Last Days Before Departing :-(

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As the count down to Lisa and the kids leaving we ticked off the last minute shopping, a trip up Petrin tower to look at the view of Prague, a play at the mirror maze and a walk past the monument for those who lived through communism.

Taylor brought home sparklers for the little kids to play with.  Corban, Leo and Riley had taken to sleeping in a tent in the lounge.  It was a great 3 weeks!  We'll miss Riley and Liam and the fun that cousins have.  It's been great catching up with Lisa and spending so much time with her ... it's been years since we've just been sisters together!

New Years Day and Vysehrad

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The best thing about New Years Day in Prague are the family fireworks, but we needed to fill in the day before they started.  

We headed off to Vysehrad to look at the Cathedral and fortress.  Allan got some nice photos of the boats on the Vltava and everyone enjoyed the view.  It's not as pretty at Vysehrad in the winter, but it was still a nice walk and outing.  

After Vysehrad we stopped at a Czech restaurant that has an inside playground.  Our meals took a little longer than expected so we were literally on the run to see the fireworks which we just made in time.  Riley is a bit afraid of fireworks, she did well and the other kids loved them.  

The photo of the drink is a 'hot apple', this is my new favourite winter drink.  It is hot apple with a cinnamon stick and sultanas ... sounds unusual, but it's YUMMY!  

New Years Eve

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We were back in Prague for New Years Eve.  There wasn't as much snow in Prague as there was in Poland, just enough for a snowy/muddy slide on the hill down to Leo's school.  We met the Britton's there and the kids had a great time sledding and having a snow ball fight.  Liam absolutely loved sledding and Allan managed to swallow some yellow snow, that he gaged up ;-)  Before it got dark the kids also managed to make a snowman in the back garden.     

We took Lisa to a Czech restaurant called Restaurace Uveverky just up the road, it serves the freshest beer in Prague.  It's quiet a challenge to drink such a huge glass of beer!

After putting the kids to bed we headed into the city to see in the New Year.  We took a stroll through Old Town and ended up in Mustek where we had cake and coffee before the fireworks started.  Lisa was in complete shock at the armed police and crazy fireworks.  Prague on New Years is certainly not something you can imagine! 

Prague 6, Baby Box

We often walk past this Baby Box and have had many discussion about it.  Tonight I saw an article in the Prague 6 news, the translation was a little rough but two little babies have been put in there this month.  A little girl who was named Jitka yesterday, 12th December and a little boy on the 3rd December.

These two babies are the only two that have been put in there since the box was installed 4 years ago.  In total this year 12 babies have been put in Baby Boxes in the Czech Republic.  Allan was reading an article earlier this week about a baby flushed down a toilet ... this makes me thankful that the Baby Boxes exist, rather than little babies being left in rubbish bins or drains!

Signal Festival - Prague Old Town Square

The Signal Festival is an amazing light show that happens each year in Prague.  We had a fun night with the Riverside School Harvest fireworks followed by walking around Prague looking at the light shows that were happening in many locations.  This video was of a building in Old Town Square.

Ice Skating

Riverside hired an ice skating rink for the night.  Corban and Leo loved being out on the ice, Corban even played with the ice hockey puck with her bar.  Even the adults had lessons, we were skating on one leg and around tires, all kinds of stuff.  A great night out!

 

Prague wth Mum

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjQrGnxC

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It was a very busy week showing Mum around Prague, we stayed busy most days seeing the sights (mum has a taken home about 500 photos with her!!).  On New Years eve we visited the Castle, Old town & Vysehrad before heading out into the city for the crazy Czech fireworks!  Mum managed to squeeze in more fireworks on New Years Day, the Petrin tower, museum (held a gold bar), The Jewish museum/Old town shopping, Lennon wall, variety of crazy statues, a day out with Taylor, shopping with Allan, Zizkov tower, Asian markets and visited the kids schools.  She tasted some Czech cuisine at a local restaurant to realise that she isn't missing anything wonderful!  Mum was constantly taking photos of and admiring Czech dogs ... they are so well behaved.  She particularly enjoyed the dogs that carried their own leads or the owners who would just drop the leads outside shops and the dogs just stay, not to mention the ones on the metro or at the supermarkets!!  Overall it was a busy week and I can have a rest now that I'm back at school :+)    

Christmas 2013

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Because we were in the The Netherlands this Christmas and our car was full of people and luggage we decided to shift Christmas a few days back until the 30^th when we arrived home.  Luckily Corban and Leo didn’t notice a couple of extra days wait.  It was a simple Christmas, we didn’t eat the traditional Czech meal of carp and potato salad ... we opted for Salmon and mango salad, yum, yum!  The kids enjoyed opening their gifts and were kept busy playing for the rest of the day.  Thank you Nana & Granddad for putting money in everyone’s account!  Thank you Granddad and Terri for sending toys to play with and books to read!  Thank you Lisa for sending books to read and last but not least thank you Nanny for coming all the way to spend Christmas with us!     

Mum Arrived!

 

Mum was thankful for landing in Prague after a rather long and sick flight :+)  We took her home for a short unpack before taking her on a quick tour of the Charles Bridge, Old Town Christmas markets and a photo with the Prague Castle.  The weather is very mild, but she is finding it pretty cold!  Mum only got one night of rest before heading to the Netherlands the next day.    

Christmas Fun

Christmas Fun, a set on Flickr.

The build up to Christmas has begun! These pictures are of Corban and Leo in the Early Years Nativity Show, the Primary Christmas Show ‘Children of the World’ and the Junior High singing in Old Town Square. Looking forward to the Holidays and Christmas!

Hard Day

You know it's a hard day at school when you can't even finish your lollipop!

 

Air b'n'b

Traveling Europe we are learnt a few tips and tricks.  One is Air b'n'b and Home Exchange.  We have had a go at Air b'n'b, this is Theo a visitor we have had staying.  Theo is from Greece and likes to cook.  We had a good laugh the day he came home from the local market with a duck, Corban was pretty keen to help him pluck it!  But she wasn't keen on eating it. 

Red Bull - Bird Man

Prague is a bustling busy city there is always something to see from the street performers to organised events.  This one was the Red Bull equivalent to the Bird Man!   The stage was huge, lots of music and 1000's of people.  Both the bridges in the photos and streets along either side we packed with people, we watched for a little while and then walked up over the hill to home. 

Harvest - Pumpkin Farm

Harvest - Pumpkin Farm , a set on Flickr.

Corban and Leo had a school trip to the Pumpkin farm, it seems to be an annual trip. In the Czech Republic everyone celebrates Harvest with pumpkins, decorations and giving food etc. It is quite a nice tradition about being thankful and giving. We have certainly had our fair share of pumpkins this year, now that we know this is the only time of year that you can get them in the Czech Republic.