The past 2 weeks I've had to travel for work. First to Luxembourg for a few days and then Poznan, Poland. If you're not familiar with Luxembourg, it's in the middle of Belgium, Germany and France and is one of the smallest countries in Europe. I was having bad travel karma on the way there, forgetting my liquids at home (imagine me trying to ask the taxi driver, who didn't speak English, to turn around and go back to my home to get them. I haven't yet mastered the international sign for "I forgot my stupid ziploc full of liquids so please turn around and go back to my home") and then I missed my connection. While I was "enjoying" 4 unexpected hours in the Vienna airport I did get a good laugh at the smoker's cage. You'd think standing in a little glass room touching shoulders with a bunch of strangers would be incentive to quit...
Don't get too close to the animals...
This was the view walking to work in the morning
Walking between buildings - so beautiful
Really neat architecture all around the city
Best Chicken Pot Pie ever
Back at home Don & the kids were having their own adventures.
Pittsburgh pride in Prague
Try to get 4 kids to stand still for a picture...
Tiny dancer (she's in the hot pink tutu)
Snack break
Look Burke, a snail!
Hanging out in the window sill
We were originally planning to have a Cinco De Mayo party (a Birkahn tradition), but our household goods had just arrived and we were still sorting through all our stuff, so we postponed to the following weekend and threw an Once De Mayo party instead. It's actually fitting because we're finding that a lot of things in the Czech Republic are just a little behind, so celebrating Cinco De Mayo on the 11th feels about right :) In order to bring Mexico to CZ, Don had to do a lot searching around the city (imagine trying to find Margarita mix in CZ - not an easy task), but finally found all the things we needed to throw a fiesta! The menu included nachos, fish tacos, Spanish rice, beans and Don's awesome chili, as well as Margaritas and Sangria. We had a lot of food and thankfully great friends to share it. It was all soooo good and felt like a little piece of home.
You know we can't have a party without meats and cheeses from the Farmer's Market
My big project: Sangria!
Nachos anyone?
New friends from the UK
Time for a little siesta
Mike & Ruth looking festive
Our turn! My hat was swiped right before the picture
Putting our left over boxes to use... Happy Once De Mayo!
Somebody had to eat all that fruit
This weekend was a such a blast because my best friend John Ross and Simon came for a visit!
Saturday morning was cold and rainy, but we didn't want to be harassed for being wimpy Americans, so we dragged ourselves out of bed and over to the school fields for the kids' first adventure in soccer (side note: never did I think I would be a soccer mom... how do these things happen?!?). Most the kids were in shorts and t-shirts, but we brought our kids in winter coats, hats, mittens and their rain boots. I think the transition from AZ weather to CZ weather is going to be a slow transition for the Cooleys...
Warming up
Lined up for penalty kicks
After soccer we ran over to our kids' school's Open Day where they had a bunch of activities for the kids including a bouncy house and face painting. The kids loved it. We arrived with Holden Cooley and left with a superhero.
Bouncy house
Even superheros need lunch
2 Spidermen! (although Archie's face-painter may need to keep her day job...)
From there we swung by the Farmers' Market (because yes, we are addicted) and spent a relaxing afternoon at home catching up with Uncle John Ross and Simon.
Trying out the swing and putting the kids to work
A little art lesson
Dinner was steaks at La Casa Argentina, a really cool restaurant in Praha 1 (http://www.lacasaargentina.cz/). Don and I had eaten there during our house hunting trip in December and loved it, so we were excited to go back. In addition to delicious food / drinks, they have live entertainment. During our looooong dinner (5 hours!!!) we enjoyed a pianist, a tap dancer, singers, bongo playing and several teams of dancers. There was never a dull moment and we had so much fun.
From there we were off to Hanger Bar (http://www.hangarpraha.cz/), where they do a really cool fire show. Although, in retrospect I'm not sure throwing fire around in an underground bar is so smart, but at the time it seemed like a great idea...
After a late night exploring Prague I was looking forward to sleeping in, but Holden Cooley had different plans. He was at my bedside at 7:00 AM saying "Mom, first I need a hug and then we're going downstairs." Can't argue with that. I was a little tired, but enjoyed 2 uninterrupted hours with my little buddy.
We capped the weekend with some lunch at James Dean (http://www.jamesdean.cz/en) and a quick walk around the city where we saw a really neat band playing on the Charles Bridge.
Learning to be a gamer
He ate a pancake and then fell asleep on my lap
JR and Simon had to fly home this evening, but we had the best weekend. Can't wait to see them in other fun places in Europe!
