Houstons, Hockey, and Hellraising!

I'm going back a few weeks because I've been lazy about internetting. The Houstons arrived, a day late and short a computer. Fortunately the computer was recovered after a painfully confusing and tragically comical romp around unexplored parts of the city. Jesse, sported cowboy boots and big belt buckles, and Annie didnt sport her red vest which she is now wearing all the time again, since she has returned to Vermont. The visit was great. Like seeing family which feels like getting a really good hug that lasts for the duration of the visit.

Annie and I visited Kutna Hora and the famous Ossuary which is shocking and cool. We went to a breakdancing competition, Annie head banged at Vagon to Nirvana and Rage (I was glad to take her there since that rock club has been a special part of my Prague experience, having left my right hand tattooed forever from a broken pint glass, don't tell my mom that one). Where was I? We saw Sparta clinch the first round series against Zlin. We watched many episodes of Arrested Development. Drank too much Bekerovka and decided to call Kelsey (fortunately she didn't pick up because that would have been an expensive one). All in all, an exceptional visit.

The update on the hockey: Sparta is currently up 3-1 in the semifinal series against Liberec, the number one ranked team. The game last night was great. So far in the playoffs, I've been to every home game except one, and they haven't lost any of them. Pardubice is winning 2-0 in the series against Cesky Budjovice and I think they are going to be a tough team to face in the finals should it pan out that way.

This past week was the mountain trip with the preschoolers. It is just like camp except theres a lot more crying and wiping little butts. We got dumped on with snow so I had a blast building a snowball fort with the kids, skiing, sledding, teacher snow ball fights, etc. Not a moment of privacy the whole week, I mean you can't even poop without a four year old walking in to ask you if they can have a bon-bon or if you've seen their blue transformer. Honzik, my favorite, broke my heart with his homesickness. The poor kid really wanted to play Legos with his dad. Who can blame him? There was a lot of Prsi, which is a great Czech card game that is just simple enough for the older kids to understand and yet just complicated enough to keep the interest of the teachers. There were episodes of Pee-Wee's Playhouse, Neverending Story, Cars and Bionicle 3, which wasnt as good as we thought it was going to be. The evenings were spent drinking beers and shooting the breeze until we couldnt stand it any longer and had to go to sleep.

It was a great week and now I'm back to life as usual. It won't last long however. I'm picking Laura up at the airport on Saturday. In two weeks, I'll be in Poland. Life ain't so bad.

Ahoy.