Prague

This has been a wild week in the Archer house. As many of you know, we are planning to return to the United States for a visit this Thursday, well, it is now going to be a house hunting trip as well!! We were informed earlier this week that our stay in Germany will be ending much earlier than planned. Due to the struggling economy, we will be returning home this summer. John and I are finding the news bitter sweet. While we are happy to return home to family and friends at home, we have made many wonderful friends here, enjoyed countless sights, Henry has a wonderful school, I and have actually adapted to the German culture - which I thought I could never do!! John has also enjoyed the work he has been doing at Deere and everyone in the law department in Germany has been like a second family to us. So, our already busy visit home will be a lot more hectic as we look for a new home and prepare for another international move!

To take our mind off all we have to prepare for, we decided to head to Prague for the weekend. It is about a 4.5 hour drive from our home, so we left early on Friday, stopped for a nice lunch, and arrived in the city in the early afternoon. After checking into our hotel, we headed out to explore the city. We started out with a boat ride on the Vltava River. We had wonderful views of the Charles Bridge, the Prague Castle, and rooftops and spires of "Old Town" and "Lesser Town". After the boat ride we walked through the city and enjoyed looking at the beautiful architecture, jewelry (especially the amber and garnets), and spectacular glass pieces the city is known for. After a great dinner at a local restaurant, we headed back to the hotel for a rest.

On Saturday we did some more sight seeing, shopping, and of course - chased pigeons. European pigeons will be so happy to see Henry Archer move back to the United States. He has made a sport out of chasing innocent pigeons just looking for a bite to eat, although it is quit amusing to watch.

After lunch we headed back to the hotel to check out the pool. John and Henry had a great time swimming. Henry learned how to do a "cannon ball" and has not stopped talking about it since. After a nap, we headed out for more walking and sight seeing. Henry managed to find a John Deere tractor for sale. John ended up buying it for him - like we need one more tractor!!

Bea had fun on the trip as well. She is such a trooper, I cannot believe the places she has been since she has been born, and she never objects! We are very lucky to have such a little princess in our family.