We created this blog to enable us to share our lives with our family and friends who live so far from us. We also thought it would be a cool way to keep a journal to share with the Cerny babies!!! So, please stop by often and leave comments!!!
It was an exciting week. After practicing, Noah started walking on his own on Thursday. As we were getting ready for school, he was begining to show his new talents. A couple of times, while standing, he decided to walk away from me as we were putting on his jacket. I warned them at school of what was happening. Sure enough, when I picked him up in the evening, they were all excited to tell me how he was walking down the hallway and they couldn't get him to sit still.
(On a side note, we have started using Vimeo for our videos. Along with better quality, you can click on the symbol to the left of "vimeo" and watch the video in full screen. Press ESC to revert back to the normal screen.)
With his new found mobility, we thought we could head to the park.
We tried out the slide. Although, as you can see, he wasn't too sure about it.
He warmed up quickly, though.
Tried out the swing
Climbed aroung in a tree fort.
Climbed around on Daddy
Saw some cows
A donkey
And a pony
Some random pictures....
Fingerpaint!
Being silly
He loves to watch himself in the videos. He knows when we are video taping him and always comes over to see how he looks after. I turned the viewfinder towards him and turned it on as he admired himself.
We were very excited when we got an invitation to a Halloween party in the mail. Of course, the big question was "What should Noah be?". After searching the stores for two weekends, we had come up with nothing. It seems the Swiss only started celebrating Halloween about 4 years ago and they hadn't gotten passed the vampire or witch stage yet. So, we started trying out a few different ideas......
We considered that he would make a good Johnny Jumper Gymnast. Wrong, he couldn't "pull off" the whole tights thing.
Or maybe R2D2 from Star Wars...... Nope, too confining.
He made a good Swiss Mountain Pole Dancer but we couldn't fit the pole in the car.
We were much relieved when a package from Grandma Cerny showed up with this monkey costume. It was very fitting since we play Crazy Monkey Family around the house on a weekly basis.
Noah at his party with Samuel the inch worm, Alicia the bumblebee, and Danny Count Dracula.
It was really fun watching Noah interact and play with the other kids.
Now, on to some Random pictures.....
Although he isn't holding his toy phone, he is mimicking Mom and Dad on their cell phones. If you say, "Hey Noah, Hullo?", he will pick up anything nearby and put it to his ear. The past month or so has been a lot of fun. Noah has changed so much. Not only is he eating a ton and growing like a weed, but he has become very inquisitive and is always getting into things. He has also become more playful and interactive with us, from playing ball to wrestling on the floor.
We don't know where he got this one from, but one day we put this box by the door to be thrown away, when Noah started pushing it around the house collecting all of his toys in it, including Mr. Monkey.
He is definitely very close to walking. Any day now. He makes his way around the house holding on to everything and has a few times taken a step or two in our direction. Stay tuned.... I feel a video moment coming on!
A common dream of Rani and I that we have shared since first meeting, was to charter a boat and sail in the Greek Islands. Well, that dream finally came true and we got to share it with Noah and a few of our close friends, Kathleen, Maureen, and Dan.
After much research, we decided to sail amongst the Sporades Islands and the surrounding area. Although they are located more North than the more famous and more touristy islands, we chose this area because it traditionally has less wind and calmer waters than the Southern islands.
Our trip started on the larger Skiathos Island, in Skiathos Town (real creative). Unfortunately, a cold front came through that same day, bringing with it 30-35 mph winds and large waves. They even cancelled the ferry service to the mainland. Fortunately, there was much to see on Skiathos, so we spent the first two days anchored securely in Skiathos harbor.
Our home for the week, Sophia.
In many European countries, they dock in a much different formation than in the States. In the States, one pulls into a dock slip or when confronted with a bulkhead, you tie up with your beam to the wall. Rather easy, but more expensive since you are using up much more space. In Europe, you must drop an anchor 100 ft from the bulkhead, reverse up to the bulkhead, and then tie your stern loosely to the wall, hoping through all this that your anchor is holding. Then, if you are lucky like us, you drop your "drawbridge" and cross it onto solid land. Quite complicated, but it was free every time we had the opportunity.
Noah showed his approval
Skiathos harbor Skiathos Town
One of the great things about Skiathos was that you could rent scooters for 10 Euros a day and ride all over the island. Unfortunately, nobody told us the fine for not wearing a helmet was incredibly expensive! Here we are showing off our helmets AND our Greek Tickets.
Koukanaries Beach is the most famous attraction on Skiathos
Noah and Dan at Koukanaries
On the map there was a picture of a castle. And I can't miss a castle. Well, there wasn't much left of this one, but it was pretty neat to see. It was built in the 14th century to protect the inhabitants of the island from pirates. It remained the only settlement of the island until the 19th century.
Finally, the weather cleared and we pulled anchor and said farewell to Skiathos (and their unfair police chief) on Monday afternoon.
Noah got right into the swing of things!
Our first destination was just a few hours sail to the island of Skopelos and the very small town of Loutraki
Our first attempt at this new docking technique was a success! We happened to dock with a Sunsail Flotilla (a group of boats from the same charter company that sail together for the week with instruction from professionals).
Luckily this small town had cold Mythos beer. Our drink for the week.
Noah walking the gangplank
We were treated with a beautiful sunset as we prepared pesto chicken pasta on the boat.
The next day, with beautiful weather, we covered 22 slow miles to Platania.
Maureen did an awesome job of learning to steer while sailing
A Mythos, her Kindle, a sleeping boy...... One happy Mama
The harbor of Platania. The skipper (me!) did a poor job of choosing this location for our night's stay. It was marked on our charts as a good anchorage, but upon anchoring we quickly realized our mistake. It was open to the weather from the South and SouthWest and it had a fleet of large fishing vessels, which fish only at night! Then, without any wind all night, we were constantly rocked by rolling waves and wake from the fishing boats, spinning us in circles around our anchor! So, I was constantly waking up to check our new position and to make sure the anchor was still holding.
Our $#@! dinghy. I think that will be the name of our next dinghy because in my experience that is what you usually call them! After a struggle to get the darn thing running, we headed to shore with the first group. I returned to get Rani, Noah, and Kathleen and half way to shore, we quickly realized the bow rope was not in the boat when the motor abruptly stopped. Tangled with the bow rope. So, out came the oars!
Once again, $#@! dinghy!
That behind us, we did get to enjoy a very ethnic meal. As usual, we ordered 4 fried fetas. We couldn't get enough of feta cheese!
Grilled octopus. I didn't expect to actually still see the suction cup thingys! It was delicous, seriously.
A nice evening sail on the way to Milina.
Much of where we sailed looked much like this. Lots of rolling hills and trees, with a small town here and there.
Approaching another very small town, Milina.
Snug in our berth for the night, we pulled out the BVI hammock.
Our last day, on our way to Volos. Kathleen at the wheel
Getting Noah to nap was always a real challenge in the V-berth. We had to barricade him in the bed with our suitcase and baggage.
Noah changed a lot on our trip. He demonstrates some of his new tricks in this video with Rani.
With absolutely no wind, we took the time to take a dip. The water was beautiful.
Playing with my camera's "sport" function
The water was so clear! You can see Dan rising to the surface.
Back to civilization, Volos. Rani and Kathleen relaxing with a book on the bow.
We anchored at a boardwalk of sorts. Lined with cafes and tavernas.
When he got home from school, he opened his first gift, Bruce the Moose! He jumped right on and started rocking away.
He got a real kick out of Aunt Nicole's gift
Opening presents with Grandma Price on Skype
Blowing out the candle on his birthday carrot cake
He warmed up quickly, though.
A donkey
And a pony
Or maybe R2D2 from Star Wars......
He made a good Swiss Mountain Pole Dancer but we couldn't fit the pole in the car.
We were much relieved when a package from Grandma 
Noah at his party with Samuel the inch worm, Alicia the bumblebee, and Danny Count Dracula.
It was really fun watching Noah interact and play with the other kids.
Although he isn't holding his toy phone, he is mimicking Mom and Dad on their cell phones. If you say, "Hey Noah, Hullo?", he will pick up anything nearby and put it to his ear. The past month or so has been a lot of fun. Noah has changed so much. Not only is he eating a ton and growing like a weed, but he has become very inquisitive and is always getting into things. He has also become more playful and interactive with us, from playing ball to wrestling on the floor. 
We don't know where he got this one from, but one day we put this box by the door to be thrown away, when Noah started pushing it around the house collecting all of his toys in it, including Mr. Monkey.
On the map there was a picture of a castle. And I can't miss a castle. Well, there wasn't much left of this one, but it was pretty neat to see. It was built in the 14th century to protect the inhabitants of the island from pirates. It remained the only settlement of the island until the 19th century.
Noah got right into the swing of things!
Our first attempt at this new docking technique was a success! We happened to dock with a Sunsail Flotilla (a group of boats from the same charter company that sail together for the week with instruction from professionals).
Once again, $#@! dinghy!
Playing with my camera's "sport" function 
We anchored at a boardwalk of sorts. Lined with cafes and tavernas.
It was a fun place to spend our last night.
It was sad to say goodbye to Sophia.......