Our apartment for the first month was pretty much as we'd expected from the pictures and we settled in pretty easily. This is the living room/office area.
This is the room the girls will share for now. Its even pink! One of our first outings was to the nearby IKEA where the girls could pick out a duvet cover they liked to make their room feel their own.
I think we brought plenty of books and toys, I'm even thinking we brought too many sometimes and they end up either scattered around or not even used that much.
And, just like at home, we seem to spend most of our time in the kitchen.
The biggest challenge has been jet lag/sleeping issues with the kids. We'd brought them to Europe a year ago and after a few tough nights, we seemed to have adjusted, but this time a week later, Savannah was waking up at midnight, saying she's hungry and isn't tired. No matter how much we try to wear her out and feed her during the day, I guess her body is still stuck in CA time and it was affecting all of us. Collin was also having some challenges, I was so tired! We were sleeping crazy hours and places...
Despite lack of sleep the first week, we've been getting out each day to walk the city, find a new playground, and go out to lunch. This continues to be our daily routine for now. With three kids, by the time we get through the morning routine and bundle up to get out the door its usually at least 10:30, so this makes a pretty full day for us.
We'd brought this big stroller for Collin, but eventually realized that letting the girls use it for long walks and me carrying Collin in the frontpack was the best way to get around.
Getting around town will continue to take getting used to for me. The city is so big and especially here in the old town the little cobblestone streets are not straight and easy to navigate. Jeff has no problem, but he has spent time studying the maps and has a general knack for this. Still, he is continually saying how much he loves the map app on his phone, which shows the photo/gps tracking and makes navigating easy. He's going to set this up on my phone, hopefully it helps. I am definitely directionally challenged.... Then there is the metro system, which I suppose I'll get used to.
One thing we are definitely loving is the price to go out to restaurants. There are no shortage of awesome places to eat here around the city center and they cost about 1/2 what they would at home. Beer/wine prices are even better with beer running $1 to $1.30, wine about $1.50 a glass. So, we can go out and enjoy ourselves and not worry, which is a nice change from home.
The girls are finding plenty they like, sausages, schnitzel, croquettes, pastries, pizza, and of course Europe wouldn't be complete without Nutella.
One thing that had swayed our choice from other locations we were considering was the amount of things for kids in Prague. There is a website called www.kidsinprague.com which has an extensive list of indoor and outdoor playgrounds, swimming pools, kid friendly restaurants (meaning places with play areas in the restaurant, almost unheard of at home if you don't count McDonalds...), activities, classes etc. We have visited a different playground everyday since we've been here and still haven't seen them all.
These indoor places are awesome, some even offer babysitting for a relatively small fee, so the kids can play while we shop or dine. So easy and so nice to get a break once in a while!
So, I think the kids are adjusting pretty well. Savannah had been asking to go home, but seems to have put that behind her and is feeling at home again here.
Collin is really growing so fast and is so sweet. The girls literally love him to pieces and can't leave him alone. He usually loves the attention and only once in awhile they take it too far... I still have to keep an eye on them.
So, overall its a good start to our adventure over here. I'm trying to be patient and remember it takes time to feel settled in any new place, despite being a completely different culture.
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