Owen Gets a Basehit Off My Brother
Later, when the boys got back, we had batting practice. Owen is working on getting rid of his upper cut. My brother Jim is an excellent coach and really helped him at Northside Field. We then took the boys for pasties and headed home. All in all, a fantastic day!
White-tailed Deer are a Common Sight in the UP
Categories: Family Journal · Summer Holidays in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
The book has a lot of ideas of experiments to do that mostly involve explosions and gadgets. One of the boys favorite television programs is Mythbusters, and they love tinkering with experiments. We’ll continue to hone this one until we get the potato shooting out across the neighborhood. I made the “tennis ball mortar” with my science classes in Anaco to great success. They also had a homemade version of the fire paper lanterns that we had at our farewell party last month. I am also a pyromaniac and love blowing things up with the boys.
Owen said that someday he wants to be a scientist, soccer player, and a spy. He is not sure which one.
Categories: Family Journal · Summer Holidays in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Tagged: cannon, mythbusters, potato
I spent the morning sorting through the year’s financial corresponsdance. I am organizing our credit card statements, bank statements, retirement accounts, taxes, etc. Lots to do. In the afternoon we went to Iron Mountain. Last night we just hung out at the house.
Jim's Style Hasn't Changed - Love the shorts!
Categories: Family Journal · Summer Holidays in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
We are visiting the Upper Peninsula this summer holiday. We ran into to other visitors to this beautiful region, one wanted and the other unwanted.
The first is shown above – it is an Indian Blue Pea Fowl (Pavo Cristatus) that I photographed as it was walking along the road near the Ski Brule Resort. We were on the way home from Hagerman Lake it was walking in the middle of the road. People call them pea cocks but actually only the male is known as a pea cock. The female is known as a pea hen and the species is pea fowl. The bird is a member of the pheasant family and there are two species in its genus of Pavo. The other species is known as the Green Pea Fowl.
The Blue Pea Fowl is native to India. This one is obviously someone’s pet and they do make good pets. They serve as a “watch fowl” and need minimal care. They are from a temperate to tropical climate and so need to be protected from the cold winters.
Zebra Mussels On A Rock from Chicagoan Lake
The Zebra Mussel ( ) is a nuisance species. It is native to south east Russia, but with the advent of extensive global trade, bilge water containing mussels was dumped into Lake St. Clair, a small lake between Erie and Huron in the Great Lakes. It was first reported in 1988 and then spread throughout the region since then. It first appeared in Iron County lakes around the turn of the century. The New York Sea Grant Program has an excellent dynamic map showing the progessive spread of this mollusc. They are found all the way down the Mississippi River, all of the Great Lakes, as well as lakes throughout the midwest.
They are a nuisance because they are voracious eaters and they take away plankton and algae that would normally feed fish. The Zebra Mussel also clogs intake pipes as well as contaminated bodies of water with their feces. They are filter feeders and concentrate toxins in their bodies as they eat. Their feces contains much of these toxins.
We found them all over most of the rocks in Chicagoan Lake, which is close to my home. My friends have a cottage on the lake and their children were finding them and taking them off of the rocks. I applaud their efforts, but with females able to produce 30,000 – 100,000 eggs per year, it will be tough to manually get rid of them.
There is a ton of information on the web about the zebra mussel. One good article is found here. It will be interesting to see what can be done about them.
Categories: Family Journal · Summer Holidays in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Tagged: mussel, pea fowl, zebra
Ocean is shown above enjoying the beach at Hagerman Lake. It is a favorite beach of ours because there is a large, flat, grassy area and hardly anyone goes to the public beach. When we went on Thursday, there was no one there except for us. The weather has been nice so far, with hot temperatures during the day and cool temps at night. Ocean lived up to her name and was the last to leave the water. She shows no fear for water, going up to her neck and then jumping up and falling on her “dupa” and then giggling.
Owen and Ollie are having a nice time with their cousins, Beau and Tony, the sons of my brother Jim. They are not fighting all the time like they were last summer. Beside swimming at Hagerman Lake, Friday we also went to Chicaguoan Lake to swim at the beach at the Bonetti’s cottage. There are so many lakes in our county. We could visit a different one almost every day of our holiday. And that is a nice thing about Iron County, there is hardly any people here so anywhere you go, there is plenty of space and no crowds.
Tony, Owen, Beau, & Oliver
Besides swimming, Nadia has been running daily. I drop her off 6 miles from our home and she runs here. I got out to run twice with Owen on the bike on the Apple Blossom Bike Trail.
On a sad note, we buried my mother in the Stambaugh Cemetery on Friday. Father Clisch, from our home parish of St. Cecilia’s Catholic Church in Caspian gave a short service. Cemetary and funeral home officials were very kind to wait for me to return from Belgrade. The ceremony was attended by a small group of close friends and family. It was touching to see Ollie put a blue flower from the McDonald’s garden on the casket. Blue represents our school colors of West Iron County Public Schools. We will be ordering a tombstone later and are thinking of putting “Coach” on the stone. My mother was a big sportsperson. Afterwards, we had a BBQ in the backyard. Andy is shown below on the grill. It was good to catch up with my aunts Darlene and Ione, and cousin Debbie, as well as friends Mac and Julie. It was a nice way to say goodbye to my mother. She will be missed.
Andy Flips the Burgers
Categories: Family Journal · Summer Holidays in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Tagged: burial
The kids are shown above sleeping at the gate of our United Airlines flight in Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. The flight was eventually cancelled and we had to take another flight the next day. We tried to get on a later flight, but they only had 3 empty seats and we needed four. The kids as well as I were exhausted by this time as we had left Belgrade early in the morning European time. With a short stopover in the Lufthansa hub city of Frankfort, we made good time over the Atlantic.
Ollie & Ocean Hitch a Ride on My Carry-On
My father lives in a small town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and it is a remote area not well serviced by airlines. The nearest larger airport with regular flights is Green Bay, Wisconsin. We landed in Chicago around 1:00 PM and as you can see, our 5:00 PM flight was cancelled. United Airlines was nice in providing us with a good hotel and a free breakfast for the night. I think they felt sorry for us, especially the dramatic scene at the gate with three children sleeping in front of the desk. They also put us on an American Airlines flight the next morning.
Now that I have flown Lufthansa quite a bit living in Europe, it is a pretty good airline. The only problem with them is the lack of leg room. When a person leans his/her chair back, there is almost no room for the passenger behind.
We eventually made it the next day, although the cancellation caused a bit of inconvenience for my father and brother. My hometown is a 3 hour drive from Green Bay.
The Kids Looking Out at Rosemount, Illinois
Categories: Summer Holidays in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Tagged: delay, flight, lufthansa
Above I am pictured with Oliver at the Dinosaurs Argentina Exhibition which is currently being held at the Continental Hotel Exhibition Center in New Belgrade. I highly recommend it for families. The boys loved it and learned a lot. Gigantosauras and the dinosaur eggs were especially a hit. You can click on the photo to see more of the exhibition. It features the fossil finds in the deserts of Patagonia in central and southern Argentina. The species found there are just as impressive as the more famous North American finds like T. Rex, etc.
Heaven in My Hand
I also wanted to share the photo above. Great fresh produce in the various markets around Belgrade. Raspberries are my all time favorite fruit (the other 4 in my top 5 fruits are blueberries, mangos, bananas, and watermelon). The Kralovec family are “fruit alcoholics” and we are consuming punnets of raspberries at a rate of 8 per day. My personal record is 3 and 1/2 in one sitting.
Well, I must finish packing as we head west across Europe and the Atlantic.
Categories: Family Journal · serbia
Tagged: Argentina, dinosaurs, raspberries, raspberry
We first noticed it at the basketball games of Red Star. In the center of the floor was a big “Cockta” advert. I didn’t know how to pronounce it because I was going by the Serbian Latin pronounciation, which when there is a “c” it sounds like the “ts” of cats. Later I found out the name originates from a short form of cocktail, hence, “cockta.” An after riding the “cockta” train at Kalemegdan part a couple weeks ago, I needed to find out all about it.
It was invented in the 1950’s in Slovenia. The drink was designed as an alternative to the capitalist west, Coca Cola. It became popular through a series of ads closely associated with the ski jumping in Slovenia. You can see all the adverts and read more about the drink on the company’s web site. Since then the company has new owners and I read it is making a comeback in the ex-Yugoslavia. I am not sure about market shares, but I see the adverts quite a bit here in Belgrade.
"Always The True Choice" (A Bad Translation) - Billboard in Belgrade
The soda pop looks like coca cola but has a much different taste. The key ingredient in the mix of 11 herbs, is extract from the dog rose berry. It gives is a distinctive taste and aroma. There is no cafeine - part of one ad campaign says “If you want cafeine, go for a coffee, if you want milk – go for a cow” It does have sugar so it is not quite a health drink.
Well, we had a Kralovec family taste test this weekend. Owen thought it tasted like medicine and Nadia thought it too bitter. Ocean is not drinking carbonated beverages yet. That left Ollie and I as the only ones who like it. Ollie orders it instead of coca cola now. I am not a big soda pop guy so I will not order it often. I admire anyone who tries to be original and go against the marketing juggernaut of Coca Cola. I recommend all visitors to Serbia to try one!
Categories: serbia
Tagged: cockta
Ocean at the Dock of the Silver Lake Resort
While visiting the Golubac Castle, we stayed at the Silver Lake Hotel. The “Lake” is actually an extension of the Danube, or an “oxbow” in technical terms. Silver Lake is cut off from the Danube by a dam and the place is a popular holiday destination for Serbs. The hotel has seen better days and was probably built in the 1980’s during the communist era of Serbia. The staff was extremely friendly and despite the uncomfortable beds and foul-smelling tap water in the hotel, we really enjoyed our stay. The most important thing was the kids had a blast and that was the whole point of going.
We swam both Friday night and Saturday afternoon in the lake. We had a scare on Saturday morning. Nadia was applying sunscreen to Oliver and I was trying to catch a frog for Owen. Ocean happened to go into the water and slipped and went under the surface. Owen yelled immediately, warning me, and a I quickly pulled her out. It was a good lesson for us on taking three children to a body of water. An accident can happen so quickly and we need to be extra vigilant. Ocean was a bit scared, but quickly lived up to her name and went back into the water. It was extremely hot and the cool water of the Danube made it a pleasant day. I am always amazed at the fascination kids have with the water’s edge. They could have played there the entire day.
A resort is being developed there. It is like a gated community, with I assume most of the vacation cottages being built by Belgraders wanting a vacation home. There are several restaurants as well as a marina, tennis club, stores, etc. I read of plans to build newer hotels, which would be nice. There were many ads offering rooms and apartments for rent also.
The Boys Enjoying A Mid Summer Night's Swim
The place reminded me of the lakes in Michigan as well as a bit of Ada Ciganlija, but without the crowds. I would go back, but perhaps renting a private apartment instead of going to the hotel. Some of the other highlights were catching frogs, a fantastic lunch at the Amici Restaurant, and the quiet escape from the city. Nadia went for a run and we discovered a bike trail that goes along the river and definitely worth coming back with bicycles on a weekend. The waiters at the restaurant loved our children and appreciated my learning of Serbian. I am actually starting to be able to communicate in Serbian!
Categories: Family Journal · serbia
Tagged: danube, Lake, serbia, silver, Srebrno jezero
The boys at the top
Nadia & Ocean Stayed in Eidelweiss While We Climbed to the Top
The Danube Comes Right Up to the Tower
Approaching the Castle from the village of Golubac
Categories: Family Journal · serbia
Tagged: danube, fortress, Golubac, serbia
