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365 Czech Republic

Another Wild Day in Czech (In Photos)

Somehow I ended up with a ton of photos from today so I thought I’d just tell today’s story in photos (with captions beneath each). Let’s do this!

A Wild Day in Czech (6/19/15)

It was raining and cooler this morning so Titus and I donned rain jackets and umbrellas while walking him to school today. I probably should have sent him to school with rain boots, but I was worried we would be late for some event they were going to be leaving for. But I found out when they got there that it had been cancelled due to rain. Go figure.

A Wild Day in Czech (6/19/15)

The word “easy” in the photo above is a little misleading. From Titus’ school I walked over to this cosmetic drug store thing (so hard to explain what it is) that apparently has the only instant photo machine in our town. It was 8:15am and they had just opened. There I was in my black rain coat, looking really shady walking around the store looking for something I couldn’t find which was the machine you see above. I eventually left without saying anything and I’m pretty sure I saw the lady checking my hands as I grabbed my umbrella and walked out the door. Thanks to Rachael and Martina who I texted about this, I went back to the store about and hour later and was able to find the tiny machine.

A Wild Day in Czech (6/19/15)

I had to get prints made for Karis’ passport photos and this was my best option. I finally figured out the machine while the lady tried to explain things to me in Czech. I did finally leave with 6 prints, all of which cost me about $1.25! I was stoked and left a happy man.

A Wild Day in Czech (6/19/15)

Here’s some of her mug shots, I mean, her passport photos.

A Wild Day in Czech (6/19/15)

Karis had a doctor’s appointment today so Bethany gave her a bath just before lunch. I ended up taking Karis in her towel and placing her in front our little heater because she was a little cold and crying. She calmed right down.

A Wild Day in Czech (6/19/15)

Bethany, Karis, and our friend Martina drove to the next town over to the hospital where they had referred Karis. They actually did an ultrasound on her hips/legs. They’ve done that in the States, but it’s just an internal check to make sure there’s no issues with her internally. I believe in the States they just do a physical check with the doctor’s hands, but here’s just a little different. While the girls went to the appointment, Titus and I walked over to the haircut place and I got a trim (no photos of that, sorry!). I did get to show some photos of the baby to my hairdresser lady so that was fun.

A Wild Day in Czech (6/19/15)

When Titus and I walked to get a haircut we saw they they had set up a huge carnival deal in the town square. I believe it’s a big celebration for both our town and the sister city in Poland. I believe they are celebrating the founding of the city or something like that, but whatever it is, it’s important. They went big for this one with rides and tons of shops and food. Below are a ton of photos of what we saw.

A Wild Day in Czech (6/19/15)

I love that the ride above has an image from Toy Story which is actually a sad part of the movie.

A Wild Day in Czech (6/19/15)

A Wild Day in Czech (6/19/15)

A Wild Day in Czech (6/19/15)

Sweet tooth, anyone?

A Wild Day in Czech (6/19/15)

A Wild Day in Czech (6/19/15)

The grills were looking good! I may be wrong but I think something on there might be pork knee (a Czech favorite from what I can tell).

A Wild Day in Czech (6/19/15)

The huge stage already had local dance crew performances going on.

A Wild Day in Czech (6/19/15)

This “bowl” was probably 4 feet across. Sausage and potatoes…yummy.

A Wild Day in Czech (6/19/15)

A Wild Day in Czech (6/19/15)

A Wild Day in Czech (6/19/15)

A Wild Day in Czech (6/19/15)

A Wild Day in Czech (6/19/15)

A Wild Day in Czech (6/19/15)

We ended up going back to the town square as a family this evening so the kids could play and we could get dessert as a family. It was a much different experience from when Titus and I were there a few hours earlier because the place was jumping with people and live music. We ended up getting some traditional Trdelník with cinnamon (it’s so yummy!) and then bough tickets for the big bounce house slide thing.

A Wild Day in Czech (6/19/15)

This is Titus and me waiting for his turn to go up the big slide. I had bought a ticket for Avery to go up to, but she wasn’t “up” for it…get it, “up” for it… because it’s really tall. Yes, tall… like me as I stick out like 8 feet above everyone else in this photo.

Here’s a 30 second video I got of Titus enjoying the slide.

A Wild Day in Czech (6/19/15)

Lastly, here’s Karis as she rode around in the stroller tonight. She was awake most of the time and did great. We had to bundle here up pretty good because it was like 55 degrees out (dead serious).

There you have it–another day in the life of our little family. In the words of Porky the Pig, “That’s all folks!”

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365 Czech Republic

The Carnival We Didn’t Know About

As soon as Titus, Avery, and I walked in to the door, I knew we were in trouble. The only thing that can explain all of these shoes in the entry way (shown below) is that the parents are at the school too. And if the parents are at the school, that means there’s a good chance that some kind of event is going on. While taking my own shoes off, I saw Pluto walk by (that is, I saw a kid dressed as Pluto–Mickey Mouse’s trusty dog). The kids said, “Daddy, we saw Pluto!” Uh oh. What is going on?

The Carnival in Czech (1/28/15)

While making our way upstairs it became clear that there were lots of festivities going on. Parents were rushing up and down the stairs with their kids who were dressed up as princesses, pirates, fireman, and I even saw a little Darth Vader running around. Where were they taking these kids, I thought. Arriving at Titus’ classroom, we found the place completely filled with more dressed up kids, parents, and dressed up teachers. That’s when I called Bethany. “Uh…so this place is nuts and I have no idea what’s going on. But you better come and bring Titus’ Buzz Lightyear costume…and bring your camera!” The kids and I made our way through the camera wielding parents and I dropped Titus clothes off in their changing area. There were other families in there too so I snapped a photo of some boys and one of the dads.

The Carnival in Czech (1/28/15)

In our defense, Bethany was aware of a carnival but she honestly thought it was going to be on Friday and that would only be in the afternoon. She actually had called me on Monday and asked if I would be available to come, but since I’m teaching a workshop at a conference this week I wouldn’t be available. Titus’ teacher did her best to make us aware of it, but again, the date just got lost in translation.

Bethany arrived a few minutes after I called her and she brought Titus’s costume. We quickly changed him so he could join the other kids. The teachers had congregated the kids in another room where they were doing what I believe was a fashion show. They were literally walking down a wooden plank on the ground and the teachers were taking pictures and video along with all the parents on the sidelines.

Here’s me getting Titus ready.

The Carnival in Czech (1/28/15)

Here are the kids walking down the runway.

The Carnival in Czech (1/28/15)

Meanwhile, Avery was enjoying all the toys in the classroom.

The Carnival in Czech (1/28/15)

We were scheduled to have language lessons this morning, but with all the commotion we didn’t feel like we could leave. That, and Titus got really sad when we tried to leave and started crying and saying he wanted to go home. To be honest, it was hard. I felt caught between getting to our language lesson and taking care of Titus, and we just didn’t know what to do. It was decision paralysis. We tried to console Titus, who I think was just overwhelmed. Finally, we cancelled our lessons and stuck around with Titus. Eventually he calmed down and even starting participating with the class in their dance. Here’s a little video I got and you’ll see Titus dancing with his teacher.

Remember those parents rushing up and down the stairs when we first arrived? We found out where they were going. There was a professional photographer in another classroom who was taking individual portraits of all the kids. Titus’ teacher asked one of the little kids to show us where he was so he could take Titus’ picture. We made our way down and had a few shots taken. I seriously can not wait to see how those turned out. Later, that same photographer took a group shot of the entire class. Here they are in the main hall of the school getting ready for their class photo. You can see Titus in the upper left.

The Carnival in Czech (1/28/15)

After some time, Titus was doing much better and we left. He did well for the remainder of the school day and Bethany said he came home really happy and excited about his experience. Apparently they had a clown who juggled and they blew bubbles and even passed out balloons to the kids. At the end of the day I can look back and laugh, but in the middle of it it was really difficult. I’m bummed we missed our once a week Czech lesson because that’s so vital for us long term. On the other hand, I’m glad I got to experience something fun with Titus and our family, even thought I had no clue it was going to happen.