Category: Family Journal

Owen & Ollie, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Owen and Ollie are pictured at the Botanical Gardens here in Belgrade. Sunday afternoon we visited the gardens with the kids. They loved the Japanese garden part of the grounds, especially the little creek. They jumped over it hundreds of times. Ocean lived up to her name, and wanted to sit in the creek.

In the morning I went for a run with Ocean while Nadia watched the kids. It was my first run in a while and I felt sluggish. I am preparing for the Belgrade Marathon this Saturday. I am not sure I can do the half marathon on 1 week’s minor training.

After the gardens we came home and I finally cut our grass. I have this little electric lawnmower that the cord was cut by workers this winter when they were fixing an electrical problem in the house. We took it down to the market and got it repaired. A very nice market indeed! I’ll do a blog post on the market in the future.

Ollie, Jerina, Nadia, Ocean, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Yesterday we attended the International School of Belgrade’s Easter Family Picnic. It was held on the grounds of the high school and the weather was perfect! The PTA had organized an Easter Egg hunt, games for kids, egg-drop contest, Bonnet Parade, etc. We enjoyed the day! My favorite part was the picnic, just hanging out under the trees of our lovely campus. It was a bit hectic with the preparations, but after we got there and my job was done, we had fun.

One of the things in our society in recent years is the decline of community events like this. In the 1970’s and 80’s, there seemed to be more opportunities to interact with the community. I remember growing up and playing in summer basketball leagues, participating in the Kiddie Parade, etc. These things have given way to personal family enjoyment, like video games, solo family vacations, etc. I was re-energized by the sense of community yesterday.

In the afternoon we came back home and enjoyed a nice afternoon in the back yard. This week we bought Owen a basketball hoop and he is shooting all the time. We had our first game of “burro” (Spanish version of H-O-R-S-E). Owen seems enthused for basketball and Serbia is the perfect country for it. They are fanatics here and take it to a higher level than the USA. (more posts later)

Last night we hooked up the speakers in the house that have been packed away since we arrived. We all listened to music and drank champagne.

Owen Soccer, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

We had a delightful weekend in Belgrade. I was supposed to leave for the CEESA Principals’ Conference on Sunday, but with Nadia sick, it would have been tough to leave her with the kids. With bright sunshine and temperatures in the mid 70’s, it was nice to be with the kids.

On Saturday morning I took all three kids to Ada Ciganlija. When they are all up, it is the only way I can get a bit of exercise. I rent a bike with a “rickshaw” which is a baby carrier attached to a bike. I put Ocean and Oliver in the carrier and Owen rides with me. We made it the 7 kilometers around the lake with stops at a playground and to skip rocks. In the afternoon, I grilled hamburgers in the yard while the kids played.

My Two Angels, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Spring has hit Belgrade in a huge way! The week the weather has been absolutely gorgeous, with bright, sunny skies and warm temperatures. There are literally millions of blossoms in the apple and cherry trees in the city, making Belgrade a springtime paradise.

We have several magnolia trees in our yard. My two angels are shown above enjoying the fragrant blossoms. We didn’t know what kind of bushes they were until this week, when they suddenly bloomed. One of the pleasant surprises of moving to a new place. We have three of them in the garden, and along with a fig tree, it makes for a pleasant yard. We really enjoy family times out there. We also have a nice fire place and gazebo that makes it the perfect place for BBQ’s and entertaining. A big thanks to the previous principal, Clint Calzini, for finding this house!

Nadia is feeling better. She was out of school Thursday and Friday with the flu. It was a busy week, with Spirit Days in both the middle school and lower school. I chaperoned a part of the dance last night and had to take the kids so Nadia could rest. It will be a nice Saturday with the family. I leave for Estonia and the CEESA Principals’ Conference tomorrow afternoon, so I’ll make the most of family time today and tomorrow morning. I return Wednesday afternoon.

We had a well deserved family day on Sunday. With basketball, one acts, and oral exams on Saturday, it was a busy week of work.

There were sunny skies and cool temperatures and it was a nice day to head to Ada Ciganlija for a family exercise session. We like to go there because I can rent a bicycle with a rickshaw to carry Oliver and Ocean, Nadia can run, and Owen can ride his bike. Nadia ran her usual 7 km loop around the lake while I took the kids around the island. We stopped at the obstacle course and ran around in the woods for quite a while.

After enjoying Ada, we went home and did some chores. Nadia cooked a delicious meal of fajitas, we cleaned the car seats, took the car to Mopex, a car cleaning company down the street that cleans cars inside and out, organized a book shelf, etc. In the late afternoon, we had a fire under the gazebo and the boys painted some cardboard animals they made while Ocean played on the swings. Nadia came out and we enjoyed a bottle of Hungarian Tokai wine. She made a Risotto dinner and we put the kids to bed.

Sunday morning was really nice too. Ocean is so different to the boys. She woke up and gave her brother a kiss and sat on his lap while I was preparing breakfast. She is much more cautious, affectionate, and calm compared to her brothers.