Pumpkin Carving Party

Sometimes doing things with an only child can be a little boring...like carving pumpkins. So this year we invited some friends over for a pumpkin carving party...

 

It started off with the kids helping...

But quickly turned into parents carving and kids getting crazy...

Of course everyone was ready to join in for s'mores after the carving.

The final products...I think Dan wins for most pumpkins carved...4! And all to very specific requests.

Preschool

 

I dropped the ball during the spring sign-up for preschool, so I had to hustle to find one in the fall that still had openings. Everything here is competitive. Totally ridiculous. Anyhow, here is our big boy on his first day of school with some of his artwork.

BTW, it is getting increasingly difficult to get a good photo of the boy.



The Great Escape

Here's one of the perks of visiting Poland. Tavish loves his Uncle Tom and doesn't mind being left with him for a few days so we can run away. Another reason we love Uncle Tom too, and Edyta, and Ola and Agata. So while Tavish was playing with the turtle and feeding the fish at their house...

We were driving through the Czech mountains, soaking in the scenery and getting completely lost trying to follow a borrowed GPS that insisted on sending us to washed out roads to nowhere. Eventually we made our way out and ended up in Prague...

 

 



 Here is the view from our hotel room...Prague Castle.

 

 After Rafal's forced march up the hill to the castle (every hill seems huge when you are pregnant) we were greeted by the guard outside the castle. I told Rafal he could never do this job because he wouldn't be able to stop himself from smiling at all the crazy people trying to get a reaction from him.

 Inside the castle walls is the cathedral. Here's the thing, when you travel around Europe once you've seen a few cathedrals you feel like you've seen them all. Still pretty though.

 The castle itself...pretty anticlimactic. My favorite feature...the cool door handles.

A pretty canal off the Vltava River.

 These locks were all over the bridges, even the Charles Bridge (which is gorgeous at night and I wish I had a camera that could take a worthy picture). Had no idea what these locks were for...found out later they are called "love locks". A couple fastens the lock on the bridge and then throws the key into the river, somehow symbolizing their everlasting love.

Hmm, I guess we missed out.

 Nearby is a stepped passageway that is so narrow it has it's own traffic light for pedestrians since only one can pass through at a time. Good thing we didn't wait a few more months or I probably wouldn't have fit.

 And my favorite....no gas water.

For some reason, most of Europe loves sparkling water. I hate it. So I love the no gas.

And if it guaranteed Rafal never had gas, I probably would have bought both baskets!

 

 

All in all, Prague is huge! and overwhelming! And apparently full of pickpockets...Rafal's mom sent us with safety pins to pin our pockets shut :)  A very cool city with a lot to see, but I think we were both ready for something smaller and more relaxed. So off we went to Vienna...

 Look! Another Cathedral!

 And a castle! I was getting a little tired from walking around so much so in Vienna we went on a bus tour of the city which included a tour of this castle. I cannot recall the name of the castle or the ruling family...but I do remember the Queen was the ruler and she had 15 children. And they each had five rooms.

 Makes my mom seem like an amateur.

 And did you know Mozart lived in Vienna???

If you didn't you will be reminded at every tourist shop.

 He may even try to sell you some chocolates.

 

 

 Vienna is a very pretty city, just right in size with a good vibe.

Perfect for Rafal...they have bike lanes, similar to a service road, that parallels the main roads with their own traffic lights.

And here were are having a traditional Austrian meal of...not noodles or wurstel...but kebabs.

We did have schnitzel one night of course and Rafal thought it was hilarious to say schnitzel over and over...I have no idea why.

 

 

I originally had wanted to go hang out on a beach in Italy for a few days...Rafal has never been to Italy if you can believe it...but it just wasn't working out.

So Prague and Vienna were our backup plan, but we had fun chilling out just the two of us.

And when we got back, Uncle Tom said Tavish didn't even miss us.

Little stinker.



Polska 2012

Lots of randomness in Poland...

 

 

Our adventure started with flying Space A since Rafal is actice duty right now, and it saved us a lot of moolah. It only took three tries at two different airports over a 36 hour period to get out of the US and on our way to Germany. Then it was a 10 hour drive, in one of the bakery vans, driven  by the amazing Uncle Tom who apperently doesn't need any sleep, across Germany to Milicz...

 

 

There is a defunct railroad line that goes through Milicz which is now a trail with some of the old trains along it to explore...

 

 

or get out some pent up energy...

 

 

 



Uncle Tom took us to a deer farm one day where we were able to feed the deer.

Some were shy and wouldn't come too close but this guy was clearly the leader of the pack and wanted to make sure he got fed.

 

 

 

Then we went for a little walk in the woods to this castle.

 

 

 

 

Tavish knocked on the door with his "friendly stick" but no one answered.

He had lots of explanations as to what was inside however.

He is full of stories right now.

 

 

 It was nice and warm while we were there so we headed to the lake one day.

 

 

 

 

 We spent several evenings hanging out at Uncle Tom's house-in-progress.

 Tavish loved it because there was a big sand pile out front.

I loved it because out back, under the trees, was a lovely picnic table and a swing in which many hours were spent lazing in the cool shade.

 One night there was a birthday party...

 

 

 

for Czantry :)

 



With Uncle Tom's yummy grilling.

I even got tricked into trying blood sausage.

I think I'll pass next time.



One Sunday we headed to Wroclaw to attend church at the local branch.

I wish this was our chapel,  but the branch only has about 30 members and seems to be dwindling...

Andrzej met us for church and then took us over to see Butcher's Alley.

 

 



We headed over to his house another day where Tavish got to ride on the lawn mower...

and some great grilling in Andrzej's beautiful garden. It was so nice to meet his wife and the "crazy Highlander" neighbor we heard so many stories about.

We headed over to Witold's house another day, where Tavish had to jump right in to the pool even though we hadn't brought swimsuits. He just went commando and Rafal borrowed one from the boys...the next time we were more prepared.

Then the boys took us over to the bakery to see the new ovens...the largest working ovens in Poland...and get some warm rolls right off the line.

Tavish was in heaven.

Another day we borrowed the little tractor from the bakery, Rafal got a quick lesson on how to drive it and then he and Tavish took it for a spin. It's amazing how much boys love construction equipment! 

A trip to Poland is not complete without heading to Bytom to visit Rafal's cousins.

He sure loves being surrounded by pretty women!

Second cousins.

Rafal's uncle did the "ring test" on both of us while we were there...it said girl both times.

I got pretty excited since he said he had won a lot of vodka in the past doing the ring test.

This must be the only time he's lost :(

A trip to Poland is also not complete without heading to Boleslawiec for some pottery.

I love it...it's a grown-up version of a kid in a candy store.

On the way back we had to take pictures outside of the coolest restaurant around.

It has pigs on it!

Of course every adventure has an end.

Here is our final breakfast...can you believe this is what we would wake up to every morning?!

Rafal's mom is amazing and totally took care of us the whole time we were there. Rafal kept telling me "you're getting spoiled!" I wish I spoke Polish so I could tell her how much we really appreciate all she does for us.

 

 

 

Then another 10 hour drive back across Germany.

Caught a flight on the first attempt.

Fixed the flat tire awaiting us.

Then home sweet home.

Until next time.



Catching up...July

July brought Rafal's oldest nephew Mateusz from Poland.

He came for 5 weeks to practice his English and we got a glimpse of 14 years in the future.

Who do you think is the biggest poser here? Rafal, Mateusz, or the lady behind them?

 

 

 

 

 

 Tavish got indoctrinated to Polish rap.

Mateusz can't live without it.

 We celebrated July 4th at Grandma Linda's birthday party where Tavish was on fire duty with the boys...see how ready he is to squirt out any stray flames with his squirt guns?

 Then in the evening we headed to the big fireworks show at the local high school.

Just look at these angels...not! 







July was so hot we headed back to the beach to escape the 110 degree weather.

Remind me to never move any farther south. This Seattle girl can't handle the heat.

But a couple firsts this time at the beach...

Tavish learned how to pee in the ocean! 

 

 

 

 

 

 And he went on his first big boy ride at Funland!

I said "he's too little to go on a big boy ride"

Rafal said "he's bigger than the 5 year old next to him"

Tavish of course LOVED it.

I was bummed I couldn't go on it too.

Next year...for sure.

 In addition to Mateusz, we also had Brett, Shelby and baby Elinore come stay for a couple weeks before their big move to Utah. We inherited some patio furniture around the same time so we had a little going away smore's party.

Yum.

 

And that's July...up next...our big Polish adventure...