September 21, 2009

Adventures in European Vacation

Yesterday we left Slovenia and drove a few hours to iSteindorf, Austria to visit some more relatives. We had a great time at Jerry's cousin's (2nd perhaps, once removed? I'm not sure--I'm trying to get the hang of it) home. This morning we had coffee with another relative in that family and then headed to Spittal to see Janez's great-aunt. Then, we took off for Milan. The drive was pretty uneventful, even if Ziga did tantrum in the back for 20 minutes. We stopped about halfway (total drive time, about 4 hours) to get a quick little dinner. Ziga had a huge bottle of juice so of course he had to pee big-time a short while later. He had to go so bad that he honestly could not wait (rarely does this happen). Janez found a spot to pull over on the highway so Ziga could pee. In the US this wouldn't be a big deal but since it is not unusual for people to drive 100 mph here it was a little challenging. Janez was cracking up because Ziga had no embarassment about dropping his drawers right there on the highway in Italy. Now, there is something that has been going on since we arrived in Europe that I don't want to forget, which is Ziga's fascination with the endless array of toilets. I have to agree, there is quite a variety in toilet shape/size/some have a shelf, why, I do not know, it is just plain wrong/flush methods, such as push a huge button above the toilet, a small button on the toilet tank, or pull a string above the toilet. As you can imagine this fascination has led Ziga to take many trips to the bathroom, which means that he has visited just about every single bathroom in every single location since this trip began. I was just telling him to wait but due to the amount of juice he has consumed I have been thinking it wise just to let him go.
Tomorrow we drive to Zurich and stay the night, and fly out Wed. morning. I will try to post some more pics but it may not happen until we get back to the states. Ciao!

September 18, 2009

Slovenia Update

I am pretty behind on pics but I'll give you an idea of what we've been up to. On Monday we did laundry and went to Gabriel and Stanka's home. We've been really fortunate because every home we've gone to the people there 1) love playing with our kids 2) might have kids of their own 3) are not distressed by Zala's screaming or Ziga's whining. All in all, our kids are hanging in there pretty well, even if the question has been raised more than once if Ziga is a Mama's Boy. Anyway, on Monday we had a really nice visit with Gabriel Erzen and family. I got to know his daughters better, they are sweet as can be. Mateja even hooked me up with Salon Priceska in Skofja Loka so I could get my hair done. Tuesday morning Zala and I went in for our new 'do's (don't worry Mom, she only got a very small trim!). Then, around 11:30 we met our friends Jean and Arnie and Dorothy from California for lunch. They will be traveling in Slovenia for a few weeks as well. It was really great to catch up with them! After that we drove to Senicno and spent some time with Gregor's sister Ana and her little girl Kaja, as well as Gregor's brother Luka, wife Ursa, and sons Ziga (Kalan! Kalan!) and Matic (sp?). The kids ran around and played and had a pretty good time, but of course ours were pretty worn out. Ziga and Ziga were fighting over toys but got to know each other a little better. Wednesday we drove to Maribor, which is about an hour and a half away. The kids slept the whole time (thank God) and we got to check out this town, which is the second oldest in Slovenia. Jerry hit the library to do some family history research and Janez and I and the kids ate at McDonald's and walked around Maribor. Janez and Ziga got very inexpensive haircuts and they were CHEAP! We drove to the town of Celje for dinner. Beautiful, old town. Thursday we decided to work off all of the meat, cheese, bread, and chocolate (oh, and beer, and juice) and go for a little hike. Ziga did great AGAIN and took a nap in a bed for the first time on this trip. He was feeling so much better and was in a great mood the rest of the day. In the afternoon we went to Ursa (formerly Erzen)'s home for a playdate with her kids. We met Gorazd, Luka and Ursa and Family, and Ana in Kranj for a little bowling later that evening. Everyone had a fantastic time, and I think the Zigas will be good friends. Today is Friday.....this morning we saw Francelj and Ivanka, and then we saw Teta Anica in Kranj for a bit. We then drove to Ljubljana and walked around and had dinner. Very cool city. Got in the car, kids crashed out by 7:00 PM, and in bed.....hopefully they won't be up at 5:00 tomorrow morning! Will do laundry tonight and work on pics. We are all doing well and are having a great time, even if Ziga got his first spanking due to carrying on ridiculously about things such as ice cream. Zala has held up better than I expected. I'm hoping Ziga sleeps 13 hours without moving tonight. He did great today walking around the city, and has been very good overall.

September 16, 2009

more pics

are on facebook. I had a whole elaborate post typed out on blogger but it didn't post. grrrr. lahko noc!

September 13, 2009

pics

Pics from our first few days in Slovenia are on Facebook. Stay tuned for pics from yesterday (we hiked Bohinj, totally beautiful), and today (saw some relatives of Jerry's and had a wonderful visit with them).

September 11, 2009

Slovenia!!!

Last Tuesday the Lomshek family embarked on a much-anticipated trip to the country of
Slovenia. With the help of Grandma, we made it to the airport by 5:00 AM to get on our first flight to Chicago. After a 4 hour layover in Chicago, we flew to New York. Ziga slept almost the entire flight. Then.....we had the long flight from New York to Zurich. I was pretty sure, since the kids got up early that morning, that they would crash on the flight to Zurich. So, I left the Benadryl at home. I think Janez would agree-----that flight was about the longest night of our lives. Zala, unfortunately, had a hard time settling down and did some of her lovely screaming thing. Strangers gave us their keys to let her play with. Ziga had a hard time settling down and kept kicking us. I probably would pay for a seat for Zala next time. The kids finally fell asleep probably around 10:00 or so our time, a few hours before we landed. Janez and I---a couple of hours of sleep the night before we left was about all we got. 4 people in 3 coach seats was definitely a crowd. But---no delays, we made it in to Zurich and all of our luggage made it and that was a positive. We got our rental car and strapped in the 300 pound Britax carseats to find that whoever had to sit in the back would be pretty crunched. Oh well, not worth another $400 for a minivan. When Jerry, Janez's dad got in, we took off for the beautiful country of Lichtenstein. The kids slept the entire way. I cannot even tell you what a beautiful day it was to drive. It made me (kind of, not really) forget about the horrible flight over from New York. I was wedged between the kids in the back and alternately dozed/took in the green mountains and sunshine. We spent some time in Lichtenstein at a little kid festival they were having and got some lunch. Then, we started heading down to Slovenia. Janez drove, then Jerry drove. Then, I got a little iced coffee in a can (love Europe) and drove on the Autobahn. So fun! We drove down to the Slovenian coastal town of Portoroz and checked into our hotel, Hotel Lucia, around midnight. The kids were so, so good. On Wednesday we got up at 12:30 and spent the afternoon in the neighboring coastal town of Piran, which is an older town with Venetian style architecture. It was a beautiful day, a little overcast at first but then sunny. We dipped our feet in the Adriatic and had lunch, and then walked around all the alleys. Wednesday night we discovered that "we (read: Ali)" forgot the adaptor, which we would need to get on-line, charge camera battery, etc. American adaptors aren't that easy to come by, so we were quite relieved to find one before we left Portoroz on Thursday. Thursday we checked out of our hotel and headed to a nearby town to see the famous painting "Dance of Death" (to symbolize that death touches everyone, despite rank/age/etc.). Then, more driving to the town of Lipica, which is the original breeding location of Lipizza horses, which perform worldwide. We went on a little tour there (camera battery died). Then.....we drove up to Postojnska Jama, a huge cave. Camera battery still dead. It was freezing cold during the train ride and tour but the kids had coats and loved every minute of it. Then, we drove to Lusa, outside of Skofja Loka, to begin our stay at Lojza's Bed and Breakfast, up in the mountains. It is so beautiful here--green, green mountains, deer, wildflowers. We hiked up Lubnik today and Ziga did great. We carried Zala a borrowed backpack. At the top we had some sauerkraut soup, Kielbasa, and streudel. On the way back down, Zala fell asleep in the backpack. Tonight we check out a Slovenian music festival in Skofja Loka. Then, we put our exhausted, overstimulated children to bed. We're having a blast but we might have a little more down time tomorrow. I have taken a zillion pics but need to re-size them all, and really need to get to bed to get on Slovenian time. Ciao!!!

September 4, 2009

Where the Shrimp Live

Where did August go? I have been totally neglecting the blog, mostly due to working on my photography business, and I hope to get up and running again soon on the Lomshek Family Blog. Tonight we did have one very blog-worthy moment.

Our dinner was carry-out from Talk of the Town. As Janez was eating his fried shrimp things, he and Ziga were having a conversation about shrimp. Janez asked Ziga where the shrimp live, and Ziga stated very enthusiastically, "At the Bar!" You probably had to kind of be there---but, it was pretty hilarious!