Family pix

Passing the summer by...

How are we spending our summer? Lots and lots of playing, of course! It's not too hot yet, so we are getting outside plenty. When it's steamy we turn on the sprinkler and cool off quickly (our water is super cold!!)

Cora attended "Silly, slimy science camp" at preschool this week and had a ball. Since most experiments were done in the classroom, she painted pictures of what she did and learned. Her favorite was making extoplasmic gunk (a purple slime) and a volcano that erupted. She watched eggs hatch and played with magnets and planted seeds, too. 

While Cora was at camp, Emi got busy reading her Highlights magazines (and stubbornly working on potty training)

Happy 4 months, Louisa!

And already sitting up in chair and smiling and teething, I think! She is rolling over and babbling constantly. She's 16 lb 2 oz and 25.5 inches tall, both 90th percentile...

Not so sure about these big sisters...

Fun at Cox park

Still trying to figure out the best time of day to go to the park here, it's so stinking hot already!

 Playing with Caroline

Happy Father's Day!

Back from Kraków

After a week away, Greg has safely returned and overall had a fantastic time... when he wasn't in meetings, which were supposed to begin on Wednesday, but were postponed until Thursday at the last minute... Thus, the one day he had planned to prepare and sight see turned into two days (darn the luck)...

The trip east was marred by a delayed flight, a sprint across Newark's Airport (apparently the exact same pedestrians that will run you over on the streets of Manhattan go to Newark Airport to stroll / catch their breath / take in the sights / get in the way and slow down anyone moving with a purpose), and lost (the found) luggage... 

Truthfully, Lufthansa did a great job saving the trip... Yes, apparently the term "German Hospitality" can be used seriously (i.e. not just the punch line of a joke)... They smiled (and not just when Greg couldn't figure out how to use the TV and tray table), and served food and drink until asked to stop...

And so, the following was seen over the course of a few hours touring over two days (luckily the hotel was close to everything) in addition to some successful nights eating out...

Even though St Mary's Basilica, where Karl Wojtyla (the future Pope John Paul II) was once a priest (from 1953-1958), is just one of about 130 churches in Kraków, it is the most recognizable and can be seen from nearly everywhere in the city.

From the taller of the two towers (AKA: the "bugle-call tower") a bugler has played daily for approximate 600 years warning of fire, the approach of the enemy, the changing of the hour, and to let everyone know it's getting dark... His call is directed to the four cardinal points of the compass and it ends abruptly.  Legend has it that during one of the many Tartar invasions, the guard who saw the approaching enemy sounded the alarm - the bugle call.  Unfortunately for him, in order to cease the alarm, one of the Tartars hit him with an arrow (apparently the were ridiculous shots) and the alarm stopped abruptly (by implication, there was no incentive for anyone else to take the watch and continue to sound the alarm).

Although the outside of the basilica is quite impressive, there was nothing to suggest how incredible the inside would be...

Next time you see a state mass, think how uncomfortable chairs like these must be...

Proof that Greg was there...

The square the the church overlooks in the largest of it's kind in Europe... with a ton of restaurants offering fantastic food and beer...

 Taken from one of those establishments...

Although it rained the first day, the rest were perfect days...

One of the disgustingly large amount of pigeons in Kraków... they bring a Piazza San Marco flare to the city...

 The "old town" of Krakow was once surrounded by protective fortifications that were order dismantled during the Austrian occupation (1795-1918).  In its place now stands a beautiful green belt / park with one exception.  The northern gate (AKA: the Florian Gate) was considered the most vulnerable portion of the defense (the castle was to the south and marshland and other natural obstacles surrounded the rest if the city), therefore a barbican was constructed as an outer gate / entry control point.  This is one of the last and best preserved (according to the sign) barbican's in Europe.  It's modern day existence is owned to a city citizen who argued to the Austrians that dismantling the northern fortifications would allow northern winds to blow unobstructed through the city, increasing the spread of disease amongst the women and children inhabitancy... It would have been great fun to of been at the pub the night the Austrian occupies bought off on that one!

  The Florian Gate...

 Once used as the barracks for Austrian occupation forces, the private citizens of Poland have been restoring the castle in Kraków(Wawel Castle) to its former glory... 

The royal private residence

To the south, the castle overlooks the Vistula River...

 The Cathedral...

Sandomierska Tower

A little old fashion bribery so the girls are trained to be happy when their father returns...

VBS closing program

 Emi makes a stained glass window

 Cora's the loudest singer, as always

 Getting harnessed up to climb rock wall

 Seriously, she is FOUR

She made it a couple of feet off the ground, not bad! 

Sister shot

When daddy's away...

We'll play and try to stay sane! Greg's in Poland for almost a week and it's our first time alone "just the girls" for an extended period. And it's exhausting... thankfully we have VBS this week, which Cora is loving and a few appointments to fill the time :) A bonus is we can work on Father's Day gifts out in the open...

 We got out the globe and found where Poland is located

practicing our spaghetti eating

(clearly we need lots of practice!)

I see freckles!!!

just a few on her nose...