last week of school

The last week of school has been very busy and fun. Lots of parties and class fun. The kids have so enjoyed school this year and we feel really blessed that they are able to be a part of the Riverside School Community. The school, teachers and families are just amazing. They have both grown lots physically, emotionally, and socially this year and continue to grow into their own. I am in awe as I watch them grow.

The hardest thing about being an expat is that people leave more at the end of each year, it is a part of life for us so we are getting really good at saying good-bye. This year several students are leaving as well as teachers. One teacher that we will really miss is Mrs. Bulthius, she has been Clark's teacher this year as well as good friend to me. She and Mr. Bulthius are moving back to Canada. It is really hard to say good bye and yet we know that it is a part of life here, yet I am so grateful that it is hard as that it means there are people and friendships that I have made that are worth missing.

Now on to summer.....

Swimming Lessons

Once a year I teach a two-week intensive swim course. It is 9 days, 5 the first week and 4 the second. This year I had 21 children signed up and ready to teach at the same pool I taught last year. That pool ended up not being opened and a mom graciously opened her pool for lessons -the only catch was it was outside and not heated. But usually in Prague that time of year (June) should not be a problem. We made all the arrangements and started. Let's just say that the lessons that should have taken 9 days to complete took 4.5 weeks to finish and 3 of the 9 days had crazy hail storms during the middle of the lessons (we have had freaky weather this year).

But in the end the kids all did great. They showed so much progress and confidence and I am really so proud of them.

And a note on the weather, it has continued to rain and be gross. We have had several days with sweaters and jackets on. Today was warmer but we have had tons of rain! Not sure if we are going to see summer this year....

Happy Father's Day!

I did not grow up with a dad, and really until I was in the second grade, I never grasped the concept that most people have two parents in their home. My mom did an amazing job being both a mom and a dad - so I thought in my oh-so-sophisticated mind that if your mom needed help then that is when you got a dad. So being married and having children and having an amazing husband is not something that I saw modeled in my home growing up, much less a father and one that is absolutely amazing with our children. Phil is so kind and loving towards them and always ready to engage them. He loves them well, disciplines them well, leads them and most of all has lots of fun with them! I am so grateful that they have him as their father and for me as my husband. Phil we all love you!

This year for Father's Day we let Phil sleep in, until the children could no longer handle it (8:30) and served him breakfast and showered him with a couple of gifts. Then he went back to bed for a little nap... when he woke we were originally hoping that the weather would be fabulous to go swimming, but as we have had horrible weather this season it just wasn't in the cards. So instead (and very last minute) we headed out to the farm where the kids take riding lessons. There was an opening with our favorite teacher Mara for both Lucy and Clark, and to top it off the Pokluda's were there also, so it was a fun day "in the nature" celebrating father's day, riding horses and being together.

Riverside Graduation

I had the privilege of speaking at Riverside's high school graduation ceremony yesterday, which was held at a beautiful church in Old Town. I told Lucy and Clark that I might break out in song like High School Musical - not to fear, that didn't happen. The nine graduates represented 7 different countries, and each shared very special words of thanks after receiving their diplomas. It made me very proud to be part of such a great school, and I was honored to take part in this special day.

piper

Do you think I can pass for a year 1 student? I have got the look and the attitude.... I am just trying to blend in and hope no one notices I am a little shorter then the average 6 year old.

running

I am still running... and really loving it. Each Monday, Wednesday and Friday after drop-off I meet up with these ladies, Elizabeth and Mary, for a run. Monday is our long run, 9 miles, Wednesday is about 6 and Friday is Pilates and a short run 2ish. We run in a huge park that feels like you are out running in the woods in the middle of nowhere. It is very peaceful and quiet, with streams, paths that are just amazing and lots of hills which are new for me. Mary has been running the longest of us all so we call her our coach and Elizabeth is much faster than me so I usually run the first half with them and then run the second half way behind. I have really enjoyed our time together of chatting and running and chatting and running. We are planning to meet up again next year after the summer break, where we all go our separate ways and I can't wait.

supper club

So for the last two years I have been meeting each month with a group of ladies for Supper Club that has evolved to art club. We have a great time each month chatting, eating and working on various art projects. This year I made a scarf and painted a painting that is actually now hanging over my bed (thanks Leanne)! I so look forward to it each month and enjoy these ladies immensely. This was our last one for the summer and we were saying goodbye to Leanne as she is moving back to Canada (sniff sniff) and celebrating Nina's (we love you!) birthday... so that meant lots of wine and lots of cake!

activity week

This week has been activity week at school. Each day was a different theme such as jungle, circus, or water and they had activities to go along with it. Tuesday was a field trip to Detsky Ostrov (Children's Island) and the kids had a great time. They loved not having to wear their uniforms each day and got to pick something for school, they have no idea that most people do not wear uniforms to school. They also played SO hard this week and were exhausted at the end of each day.

just another sunday morning...

Sunday mornings have been park and picnic days. And this last Sunday was no different. This week they had so much exploring and making up adventures together.

Being pirates...Going on a bear hunt...

Cleaning up Prague one wipe at a time...

Good times!

date night

We had a date night last week with the Bakers (whom we love). We headed out on our bikes and did dinner and a ride, my new favorite date! It was so fun - we rode along the river, into the woods, up a hill, stopped for dinner, and then had a really fun ride home all downhill! We topped off the evening with some strawberry pie.

strawberry picking

Last Saturday Phil had a meeting all morning and I was trying to figure out what I could do with the kids, and I stumbled across a website for strawberry picking. So I invited Laura and Esther to bring their kids and join in. We drove to the middle of nowhere and found fields and fields of strawberries. Field number 5 was open to pick on this Saturday, so with baskets in hand off we went. The kids loved it. They just ran wild yelling "I see one" - they probably ate their weight in strawberries and had juice and stickiness all over them but they were truly having a great time. It was fun for them to be with their friends and to be in "the nature". We probably only picked for an hour which was plenty for them. We ended up with a kilo of strawberries and ended up buying a few more already-picked baskets. Next it was off to lunch including ice cream and an outdoor slide and then home for hulling, jam making and two strawberry pies!
On the hunt for strawberries....Out having fun running free...
The littlest picker...The fruits of our labor...The whole gang...Proof of a good day...Yummy yummy!

gardening

I have always wanted to grow a vegetable garden but I really know nothing about gardening... nothing. I do not know the difference between a weed and a plant, and can not keep any plant life alive in my house. But every year I have this desire to learn and every year I am so intimidated by the thought. This year May came and went, that desire came and the intimidation followed so I did nothing. I was talking to a gardening friend last week about my garden envy and she said you know it's not too late. The weather has been miserable and we have had a freezing June (winter coats and everything) that she thought I could still plant. I thought about it and next thing I know we are off to the garden center store (3 of them) to get the necessary supplies. Lucy and Clark were so excited they have asked me every year if we could plant something, and every year I say that would be a great idea but I have no idea what to do.... well I still really don't but I have at least attempted to figure it out. She gave me some basic instructions and Lucy, Clark and I went to it. We have planted some seedlings and some seeds of all different types of veggies and I guess we will just see what happens. On a side note we have just discovered that we have a few strawberries growing and our cherry bushes are in FULL bloom. So now we just wait, water and try to determine what is a weed and what is a veggie.

The Talker

The Walker

bad weather

It has been cold here...

so cold that we have had to breakout the coats and hats.... where is our summer ?

birthday parties

Every weekend has been filled with birthday parties. Lots of excitement and lots of fun. All of the parties of late have been either at peoples homes or summer cottages 30 minutes outside of Prague. We are really blessed to have a fun community of friends to be a part of.
Louis birthday with lots of driveway games...James' birthday with a huge dance party to HSM 3(Piper was getting her grove on)Filip's birthday party at his cottage with sack races, water fight, trampoline and lots of yummy food!

Only in Prague

This guy got on the metro today...

Dragons of Prague, watch out!

Piper and Daddy time

Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us and our kids, and for your many insights to what could have been going on with Clark.  He's been fine since the weekend.  And we have tried to block off the ladders from Piper, which has worked well so far.

Mondays are my special days with Miss P, and we hit the bike trails for a pretty intense ride this week.  We went about 20 kilometers to the town of Kralupy, most of which was a nice ride along the river.  But we did encounter some rough terrain, and at one point I was walking us through mud and creeks while Piper was saying "uh-oh" over and over again behind me.

Here we are taking a little break when Piper took her helmet off and threw it down (again)...

We came to a nice open space with a great view after the mud...
Fortunately for us the train takes you back from Kralupy straight to the station next to our house, and you can hook your bike up on the train...