Portraits in Prague

Ever since Italy, we have been promising the girls that we would have their portraits drawn on Charles Bridge in Prague. The artists in Italy were incredible, but trekking all those miles with such delicate pages would not have worked. Sadly, the artists on Charles Bridge were a downgrade or two, but still really really good.

After waiting for an hour and a half in the queue behind the best guy on the block, Saz was first to go...

Amber eagerly took to the stool after Saz...

Dad and Saz waiting patiently for the master piece to be complete..
After the bridge, we met up with George and his family and went for dinner at an Italian restaurant in town. The girls would not leave the chefs alone all night and even took it upon themselves to take photos of their every move.

Sarah then turned her photographic prowess to George's wife and daugher, Anna & Leanne..

Concert at the school with Dr Klutz the Clown

At "Summer School" the last 2 weeks, the school had a guest teacher: "Dr Klutz the clown". And for 2 weeks, he taught them how to be the show, not just to watch the show. On the friday, the parents were all invited to the concert, showing off what they had learned...

This is the girls waiting for the concert to start...

This is our 2 eagerly volunteering to be the first... and to be a Duck and a Snake!

This is the snake... eating the lillypad

And these are all the monkeys...

And this is Dr Kutz giving the parents and children a magic show...

Week-end in Munich

Another week-end in Germany and another rainy day...

Saturday morning we went to the Olympic shopping centre and browsed the summer sales. The girls got kitted with new tracksuits and 2 BIG giant cows (for 5 pounds!). After shopping, we planned to go see the Seaworld, but on arriving, the queues were about 2 hours long and we gave it up for the next day. At the olympic centre, there are restaurants; lakes; pathes and trails; and a full on carnival.


There was a concert by Red Indians which the girls really enjoyed.

Then just around the corner we came across the carnival / fair.
We kept them amuzed with rides ...
and bumper cars...

The rain came down in torrents as we were finishing on the bumper cars so we kept under the covers and watched the boats in the lake as they were having Jousting competitions.

Sunday was a stunning day, so we made for seaworld and then took a quick tour of the centre of Munich and had lunch on the boulevard.

The pavements were full of artists and musicians (including someone playing a baby grand piano under a tree on the pavement)

Welcome Pink and Tom!

Ok, so I finally gave in ....

There has been talk of getting a pet for a while - you know, something that the girls can call "their pet"; and love, play mommy to and take care of; yet one that doesn't need to be walked at night or looked after on week-ends; one that doesn't yap or yeaol and generally gets on with it's life without much need for attention.

And, at the same time, there has been much equal and opposite talk of not getting a pet! In fact, I had thought that it was louder, but today got proven wrong (sorry, persuaded) when the family arrived home with Pink and Tom.

... Enter, Stage Left ...

This is Pink. She is Sarah's.

Tom is the camera-shy-very-out-of-focus-white-hamster above. He is Amber's.

Well, so far they have survived the over-zealous and very-enthusiastic mothering of our 2. And are actually very cute!

OK!!! So it is really not so bad having pets again. At least there shouldn't be too much difficulty finding someone in their class to look after them while we go away on week-ends. But let's talk again in a month or 2 ...

All made up and a picnic to go to

Colin is always encouraging me to "glamorise" the girls. So in the morning while I was getting ready for the day, Colin called the girls to me and said "today girls, Mom is going to do your make-up"... (much to my surprise as to theirs). So we tarted and glammed and all 3 left the bathroom all spruced and ready for a day's outing .. to the forrest!

The Woods have not left the planet .. yet :)

Pls don't dispair; and do not Fret
The Woods have not left the planet .. yet
Bogged down by work
And children to mind;
Blogger is one of the things left behind

It has not been all bad tho,
There has been some fun;
Like mountain bike riding
In forrests and in sun;
Picnics by rivers
And pizza in town;
Milkshakes in Amberg
With the rain coming down

There have been heatwaves and coldspells;
Lazy mornings and late nights;
Dominos and puzzles
And measuring of heights;
Pony rides for little ones
Shopping for big ones
And always, always, happiness and smiles...

So I know I'm no poet
(And don't pretend to be)
But you really must know
That we are well and feel free!
Living the life of our dreams
We can imagine no other
Being here; being there
Just being...

Ambling in Amberg (and Nabberg too)

The best trips are sometimes the least planned trips. You know, the ones where you wake up in the morning and say "so, where shall we go today ...". Well our trips to Germany are pretty much like that. Our friendly KIA is now very used to us phoning on the friday morning to hire and pick up the car that afternoon.

We have been told that Amberg is a great little town to visit for the kids as there is a water park with slides and hot pools. My colleague at work told us about a small little historical village called Nabberg along the way, which we stopped at for lunch on the way.

Nabberg was incredibly picturesque with building all quantly painted and (as always in Germany) perfectly neat and tidy (a great change from Italy)

We strolled through the town (which took all of about 20 minutes) and came across an ancient chappel on the hill was a view over the farm lands.


On the way back to the car, we stopped off at the restaurant for lunch, with the girls asking "when are we going to the water slides"; "how long before we get there"; "can we go now ..."

We had no accommodation booked in Amberg, but drove around and found a little hotel in the centre when we got there. This was the first time we have left home without a place to stay - but as Amberg is only 90 minutes away, there was no real problem with just driving home again if the worst came to the worst.

Needless to say, we found a friendly hotel and then set out for the pools. Supper that evening was at a traditional bavarian restaurant. It was a brewery as well and they actually made really great beer. The restaurant is set around the copper vats and pipes.

On Sunday we spent the day strolling around Amber and enjoying the town. The weather was a bit miserable as it was drizzling and raining most of the day. But at least it gave us the excuse to duck into cafes for coffee and ice creams.