I'm still alive and well

I've been busy with other things and lazy about blogging, so here's a quick update on everything. We have a trampoline!  Kids are super-excited and spend a lot of time out there.  V used to do a funny straight-legged bounce but now jumps nicely.  M threw a ball into the neighbors' tree while playing an over-the-net game.  
E is still happy.  This is kind of a strange picture, but it's the only one I've taken recently.  
V's school took a trip to the farm, with parents along.  They all rode Sultan, the farm pony, and fed the horses.  
M had his school play, The Jungle Book.  It was performed by the whole primary school, so kids up to age 11 or so.  M's class were the elephants, as pictured here.  M is third from left.  Seeing them in their oversized t-shirts just reminded me of how small they are.  It's easy to forget that M's very young -- he's the oldest kid at our house!  The play was performed at a real theater in downtown Prague (at the library, actually), and was quite well done.  
We visited friends in Dusseldorf a few weeks ago, and I thought this picture was funny.  Our kids have been together for 2 different weekends now and are BFFs.

silly stuff

Nate was browsing on Amazon last week and discovered that one of the top sellers at the time was ...

wait for it ...

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

I'm not joking. Maybe you kids who live in the great US of A know all about this, but if not, this book is a combination of the original text (Austen's stuff is out of copyright obviously) and modern zombie fiction. Eliza and Darcy with lots of zombies, blood, and who knows what else. I do think it's pretty funny, but worth reading? Not.

Here's something else funny on drudge report today. A woman was arrested for neglecting her kid's teeth! I'm probably next, although we do have dentist appointments next week. Anyway, I love drudge report, and Matt Drudge loves to feature stories with shocking headlines, even if the story itself is a dud. This story, of course, is a sad one. I'm sure the little girl was truly in a bad way, and I'm glad she's getting the help she needs now.

A couple of weeks ago, M was playing bionicles or power rescue or something where he was more or less a superhero. His name? Barack Obama, pronounced with a strange Czechish accent: BAR-ack O-bama. He didn't know who that was, just thought the name sounded like a superhero. Or not.

hiking, baby food, science fair

Friday was a Czech holiday, so we went to Cesky Raj (Czech Paradise) to do some hiking. Cesky Raj is a large area with nature preserves and castles. We got to see the two castles on matching hilltops, but only from a distance. After the 2.5 km hike to see rock formations, the kids were past worn out. It was really nice to get out of the city for a while, but I confess that I like the Panska Skala rocks better.

E was totally uninterested in the rocks, but she loves to watch leaves moving in the wind. She's growing up fast -- I'm busy freezing baby food for her a couple of times a week. There's something quite satisfying about knowing exactly what's in your baby's first meals. And the purees can be lovely -- sweet potato, carrot and plum have particularly nice colors. I like to see all the baby food cubes piling up in the freezer, and E likes to eat them. (Baby food cubes = purees frozen in ice cube trays).

Science fair! Here is M's Partsmaster-sponsored project. Just kidding about the sponsorship, but he does love his Partsmaster hat. His board looked very professional, especially the graph and chart which he did himself. The typed stuff he dictated to me. M explained his project quite well to anyone who would listen. M was the only year 1 student to do a project, so everyone was proud of him. Tomorrow the kids will get certificates and awards at the school assembly.