Evidence of Spring

Wanted to post a few pictures to show that spring has arrived here in Liechtenstein.  We still need to wear our coats from time to time, but we have loved getting outside, and there is no shortage of things to do out here!

Fasnacht - Kids get to dress up...

Everett was pretty devastated that they do not celebrate Halloween in Austria with trick-or-treating (or trunk-or-treating for that matter). It is an American rite of passage to dress up as whatever you want. Needless to say, we jumped at the opportunity to let Everett dress up this year for Fasnacht. Which originates from the period of fasting before the Catholic Lent, where certain foods and activities were historically frowned upon (or even forbidden in certain time periods). So people would dress up and go crazy before Lent began. These days, it is just a whole bunch of fun, with music, festivals, and food. For kids, they allow them to dress up as whatever they wanted. Everett chose to be a ninja. And boy did he look great. He was the talk of his class, and his sword was a winning touch.

Here is Everett posing with his classmates... can you find the ninja?

As a father, this is one of my favorite pictures of Everett of all time... he really looks like he knows how to handle that thing... and I have a few bruises on my hand to prove that he does!

A master at rest, look how he blends into his surroundings!

Prague - Part 5 (Daddy found some cool cars)

Evidently the economy is doing pretty well in Prague, as the quality of the cars attests.

Prague - Part 4 (The Toy Museum and Franz Kafka)

Everett and Mommy are helping Liam to find every single animal in the antique Noah's Ark collection.

Yup, those are some vintage Star Wars toys along with some newer ones.

Some New Kids on the Block dolls.  This picture is mostly for those who remember the NKOTB (especially Dawn)

Everett pushes a button on an interactive display.  Liam is entranced... at least for 1.39 nanoseconds.

These soldiers remind me of the setups at Grandpa Timpson's house.  He would have loved this museum!

Liam and Everett marveling in front of the antique toys under the careful eye of Darth Vader.

Mommy and a huge Christmas pyramid.

We had gone through all of the exhibits, and the museum was closed, when Everett asked us to take a picture of him with Superman.  We had already left the museum, but we decided to see if the doors were already locked.  Mommy ran up the stairs with Everett, and the lady was still there and let us take this picture, which averted an emotional meltdown.

Here is Daddy leaning against the Franz Kafka memorial in the Jewish Quarter.  This was not too far from where he was born.

As we were walking around the largest castle in the world, freezing our buns, we saw a little sign for a toy museum.  At this point, we were willing to do just about anything to get out of the cold and warm ourselves for a while.  It was still on the castle grounds, and the price was reasonable.  The boys loved it!  There were so many awesome vintage toys.  Everett was a little dismayed at the number of Barbie dolls on the top floor, but that is also where we found the Star Wars toys.  Wasn't sure where else we could have put the picture of Daddy in front of the Franz Kafka monument, but we just had to put it somewhere.

Prague - Part 3 (Visiting the Prague Branch and The Prague Castle)

We decided to visit the Prague Branch while we were here on Sunday, and it was awesome.  The Church building was on a prominent corner, between the Israeli and Indian embassies.  (The Israeli guard outside looked really cold).  The building serves as the mission office, the home of the mission president, and the meeting house.  We asked the missionaries which embassy did the building serve as before being bought by the Church, and learned that it was a famous bar before the Church bought it.  The ward has a whole bunch of American ex-pats, and we spent the majority of the time with a whole bunch of American kids in nursery with Liam.  Everett went to English-speaking primary, and later reported that it was his favorite part of our visit to Prague.

We also visited Prague castle, which is the largest castle in the world.  It was MASSIVE, and we only spent a couple of hours up there and didn't even get to see 1/10th of the place.  The cathedral dominates the scene up there, and it is totally Gothic.  This is where royalty, including Czech royalty and the Habsburgs spent their time.  It was spectacular!  The view of the city below is marvelous, but as the pictures show, there is certainly enough to see up on the top of this hill.  Pushing the double-stroller up the long cobblestone road was well worth it.

These pictures below do not capture how flippin' cold it was on this day!

Delaine and the boys in front of the LDS meetinghouse

Liam and the Everett squaring off in front of a random old door we found.

Liam loves rice... he ate almost this whole plate, while Mommy and Daddy ate local fare... Everett ate french fries.

Liam and Daddy in front of the city of 100 spires

Mommy and Prague (can you see the Czech blood coursing through her veins?  She really does have a lot of family connections to CZ)

Liam and Mommy tried to make this guy laugh to no avail

One of the Gothic statues overhanging the cathedral on the castle grounds

Liam walked around this circle several times before moving on to the next thing.

There is not a set of stairs in this world that Liam will not attempt to climb

Another angle on this gorgeous city!