Lennon's Wall

Prague Prague Prague...I've been there 5 times now and STILL can't get enough of that city.  This time we spent a few minutes tracking down the John Lennon Wall...Yep...he's got his own wall in Prague.

 
That's Christina and Matt adding a little something...

From Wikipedia one learns that the wall was a source of irritation to the communist regime as those crazy Czech youngsters would write grievances and western themed poems of love and peace...which eventually led to a clash between the students and the police on the nearby St. Charles Bridge. 

WOW...for just a peak behind the iron curtain....

Regardless...the wall is still there and continuously painted, decorated and adorned with anything and everything...much of it still centered around John Lennon.

And so I got out my pen and wrote a little thought right on the rainbow vomit of the unicorn.  Yep....apparently thats a significant symbol of love and peace.  :)

And then John took the pen and decided to add a little something too...

Oooops...going to have to get closer...

Closer...

Still not quite there...

Ok...still can't see it!?

Hey! There we are...memorialized forever on the Lennon Wall. Its only appropriate since Prague is my favorite city in all of Europe so far...

Now sing this song to yourself and lets be thankful for freedom....just a little suggestion for the day...

Imagine there's no Heaven   It's easy if you try   No hell below us   Above us only sky

Imagine all the people   Living for today

Imagine there's no countries   It isn't hard to do   Nothing to kill or die for   And no religion too

Imagine all the people   Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer   But I'm not the only one   I hope someday you'll join us   And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions   I wonder if you can   No need for greed or hunger   A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people   Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer   But I'm not the only one   I hope someday you'll join us   And the world will live as one Read More...

Just keep swimming...

Bella and I decided we were going SWIMMING!  So, we asked our neighbor and her daughter to join us and headed out to the Weiden Schwimmbad to spend a few hours in the pool. 

Here is what I LOVE about German swimming pools.

1.  Kids don't pay until they are 6 years old.

2.  There are always multiple pools (lap pool, kids pool, non-swimmer pool, wave pool, lazy river pool, pools with waterfalls, hottubs, etc.)

3. They have fun slides...like the enclosed tube slides as well as regular slides.

4.  They are just the right temperature.

5.  They have chairs deckside that you can lounge in and even tan under sunlights if you want.

6.  They are always connected to a spa.

Its like a bigAmerican waterpark only its not crowded beyond belief because just about every good sized town has one.  I love it so much that I think the USA should adopt the German schwimmbad plan.

Anywho...we took a few photos from our fun few hours at the pool that I can't resist posting...The other two in the photos are our neighbor, Kim and her daughter Alyssa. 

Alyssa just turned 4 and her and Bella have become good friends...In fact they regularly call each other "best friends" (which I love because these two girls are so cute together!)

    

Awww...Bella's first "best friend."

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Oh blog...I've missed you!

Its true...I really have missed blogging for the past few weeks.  It has been such a whirlwind of "getting used to" things again with a man in the house that blogging was sadly, but necessarily put aside for a little bit. 

However, life at the Larson household did not get put on hold...It's highly focused and concentrated on the man in the house...as it should be.  We went a whole year without him and now we can barely get enough of this mug...

Or another favorite...we call this one the one-eyed snarl.  Except when he starts talking like a pirate...(its a little strange, but we are giving him some leeway since he just got back from a war zone.  ha ha ha)

Or the pouty one when he doesn't get his way...

 Or silly daddy when playing with the kids...both Maddie and Bella can copy this face perfectly.

And, of course, my favorite...the big smile...what I can never tire of seeing.

He's such a camera ham...

More Larson adventures on the way...dentist trips, castles, medieval towns, swimming, birthday parties...see...?  Aren't you excited now?

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Just for you...

MWAH!

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Space A Part 5 - The End.

Well, this was promised as the "good part" of our trip...and I think that is best shown in photos....so enjoy...

Jenna's gluten free chocolate muffins.  YUMMY.

She learned to PEDAL!!!

Cousin snuggles

Her first violin

Seeing Eric!

...and Xander's play...

Walks on Sunday before church...

Running around the National Mall...

Tongues Out!

FDR Memorial...(my favorite!)

Sunsets...

Cherry blossoms...

Baby ducks...

Hangin' out with George...(Mason, that is...)

...and Mr. Jefferson.

Refusing to take even one step closer to the Capitol

Dinner!  Day family style!

The Easter Bunny...

Easter dresses...

Awesome cousin pics...

And a REALLY comfortable airplane ride home.  :)

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Kid's Day!

Maddie is quite the little writer.  I plan on taking full credit for it because I require her to write essays when she gets in trouble (for those of you who know my mother...and I her daughter or WHAT?!)  So, yeah...Maddie is a good writer.  And creative.  She writes in her journal daily...she makes up songs...she's really quite a storyteller.

A couple of months ago her teacher asked all the kids to invent a holiday.  They had to write a persuasive paper about the holiday and read it in front of the class.  The kids were then allowed to vote on whose holiday was the "best holiday" based on the persuasive paper. 

Maddie chose a holiday and named it Kid's Day.  She read it to her class and WON!  Woohoo! 

I won't spoil it before you get to read Maddie's persuasive paper...

KIDS DAY
By Madeline Larson


Hey! There's a holiday that I'm dying to tell you about! It's called Kids' Day! Its August 1st because celebrating on a warm summer day sounds so fun, and we can celebrate on the beach. We kids hardly get noticed with all that homework so we much get a time to get noticed!


Our colors should be purple, pink, red and blue. We should have these colors because a lot of girls like purple and pink a lot of boys like blue and red! Don't you think? Also boys are like all cool and hip so I choose a skull and cross bone for a symbol. Oh, wear your pajamas.Who wantst o get dressed in the morning? I don't like it! That's why I chose the comfortable source of clothes, pajamas!


When we see each other the girls should say "Hi!" and the boys should say "What's up?" Most kids say that so, those are the greetings. Raise your hand if you like sweets. People who are raising your hand get ready to feel the thunder! We'll eat candy, cupcakes, chocolate and fruit. We'Il drink Sprite, Fanta, and all sorts of soda. Even better, the smells are cookies, brownies, and cakes baking! We'll eat the cakes, cookies, and brownies when their done baking. I chose those becauseI only know one person who doesn't like sweets.


Well, the traditions are popular kid doings. We'll draw, talk, dance, read, play, and, EAT! We'll tell stories of our life and family. You should hear the story of "The Grape Flavored Ice Cream." It is so funny! Now who wants to start baking?



So, on April 1st her entire class went to school in their pajamas and played games and ate junk food pretty much the entire day.  No schoolwork, no homework.  It was play all day.

Bella and I took in some "ants on a log" and frosted brownies right before lunch/recess so the kids wouldn't have a lack of suger to keep their energy going all day long.  We got there just as the kids were eating...Here is what Maddie looked like..

Can you see the crazed sugar look?  The pouch of her belly from all the food she'd eaten?  She told me, "Mom...you didn't tell me I couldn't have as much as I wanted so I pretty much ate treats all day long."  Her little friend pipes up...."Yeah...we were amazed at how many brownies Maddie can eat!"

So, I had to put up the stop sign...allotted her 2 more treats in the afternoon, but as many "ants on a log" that she wanted.

Crazy kid...when she got home she said she ate about 15 "ants on a log."

Not surprising...she had a bellyache that night...

But isn't that what kid's day is all about?! Read More...

Happy 9th Birthday Maddie!

Oh what a day!  And now its officially over since I'm posting this blog at 12:07AM!

Maddie turned 9 today!  She has been sosososososososososo excited for this birthday.  She has decided that at 9 she is finally a "grown up lady."  My oh my...I've got a grown up lady on my hands now.

We started the day out much like we normally do...getting up late...eating breakfast late and then rushing Maddie out the door to make it to school before the second bell rings...

Of course on one's birthday you must stop to pose for a "rainy birthday" photo...  Please note the awesome "Today is my birthday" sign I made for her and she was so excited to wear... (I love those ages where kids WANT that kind of attention.)  Also please note the rockin' outfit.  Maddie's art teacher told me once that Maddie dresses the way she creates...I totally see that.

Now that the birthday girl was off to school I donned my working clothes and got straight to work on one of her presents.  I painted and decorated her room... FINALLY.

The finished product turned out simply adorable.  She wants to paint a sunshine and some bumblebees as the finishing touches.

Now that the room is done it was time to bake the cake.  I nearly had to call FEMA considering the disaster that I ended up with.  Maddie wanted strawberry cake with strawberry frosting and strawberries and sprinkles on top.  Is your mouth watering?  (yeah...mine's not either...UGH.) 

So...I cook the dang cake and it literally falls apart on me.  So I glued it back together with frosting.  Then the strawberry fell apart and I glued it back together with frosting then I just covered the whole lumpy mess with strawberries and sprinkles. 

It was a hit.  (Again...thank goodness for nine year old simplistic desires...)

We had a party for our "extended family" that we have come to love and adore while being here in Vilseck while our soldiers have been deployed.  They all came over and helped us devour the entire cake...yes, I'm serious.  The entire cake was G.O.N.E.  And then Maddie opened some presents...

Now for the really fun part of the party...  We'll call him "A" for short.  He's the little boy that Maddie has had a crush on since the first day she met him in September at soccer practice.  She's liked him the entire year.  And if there is any boy a mother would LOVE for her daughter to crush on...this kid is it.  He's so incredibly sweet and funny and he adores both Maddie and Bella...  Do you see that grin on Maddie's face...thats the face of 3rd grade true love.

And he plays dressup.  In fact...this kid will be an actor someday.  He was so funny.  Maddie can't even do her poses she was laughing so hard at him...

And the best thing of all...  He spent the entire weekend working on a present for Maddie.  It was this giant card...

Some candy, some blank poster paper for art projects and two dollars...  Yep...two dollars...the greatest two dollars ever.

Does it get ANY cuter?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND I LOVE YOU MADELISHIOUS!

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