50th Birthday Party

A good party requires the correct state of mind!

Birthday gifts were given in a very unusual fashion (for us, apparently this is customary in the Czech Republic). People formed a line to say something to Jana (the birthday girl) and present their gift. Once all the gifts were given they were opened one at a time.

Another late night of singing, playing games, and partying around the campfire.

Many people who had partied hard the night before made an early (midnight) night of it. We took the early departure and I was up in time to catch the sun dawning as the mist was rising off the lake.

Second Day in Mydlak

Most of the women here for the weekend had been on a volleyball team together. Here we are playing men against the women. The women won in a close match.

Our son and his 12 year old Czech friend got to paddle Kayaks around the lake.

Pavel's family shared their bikes and rollerblades so that our children could join in.

We went rafting on a nearby river course. The weather was cold and rainy and we were cold. But it was so cool to do this. Well worth it.

Party Czech Style continued,,

Marcella and Petr's son Thomas played guitar.

Drunken people danced wildly. Czech, Slovic and Czech Slovic songs were sung. We sung one verse of the "star spangled banner". In painfully out of tune fashion.

Party the Czech style!

At the lake. No cars. No problems. Time to have fun! Czech beer and the national drink.

Cheers!

Cheers!

The night is young!

Castles and Cascades

After spending the night in Czesky Brudjoice we took a tour of this castle. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed inside.

Our neice thought that it may be her fantacy castle with the exception of all the deer heads. Our children pointed out that in the fantacy castle all the deer would speak. I pointed out that they would all be saying "why did you shoot me?". They might also tend to be a little pissed off.

We arrived in the rain to our campground at Mydlak

Wood was brought for a bonfire! This was an awesome idea I thought!

Marksburg Castle

We visited the Marksburg Castle on the way out of Koblenz

The picturesque castle is pirched on a hilltop.

Tall hill with a shear cliff face plus a tall tower equals really high up.

We have been running the kids pretty hard and it is beginning to show. Perhaps they will be able to rest on the plane to Prague and in the car to Czesky Brudjoice(sic).

Kolblenz and Kietterwald Sayn

We found Germany to be very nice. Quality of life seems on par with the USA. Perhaps even better in some ways. Kolbelnz was a much bigger town than I expected. I wish that we had the time to explore the old center. Instead we went to a Zipline, climbing, obstacile course called Kietterwold Sayn. We rate this 3 1/2 times better than Euro Disneyland! We were there on a school day so the lines were really minimal. We had SO much fun. Laurel stayed home and worked which was perfect as she hates heights or even watching the kids around heights.

There were 9 courses to choose from. You could do them all as many times as you would like. It was awesome.

Our neice, who did not want to go to the top of the Eiffle tower, had no problems with this.

Dispite being well marked we had some minimal nagivational problems.

Koln area

Even in the rain these market were running in Bruhl.

Our children are suddenly Gangstas from da hood??? Go figure.

It was great to see Kirsty again and meet her boyfriend Abib.

Britta and Heleno were great hosts and gave us a big chunk of their time even with busy young family life. We really enjoyed our time with them.

Near Koln - Germany

Walking to the train depot.

In the streets of Bruhl

This palace was closed for Monday. :-(

So we had the palace grounds to ourselves!!! Pretty cool to have your own private palace.

Brussels from Dinos to Dodos

Our children(us too) are just barely taller than the ankle of this large Sauropod.

The Belgian Dinosaur Museum was new and amazing.

Smile!

For lunch I had "The American". If you cooked it I am sure that it would be a great hamburger. This is not how its eaten. An excellent cut of beef is freshly ground up and made into a patty (don't try this at home kids). Notice that there is almost no marbling in the meat. You then mix in the raw egg yoke and other ingredients. The texture is much like Sushi. Very interesting to try once.

Would you like some mouse with that?

Brussels Subway

Le Roy

Le Roy on the Grand Place

Dinner and a show. Our son shared his chair with a mouse! (More Ick and Eek!)