Thanksgiving Dinner

We woke up this morning to Owen pointing out the window.  It was snowing and the boys were really excited!  They went out with Brian to throw snowballs at each other - very wet snowballs!  After drying out, we went to Devin to a Birthday party for a boy in Hayden's class.  It was really nice, with lots of home-made Gourmet food, and the boys all played great together.  We had to leave early though since we were going to the Crowne Plaza to eat Thanksgiving Dinner!


So that Brian and I could both enjoy some wine, we decided to take the tram.  There is a zero tolerance policy in Europe.  The boys - Owen, Hayden, and Eidyn - loved the tram ride!  The restaurant was rearranged to have a set of couches while a slingbox-ed football game was played.  The kids are also had Thanksgiving Charlie Brown on their own TV and I printed out a bunch of Thanksgiving activity and coloring pages for them to do.  There were about 40 adults and 25 kids - it was a great idea because it got very popular in a short time - it wasn't really even planned until a week and a half before!  We started off listening to live piano music while enjoying wine, beer, sodas, juices & egg nogs.

Seating was at large tables filled with about 3 families each.  First we all received soup - Chestnut Soup - Delicious!!!  Then each table was served their own turkey and side dishes to carve and pass.  After the kids all ate, they were able to go back to the kids area and color, play with toys, & watch the TV programs - this meant nice dinner for the adults!

After enjoying dinner, we had some mingling time and got to talk more to some of the adults that we had met.  Then, it was time for the dessert bar!  There was pumpkin pie, pecan pie, pumpkin & pecan pie, and ice cream.  My favorite though, was the pumpkin cheese cake that my friend Jeannine made - it was Excellent!

After many hours of eating and drinking, we got our coats on and rode the tram back home.  Brian had a lot of beer, and we both had way too much food - so we were a bit uncomfortable through the night!  Even had to open up the Tums.  But, it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without distended stomachs!

It was so very nice to be able to share a table and spend a wonderful evening with our friends.  I'm so glad that they are in Bratislava!

Here is a link to all of the pictures from the night: Facebook Pictures

Thanksgiving Day Baby Shower

We had a baby shower today for one of the moms in the 5 year old class (Andrea, Milan's mom).  Her due date is the 27th of December - same birthday as Hayden - we'll see if that is when he comes.  None of the other moms had ever done a Baby Shower before.  It is not something that is done here in Slovakia either - I couldn't find anything with baby themes - no decorations, no wrapping paper even!

Since Andrea is tired and busy with her 5 year old's birthday this week, she almost didn't come.  Christina (Eidyn's mom) had to convince her - after some talk and promises that it wouldn't be long, she decided to come.  She was very surprised!

Christina brought food that she "stayed up working all night on" - actually it was from the hotel.  So we really had a beautifully catered affair!

I found some dark blue (no light blue anywhere) crepe paper rolls and some white, so we cut those and made streamers.  And, we hung balloons (multi-colored available only) up in strings.  I also found some blue flower plates and napkins that we were able to use.  Even with only 7 people total, we ran out of mugs and forks, and had to use plastic kid cups for our cold drinks.  We really need to go to Ikea for some glasses and maybe one more set of silverware.  I did hear that Ikea also has small Christmas trees, so maybe we'll go there on Sunday.

White Chocolate Cake
with Layers of Cream - Mmmmm

For games, we didn't have time for a lot, but I was able to find some marshmallow candy that looked like pacifiers.  I used some blue string to make necklaces from them and we played the "baby" word game for the whole party.  If you heard someone say "baby" you got to take their necklaces - the one with the most at the end was the winner.  I also filled a bottle with mentos and had everyone guess how many.

It was nice for everyone to be able to get together and talk.  And also for everyone else to see what a "Baby Shower" is.  We also talked about all of the different beliefs for kids at Christmas - there are a lot of them!  Two of our moms may be leaving at the end of the year, so we also were able to have a good time with them before they have to leave.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  We'll post pictures of ours from Saturday.

Facebook Pictures:  http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5708891&l=addfbfdc07&id=518481164

Slovak Theatre & Russian Ballet

This morning, we went to the Slovak National Theatre to meet a guy that works with Brian.  It was an open house day and the man that works with Brian has a son (Mate, 11 years old) that is in a play - so we got to see his stage, his dressing room, etc.  The whole building is new and very nice.

This is the stage that his play will be on.  There are several in the building.  They had people from the play performing small songs, skits, etc.  Then they let people walk back-stage to see how it all works.

Before they let everyone backstage though, we got to go back by ourselves, and the kids got to jump on some trampolines that are used in the play.  The three kids with Owen and Hayden are all in the play.  If you look closely, you'll be able to see Mate climbing the tree (he's wearing green and is climbing up the back).  The three kids get to do several different costume changes and have one whole dressing room to themselves.  The dressing rooms were complete with shower room, bathroom, and mirrors - very spacious and nice.

We then went to see a man reading fairy tales.  While he read, an artist painted in a tray of sand which was projected up for all to see.  We couldn't understand the words, but it was still very nice to be included in this neat Slovak tradition.



After letting the boys get their pictures taken in the large polar bear (above), we all went across the street to the Eurovea mall and had lunch together at the food court.  It was so nice of them to include us in their day!  I just wish Hayden hadn't misbehaved all the way through lunch!!

The next activity for the afternoon was to see the Russian Ballet perform The Nutcracker.  After leaving the nice Slovak Theatre, we drove up to the old Istropolis Building.  This used to be a very large theatre. It still has a theatre in it, but is now used as a cinema too and also has businesses all around it in the building.  Some of the Slovak moms at school have said that the Russian Ballet is playing there as a statement - this building was built during the reign of communism.  Very interesting....I tend to agree with them after seeing the facility - especially after seeing the wonderful new Slovak National Theatre.

We went in and found our seats.   They actually didn't sell very many tickets - there were a lot of seats open.  But, it was a matinee at 2:00 pm.  The set wasn't as good as I imagined it would be either.  I am guessing it is because this show is only seasonal, because we've heard that their other performances of Swan Lake, etc. were phenomenal.  Anyway - I'm not complaining - we only paid 14 euro each and got to see the Real Russian Ballet in an Old Communist Building in Eastern Europe.  And, the boys can grow up and appreciate it later.  :)

Since I wasn't sure about intermission or anything else really, we bought a program.  It was all written in German!  (Not sure if that was another statement or just cost savings...)  And, I hadn't brought in any food, but they were selling food and drinks there - so we also bought two sodas to share during the performance.  I did actually need a bit of caffeine...  They also never checked for cameras, etc - so we've even got some video of the show during the scene with the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies.  I'll load it on Facebook for everyone.

Pictures:  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=256649&id=518481164&l=a4c50d982b

Cement Plant Tour

Kiln at Cement Plant

We got to tour a cement plant today with the Boy Scouts - Excellent!  One of the dads works at the plant and gave us all a very good tour with Control Room, Plant, Quarry, and even snacks and gift bags.

We first went in for a Safety Discussion.  They showed slides and asked the kids to identify what was wrong.

We then got all of our safety equipment on (PPE to those of you in the US) and headed outside to see the big equipment.  The kids all held onto a knotted rope to keep them together during the tour.

Conveyors from Quarry on the right

After the limestone is blasted, it rides conveyors down to the plant.  Two kinds of cement are produced here - white and grey (regular).  The white is special and used in architectural applications.  They then melt it in 1400 C, slightly inclined, rotating, brick-lined kilns (shown in the top picture).  At the end of the kiln, there are tubes with special designs that break up the flow and make the klinkers (like little marble type chunks).

We also got to see mills, preheaters, filter bag houses, etc.  The control is all done via PLC (Siemens & Allen Bradley) - yes, I am a nerd and asked.  I wanted to ask a lot more questions, but since it was a tour for the kids, I restrained myself.

Next we rode up the elevator to the platform to see the view of the town & the plant.  We were 120 meters high.

After a pit-stop for the kids, we boarded a bus (not a plant bus either - a really nice rented tour bus) and made our way out to see the quarry.

After driving around to see the quarry levels, we stopped and all walked up to the area near where the trucks dump their loads so that the rocks can make it down the conveyors to the plant.  Here, the kids were treated to an extra special surprise...

They each got a ride in the 60 ton dump trucks!  With three kids per truck, they got to drive down into the quarry, get loaded, drive back and dump the load.  

Very Cool!!!  

(One other note - this picture was taken at just after 4:30 pm.
It is getting dark earlier here too.)

We then went back to turn in our Safety Equipment and were all given gift bags with shirts, hats, pens, stickers, balloons, etc.  This was such a good tour.  And, all of the walls had pictures of their work with children, their town days, and community service.  

One other thing I noticed was that there were actually working restrooms for the women that were the same size as the ones for the men!  (Just one thing a lot of old plants tend to not have.  I know.)
One thing Brian noticed was that farther away at the quarry, the walls of the shop were plastered with large girly photos.  (Just one thing a lot of old plants tend to have.  And Brian tends to notice.)

I'm hoping that while we're here, Brian's plant will get to give a tour to the group.  We'll just have to wait and see what the rules are.

Sonnentherme Water Park

Outdoor Thermal Pool & Tower with Slides

It was a Slovak Holiday on Wednesday, so we went to Austria for some fun!  We drove through the countryside past many, many vineyards and through many small towns.  After about 1 hour and 40 minutes, we arrived in Lutzmannsburg.  Since I am Geographically Challenged, here is the wiki link with map.  It is basically on the border of Austria and Hungary.

Kids Pools & Smaller Slides

The reason we went there is to visit a water park.  It's name is Sonnentherme.  It was very amazing!  We went in and got our bracelets then proceded to the locker room.  In the locker room, there were shower rooms, changing rooms, a kid play area, hair dryers, bathrooms, and lots of lockers to keep your stuff in.  There was even an elevator ("lift") to get your strollers down to the locker room and then back upstairs, nursing stations, pool specifically for babies, etc.  It is totally made for families and kids.  So, we got a locker and changed, then went upstairs to check out the pools. 

There was tons of seating - with really nice reclining lounge chairs.  Hardly any people were there (especially after lunch when nap time hit), so it was really great!

Bridge to Jump From &
1 Indoor Slide (in background)

The slides were incredible!  For two of them, there was an elevator to ride up (see above picture), then they come twisting down the outside of the elevator tower back down inside.  One was fast & one was slower with a dark part that had a special light show and stars.  There were also two slides inside that were long and twisting.  Then there were smaller slides for smaller kids too.  The outdoor pool was thermal, so you can swim all year round - it was really nice and warm (with no sulfur smell).

Outdoor Thermal Pool

The biggest difference between here and the states was the complete lack of life guards or people to monitor slide lines, etc.  I think that we saw maybe two employees the whole time.  The only other time there were "official employees" in the pool area were to accompany a large Bunny that sang & danced for the kids.  You also never have to sign any waivers....  Much different perspective.  I'm just glad that both kids can swim well so I didn't feel too nervous!

One major bonus for Brian was when we were leaving.  Walking back down to the locker rooms, I thought that maybe I had made a mistake and gone into a Men's room.  There was a man (thankfully with his back to me) changing out of his suit and into his clothes.  Mind you that there are many, many changing rooms (complete with hooks, seats, and mirrors and doors) only a few feet away.  And, OF COURSE, he and his family were in the two lockers next to our locker!  So, Brian and Owen went to change and then when they got back, Hayden and I went to change.  While Hayden and I were in the changing rooms, the lady of the family proceded to change out of her suit and then into clothes right next to Owen and Brian - who by this time were sitting nicely on the bench waiting for us, facing directly toward the locker and this woman.  Goodness!   (Note NO PICTURES with this paragraph.  But, you can find a "nice" picture of the Bunny singing on Facebook.)

Movie Night with the Neighbors

Since Wednesday is a Slovak Holiday (their Independence Day), we had the neighbors over for a movie night on Tuesday night.  We ordered pizza and watched Star Wars # 2.  Owen's friend, Alex, hadn't seen them all so they were all excited!  

Ordering pizza was an experience.  I ordered on the internet, so it wasn't too bad.  The driver didn't speak much English though (good thing Kala was here when he called!) and it took about 1 hour to get it - good thing we had chicken nuggets to supplement for the kids.  But, it was good pizza and should be easier next time.

It was very nice to get to spend some more time with our neighbors (or maybe I should say "neighbours.")  We're planning to go to the Christmas Market in Bratislava with them one evening.  We'll try for a sitter and just us adults will go!  Looking forward to it!

And, because we had such fun, we're planning to have a couple more movie nights with "Traditional" American Christmas movies.  I realized after I told them that, they may be thinking of "every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings."  But in the Sapp house, the "traditional" movies are:  Christmas Vacation, Elf, and A Christmas Story.  Hmmmm, hope they'll still want to hang out with us after those!

Hainburg Castle, Christmas Market Set-up

Started off with the weekend with a Beautiful Sunrise (even though the trash truck still came at 6:30)!

View out of our bedroom window

Went downtown to check out the Oxford Bookstore.  They carry English books and the school gave us a 15% off coupon.  The coupon helps a lot because all books are marked up significantly.  The market stalls all around the downtown area are being set up for the Christmas Markets.  They were even working on lighting for the Christmas Tree.  Of course, there were people standing in it and not tied-off.  There is no OSHA here!!  Supposedly the Christmas Markets are wonderful sights and great times...and Vienna is supposed to be "magical."  So - keep following and we'll find out together!

We also visited the Hainburg Castle.  Hainburg is a little town in Austria a few minutes away.  Last time Brian went up, there was a festival at the castle.  This time, it was a bit windy, but it was great exercise (steep walk up to it).  And, like every castle so far, it is really hard to imagine how it is still standing and how the people used to live.  We all like exploring the tunnels and stones and abandoned areas.  I can't wait to see the ruins in Rome some day.  I'll post all of the pictures on Facebook.

Seoul Plaza

This morning, a couple of the moms from the 5 year old class that I had eaten lunch with on Tuesday, picked me up and took me with them to Seoul Plaza.  It is one of the few Korean food stores in Bratislava. Not only do they have Korean food, they have Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and Mexican.  They also have a few British items and a few American items.  In American foods they had M&Ms, Reece's Pieces, Nerds, and also cake mixes and cans of frosting.  All very healthy.

I bought a surprise for Brian - a Betty Crocker Brownie Mix with Hershey's Chocolate and Peanut Butter Chips.  And I did get 2 cans off of the clearance rack of Cherry Dr. Pepper.  Already put them in the fridge to cool for the weekend.  (And, yes of course, I checked out the clearance rack!)


I'll definitely have to go back when we want to make sushi or Indian.  They also had fresh hot peppers & even Thai peppers.

We rode the tram back home.  It was the farthest I have ever ridden.  It only cost me 70 cents and took about 35 minutes.  We also passed several places that the other moms and teachers had told me about.  And, the mom that I was with, lives right by me and is teaching me about the trains and buses - she knows how to get a lot of places that I thought were too far.  I have several places I want to try to go tomorrow or next week (probably both).

I saw several fabric stores on the trip home - don't need any more, but was good to see.  And, I still have to decide if to plug in my machine....   The other thing I need to find is the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid that came out yesterday.  Owen asked me if I could order it because he didn't want it in Slovak.  I told him that there were 2 bookstores we could check for the English version.  We'll see - we may have to end up ordering it - may try amazon.co.uk.

Funny item of note:  on the website for American Food delivery in the UK (http://www.americanfooduk.co.uk/) the #6 of the Top 10 is Candy Corn.  I also ask you to note the wonderful healthy-ness of all of the Top 10.  And, then I note what I picked to bring home - soda and brownies.  Hmmmm....

Coffee, Biofarma & Bibimbob

Prasa

After the moms of the 5 year olds dropped their kids at school, they came over for coffee.  It was very nice to get to see them again and talk to them a bit more.  We only stayed here for about 25 minutes total though since we had to get back to school to follow the kids to their field trip.

The weather today was much nicer.  It rained all day yesterday, so the ground was a bit muddy and sloppy, but at least there was no rain falling on us!  We drove for about 1/2 hour to a place in the country called Biofarma Priroda.  It was a medium sized farm where they had pigs, geese, goats, horses, donkey, chickens, cats, a dog that herded the goats, a guinea pig, and a hamster.  There were supposedly sheep, but they were out pasturing farther than we could walk all of the 4 & 5 year olds.  We got to feed the animals too, but the goats were mean.  One of them even ran up to a mom and butted her in the back when she had just been standing still.  I'm just glad they didn't get any of the kids - they were all right at eye-level with the horns.  We did get to see them milking the goats - they make cheeses and other foods from the milk.  There is also a restaurant on the farm.  After feeding the animals, the kids played on the playground for a bit.  At noon, the kids got back on the bus and headed back to school.

Then us moms went to a nice Korean restaurant together for lunch - Yay!  We went to Meahwa which is a Korean and Japanese restaurant.  Most of the moms were Korean (besides me, a Hungarian mom, and a Japanese mom) so they helped us get some traditional Korean foods.  We all had a brown tea that is made with brown rice and green tea.  The meal I got was Bibimbob.  It was a stone bowl that is extremely hot and is served with rice, vegetables, beef slices, and an egg on top.  You then mix in the amount of spice you want and stir.  It cooks in the hot bowl.  It was very good!  There was also sushi, miso soup, a korean oyster soup, and some appetizers.  After our meal, we had a cold tea that was cinnamon flavored and very sweet.   It was all great and looked so pretty!

We made it home just in time to get the kids!  It was such a good time, we're planning on getting together again before Christmas.

PS - The boys and I are now official Slovak Residents as of yesterday.  We have official passport pages and all!

PPS - Sorry about the blurry pictures - my battery was almost gone, so I was in a big hurry to snap a few and ended up moving too much!

Bouncing & Bribes

Owen Birthing Hayden from a
Rather Disturbing "Caterpillar"

Today we went to Trampolino.  It is a giant play area with trampolines, jumping tents, etc for kids.  It was great fun and we met some school people there.  Eidyn, from Hayden's class & his family; Emily from Owen's class & her family; and Irina from my Slovak class & her family.  The kids jumped for over 2 hours and even the parents had a good time!

After Trampolino, we drove to Devin to eat outside at a restaurant near the river.  After parking, we went in - but it was packed due to the beautiful weather.  Since it was too busy, we went back to the car.  It was a good thing we did because the Policia were out ticketing everyone.  Apparently we were one of about 40 cars that were parked in a pedestrian only zone.  So, they stopped us and took Brian's passport.  When he came back, he said that the maximum fine was 70 euro and then said the minimum was 10 euro.  To which we said, "Now?"  And he replied, "Yes."  So we gave him 10 euro cash, he gave us two little paper stubs that each say 5 euro, and then we left.  Guess they are going to be making some good cash today!  But, really glad that we went back and were able to do our "payment" in person for less!

Click here for more pictures from our Gourmet Gas Station Dinner, Trampolino, etc.

Sun is Out! Bike is Fixed!

WooooHooo!  

The day here today is BEAUTIFUL!  

The Sun is out, the Wind is gone, and it is around 50 degrees.  My thermometer (which isn't too accurate because it is in the sun, suction cupped to the outside of my door,  AND was only 1 euro) actually says 75 degrees F!  Just Wonderful!

I also picked up my bike today.  It had been damaged in the container during the move.  When I took it in, the guys at the store (2 of which spoke English pretty well) asked me if I was ok.  I had to explain that I wasn't on it when it happened - not sure they really understood.  Maybe they just thought I was tough!!


After picking up my bike, I chose to ride it home on the safer,  Non-Main street.  Of course, it is UPHILL all the way to my house, with 2 very steep ones and then our driveway.  Since I haven't ridden in a couple months (or ever!) they were hard!  But, I managed to stay on the bike and not stop the whole way!  This may not seem like much, but for me it was a lot!  I did end up sweating like crazy though - since it was such a nice day!  And my legs do burn!  But, since the weather is as close to Colorado as I'm probably going to get, it was all worth it!  And, now I can get to school more quickly (maybe) until the snow comes.   I'll just have to look for a way to go & come back ALL downhill.  Is that even possible?!?

Now, off to finish my insurance claim forms for the movers.

Long Time No Post!

It has been a LONG week!  Kids were on break from school, our stuff arrived, went to Austrian mountains, ate REAL Mexican, went to a nice Sunday Brunch and went to another Halloween party!

Our stuff finally arrived!  It didn't seem to take that long for us since Brian came a month ahead of time and we spent that time on the East Coast, so it was great that we only had about one month to wait instead of two.  Our stuff all came crammed into a short shipping container & it was really only about 2/3 full.  We had a bit of damage, but not too much.  My bike had some issues - bent off brake handle and bent front wheel, but all of the others made it ok.  Some pictures were damaged and 2 items from the list didn't make it, but we're filling out the claim forms now.  Our other casualty was our TV... Now I am ready to use my sewing machine, but am too scared to plug it in yet!  Even with big transformers, the electricity rules are more like very loose guidelines.

On the weekend, we went for a drive in Austria.  The mountains were pretty - made us more homesick for Colorado!  And wishing for 4WD!

On the way home, we stopped at a shopping area (SCS - Shopping Center Sud) that was MILES long. They had a real "Toys-R-Us" too.  

Then we plugged in "MEX" into our trusty Tom-Tom and it found us a REAL Mexican Restaurant in Vienna.  Even the locals meeting there were speaking Spanish and there was a real Mexican band with live music!  And, they had Margaritas!!  Wonderful find!  Restaurante Jalisco

On Sunday, we met the Pottingas (family of Hayden's friend Eiden) at the Crowne Plaza downtown for a lovely brunch.  The food was beautiful and delicious and it was really great to get to know them better.  The kids all got to play together as well!  We've made plans to go to the kids jumping area together sometime soon.

Sunday evening, we went to a Halloween party in our little neighborhood.  The Earls - who have a son, Alex, that is 9 & in Boy Scouts, and two daughters - hosted a wonderful party!  It had all kinds of Halloween food and Halloween games!  It was great to get to know them better and meet their friends.  We hope to be able to see them more and invite them over for dinner/drinks.  We even baked witch finger cookies to take - they turned out ok, but the sugar I used looked like powdered sugar, but wasn't sweet, so we added some extra regular sugar.  For our first baking attempt, they were good.  See more pics of the party on the last half of this album.

Last night, we went to the cemetery.  Sounds strange, but was actually very interesting and awe-inspiring.  Wikipedia has some good information on All Saints Day and a better picture than we could get.  It really was beautiful.  There were candles lit on every grave and the whole area was lit and packed with people.  Another really good page (and you'll like her site in general - I have her book) is the one from "A Foreigner's Guide to Slovakia."  I really liked the tradition and it was nice to see that everyone remembered their ancestors.  It also felt nice to be a part of something like this and send out good memories of Gram since I missed her services.  Check out the pictures on Wiki and the other Blog - it really was nice and serene...our picture just doesn't do it justice.