A Boy's Dream: Excavator Shovel

We find the most interesting things as we walk around Europe.  For all you concerned with the safety of this depiction, no children were harmed in the making of this photo.  Our boys are fascinated with every piece of machinery, and they are more prone to use the German word Bagger than the English equivalent each time they catch a glimpse of an excavator.  Makes their daddy proud.

Spiderman Everett and Indoor Rock Climbing Day

 Okay, Everett is oftentimes shy by nature.  He does not generally like to try new things (think about food, etc.).  But at the same time, he is relatively competitive, and likes to win.  Needless to say, we were surprised that Everett decided to climb like Spiderman, when we strapped him up and told him to climb to the ceiling of a large industrial building that was converted into an indoor climbing hall.  We had to coax him up the first wall, but when we told him that he would get to race mommy up the second wall, which was significantly higher, he just scaled up the wall without any major problems.  We went with the Griell family from the ward, and we had so much fun.  Everett and Liam played with Aurelia and Timo, and everybody got a chance to climb the walls except for Tabea, who was recovering from an injury.  It was a first for Steve and Delaine, and it was a lot of fun for us all.  Liam climbed a little bit, but he was mostly interested in throwing the rocks that he found in the various planters around the facility.  They also had a kids reading and playing area with books and toys, so he was in his bliss.  What a fun day!  Thanks to the Griells for suggesting that we try out something new!

Everett on his first attempt

And up he goes!

Don't look down!

He was so high that we couldn't get the ground in the photo!

Daddy's turn

C'mon, it is harder than it looks!

Oh, yeah, Daddy, let me show you how it is done!

Finding the right handhold is not the easiest thing in the world!

Once we got him going, Everett had to climb everything in sight!

This one made Daddy's hands and fingers really tired!

Definitely not his best angle... How are those thighs feeling?

And they're off!

You might not be able to tell, but this wall is almost twice as high as the first one.  Everett was a stupendous climber!

And Everett reaches the  very top of the wall!

Check this pair of climbers out!  We both did it, yay!

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.