The Culveys… Czeching In - Oct 2005
We’ve not been in touch since Christmas last year, which is a sign of how this year has been, i.e. Manic!
Needless to say Christmas was great, Chris came over, India was a darling, although she really had no idea what it was all about (we think that may be a bit different this year!).
2005 started in the usual Prague way, cold and snowy! We hibernated up until India’s 1st Birthday when we flew over to the UK for a big party!! We had a great turnout and caught up with loads of you. India had a great time playing with the kids, and as for the presents, my word she got the lot!! A big, big thanks to everyone!
Just before the snow disappeared we actually managed to make it up to the mountains and had a go at skiing. We went to Harrochov with our friends Anna & Harry (clearly born on ski’s), and Tan did the baby sitting. Ly and I had a lesson with varying degrees of success but both agreed it was a great laugh, and we will definitely do more!
My birthday (37 years young!) was celebrated in Spain, Ly and I flew off for the weekend leaving Tan & India at home. It was great to get away and we really enjoyed exploring the area, especially Rhonda which was fab. Being away from India felt a bit strange, but they seemed to have a great time at home and India is always better behaved when we aren’t around!!
As we headed into spring, I began to work more and more in Slovakia, leaving the girls to fend for themselves. India struggled with her weight and was a regular visitor to the doctors while we focused on encouraging India to eat!! Thankfully she did respond and was soon happily devouring chips and ketchup at every meal!!
In March we made a quick trip to Bulgaria to take a look at some investment opportunities, a very interesting trip, Bulgaria is like stepping back in time, many people travelling around on horseback and you can’t use visa!!! Lyra was lost, but I helped her understand the concept of cash once again!!
Our search for culture took us to see the big man of opera, Pavarotti, on his farewell tour it was ‘an experience’ but I’m not sure if we are converted opera lovers!! A week later and we were in the local wine bar to celebrate Lyra’s Birthday, Abi & Kiera were here to help with the festivities and we never left Pruhonice but had a great night of wine and pizza!!
Birthday’s always get you thinking it’s time for a change, Lyra fancied a new hair style so she let the Czech’s loose on her hair….well it certainly raised eyebrows, and demanded comment, our friend Ben claimed Ly looked like a rock star, I’d suggest maybe a member of Kiss or AC/DC!!
Saada, Ben, and baby Yasmin invited us away to Cesky Krumlov in South Czech Republic, it was one of the nicest towns we have visited since being here, and it’s in the centre of the historic Czech beer making region so of course we had to sample the tipple at every opportunity. It all had to end early Sunday morning as we had to get Lyra to the airport so she could ‘help’ Chris move house. It was a memorable week for both of them…say no more!!
As you would expect India stole the show on a weekend visit to see the Culverhouse’s, but not for the right reasons. Lyra was already in England and drove down with her Dad. India and I flew in to Bristol on Friday night, she was a little angel all the way, and was a little charmer all evening…but that is where it ended. She woke up the next morning and so began a weekend of tantrums and crying fits. Grannie came over Saturday afternoon to see her great Grand-daughter and what a performance she experienced!! On Saturday evening we headed to Gav & Rachel’s, India played well with her cousins Lucy and James so we thought wouldn’t it be nice if they all had a bath together…wrong!! India got hysterical in the bath to such extent that James got upset too. So it was early to bed for our Princess, but she still wasn’t done, she managed to keep the hysterics going for another hour and half!! Sunday morning passed without incident and we flew back home for a rest!!
May came and we attended Stanislav’s (my boss) 50th Birthday. Held in a small hotel North of Prague, it was a night of BBQ, free beer, and very dodgy local dancing!!
The best news of the year so far came when India got her sign off from the neurologist with regard to the impact her shoulder problems had on her movement and co-ordination. It was a huge relief to finally put this into the past…clearly India has forgotten about it as she is a little maniac!
Prague marathon was held at the end of May and Tanya & I were in it…well we were in the 8km race on the same day!! I came home in 44mins and Tan followed in at 1hr 30mins..quite an achievement for someone who hadn’t run for years. We wore our medals with pride all the way to McDonalds!!
The end of May also brought our great friends, Ben, Saada, and Yasmin’s goodbye party. They were off to Switzerland, but before they went we all went Lebanese, complete with belly dancer and water pipes!!
India was knocking on 15 months and still not walking, everyone was getting very tired of walking round and round the house about 50 times a day holding the little lady’s hand so we were thrilled and relieved when she finally got the confidence to wander off alone!!
In June we through off our cobwebs and rocked to Sk8ter Girl Avril Lavigne at the T-mobile arena, she exceeded all of our expectations…that girl can kick ass!! Keeping up our gig going antics it was Duran Duran a few weeks later…it was like stepping back 20 years.. I was 17 again!! What a brilliant night, for a bunch of has-beens they were truly fantastic.
Things were hotting up in Slovakia as the first of my 2 new DC’s opened. It was a really tough time as the DC struggled to get to grips with the complex mix of processes. Needless to say I was seeing very little of my girls. To try and resolve this issue Lyra and India drove across to Slovakia to spend the weekend with me. They did very well following the directions on the 350km journey right up until they were only 20kms away, then one wrong turn took over 2 hours to get back on track!! We’ve now learnt to check Ly’s phone has roaming!! Once they recovered from this trauma we hit the road again and headed further east to the High Tatra Mountains in Eastern Slovakia. The area was absolutely spectacular, sadly partly destroyed by a freak hurricane last year some of the areas looked more like the moon! The walks through the trees gave India a great opportunity to practise her new walking skills..
It seemed to take a lifetime to come around but finally in July it was time to hit Thailand! We were a bit nervous as the flight was pretty long to be taking such a boisterous little lady but she was amazing, she slept for 8 of the 10 hours!! The only issue was the airline lost our pushchair! So much for those efficient Germans!
Phuket looked great, no obvious signs of the Tsunami that caused such distress just 6 months previous. The Marriott was of course top notch and India settled right in to her new abode. The next day we took a walk on the beach, and then hit the pool. India was a bit nervous at first but before long she was having a ball. Then she discovered the water slide!!! We must have taken her down that slide a hundred times during our two weeks, she just couldn’t get enough!! Before we knew it 12 days had passed and we had hardly done a thing, just been up and down that slide!! Elephants were the key to our adventures, we took an elephant trek and they threw in a free elephant massage for us both, yes we were massaged by an elephant!!
A few days before we were due to come home we received some terrible news from home. Our beautiful Podgoss had died during the night, it was so unexpected we were completely blown away. The Vet told us it was heart failure and that he had died in his sleep which was good to know but at 7 years old he was taken far too soon. We all miss him terribly.
The last few days of the holiday slid bye and before we knew it we were facing the long journey home again. Thankfully we got an upgrade to business class and against all the odds India slept for the entire flight, so it went very smoothly. Arriving home was strange ad we knew we would have to face the loss of Podge. He has really left a big hole in the family; he was such a big part of our lives.
As we got back to our daily routine, Lyra was having some problems with her stomach; a painful lump had appeared so she went along to the doctors to have it checked out. Turns out she had a hernia and she was pregnant!!!! Yes our biggest and best news of the year is that we are having baby number two in April next year!!!
Just as we were getting used to the idea we flew back to the UK to celebrate Auntie Irene & Uncle Michael’s Ruby Wedding anniversary, it was a flying visit for me as I had to get back to work but Lyra, India, and Tanya stayed on to see friends and pass on the great news.
India’s development has been incredible, as soon as she started walking she went from a baby to a little girl, by September her speech was developing fast, she now chats continuously, telling everyone that they are naughty and should share! Two mornings a week India attends Little Tree Nursery in the village; it is a Czech school but is partly run by an American lady. India took to it like a duck to water and happily spends two mornings a week there.
Tan and I got the running bug again in September and I did the 10km in 56 mins and Tan did the 5km race in 33 mins, this time we celebrated with beer!
As the summer began to show signs of disappearing for another year we hired a boat with a load of friends and spent the afternoon BBQing and cruising down the Vltava.
Just this weekend saw our little Princess kiss goodbye to her cot and she’s now sleeping in her very own bed! She absolutely loves it, she has managed to fall out both nights so far, but we’re sure she’ll get the hang of it soon!
So that pretty much brings us up to date, except to say Lyra has been in and out of hospital for checks on her hernia and a little scare around they pregnancy, but we are hoping she can have the Op soon and the worries around the pregnancy have passed. We are moving house soon to accommodate our growing family, still in the village but just a bit bigger.
This year has also been filled with fun visits from many of you and we always love to see you, so if you haven’t been then stop making excuses. As from April there will be two squawking babies to contend with!!
If you’ve made it this far well done, we’ll write again before Christmas and promise to make it a short one, keep in touch everyone and take care…
Love Dan, Lyra, India, Tan, and the foetus xxxxxxxxx