple of weeks of European traveling. We're very glad they made Prague part of their trip.

39 inches

We measure Lucy and Clark twice a year on their birthday and on thier half birthday and today is Lucy's half birthday! She is 39 inches tall and in the last 6 months she has grown an inch and a half. On the American standard charts she is right on the line for the 100 th percentile. Happy half birthday darling!!

park days

Park days - we love them! We have a fabulous park around the corner from our house which we love to frequent as much as possible. It is green and lush and an amazing piece of country in the middle of the city. Lucy loves to ride her scooter, Clark runs after every dog he sees and they both just run and run and run ....

Project Antioch Sundays

We have been very blessed to have been part of Project Antioch for the last few months - it's been a great community for us and our kids on Sunday mornings. Project Antioch is connected with the Church of God denomination, and we've enjoyed good friendships with their members. Today was our last Sunday there this summer, as we get ready to start our own Sunday morning fellowship for our team. They had a special time of prayer for us in the service today, which was a wonderful close to our season of worshiping with them.

Two Cuties

Clark's new Wingman

Clark and Honza are good buddies. They are about the same size relative to adult versions of themselves, and they love to pee without warning. They also go cruising together, like this.

trees

Lucy is fascinated with climbing tress. Whenever we go to the park she spends some time evaluating each tree and it's worthiness of climbing... this one is always a winner and it is right on our way home out of the park.

Welcome Honza

Dave and Jess got a new puppy Honza. We went to welcome him to our small little community here in Prague. We wore our party hats and brought a box of mac and cheese for the new proud parents. I am sure that he is going to be a sweet new friend to us all if he just survives potty training!

June?

Can you bellieve it is June? We can't because it is still hovering in the 40's! We are still in layers but we are so grateful that we have shed the first layer of heavy coats and hopeful for the sun to come. Some of us are grumpier than others...

The "Jesus" Age

We got to celebrate Radek's birthday with some of his friends. He turned 33, or as the Czechs call it, "The Jesus Age." One of his friends explained - "you know, it's the age Jesus was when they put his arms on the cross like this..." followed by a quick demonstration.

Quick factoid: Czech Republic has the highest percentage of atheism in Europe, but you wouldn't know that based on situations like this!

Urban Growth Chart

Every day for the past few months Lucy has tried to push #2 in the elevator (or "lift," as we Euro-families call it), and this week she finally did it! Good thing, since we live on floor #2.

The Interns are Here!

Meet our summer interns - Christa, Becca, and Lauren! They arrived on Thursday and are here in Prague for the months of June and July. We are extremely excited for them to be here and work with us - they'll be living life with us and participating in ministry with the team.
You can see they're already hard at work - we are so demanding here on the Prague team. They're actually updating their blogs, which you can now access with our new links on the right. There you will read of some of their exciting adventures in their first two days, including Lauren being stuck in their bathroom for over an hour, until the door could be opened. What a way to start!

It's that time again

Before












After

just because

One-woman show (not Shanna)

Monday night we went to dinner and a play with Dave and Jess. It was part of "Fringe Fest," which has dozens of shows here this week, all in English. We saw "I Miss Communism," a one-woman show about her life story, growing up in Croatia through communism. It was definitely entertaining but a little late for us parents - finished around 11:00. Nevertheless, it was a great cultural experience and a fun evening.