Party in the Park

Sometime late last year, the announcements began.  Those who were repatriating were being notified; those moving to another location were beginning their negotiations and those who were staying were making plans for summer vacation.  It was not a surprise.  It happens in every expat community around the world but that doesn't make it any easier.  But, we still had almost 6 months left to say our goodbyes, to make the most of our times together and to clear our bucket lists, so we put it to the back of our minds and got on with the details of living our lives.

And suddenly, in the blink of an eye, 5 months had passed and we could put it off no longer.  It was time to say goodbye.  And we planned to do it in great fashion. See, we had a group of five families that were moving on in some fashion (2 repatriating, 3 moving to another assignment) and instead of throwing five separate going away parties that would have had the majority of the same people attending, we pooled our resources and planned a party in the park.

So, after weeks of planning, we were joined on a Sunday afternoon in mid-June, by those who had meant so much to us during our time in Prague, to enjoy the view from Letna park, drink some adult beverages, enjoy some traditional Czech pork and tell stories of laughter and friendship.  We were so happy that so many took their time to join us and a special thanks for those of you who braved the downpour in the middle, and yet stayed to celebrate with us.

As I look back now and type this post I smile at each picture, at each memory, each laugh.  It was an incredible way to spend an afternoon, with incredible friends.  I just wish I had more photos to share.  Unfortunately I was busy having fun so the pictures I do have are mostly from the beginning of the party before all of our guests had arrived - and mostly of the kids...And I don't have a single photo of the 5 families together.  I guess we will just have to get together again soon to get that snap...

Our Pot of Gold

Back in April we were at the Mall of Dubai and Stinkerbell saw an advertisement outside of a bakery and stopped in her tracks.  She declared at that moment that this, this was the cake she would have for her birthday party and that the theme would be rainbows.  Who am I to argue?  So I did a bit of research and found that the cake just looked difficult and I could, in fact, do it myself...the invitation she picked, on the other hand, looked simple but took me a lot more time (but they were really cute...)

With the theme and cake decided upon, and the invitations cut and pasted, we just had to decide on the location.  Stinkerbell kept going back and forth between doing a spa party,  a painting party and a "crazy" party at the trampoline park.  But mostly she wanted to have her party at Beckiland like every other kid in Prague (including her sister).  But the site closed late last year.  Thankfully, it opened again, under new management and a new name, Toboga, the month before her party!  Invitations - check.  Cake - check.  Location - check.

Let the Rainbow party commence...

Gift bags - a blank canvas, paint pallets , rainbow Twizzlers and a gold chocolate coin.  Because no rainbow is complete without a pot of gold at its base...

J and Stinkerbell ready to attack all that Toboga has to offer.

A couple of hours into the celebrations we wrangled them to eat...

The food was good but they didn't really want to sit still...so she proved she ate 

And then we sent them off to play again...Until it was time to dig into the cake that started it all...

Pre - frosting.  Layered and ready to go...this monster would take an entire four cans of frosting to cover!  But it was exactly what the birthday girl ordered and that made all of us smile!

We lit the candle.  Or rather the sparkler and her face say it all...

And after singing to her we tried to blow it out, but it was just had to burn itself t

100 Books

This may be one of my favorite pictures ever.  Not because it is perfect or because the lighting is just right or because Stinkerbell looks beautiful (though she does) but because of what it represents.

This is a picture of fierce determination.  Of setting a long term goal and then working hard, sometimes harder than you thought you would have to, and still keeping at it - even on vacations and when you are sick or when it just doesn't sound like much fun.

 It is a picture of pride in oneself and of pure giddiness at achieveing a goal.  A goal that wasn't given to you but set by you.  A goal that may have seemed unachievable just a short time ago.  And a goal that was set with an end date not so far away...

Congratulations Stinkerbell at reading 100 different books titles in just over 118 days.
You Rock!

Communion Photo Shoot

As you know, MadHatter had her first Communion last Sunday (click here to see the pictures).  I knew that the day of the ceremony was going to be hectic and I probably wouldn't have time to take her portraits so a few weeks before the actual ceremony I helped her get dressed, drove her to the church and captured this very important moment in time.  She was so happy to pose for me (I am not kidding when I say that almost all of the poses she thought of herself) and she looked absolutely gorgeous...though I am not sure what happened to the baby girl we baptized seemingly yesterday.
I hope you enjoy them - I know we had a lot of fun together doing them...