St. Patricks Day - Arizona style

Alright, this is the second post of our trip - For St. Patrick's Day here, we decided it would be fun to have an early birthday celebration for Cailyn and her cousin Jared since their birthday's are so close together in April, but we're all together now. So, we all loaded up and went to this massive indoor play place. This place was awesome! All indoors there was go-karts, bumper cars, laser tag, bowling, miniature golf, and a whole section just for the little kids with tea-cups a carousel and one of those circle "roller coasters". So we spent the day just having fun, playing arcade games, and riding rides. It was so much fun!!! Here's some more pics of our time (not just of the day at the arcade)

One thing we absolutely miss are the Arizona sunsets. They are simply amazing. I haven't really had the chance to get any landscape pictures, but one night as we were hanging out at the pool, I thought this scene was pretty spectacular:

Another picture with Grandpa and his grandkids. Isaac looks pretty comfy!

Hannah and Cailyn had to demonstrate some Irish dancing. Cailyn is giving it her best shot!

And then Hannah gave some lessons to her cousin and Grammy

The birthday kids!

This was called the frog drop. It basically lifts the entire group up to the ceiling and then drops them. And lifts them. And drops them. It's so fun! Hannah and Cailyn were a bit nervous before the ride, but as you can tell, they're loving it! Cailyn had this look like, "Where has this feeling been my whole life?!?"

And Isaac got to go for his first Carousel ride!!

Hannah and her cousin on the roller coaster

And Cailyn and her cousin took a turn as well. Such joy!!

Arizona!!!

We're so happy to be back 'home' even for just a few weeks. The weather has been awesome - mid to upper 80's, and just absolutely perfect in the evenings. We've had such a good time so far, just relaxing and reconnecting with our families. Jen was able to see her family last year briefly, and they've been to see us in Ireland, but it's been two years since we've seen Seth's family. So it's been great. We've just been eating some good food (Mexican mainly!!) and enjoying time at the pool. So far, it's been great! Sorry we haven't posted a lot of pictures, but taking time to be on here has been limited! Here's some shots for you though of the trip so far...these first ones are of Isaac as he's meeting Seth's family.

Meeting Grandpa Deibel

Meeting Grammy Deibel

3 generations :)

Isaac has been full of smiles this whole trip!

Off we go!!!

We're so excited! At the moment, I'm sitting in our hotel lobby in Dublin, looking forward to tomorrow. We are getting to have 3 weeks in the states visiting family and a few friends. We wish so bad we could see everyone, but on this trip, there's just not enough time! We'll hopefully be sharing lots of pics, and stories so stay tuned!

Prague

I was in Prague last week at some meetings. I thought I would share with you some of the pictures I got while I was there. Thankfully I had a little bit of time to get out and explore the city. It really is fantastic! It's a city that was barely touched by WWII, and has retained much of its original architecture and feel. I didn't know really what to expect going over, though I had seen some pictures from some of my friends and heard it was a great place. It was my first experience in a post-communist country, and I have to say that my first taste of seeing Prague from where the airport is made me think it wasn't going to be very good. However, when I got down into the city and began to look at it, I really was amazed. Overall, it's a very interesting city with some great things to see!

This is a pic of the Charles Bridge in the middle of Prague and Prague Castle behind it. You may recognize this from the first Mission Impossible movie with Tom Cruise, and again in XXX with Vin Diesel...

Prague's famous Astrological clock which tells time and the seasons (solstices)

On the Charles Bridge looking at Prague Castle at night

Random city building. I took this while waiting for my tram.

Czech National Opera House

This is the decor of the Metro's in Prague - one of my favorite shots from my time there

Yes, I know...don't take pictures on the tracks while the tram is actually going by. Typical street with high buildings and a cathedral in sight.

This building was used as barracks for the German forces when they occupied the area during WWII

Another view of the same building...

One of the squares in Prague. In 1945 during the Prague uprising (taking control back from the Germans) this was filled with people and tanks.

One of the strangest things I've ever seen...this is at a massage shop, and is one of the treatments. You put your feet in hot water filled with these fish that suck the bacteria off of your feet. It's supposed to be a holistic cleansing technique. I did not try it, though I have to admit I was very curious!