Reading to Owen

Cyndy loves reading to Owen and he loves being read to.


Owen and his pumpkin.

Tom- lost in a fog

I thought I would never get home. Tom

New toy for Elliot

Some of my time is spent babysittig Elliot .
I think he is thinking "If I can get this thing to fly, we can really go places".

Grampa Syves

Winter Came Early

We had our first snow today, which was exciting for the Aussies at the school who have never seen snow. The rest of us weren't so happy though, as it is a little early in the season for snow. Tom and I had to dig out all our winter clothes, coats, hats, and boots, and make sure our heat was working.

We all had to bundle up extra well today as our class field trip to the pumpkin farm was today. Thankfully the wet snow stayed in Prague, and it was not raining or snowing when we arrived at the pumpkin place. The kids enjoyed it immensely, and most of them at least tried the pumpkin soup served up by the farmer and his wife. They had some hay to play in, a few riding toys, rabbits and chickens to feed and try to pet, and lots of pumpkins to choose from. The pumpkins had already been harvested, so we didn't have to slog through the fields looking for just that special one.

Tomorrow the kids are doing a little harvest presentation for their parents, (songs and poems) with goodies to follow. It's a nice way to end the week.

Next week will be packed with activities related to moving, because the Early Years classes ( the nursery children and the classes that I work with) will be moving to a newly-renovated building that is within walking distance of our flat. It will be very exciting to be the first classes to use the brand new space! We have the last week of October off as our half-term break, so when we come back in November we will be in our new space!

Whats for dinner..Pizza I think?

We needed a quick dinner because we are hosting a community group Bible study this evening, so we pulled out a frozen pizza.

Looks like pizza.....



but you know you're not in the US anymore when the cooking instructions are written on the back in 13 different languages, and none of them are English!!

Random Ramblings

First, you know you're not in the US when you see workers at the local Tesco (a British version of a super-Walmart) whizzing about on rollerblades. We also saw workers at the airport using them. Imagine the reduction in American obesity if people could wear rollerblades to work! :-)

Secondly, tuna thieves must abound here. I was amazed the last time I purchased tuna at the Tesco to find the can with its cardboard wrapper (none of those nifty foil packets here) encased in a very large hard plastic box that was only opened at the cashier's desk. Then, today I got out a can of tuna that I had purchased at a different store. When I removed this can's little cardboard wrapper - there was a magnetic anti-theft strip on the lid of the can. I was a little concerned to think that if it had not been deactivated, I might end up with blue dye or something in my tuna!

Lastly, there should be a law against scheduling flights prior to 8AM. Our dear friends left today on a 7:15AM flight, and I have to say that getting up at 4 in order to make it to the airport on time is no picnic!!

That's all for now, folks - it's naptime!

Guests

Our very first visitors to our home in Prague arrived on Sunday. Family members you might ask? No, our friends Sibyl and Paul from Pittsburgh came all the way to Prague to see us, after a 30-year hiatus in our friendship.

We got to know Sibyl and Paul when we were first married and living in Syracuse. We were good friends for about three years, before we all moved to different parts of the country. Although we have not seen each other in such a long time, we recognized them immediately as they came through the airport gate.


Doing the tourist thing....

On Sunday, as we were touring about the city, we went to the castle of course, and found that most of the grounds were closed because the Pope was visiting. On Monday, which I had off because it was a Czech holiday, we went to the Jewish Quarter and found the museums there were closed because it was also a Jewish holiday. Hmmm....

Then, as we were walking about in Old Town, I noticed quite a few people standing about on the street and many extra police officers in the mix. Thinking something might be afoot, I asked one of the officers what was happening, and he said the Pope was coming by. We immediately joined the crowd of onlookers, hoping for a glimpse.

My superior skills in observation and deduction allowed us to assume that the Pope was dining in a restaurant on this street, as that is the flag of the Vatican flying from the building.

After a short wait of 20 minutes or so, we were rewarded by the sight of the official motorcade, and the Pope in this car. Unfortunately, he was not in his Popemobile.

We then continued on our way, being blest tourists :-)

Here we are climbing the bell tower of the Church of St. Nicholas. Although we have climbed this tower before, on this trip we learned that the tower was used by the Communists to spy on the general populace and the British and American embassies which are nearby.

Posing by one of the most beautiful views of Prague.....

We have had a wonderful time catching up, and it is so hard to believe that so many years have flown by.