Karlova Studanka

So about a week ago mom treated us to a stay in a beautiful place in the heart of Jeseniky called Karlova Studanka. It is a historical small town with healing springs and plenty of beautiful trails criss-crossing the countryside. We spent a week there with Hana's family. The kids really loved the park with a nice trampoline and the adults enjoyed walks in the surrounding forests. Yesterday Aimee and I hiked up to Praded and back, choosing to go up along the creek White Opava which is the main tributary to the river Opava and coming down on the less difficult slope above for a speedy descent. Round trip - 12k in about 8 hours including sandwich and beer and then some more beer time...

Here are a few pics.

the three musketeers

i thought this was a really nice picture. i wonder what they will think when they look at it in 20 years. and where will they be. wherever they may be, i hope life will treat them well. just look at them, how could it not.

konecne pohromade

no i kdyz porad par fanousku ubyva - ondra foti, aimee, mamka a teta jsou mimo, tak alespon 3ti generace je 100-pro reprezentovana

hradec nad moravici

Took a little trip with the sis and her twins - Nico a Emily to a nearby castle. The whole lanik family was present, including my mom and aunt Radka(Kacha). This is one of the most well known and well maintained castles in the vicinity and it is less than 15 minutes from home. We like to come here for strolls. The elders can chill and let the little monsters rip it up. We pray to the gods of sleep that these babies run and play and jump and scream and finally exhaust the last bit of energy which remains in their little bodies. Duracell should figure out how to bottle this stuff.

Finally on GMT plus 2 time

after two years of waiting, we were finally able to take the time and come home to opava. it has been two years since we came home, so we were looking to go home. mom visited last year and dad came this spring, but it is not quite the same.

after a short flight to san francisco, we boarded our flight for frankfurt - there is only one way to get through the flight - hour by hour. thinking you have 10 hours sandwitched between two strangers with no place to move is not very comforting and begs for an appropriate dosage of mind altering drugs. unfortunately none were handy and both my neighbours were quiet and sleeping most of the time. the girls were sitting across the isle in a similar predicament. unfortunately - or fortuantelly really except when i need the miles - i do not fly for work anymore and have lost my pimp status with the airline thughs, so no more free upgrades were handy this time. last time we flew, i got upgraded to business class, and let me tell you, it was worth every mile.

after a short layover in frankfurt we took a flight to katowicz, which is a more convenient destination. the airport is small and easy to get in and out of and it is only an hour or so from home. interstingly enough we always manage to get lost on the way to opava... i think ondra hopes that we will not request his services next time we come. keep dreaming little brother

happy birthday alexa

first off we couldnt start the blog without mentioning the very special event of birth of our daughter alexa. she war born on march 25, 2006 in clovis, california. born to a czech father and puerto rican mother, we hope to instill both of our cultural values into her upbringing.