We are now back in Belgrade after a wonderful holiday. Owen is carrying his little sister into the house last week. The best part of any time off is I get to spend heaps of time with my children and wife.
Lunch at the Airport
I would like to thank my father and Andy for putting up with us in the house and all of their help. It was great to see my brother Jim, sister-in-law Shelly – thanks guys. It was also nice to get in touch with the Bonettis, Bocieks, and other friends.
Yesterday my father helped the boys go fishing for a second time this summer. We went to the nearby Caspian Mine Pit. It is a former open pit iron ore mine. The Caspian Mine had its heydey back about 100 years ago. In the 1960’s, my grandfather and mine employee, Arthur Heikkila, was the last man in the mine and as he shut down the pumps, the water began to fill in. The Iron County Museum is based in one of its buildings and the city of Caspian has turned it into a recreational area. The DNR planted trout in the pit this spring.
We had a few bites off of the fishing dock shown above. Owen is getting good at casting and even Ollie managed to bring a shiner up to the surface. Owen was so excited to get a shiner out of the water. I can imagine his reaction if he ever catches a fish.
It was a very cold and rainy day. Nadia went for a run in the afternoon and took Oliver and Ocean out in the wagon following her. Last night we watched movies.
Yesterday I took the boys on a hike to Timber Lake. The lake is located about 10 miles west of Iron River, just off of US 2. I really like Timber Lake because there is no public access to the lake for boats. There are also no cottages on the lake. The only way to get to the lake is to take the 1 mile+ hike in from the trail head.
We spent a wonderful afternoon on the shores of the lake. We were sitting around the house and my brother was watching television in the lazyboy. I don’t like the kids to watch too much television so I put them in the car and headed west. They enjoy hiking, as they pick up sticks and pretend they are weapons. We went for a swim and drank pop and I read from the “Choose Your Adventure” series. Owen had a leech on his sandal and we tried to identify it. We also saw a squirrel, woodpecker, and a slug. The highlight was when we were packing up. We had talked about all of the animals that could possibly kill you in the northwoods, such as a pack of wolves, bear, cougar, etc. All of a sudden a German Shepard dog came running up to us. It was a friendly dog and just wanted to play. It had a big red collar on it. But it terrified Oliver as he was caught on the shore of the lake and the dog between him and us. All of our talk on how we would defend ourselves against a hungry pack of wolves didn’t help him as he just paniked. I quickly intervened and put him on my shoulders. The dog was owned by a woman who was also coming to the lake.
We had the lake to ourselves for 4 hours. We also heard the call of the loon. A great day together and introducing the boys to the rejuvenating effects of wilderness. I wish Iron County had more lakes like Timber. Most lakes have cottages on them or one can hear the drone of motor boats. That is what makes Timber Lake special.
Can Anyone Identify This Species of Freshwater Leech
Yesterday we had the traditional 4th of July BBQ in our backyard. The kids ran through the sprinkler and around the neighborhood. The adults laughed a lot and we ate a tremendous amount of food and drink. It was a nice way to reflect on 233 years of USA independence. I had a copy of the Declaration of Independence for us to read. It is one of the sacred documents of our country. In reading it yesterday, the authors are pretty clear in their opposition to King George and England’s policies. I can see why war ensued after the King received it. I wonder how long it took him to get it?
In the morning we went to the parade in downtown Iron River. It was pretty lame with only the West Iron County marching band and fire trucks. Ollie and Beau liked grabbing candy that many people were throwing out.
Two Famous Icons - Smokey the Bear and Riverside Pizza
This is my last post from Belgrade until August. We are going on our annual summer holidays. This year we will be spending it in my hometown of Caspian, Michigan, USA. I’ll be blogging about our experiences there.
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.
We hosted the International School of Belgrade’s annual end-of-year party last night at our home. There were over 100 people in attendance and everyone had an enjoyable evening. The school honored the people leaving and celebrated the end of a rewarding school year. In the education business, our year runs from August to June and we are all excited to embark on our travels during the summer holidays.
Owen and Ollie are shown above pushing the glow lanterns. Ethan and Jamie lit 8 of these big paper lanterns that after the brick below gets going, they soar upwards and away. One got caught in the tree of our neighbors and another almost hit their terrace, but all made it out of the neighborhood. A nice tradition started! Ethan saw these used for New Year’s celebrations in Thailand.
The Faculty Band
Several faculty members have a rock band that plays in pubs in the city and they graciously played for us last night. It was impressive how much original music they have. Nadia and I felt like we were finally experiencing the legendary night life of Belgrade – in our back yard. I would like to thank Chris, Kay, and Sava and their bandmates for playing. Having live music at a party brings it up a notch!
The goodbyes were done well. The Sunshine Committee of the school organized it with a friend of the departing person speaking about them. A much better method than having administration talking about each person.
The school provided the food and drinks and the maintenance crew worked hard with the set up and arrangements. There was a big wind storm last night that blew over many of the tents but none were lost or broken.
It was a fantastic way to give closure to my first year at ISB. I am looking forward to the summer holidays and refreshing my mind and body for 2009-2010.
We were driving from the Partizan Club Pool in the neighborhood of Banjica when we saw this funky building below.
After doing a bit of research, I learned that it is the Miliary Medical Academy (Војномедицинска академија – Vojnomedicinska Akademija in Serb.) This is the largest hospital in Serbia and was constructed in 1982. It is like a VA hospital in the USA, but it also serves civilians also. We drove around the parking lot a bit and there were lots of cars and people. It was designed by the award-winning architects, Colonel Josip Osojnik and Slobodon Nikolic.
Doron and Zoki are holding the third place trophy outside of the International School of Helsinki. The team was celebrating an important victory over the Kiev International School in the consolation match, 50-47. The victory earned the team the third place trophy. There were 8 teams competing so it was quite an accomplishment. It was appropriate the cup was filled with snow, as it represented the team venturing to the frozen north of Finland to compete in the tourney.
Misa Goes for the Rebound
The Dragons led the entire game against the Cosaks of KIS. ISB used a full court pressure defense to disrupt the opponents. The strategy worked as many fast break layups were scored by Doron and Nikola. Panayot played with an injured foot, and despite the pain, he had his usual outstanding game. A special mention also goes to Mik for his defensive efforts on their best player. Coaches Sands and Kralovec thank the team for their efforts. It was a fitting end to a great season. The boys played close to 20 games! They developed their individual fundamentals of basketball, learned the strategies and finer points of the game, increased their fitness, and interacted with students from all over the world and Serbia.
Things are looking bright for 2009-2010, as the entire team that traveled to Helsinki returns. We will also get some excellent players from the Middle School team that finished in second place in their tourney. We will also be hosting the high school boys’ tourney, so there are many things in our favor. Job well done gentlemen!
After watching the fifth and seventh place matches, we had the consolation final against the Kiev International School. The Dragons defeated the Cozaks, 50-47 to take the third place trophy (of eight teams competing).
It was an incredible performance by the boys’ basketball team. Mik had 6 points and played stellar defense against their top player. Tausan and Misa rebounded well against the bigger Ukrainians. Pan played with an injured foot and still scored in double figures. It was a proud moment for the school and the team. Congratulations to the Dragons! Photos and video to come!
The International School of Belgrade won their first two games on Day 1 of tournament. In the first game this morning, the Dragons defeated Quality Schools International of Bratislava 52 – 34. Six players scored for the Dragons, with Panayot leading the way with 20 points. Mi also scored 6 points. Nikola T. had a stellar performance on defense.
In the second game today, the Dragons won by a score of 56 – 49 over the Kiev International School. The hard fought game was decided by coolness under pressure demonstrated by the Dragon. In the final quarter, Pan and Doron made some big baskets and steals to seal the victory.
Pan and Andras on the Move!
We have one more game today against Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu, a local Finnish team. If we win, we guarantee a spot in the semifinals. If we lose, there will most likely be a three-way tie for the top and then it will come down to point differential, which we want to avoid. If we do lose, we could finish anywhere from first to third in the group.
UPDATE:
We lost to the local Finnish school, 47 – 74. The score was tied at halftime 30-30. In the second half, we ran out of energy as this is our third game today. The Finn school played a reserve team in the morning (lost to KIV) and had an easy game against Bratislava. It will be disappointing if this game against a non-CEESA school causes us to out of the semifinals. If due to point differential we finish third, the highest finsh we can have is fourth.
In the other Pool, the most likely winner will the Internationl School of Latvia and second place will be the Pechersk International School of Kiev, Ukraine.
