Easter Morning

He is Risen!

We had our first-ever sunrise service in Prague on Easter Sunday morning. The sun technically rose at 5:52am, but we mercifully waited a bit longer to start our service in the park. We rode our bikes there, which was a great way to start the day - no traffic, beautiful sky - although at one point Lucy was struggling up a hill while I was shouting "Pedal! Pedal!" and Lucy replied, "Dad, it's not even 6:00!" Oh, the life of a pastor's kid.

We found a perfect spot in the park that looked over the whole city, and we sang some songs, prayed for Prague, and welcomed Easter together - with all the possibilities that the empty tomb brings.

More Friends!

The Rogers/Clyne family came to Europe! Anne's mom's family is originally from Bratislava and as a gift to her mom, Anne and her siblings gave her mom a trip to her homeland. And as an added bonus they spent some time in Prague on the way to and from Bratislava. We had an amazing time together. We spent time re-touring our own city. We did the Castle, Petrin Hill, a boat tour and LOTS of playgrounds! And even the grownups got to go out a couple of times.. Emerson and Piper really had a great time together. She still asks me regularly when are we going to see Emerson... she is smitten with him.
These two never stopped talking. Clark loved being with all of these boys.
View from the boat tour
Such fun!!
the Griswalds... I mean the Rogers - notice Phil's authoritative leadership...
It was a great way to spend our first week of Easter break..
Thanks Rogers for a fabulous week!!

Volcano!

This semester Lucy's Design and Technology project was to study and build a volcano. I was super excited about this because I never built one as an elementary student. They designed a scene and volcano, then they painted and got the Lava ready. Lucy's class erupted them all at once and lots of brilliant colored lava spewed.

Easter Egg Hunt

The sun was shining and we headed out for the Riverside Easter Egg hunt in the woods. The kids have to find the 10 candy stations and then answer a question, sing a song, or finish a riddle. The big kids made it to every station, Piper only managed about 4. Mainly because at each station she would get a piece of chocolate and immediately have to open and eat it. So we didn't make it far. The day ended with a picnic at the start point - good times!

Men's Retreat

Our church had its first men's retreat ever, and I think it was a great success. We had 24 guys in attendance, including 3 guys from Charlotte as the speakers. We traveled to Spinderluv Mlyn, a ski town about 2 hours away (or 4, if you get stuck in snow like we did). It was "in between" sports seasons, which basically means that those of us who rode mountain bikes had to look out for icy patches and snowboarders crossing our path. It was beautiful in all ways - the weather, the fellowship, and the worship.

Here's a little video with more pics...

Friends

My good friends from Charlotte, Scott and David, came for a visit. We had a great time together while they were here - these are those kinds of friends that you can just pick back up no matter long it's been since you've seen them. We laughed... a lot...

And we took a fun trip together to visit the tiny village of Loket, and the famous spa town of Karlovy Vary. In Loket we stayed at the newly revamped Lazy River Hostel and were some of the very first guests - it's being run by none other than Tom Syvertsen, Chris' dad - who was an excellent host!The Loket castle...
The Grand Hotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary - seen in "Casino Royale"-

Hike

The weather is getting better and better... we spent the morning hiking with the Syverstens and the Hunts. I think this is Clark's new favorite past time... anytime we ask him what he wants to do he says let's go hiking.

Swim Meet

Lucy and Clark had their annual Riverside Sharks swim competition...they both did fabulous. Lucy swam freestyle and backstroke, and Clark swam freestyle. Medals all around!