Prague

The kids had a 4 day weekend in May so we headed to Prague, Czech Republic.  We decided to take the overnight train from Lausanne and had 5 of the 6 beds in our cabin.  We hoped the 6th would be empty, but it was not the case going or coming.  On the way to Prague our 6th passenger was a college student who was meeting up with her boyfriend a couple hours before Prague and she was pretty much only in the cabin to sleep.  There were 3 beds on each side with the girls taking the top and the boys on the middle two.  The kids and I fit without any problem, but Randy could have used a few more inches so he struggled to get a decent night sleep.  After getting cleaned up and ready for the day we made it to Prague around lunch time.

Aaron all snuggled in bed.

Hailey is fast asleep.

After getting checked in we headed out to find something for lunch.  We pretty much roamed around to get our bearings before turning in for the night.  The next day we headed out for a private tour of Prague with our guide Bianca.  Our first stop was to the funicular train to head up to Petrin hill with a lookout tower that looks like the Eiffel Tower.  Upon our arrival we learned that the train was not working so we would need to hike up the hill.  It took us a little longer but the kids were troopers and we made it.

Almost to the top with Prague in the background.

Prague from Petrin Hill.

We took the elevator up the lookout tower or Prague's mini Eiffel Tower.  The views were spectacular.  Afterwards we headed to the Prague castle and happened to be there during changing of the guard.

Hailey with one of the guards at Prague Castle.

Changing of the guards at Prague Castle.

We grabbed some lunch at a nice little restaurant before continuing on with our tour.  We walked through the Wallenstein Gardens where the was a wall of artificial stalactites.  It was a massive wall and quite a contrast to the beautiful flowers and fountains found throughout.  The kids had a great time finding all the different faces and animals that were part of the wall.

Large wall of artificial stalactites within Wallenstein Gardens.

How many faces can you find?

From the gardens we headed to Charles Bridge which is a pedestrian only bridge and has several statues of saints.  It is said that rubbing the sign of each saint will bring things such as health, luck money, etc.

Hailey rubbing one of the signs.

We then made our way back to the hotel stopping at a couple other places along the way.  Prague has one of the smallest "streets" and it pedestrian only for obvious reasons and has it's own signal.

Hailey and Sydney walking up the smallest "street".

After a walk on the smallest street we came upon this sculpture called Proudy of two men peeing on the other side of Czech Republic.  We were told it is two Czech rivals peeing on the other side.

Kids with the Proudy sculpture.

One of the bridges with locks around old town.

The end of tour was walking through Old Town to check out the Astronomical Clock tower.  It was first installed in 1410,  which is the third oldest in the world and oldest one that still works.

Prague Astronomical Clock.

The second day was perfectly planned.  It was a rainy day and we had plans to make jewelry.  Prague is known for their glass beads, so what better thing to do but learn about their history while learning to make jewelry.  Even the boys joined in and made bracelets.

Picking out their colors for the bracelets.

Sydney and Aaron's bracelets.

Sydney showing off her bracelet.

Prague from Pitrin Hill.

We finished the rainy day with a late lunch and movie.  We rarely to go movies in Switzerland because of their cost and/or missing the original version of English so we like to treat ourselves if there is a movie we want to see while traveling.

Prague street with beautiful arch walkway.

Sydney and Hailey walking the streets of Prague.

Hailey sneaking a hug from Sydney, she looks thrilled, doesn't she??

Our train ride back was uneventful and the 6th bed was used by an older German man who did not speak any English and Sydney was not confident enough with her German to use it, so it was a quiet ride when everyone wasn't sleeping.

Spring activities with spring weather

The second week of Easter break I played taxi to the kids activities.  Sydney skated, Hailey did circus camp, and Aaron was at football camp.  We also celebrated Randy's birthday by going out for a family dinner in Montreux.  Hailey had a circus show with an Alice in Wonderland theme.

Hailey on the trapeze during the show.

We all went out together to celebrate Randy's birthday.  There is a nice little restaurant in Montreux that Randy and I really like and that is where he wanted to go for his birthday.  We decided to give it a go as a family since we typically don't go out and if we do it is to a pizzeria.  Fortunately they had pizza for the kids so we at least had options for them.

Randy's birthday cake.

We headed to Morges, which is about 15 minutes from us to see their tulips.  It wasn't Amsterdam but it was still pretty impressive even if it was a little early and everything wasn't in full bloom.

Hailey and Aaron with the tulips in Morge.

The girls and Randy signed up for the Lausanne 20k.  The girls ran in the 2k and Randy signed up for the full 20k through Lausanne.  The 20k is a difficult course as it starts at the lake and makes its way through city center and for those of you that have been here know that it is not just a little hill.  He finished in the ran and we cheered him on from a couple spots before heading home to warm ourselves up.

Hailey heading towards the finish line.

Randy and the girls with their medals.

Sydney started playing Netball for their school Champittet.  It is a British game that is similar to basketball for girls.  You can't dribble the ball and there is no backboard on the hoop.  Randy has been wanting Sydney to try a team sport so we were very happy when she expressed interest in Netball.  It helped that all her friends were playing too : )  They had a tournament at ISL and even though it started in the rain it ended up being a decent day.

Sydney doing her happy dance.

Sydney and the netball team.

Hard to believe that takes us into May and nearing the end of our second year.