Happiness at Home: April 2012

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Saturday - Prague, Czech Republic

We allowed ourselves to sleep in until 7:00, ate breakfast with our parents and then drove with them to Prague. I slept so well at night, but still felt pretty tired and slept a bit on our drive through gorgeous German and then Czech country side. The rapps are blooming so there are field of bright yellow coloring the land. We arrived in Prague around 11. We parked in the church parking lot and walked to see the sights from there.

Prague Castle

The gardens and the castle were nice, but there was an especially impressive cathedral in the middle of the castle. It was less like a castle and more like a bunch of buildings connected around the cathedral. We saw statue like guards and the changing of the guards. There was a beautiful water statue and courtyard to see.

St. Vitus

The Cathedral was St. Vitus Cathedral. I have never been in a European Cathedral and I was so impressed at the height of the ceiling and the vast room that had paintings, stained glass, pews, and other things to see. Whereever the eye could see there was something interesting and entertaining. This cathedral only had windows in the ceiling and was darker inside. There were beautiful stained glassed windows,but plain stone.

We left the castle and headed down cobblestone streets with mobs of people. There were shops and interesting things to see the entire way down the hill. The ambiance of people and shops was so incredible. I have seen things like it in movies, but nothing in America comes close to describing the scene. It is difficult to put in words, but incredible to experience.

St. Nicolaus Cathedral

At the bottom of the hill we went into St. Nicolaus Cathedral. It was completely different than the first one. This one was still tall and spacious, but it was light, with many paintings and lots of ornate gold. Every where I looked there were statues, angels, saints killing devils, etc. There was no stained-glassed windows, but gold, carved stone, statues, ornate décor everywhere. There were painted murals on the entire ceiling and alcoves and domes. The galleries depicting Christs crucifixion were dark, but I guess that is the way the event should be portrayed. It was so cold inside, in stark contrast to the 90 degree weather outside. (too hot for comfort when we packed for 70 degree weather)

We then crossed the Charles Bridge. This is a fun place where vendors sell jewelry, paintings, drawings and musicians (accordion, harmonica, drums, guitar). We had a list of all the statues that lined the bridge so it was interested to read about the many saints honored with statues along the bridge. The sight of the boats and kayaks on the beautiful river was so peaceful.

We stopped at an outdoor restaurant and had some traditional Czech food. I tried roast duck and Dave got goulash. I decided that Czech food is slightly bland, since Dave’s ‘spicy’ goulash was the most seasoned dish there (and not one bit spicy!) The food was great and the atmosphere of people walking all around a beautiful market in the middle of shops and tall buildings was a perfect way to spend the afternoon.

We rushed to the astronomical clock to watch the display as it turned 4:00. The apostles on the clock clap and something (we were too far away) rotates around. There were so many people there, including a car of a couple getting married with secret service following behind. This Old Town square was so amazing. Every building was colorful, ornately decorated, beautiful roof. Each time we took a photo I felt like it didn’t really show what we were looking at. The majesty of the whole area was incredible! I was very impressed with the spacious pedestrian square and the beauty of it all.

We finished up with a walk through more small cobblestone streets to Wenceslas square (where the revolution took place). We were exhausted and luckily figured out how to catch a street car back to the church. We couldn’t figure out how to pay though – there were no German or English signs about the street cars at all. It is funny to have money that is not American. It feels more like play money and I feel more willing to spend it.

I felt asleep again on the 2 ½ hour ride back to Frieburg. Prague was an absolutely incredible city! We are worried that we saw the best sights today and there will be nothing better to see! I hope we continue to see more amazing things. Mostly, I can’t believe that I am standing in places I’ve seen in movies or postcards and it is even more amazing in real life. The photos don’t do it justice.

I am exhausted again, so happy to have a beautiful place to rest.

Links to the rest of the trip: Getting there Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Home

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Perfectly imperfect arrival

Warning: I you don't like travel logs please skip the next 7 posts :) this is my journal of our events and memories. . .

We made it! We are in Germany!!

The flight didn't go as plan a,b or c, but the itinerary we did was just perfect. I flew the kids to Utah and dropped them at the curb with my mom and ran back through security and got back on the same plane that just landed and headed back to phx (the flight crew wondered where my kids went).

When I got home, I checked flights and the one we wanted was full and the others were not looking good. I started searching for flights through different cities to find seats that would get us there. I found a great route . . . and guess what? It took be BACK to SLC!
Phx-SLC 1hr 45 mins
Layover: 1 hr
SLC-Charlotte: 4 hrs (we randomly got first class tickets and were SO happy to have a bit more room on our overnight flight.

Give Dave a break . . .it is 2 am our time

Layover: 1 1/2 hours
Charlotte - Philadelphia 1 hr 30 mins (we each had 3 seats to ourselves so we laid down and slept nearly the entire flight)

We had a long layover (planned) in Philadelphia. We went to the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and ate the most amazing philly cheese steak.

I then had lots of time to kill in the airport while Dave was working. Luckily, Dave got passes to the US Airways club. It was so nice to sit in a beautiful quiet room, with food and drink and service you wouldn't believe. We were treated like first class citizens and it will be hard to go back to regular airport travel.

Both Charlotte and Philly airports had rocking chairs in the terminals . . . how funny is that?!?

The flight to Frankfurt had over 100 empty seats so we had 4 seats to share. After a delicious dinner and movie, we stretched out (Dave on the floor and me on the 4 seats) and slept for 3-4 hours.

PHL- Frankfurt: 9 hrs
Layover : 2 hours
Frankfurt- Dresden 1 hr.
Total time:
In flight 20 hours (17 hours for Dave)
Layovers: 14 hours

I was fully prepared to wait long hours at the airport to try and get a flight, but everything worked out perfectly! We were thrilled to be in Dresden early and hoped to get some sight seeing in. We immediately took a wrong turn onto the wrong autoban and after 1/2 mile, there was a major accident 1/2 mile ahead of us. Everything STOPPED and we ended up stuck waiting on the AutoBan for FOUR HOURS while they cleaned up the mess! It was so annoying to have everything go perfectly in the airport only to be stopped, going the wrong direction in Germany. The good news is that I went running, down the middle of the road (the cars were pulled off to either side to let the police and ambulances through). How many tourists can say they ran down the middle of the autoban? I got some funny comments and stares and cheers, but I couldn't understand any of them :)

We are here! We are tired and hungry, but we found the temple in Frieborg and are going to sit down to eat with the Harpers. I am so excited!

(written later)

After flying to Dresden and sitting on the Autoban for 4 hours, we decided to head straight for the temple in Freiburg. We found the city just fine, but then we realized that we didn’t actually have the address for the temple. It is a small town so we thought if we drove around long enough we would find it . . . not so. We stopped at a gas station and Dave looked it up. We were so happy to see Dave’s parents and the beautiful temple. We were thankful for the apartment the temple president allowed us to use for a few nights, the shower, a home-cooked meal, and great company. We were able to attend the night session at the temple. The temple was beautiful. We were able to be the witness couple which helped me attempt to stay awake. We only had about 5 hours of sleep in 2 nights so we were exhausted. Dave listened in German, so he succeeded in staying awake more than myself. If I blinked too long I did a quick head-nod. I haven’t been that tired in a long time! So thankful for a bed!

Links to the rest of the trip: Getting there Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Home

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The European Plague

Cute . . .isn't he?

This title is actually 2 separate ideas running through my head. The Plague and Europe (not really together)

First off, the plague. . . Hallie contracted hand, mouth and foot disease from a friend. Jackson actually had two hours of contact (Primary) with the older girl who had it and Hallie only had 10 minutes of contact with the younger boy (in Sunday School). I was thankful this friend let me know when she found out that her kids had it. First of all, I knew what to look for, unfortunately, I was mostly looking on Jackson. Secondly, I didn't freak out and run to the doctor when she broke out with blisters. It is just a virus that has to run its course. It actually didn't seem too painful or hard for Hallie. Apparantly, the strain that is going around is more just sores on the legs and arms, not really in the mouth or that palms of the hands and feet, which is where it seems to get more painful. The good news is that the disease is not really contagious to adults (most of us have come in contact with some form of the virus and are immune). And it is only contagious through direct contact of saliva, mucus or feces (or an open blister). Thus, it is much less contagious than the common cold or chicken pox. Still I felt like we had the plague. Her skin looks awful. Jackson still has no symptoms (fever, rash, etc) and it has been 8 days since exposure. Most of Hallie's sores have scabbed over and so she isn't contagious anymore. We have just been playing with the kids who also had the strain and it was nice not to worry about keeping Hallie away from them. I hope Jackson is immune to the disease (maybe he's already come in contact with the virus?) and we are done with it. I'm glad it was a mild case and not too painful.

My next thought is about Europe. We are 'trying' to go to Germany in 3 days. Flying stand-by makes vacationing such a different experience for us than other vacationers.

Normal vacationers pick a date, buy a flight and spend the other 99% of their planning picking hotels, rental cars, trains, sights to see, etc. We spend 90% of our planning picking dates to leave (and plan A, B, and C dates to leave) and flights to catch and only 10% on the other stuff. We haven't reserved a single hotel (unless you count Dave's parents place on the temple grounds) or spent a dime on train passes, car rentals, etc. Dave has reserved cars in 6 different cities for 8 different options of when and where to drop the car off.

Pro's of flying stand-by

VERY cheap flights internationally
flexibility
opportunities to fly from city to city in Europe
Opportunity to see Europe on a very small budget
Flying the kids to grandma's house for free :)

Cons of flying stand-by
STAND-BY: We check the flights daily and are so worried we won't actually make it over there. There is constant stress and anxiety that a flight will fill up and we will be bumped. I hesitate to even tell people we are trying to get to Germany for fear that they ask me about the trip and we never even made it past the East Coast.

No Structure: 3 days before our trip and we are debating ending our trip in Rome or Paris . . . or wait, maybe we should try to do both? should we spend 1 or 3 days in on place, etc, etc. Should we fly or drive from city to city? We really have a very small idea of how this trip will actually turn out and the things we will actually see.

Will we ever make it home?
When you get on a flight, you can tell 1 hour before if there will be enough seats for you. But when you go to Europe 10 days before returning, there is no way to tell if the return flights will be open enough for you in 10 days. I worry that we will spend extra time and money sitting in an airport trying to get home.

Packing light: Oh, and did I mention we are taking our 10 day trip with only a carry-on each? How can you check a bag, when you aren't even sure you'll make it to that city to pick it up? How do you bring 10 cold weather outfits in a carry-on . . . .We'll see!

It will be interesting to see if this trip is more stress than it's worth. Right now, I am thrilled to finally have a chance to see Europe and anxious about planning for the unknown. If you asked me a year ago, I never would have believed a trip to Europe was possible for us! But with cheap flights and Dave's parents there, we couldn't pass this opportunity up!

As of right now we are planning to fly to Philadelphia or Charlotte and from there catch a flight to either Frankfurt or Munich, or Zurich. Then we will catch a flight to Dresden (yet another stand-by flight where we will have lower priority). We will spend time with Dave's parents in Frieberg seeing the temple, Dresden, Leipzig (Dave's mission) and a day in Prague as well. Then we will try to fly again (or drive) to Munich (where Dave lived when he was a teenager) and spend time in Southern Bavaria (maybe Salzberg, Nueschwanstien Castle, Garmish, etc) Then from Munich depending on which flights home look more open we will fly to Paris or Rome or drive to Frankfurt (seeing the Black Forest, Romantic Road and Rhine Valley). OR we might just tour Philadelphia for 10 days . . . who knows :)
Oh, and did I mention we are taking our 10 day trip with only a carry-on each? How can you check a bag, when you aren't even sure you'll make it to that city to pick it up?

Isn't it exciting that we really have no idea where we will end up? I know you'll be on the edge of your seats for my next blog post. :)

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Preschool Letter T

Sadly, this was my last week to teach preschool. I really wish I could get a group together for next year, but so far, I haven't found any takers.

We started off the day with puzzles.

Then we read T books and made T trees. We also made T-books (and the kids cut it out themselves!) and made "t"-shirts, where they tried to draw as many T's as they could on the T-shirt.

The first day we ran with the theme Teddy bear. We ranked the teddy's, hid them, counted them, named them, played Ten in the bed (rolling them one-by-one off the love sac) and then invited them for a "T" Party. We had a small set of T cups for the bears and a larger set for the kids. We poured pretend T and real T (gatorade) and ate Toast, Tomatoes and Teddy grahams (is that canibalism?) I knew this would be Jackson's favorite part. He loves acting things out and being the adult and getting everything set up for his bear was a treat.
We also talked about Telling the Truth both days. I had a book to read each day and then we used sheep sticks and lions sticks to show if the line I said was the TTTtruth or Ly-ing (Lion). The kids even came up with some on their own.

(Have I mentioned that Hallie loves preschool and surprisingly likes to do everything the kids do? She knows how to wait her turn on a mat, color, listen to a book, etc.)

The second day we went with a Tooth theme. We read a book about the dentist and caring for our teeth. Then each kid got a mask, rubber gloves, a dentist mirror, a pompom toothbrush and pipe cleaner floss. They each got a very dirty set of teeth (the pompom balls were chunks of food and the teeth were written on by a dry erase marker) to clean off. They worked so diligently cleaning and flossing. One student used the mirror like a magnifying glass, another used it to 'floss', It was funny to see their creativity.
Our snack was Oreos (sans milk) and we saw how messy and dirty our teeth got. Then we tried apples and milk and they got all cleaned up.

Our final activity was a train game. I set up 4 boxes before class (Jackson helped me) and he had the genius idea to add steering wheels. The kids got a ticket with a number on it and had to find the corresponding box. Then I punched their tickets and we created a place to ride our trains to. We visited the zoo, park, swimming pool, shopping mall, jungle and jungle tree (they got different tickets each ride). Then I taught "I've been working on the railroad" song as we used out hands to hammer and 'fix' our train.

I ended with an experiment with eggs in vinegar, coke and OJ to show what different drinks can do to our teeth over time. Then each kid got a toothbrush. I purposely gave the other two boys a blue brush and Jackson a yellow brush, because Jackson is pretty good about "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit!" But it turns out that one of the boys' favorite color was yellow and he really wanted yellow. If you know Jackson, you know that he always wants anything that someone else wants/ has. So suddenly Jackson's favorite color is yellow and he is chanting 'you get what you get . . .'. I tried to tell him that it would make the other boy so happy and even though it is hard, it is what Jesus would want him to do to sacrifice to make someone else happy. Despite my best efforts, Jackson decided he wanted yellow. I disappointedly said, "I guess you made your choice." I left the room for something and I felt so frustrated. I wanted to take the toothbrush and give it to the other kid and FORCE him to be nice. It was so difficult for me to live with what I thought was the selfish choice. When I returned to the room, both boys were all smiles and Jackson told me he decided to give up the yellow toothbrush and make Danny happy. And happy they were . . . and even happier I was!

Jackson is the type of kid that the more you push, the more he pushes back. If I back off, sometimes he makes the right choice. But backing off and letting go of control are very hard for me to do. I guess he was sent to me for a reason.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Easter around the country

We dyed eggs in Virginia and Jackson was so excited about it.

This is a cute tu-tu skirt I bought for Hallie. I love these, but I can't find cute tops for them. Suggestions?

Jackson had an Easter egg hunt at pre-school. I filled all our eggs with chocolate (thinking I would 'get the good stuff' rather than the cheap stuff). It turns out that Easter Egg hunts in AZ are HOT and the chocolate all melted. Huge, yucky mess!

My mom and sister came to visit before and after Easter (they spent Easter weekend in Denver with my brother's family).

We had a ward Easter egg hunt. Each child was asked to invite a friend who didn't go to primary with them. This was such a fun discussion with Jackson. He asked WHY people wouldn't go to church with us. I talked to him about how we go to church to worship Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. It is difficult for some people to believe in them, since they can't see them. He immediately responded, "So you mean, they don't have enough FAITH?" I couldn't believe he's learned enough about that concept to be able to recognize it. Our stake has asked us to pray daily for everyone in our stake boundaries to have more faith. Jackson makes sure that EVERY prayer he asks for more faith.

Jackson invited his friend Victor who lives down the street. He had a great time!

Again, as we walked to church on Sunday he commented on his friend that doesn't go to church and then said, "Mom, I believe in God, so I go to church!" I loved that little testimony from my little boy!

More egg dying. Despite the pose, he was really happy about it. Just embarrassed about the dye on his face. Grandma brought fun Easter activities and stickers for my kids. What a fun grandma!

We flew Saturday evening to Utah to be with Dave's brother's family. Without planning it, we've spent each of our married Easter's with their family and didn't want to break tradition :). Jackson got a new Sunday outfit and Hallie got a new dress. I absolutely loved getting her an Easter dress. It was something I loved as a girl and loved being able to do it for my daughter.

I was going to label this Utah cousins, but I guess we are technically from Arizona now, right?

Surrounded by girl cousins.

Jackson and Hallie had a rough day at church, so Easter wasn't as spiritual or uplifting as I was hoping. I get so frustrated at how irreverent they are. How can I help them?

We took the evening flight home and both kids fell asleep. We love being with family! Luckily, my mom and sister came back to our house for the next 4 days. It was so fun to spend time with them! We shopped, went to parks, got pedicures, made meals, swam with Grant and Kacey.

We also celebrated Marcie's 18th birthday! This was after her shopping spree at Charming Charlie (awesome acessory store here). I am seriously in shock that she is so old. I was 13 when she was born and moved out of the house before she started kindergarten! Now she is the age I was when she was only Jackson's age! I really love her. She is sweet, funny, energetic, happy, kind, thoughtful. She comforted me through many hard times in college and made me feel loved and wanted every time I came home from school. She prepared me for being a mother in many ways. I love you, Marcie!