Category: Family Journal

Boys and the Dunav, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Owen and Ollie are shown with the bikes on the Zemun Quay overlooking the Danube (Dunav in Serbian). We went for a bike ride yesterday on the bike paths in New Belgrade along the Sava and Danube rivers. I wish the ride could have lasted forever! We shared a lot of laughs and adventures as we climbed the public rock wall, threw rocks in the Danube, and had races up the embankments of the Quay. The city did a nice job with the improvements of the Zemun Quay, adding smooth walking areas, benches, and grass.

Belgrade has an excellent system of bike trails along the rivers. They have the potential of expanding them more through the city and could connect the various parks and green areas in the metro area. I would love to work on a master plan of bike paths in the city.

It was a bit cool, but a glorious late fall day. After the ride, Ocean and Nadia prepared us a delicious chicken curry meal and we then watched some NFL football and acted silly in the house. I love the weekends because of the family time. We have an extension today due to the Serbian government declaring Armistice Day bank holiday today. Yippeee!!!!!

Last week we received the boys’ school photos. This is an annual ritual in American schools that each fall, photos are taken of the students. The idea is for parents to track the growth over time of their children. My parents placed on the wall of the stairs, all of our photos from age 1 to 17 in chronological order. I may have to start doing that. We always got a big kick out of it.

Anyway, above is Oliver’s Grade 2 photo. His cheekbones have come out and he is much less baby than last year. Owen’s fourth grade photo is below. I can’t believe that he is almost in Middle School. Where did the time go?

We’ll get Ocean’s school photo next week.

Owen and Papa, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

I don’t want this to be a blog version of the movie, “Field of Dreams” but Kevin Costner did get it right with the connection between a father and son that can be generated when it comes to the sport of baseball.

With the internet, it is easy to instill in my son a love of the game. I am originally from Michigan and my mother was a fanatical follower of the Major League Baseball (MLB) team, the Detroit Tigers. She listened to or watched all 162 Tiger games every year. Yes, for the foreigners, professional baseball teams do play 162 games per season. From April to October, baseball fans almost daily, can follow their team’s games.

This is the first year that Owen got into baseball. He loves to discuss the rules and intricacies of the game. I am only too happy to supply my thoughts and knowledge to his questions. He also enjoys watching highlights and of course, the best thing about baseball, the statistical analysis of all of those plays. It gives us something to talk about every morning, which is not a bad thing.

I feel like I’ve done my job as a father to give him an interest in the game. Sports will keep him out of trouble as he goes through those tumultuous years of adolescence and early adulthood. Owen also being a “south paw” or left-handed, gives him a shot at becoming a major league pitcher. A long shot because it takes an extraordinary athletic talent to become a professional, but a possibility it is!

But more importantly, it gives us the opportunity to relate to one another. Guys need to do stuff together, and for me, the talks we have while playing catch are the best.

This season, 2012, in particular was a wonderful one to be a Tiger fan. They made it all the way to the World Series, losing to the San Francisco Giants. The Tigers in my lifetime have won the World Series twice, once in 1968, which I don’t remember and again in 1984. This is the second time this century (2006 being the first), that they lost in the World Series. They also have the best hitter in the sport, Miguel Cabrera, and the best pitcher in Justin Verlander. It gives us hope they will be good again next year. It is also nice that they have a very old owner, Macedonian immigrant Mike Ilitch, who is spending his fortune on acquiring the best players. He is best known for Lil’ Ceaser’s Pizza chain.

There is a Serbian baseball federation and Owen will be on a team next spring.

We spent the day inside the hotel because of the dense fog. Visibility was about 10 meters and so we relaxed at the hotel. You can see Oliver in the video above practice his back flips. The hotel has a nice spa, children’s playroom, dining room, and weight room. We had a good day together, despite not being able to explore the area as planned. This morning it looks a bit better so we’ll try to scale Babin Zub and maybe even visit the nearby town of Pirot.

The hotel is owned by an Austrian company called Falkensteiner. They have over 30 hotels in central and eastern Europe. They are building another hotel up here and the plan is to have an entire resort village to support the ski complex. It is a bit sad to see forest being cut down for ski runs, roads, and accomodation, but on the other hand, southern Serbia needs economic help. The government is wisely supporting this development. I’ll try to snap some photos of the hotel and surroundings. It will be interesting to see what this place looks like in 20 years.

The weather in September has been fantastic here in Belgrade! With sunny skies, crisp mornings, and afternoon temperatures in the high 70’s / low 80’s, you couldn’t ask for a nicer fall. In Serbian, the term Miholjmsko Leto (Extended Summer) means these great “Indian Summer” days. We are able to play outside with the kids in shorts and t-shirts.

We are getting ready for a big today – Ocean’s Fifth Birthday Party. I’ll blog more later on her big day.