February 2014 – Czech the Flip

Let’s Go to Vegas: A Guide to Sin City

Published on February 26, 2014February 26, 2014 by Grace1 Comment

This year, I am opening a new category in this blog called “Travel Picks.” In this category, I am collaborating with travel experts and fellow bloggers on their favorite places to travel.

My first contributor for this series is Kendra Thornton, a mother of 3 and an expert traveler. Before being promoted to the full time position of mom, she was the former Orbitz Director of Communications where she was able to travel a great deal. She now lives in Chicago with her family, where they are her number one priority in everyday life.

Kendra and I have come up with this article about Las Vegas, her favorite place to travel. So if the travel bug has hit you already, then let’s go to Vegas.

Over 40 million travelers head to this oasis in the Midwest for some excitement and daring entertainment. Las Vegas is an incredible vacation spot known for its casinos and celebrity shows. It’s where you can see Britney Spears perform live or catch the famous Cirque du Soleil “O” show on the strip. There’s so much to do in this town, and these are just a few of my favorite places when travelling to Sin City.

CSI Fans: Get a Closer Look
If you love the show “CSI: Las Vegas,” you can get an up close look at the television program at CSI Las Vegas at the MGM Grand. You get to experience the show and truly become apart of the crime scene experience. Visitors enter into a crime scene, collect information and help solve the case. Of course, it’s not always so obvious who the killer is.

Relax at Mandalay Bay
When traveling to Las Vegas with friends, there’s always one day when you need to just unwind and take a chill pill. Mandalay Bay’s Beach is perfect for that. There are several pools here with nearby tiki bars. You can grab a floating tube and just float for hours in pure bliss. Kids also can enjoy the wave pool, lazy river and water slides.

Pink Jeep Tours in Las Vegas

The main attraction for any Las Vegas traveler is the strip. It’s gorgeous at night, but there’s a whole other side to Las Vegas’ beauty on the outside. Pink Jeep Tours provides an adventure tour that takes you through the sights surrounding Las Vegas. You can take an air helicopter ride or hop into a Pink Jeep from your hotel and zoom across the Southern Nevada desert. Your guide will provide a totally unique experience and even take you on a day trip to the Grand Canyon.
Fine Italian at Its Best
The best Italian cuisine you’ll find in Vegas is at D.vino at the Monte Carlo in Vegas. It’s a gorgeous restaurant with a unique atmosphere that works for both romantic occasions and family groups. They have delicious food like stuffed zucchini, and you won’t find a better wine selection than at D.vino. The restaurant has an Enomatic system that has 18 exquisite selections of wine that are incredibly hard to find anywhere else. You can taste all the wine in 1oz, 2oz or 5oz pours.
Las Vegas is a wonderful place to travel with friends and even family! With its hotels catering to every type of traveler and family, it is a truly a unique oasis. Sites like Gogobot make it even easier to read user reviews so you can feel even more comfortable about your hotel purchase.

A Walk in the Woods

Published on February 19, 2014 by Grace6 Comments

The weather has been slowly getting better in our side of the world, so I took my kids out yesterday for a walk in the woods. Why the woods? Well, you might as well say that I am slowly becoming Czech. The malls are not as appealing as the woods anymore.

Anyway, here are a few pictures I was able to snap.

My little boy is growing so fast, and he really enjoys his new role of being a “big” brother. While I was busy looking for things to photograph, he took over and pushed the stroller of his baby sister.

Tired of doing it the regular way, he is experimenting with other ways on how to move it.

At this point, I took over for fear that he may accidentally flip the stroller with his sister inside. Instead, I asked him to lead the way.

He obliged and even told me: “Don’t worry, mom. I will protect you and Michaela.”

The end of the trail is the entrance to the city center through this bridge.

There was nobody during that time. It is still winter, afterall.

But we did see a fisherman on the river. He was fishing while Jakub was feeding the ducks and swans.

A new set of exercise bars were also built in a little space by the river. I think they finished it last year, but I didn’t see it because I was too lazy to walk towards this side of town when I was still pregnant with my daughter.

When the temperatures finally go up, I think I would like to use one of these bars for fitness.

But for now, I’ll just enjoy short walks with my kids.

Despite the cold, it was a very nice walk. Definitely another day well spent.

How are you coping up with winter in your side of the world?

My Pretty Girl is Pretty Fat

Published on February 13, 2014 by Grace4 Comments

Perhaps the biggest advantage of being a stay-at-home mom is that you get the see your children grow up. I am experiencing it now.

My little girl is growing up fast. At 3 months, she is now 6+ kg. They say that breastfed babies are less heavier than their formula-fed counterparts, but this one is quite the contrary. She is heavier than her brother when they were both at the same age. Just for comparison, here are photos of them in the same outfit.

This was Jakub at 3 months.

And now this is Michaela.

Being a second child, she gets to inherit her brother’s hand-me-downs. I hate throwing away such good stuff, so I am making her wear Jakub’s old outfits. Although, I bought a couple of headbands to give it a little feminine touch.

Even though she is heavier, she is still within the ideal range, so I’m not so worried about setting her up for obesity. I’m pretty sure that when she is able to run, she will be as active as her brother and will easily lose all those baby fats.

Jakub was pretty chubby when he was a baby too. But now he is very lean because he’s getting taller. I actually wanted him to gain a little bit more weight, but can’t really complain because he is very healthy.

Here’s both of them now.

Anyhow, I am happy to have this chance to stay home with them. I will never trade it for anything else in the world.

Back from Hibernation

Published on February 3, 2014 by Grace5 Comments

After a very long absence, I am now back from hibernation. Not a lot of exciting adventures lately, as we have been confined at home. I’ve had my own share of motherhood challenges, but everything is ok now. Things are slowly getting back to normal. My new “normal,” that is.

Winter is relatively mild on this side of the globe compared to what the people in the US East Coast is now experiencing. Temperatures are sub zero during night time but has been consistently positive during the day. We’ve had a little snow but it is now slowly melting.

So what’s new? Well, for one. My daughter is now 3 months old and at a stage where her schedule is more predictable. She is getting more and more curious about the world around her and somehow seems to communicate through babbling.

Here is a quick photo I snapped of both my kids.

I am also starting to standardize our daily routine. It is very difficult to manage a household with two very young children. Although I am very happy that my eldest is at a stage where he is completely independent and even helps me out. He is the one opening doors for me when all three of us are out and about for our daily walk in our neighborhood. I haven’t been in contact with the general public since winter set in. It is pretty tough.

I couldn’t just go to a Starbucks shop and get a good cup of coffee these days. Well, there is no Starbucks in this town.

Anyhow, we managed to bring Starbucks home — coffee beans straight from the Starbucks shop in Prague.

It is the perfect pair for these shortbread cookies which we got as a gift from a friend.

We also managed to get a taste of California through this bottle of Chardonnay from Tesco.

There is nothing special about this wine, but it is the perfect pair for fish or pasta on these cold winter nights. Reminiscing our life in California gives me a warm feeling inside.

If the forecast is right, it should get warmer towards the end of this month. Once it does, we will be on travelling mode again. I am anxiously awaiting the new adventures that lie ahead.

Happy New Year to all of you!

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