Category: Family Journal

An archive of our family’s daily life.

Family Journal: June 25, 2008

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Grandma & Ocean, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Why am I blogging at midnight? It seems like it is the only time I have free. Nadia and I have new nicknames for each other. She is Mirleis, which is the name of our maid in Venezuela and I am “Leidi” our nanny in Venezuela. Without the domestic help, it seems that is all we do. We are loving it however, not working and being able to spend so much time with the kids. But we do realize that housework chores normally covered by inexpensive domestic help in our previous life in Venezuela are now covered by us.

Above is Ocean with her grandmother and the smile on their faces really make our vacation wonderful! They are getting to know one another as well as Owen and Oliver. I am finally back to normal after several days. Thank you Alexander Fleming!!

Finally the Scots give something worthwhile to the world besides bag pipes, kilts, and cool accents. The amoxocillin treatment really does work and it killed the staph bacteria that was inflaming my tonsils and making my body feel like it was run over by a truck. With our modern celebrity worship these days, I would like to recognize a real hero and what a discovery Dr. Fleming made back in 1928. Without it, I don’t know how long I would have suffered. Nadia is feeling better too, as she also was diagnosed with strep throat and began treatment the day after me.

Sunday I took the boys to the George Young Resort swimming pool and we really had a great time. This week we have been hanging around the house. We gave them hair cuts and just goofing around in the yard and going for walks in my hometown of Caspian. We have also been taking care of things we need to do when we are in the USA. I renewed my driver’s license, applied for an international permit, applied for a replacement for Oliver’s birth abroad report, sent for an FBI clearance, etc. Tomorrow we are heading for Green Bay for the boys’ doctor appointments. They have not been feeling well either and they are going to get a general “wellness check” in pediatrics jargon.

Family Journal: Sunday June 22, 2008

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Caspian Fire Whistle, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

I have not been posting much lately as I have been extremely ill. Yesterday morning I went into the walk-in clinic at the Iron County Community Hospital. I was diagnosed with strep throat and tonsilitis. Since Thursday evening I have had fever, headache, sore throat, and muscle aches. I think Nadia is coming down with it too. It is Sunday morning and I am finally feeling well enough to write a bit on the computer and drink a cup of coffee. I still have a sore throat and head ache.

The video above is from earlier in the week. I was raised in the town of Caspian, Michigan. It is located in Michigan’s western Upper Peninsula, about 6 miles from the border of Wisconsin. There are around 900 inhabitants of the town. They have a quaint tradition to sound a “fire whistle” at 9:00 PM. This is to warn all the children to go home. In the winter it sounds at 8:00 PM. My sons really enjoy it and we have to go up to the town hall and sit directly under the horn to get the full effect.

We also rode bikes on the Apple Blossom trail. This is a trail that runs along the Iron River through town over to the nieghboring town of Iron River. It follows the old railroad tracks laid down by the iron ore mining companies at the turn of the century.

Family Journal: Wednesday June 18th

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Ocean, Papa, Owen, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

The highlight yesterday was a picnic we had at Hagerman Lake. Hagerman Lake is 586 acres and located near the border of Wisconsin and Michigan. They have a small public beach. It was a cool day with temperatures in the high 60’s, low 70’s all day so we had the beach to ourselves. I packed some sandwiches and drinks and we had a grand time. We played a big game of kick ball with Uncle Jimmer and cousin Tony. We even all got into the water! Once you got in the water was not too bad. You can click on the photo above to see more.

Nadia found out today that she will be teaching kindergarten next year at ISB. It is good that she enjoys teaching and the double income will certainly help us. It does however put a bit a stress on us in finding a quality nanny for Ocean. We visited with neighbors and old friends. Carol Drake and her daughter stopped by, we talked with the Medovichs, Kinneys, and Rivards in the neighborhood.

We are gearing up for Saturday’s 10 kilometer run in Marinette, Wisconsin and we will have a full blog report on the that. The cooler temperatures will continue and after living 9 degrees north of the equator for the past 6 years, we are loving it!

Potty Training Oliver

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Oliver M&M Ceremony, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

This clip is a short ceremony we held to encourage Oliver to use the bathroom. He is now wearing big boy underwear and Nadia came up with the idea to have an M&M jar on top of the fridge. When he tells us he has to go to the bathroom, he receives M&M’s. Yesterday he was 3 out of 5 opportunities.

We hope to have him perfect before school starts in August.

Grandma Kralovec’s Top 5 Least Favorite Athletes

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My mother, Yvonne Kralovec is a sports fanatic. She still follows sports daily, at age 67. She was a great athlete in her day, playing fast pitch softball, basketball, and bowling. She was a long time girls’ basketball coach at West Iron County Public Schools.

Her top five least favorite athletes are as follows:

#5 – Peyton Manning, QB Indianapolis Colts – “He thinks he is so great. He still complains about losing out on the Heisman trophy to the Michigan guy.” She loved it when his little brother upstaged him this year.

#4 – Todd Jones, Pitcher Detroit Tigers- “He can’t get three consecutive outs and makes me nervous.”  Note- Grandma watches or listens to every Tiger game. She has been doing this for the past 60 years.

#3 – Alex Rodriguez, Third Baseman NY Yankees – “Too much attention is paid to him, plus he is a Yankee.”

#2 – Kobe Bryant, Captain, LA Lakers – “Braggart, ‘I am the MVP’.” Anyone who campaigns for the MVP loses points in her book.

#1 – Tiger Woods, golfer – “That is all you hear about. For example, his poor knee, he won the US Open and they are worried about his knee. If he can play 91 holes, he doesn’t have problems with his knee.”

As you can see, she loves the underdogs.

Fathers’ Day – June 15, 2008

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Fathers & Sons, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

It was a wonderful Fathers’ Day holiday yesterday for us. The bright sunshine, cool breeze, and spending lots of time together made it wonderful. We started the day off with the traditional St. Cecilia’s Church Father & Son Breakfast. It was held in the basement of our family’s Catholic Church in Caspian. My parents are devout Catholics and I spent a lot of time there growing up. It was nice that all of my father’s sons and grandsons could be in attendance.

We then took the kids up to the Caspian Community Center playground. That is another place where I spent much of my youth. The center was built in the 1921 during the mining boom days and it is still open today. New playground equipment was donated by the De Paoli family for the children of Caspian. There are also tennis and basketball courts. Inside during the winter, it is open after school for kids. We used to play board games, play hoops in the gym downstairs, play pool, etc.

In the late afternoon Jim and I took Owen and Tony on a hike to Minnie Lake. We wanted to give a chance for Oliver and Beau to sleep. We parked the car just off of 424 and walked to the lake and around. I love the beautiful northwoods and the boys had a great time too. We then stopped in at Katy’s Bar to have a drink with my Dad before supper.

In the evening we all went to Nelson Field. Nadia ran several kilometers and the kids played and ran around. They were tired by the time we came home.

Kralovec Family Airline Schedule

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This is a post for my family to assist them with tracking our progress home.

Tuesday June 10th 2008

6:00 AM    Taxi from campus to airport

9:00 AM    Avior Airlines Flight 1220  Barcelona – Miami

1:15 PM    Arrive in Miami and spend night in a hotel

Wednesday June 11, 2008

11:20 AM American Airlines Flight 1517 Miami – Chicago (O’hare)

1:30 PM   Arrive in Chicago

3:25 PM  American Eagle Flight 4181 Chicago – Green Bay, Wisconsin

4:20 PM  Estimated time of arrival at Austin Straubel Airport in Green Bay, Wisconsin

Weekend Family Journal – June 8th 2008

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100_1183, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

We had a nice family Sunday together. We all got up early and went to the Parque Ballenas. This is a one kilometer track in a large park. The kids and I did 2 laps, one more than Saturday. Nadia ran her usual five kilometers. We then went to McDonalds for breakfast. The Sosa family was there and the boys had a nice time in play land. We had the place to ourselves as Venezuelans are not “breakfast people” and in early mornings, the city is pretty much deserted.

We then watched the movie Enchanted with the kids. We packed some more and organized the house for departure. In the afternoon, we drove out to the mesa, my favorite spot in Anaco. Above is a photo of Nadia and Ocean. I also added two photos to the “about” page with our family and changed the header of the blog. When we got back, I played soccer with the Oliver and Owen while mom cooked dinner. Owen was Germany and I was the Czech Republic. Ollie was Italia. We watched a bit of the Germany – Poland game in the Euro Cup. We then ate, put the kids to bed and cleaned the house.

Closing Up the Shop (Family Journal June 6-7 2008)

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TGIF – June 6, 2008, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Friday afternoon we had a TGIF to say goodbye to the local teachers and assistants. Shown above from left to right are Ana, Lisa, Gustavo, Ann, Bill, Mendez, and Lili. We enjoyed a couple of beverages and reminisced about our time together at EA. The older gentleman next to me is an interesting case. Here in Venezuela it helps to have a “gestor.” A gestor may be a unique job title to Venezuela. This is a person that facilitates processes due to his/her connections. It always helps to know people and with the high levels of corruption and inefficiency here, in order to get things done in a timely manner, a business needs help. Mendez (his code name) has assisted us greatly throughout the years. To my right is the longest serving teacher in the history of the school, Ms. Ann DaCamara. She has been at EA for 17 years and is the Pre-Kindergarten teacher. She is from Georgetown, Guyana and is an excellent teacher and good friend. The school should name the Early Childhood Center after her due to her dedication to the school. The bookends are Ann and Lili, two assistants in the Early Childhood. Nadia thanks them for their help. The gentleman in the dark glasses is Gustavo. He is our head of maintenance and security. He is indispensable for the myriad of mechanical problems we have at the school. He is my right hand man and I thank him for his honesty and efforts to make the school better.

We are having a great weekend. Friday night we made a last run to Arturos, the Kentucky Fried Chicken of Venezuela. The boys had their final “chamo pack” (chamo is a Venezuelan term for friend). We ran into the Micale family, who with their four children have as crazy of a life as us.

Yesterday was an almost perfect day. We awoke early as usual and I took the kids to the Parque Ballenas for a bike ride around the track. It also let Nadia sleep in as Ocean was up every hour. We made it 1 kilometer around! We asked the nanny and maid to come in the morning so Nadia and I could pack. Instead of trying to sell our possessions we are not taking to our next post, we donated all of our stuff to our nanny’s family. Our home is almost empty and the bags are packed. During the day, we watched Ana Ivanisovic (a Serb) win the French Open and the opening game of the Euro Cup between the Czech Republic and Switzerland. I went swimming with the boys twice in the pool and in the late afternoon/early evening, we played soccer and baseball while Nadia ran her 6 km. She is running to get back into her pre-pregnancy shape. She has already lost over 15 kilos (33 pounds) and will lose another 5 kilos (11 pounds) before she is satisfied. Pregnancy is tough on a woman’s body.

Ocean our daughter is getting cuter by the minute. She is 8+ months and is scooting around the floor. She is eating solid foods and is just adorable. She cries like a girl and is a bit more sensitive and calmer than the boys were as babies. It is a nice change.

We’ll try to finish packing today and I want to go up to our favorite spot in Anaco, the mesa for a family photograph at sunset for the heading of the blog. We have spent many hours of hiking through the canyonlands areas up there. I re-charged my batteries every few weeks with day visit there and will miss the beautiful views and quiet.

The Passport Arrives! (Family Journal – June 6, 2008)

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Nadia, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Nadia is shown above with her renewed Australian passport. The big smile on her face reflects the relief in receiving it after an epic journey.

Nadia’s passport expired in May so she had to get a new one. The nearest Australian Embassy to us is in Brasilia, Brazil. They handle Australian citizen services in Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil. We had a lot of paperwork to do and it was challenging to wire money to them so it was a long process. When we finally did get everything straight, the first passport sent by the embassy was lost by IPOSTEL, the Venezuelan mail service. The Australian Consul in Brazil, Mr. Patrick Maher,helped us by getting another passport issued and express DHLed to us before we leave on Tuesday, and free of charge. A big thank you to Patrick! After the first passport was lost, we lost hope that we would be able to leave Venezuela without a long delay, but DHL and the Aussie Embassy delivered it on time.

The life of an expatriate global family is never boring.