Family Life

Taos Pueblo

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Taos Pueblo is oldest continuously inhabited community in the USA. The structure above is  approx. 1000 years old. People still live here, kids are out playing, people come and go.

I was surprised to see a church in the center. Today 3/4 of the population shares in some of the Catholic practices. I’m really drawn to the Catholic churches here in New Mexico. One of my goals is to photograph as many as possible.

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Taos Pueblo Church

 

Next we strolled through the village, where some Natives sell handmade goods. I bought a necklace made of corn. Tasha seemed to like it.

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“We have lived upon this land from days beyond history’s records, far past any living memory, deep into the time of legend. The story of my people and the story of this place are one single story. No man can think of us without thinking of this place. We are always joined together. “

Tribal Manifesto

 

-Sofija

All pictures taken by me with permission from the Tribe.

 

Taos Pueblo

Taos- or How we Travel as a Large Family

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On Saturday we took the family to Taos, New Mexico. Taos is 2 1/2 hours north of us so we decided to do it in one day. Prior to leaving I planned our day with the help of this website. Lots of helpful ideas for families to plan their day trips.

We fed the kids breakfast and were on our way by 8am. Note to myself, don’t feed the kids Nutella for breakfast if you plan on doing a photo shoot that day…

Our kids are used to eating frequently (as in, they snack all day), so by 11 am they were quite hungry. I have learned that with our crew of 8 it is best if we feed everyone before or right at the destination. For us it does not work to get to a city and then having to look for a place to eat. My husband had been to Taos before, so he knew of a great place by the river to stop and eat about half an hour before our destination.

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This was a beautiful rest stop, commonly used by rafting companies to pick up their clients, so the water was shallow enough for the kids to wade in it.

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This is the Rio Grande, by the way. After 45 minutes we piled back in the car and headed to Taos. I have to say here that it is unusual for us to travel on the weekend during the summer. One secret to making travel easier on our large crew is to avoid crowds if at all possible. We were planning on doing this trip on Friday. However we spend all day Friday to get our air conditioner fixed, so the trip got pushed back a day. It worked out because we used another big family trick: eating during off hours. Restaurants for us are much more doable after lunch and before dinner. The waiters are much more attentive and friendly (and willing to get us yet another napkin and to split our meals).

We drove to the Plaza in Taos to get a feel how large it is and weren’t really sure if we should stop until our 5 year old spotted this place.

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It’s called Twirl House, it is enclosed, and a great place for kids 10 and under. Even better, it is free.

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The husband was kind enough to stay here with the younger ones while I took our two oldest to the plaza.

IMG_6807 IMG_6777 IMG_6810After the Plaza we headed 11 north of Taos to the Rio Grande Gorge bridge.

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IMG_6855 IMG_6857 IMG_6861I’m glad I got to see it but I have to admit it was a freaky experience. Not sure if I would recommend it for families. The bridge is way up high, sways with cars driving on it (which they do at high speeds right next to you). The railing has openings. The whole thing seemed unsafe and hard to control. Add to the fact that our 5 year old decided to throw a fit right there and my 9 year old almost got hit by a car..it was nerve wracking. But the view is stunning.

By now it was early afternoon so we headed up to Ski Valley to eat an early dinner at the Bavarian Restaurant. The terrain is vastly different up in the valley, reminds me of the Alps. Here is my “Sound of Music” picture with Ella.

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The prices are steeper than what we are used to, but it is well worth it, because of the location (kid’s can run around), and the authentic German food. And the portions are huge. The restaurant is right by a ski lift, so you can ski from here, hike, or bike.

After this we stopped one more time which I will save for another post. Stay tuned.

-Sofija

Taos- or How we Travel as a Large Family

Our Family’s Top 5 Toys

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Summer is here and chances are you are scrambling to keep your kids entertained and occupied. Especially when you live in places like the Southwest where outdoor play is reduced to the morning hours. Other than a daily trip to the pool, how do you keep your kids creatively engaged?

Here are our family’s top 5 toys. I have 4 girls and 2 boys. The toys I selected were the ones all of them have played with the most over the years. They are liked by both genders equally, are timeless,  and encourage hours of creative play. And most importantly, they don’t make any noise!

These are the toys I will keep for my grandchildren. I like them that much. Playmobil and Legos have larger versions for pre-school age kids called Duplo and Playmobil 123. I’m thrilled that the Lego company is finally targeting girls with their “Friends” line.

Schleich makes a huge variety of animals (it is through them that people like me learn what a sperm whale looks like) but also figures like knights and princesses.

How about you, what are your favorite toys? Did you keep any from your childhood? A lot of my friends from Germany still have their Playmobil.

-Sofija

Our Family’s Top 5 Toys

Croatia Continued

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Here are is my Croatia 2000 trip part 2. You can find part 1 here.

First a few pictures taken at my mom’s house with views of the Adriatic sea…

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From my mom’s balcony we can see all the way to the nearby port town of Rijeka.027_23A 007_3A 037_33A

Next up are pictures from our visit to a nearby town Mošćenička Draga, the best kept secret in Croatia. A little town south of Opatja. The drive there alone is beautiful, winding close to the shore and through some hills. The town is small, has a beautiful pebble beach, and here comes the best, restaurants right by the water. Below we are eating ice cream at the beach. If I didn’t have free lodging at my mom’s I would probably stay here.

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023_20A 024_21AIt was so relaxing and beautiful. I suggest going there in May as we did; I imagine this place fills up quick during high season.

This concludes my posts on Croatia.

This was probably the last trip I took pictures on film with our Cannon Rebel camera.

-Sofija

Croatia Continued

Opatja, Croatia

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018_14AThere is a place in Europe that is so beautiful yet hardly known. Growing up I spend many summers there, because my family leaves nearby. Opatja is a small town on the Adriatic coast. It has changed hands frequently in the past. It has been part of Italy, former Yugoslavia, and now it is part of Croatia. Because of its history it has an Italian look and feel to it. That is what gives its flair. These pictures were taken in 2000, when I took my husband and then 2 year old son on their first trip to Europe. I dug these pictures out of my closet today and I am reliving the memory of this special trip.

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Opatja sits right on the Adriatic sea and has pebbled beaches and pedestrian walk ways all along the shore. I have fond memories of walking, walking, and walking (it’s a European thing), for miles, passing hotels, restaurants, and even an open air movie theatre. Here is the beach more known to the locals.

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I love walking though these narrow streets that only aunt size cars can navigate. Looking at these old houses, with crumbling facades, and old doors.
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After all that bragging about walking, here we are in a water taxi (a first for me). Taking in the scenery a little faster. Behind my husband is the center of Opatja, with the big hotels, where most of the tourists hang out.
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Gosh, I am fond of these two. 019_15A

A local church in town.

034_30AA local woman selling hand made lace, something Croatians are known for. Traditionally women wear black for one year when they mourn the death of a parent or spouse. I don’t remember my grandma ever wearing anything but black.
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Here is the center where local vendors sell merchandise, or local artist draw tourists. Everything is within walking distance from here: Shops, restaurants (do try the local filled pastry called Burek), coffee shops, galleries, parks, etc.
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What do you think? Will you add Croatia to your itinerary on your next trip to Europe? I highly recommend it. People are very friendly, and they try to speak your language more than in Italy or France.

Do let me know when you are going, I will have a shopping list for you.

-Sofija

Opatja, Croatia

Kids Traveling Alone

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trainFriends,

I’m curious, do you let your kids use public transportation? Or if they are still too young, what thoughts do you have on that topic?

When I was my daughter’s age (above picture) my friend and I got on a train and went to Munich (a six hour ride). We visited a relative of hers, but I distinctly remember touring the city just the two of us. A year of so later my family and I were visiting friends near Munich. A planned a day trip all by myself to the city, doing an art tour visiting different art museums (how exactly I planned this before the internet is beyond me). I have done many city trips alone in my teenage years. To me that was part of being an urban European, you should be able to navigate any city on your own!

Now that I am raising 4 daughters I am surprised that I feel uneasy about letting them travel by themselves. It’s one thing to put them on a train (above) or plane when they get picked up on the other end. But the thought of her and a friend traveling to a nearby city would scare me big time.  I always want to send her big brother along for protection. The problem is the big brother has no interest in sight seeing or adventure trips in urban settings…

Now that my daughter has figured out she can get places on the train I will have many more opportunities to wrestle with this topic…

Do tell me, would you let your kids travel alone?

-Sofija

Kids Traveling Alone

One Year Anniversary

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Friends,

It was one year ago on May 29, 2012 when I started this blog. Thank you to my faithful readers for sticking with me and for all the kind comments! I love you guys!

Looking back at this last year I am surprised how easy it is to write a blog, and how hard it is to write a blog. Easy in terms of set up, get it going, and doing posts. Hard in terms of keeping it going, learning all the ins and outs of blogging. Some days it takes me 10 minutes to do a blog, sometimes several days. What I have learned from the best bloggers out there that is that they make it look effortlessly.

For me it has been a wonderful creative outlet. But it wouldn’t be as fun if I couldn’t share it with you!

I love you guys!

-Sofija

Above are my most viewed blog posts.

 

One Year Anniversary

Little Friends

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It’s been an exiting week for me. I’m working on another inspiring interview; I can’t wait to share it here next week. And today when I woke up I found an e-mail in my inbox from the copy editor of Babiekins magazine. She had accepted my submission for their children’s street style column. You might remember the two posts I did on Natasha’s spring outfits? 6 of those outfits are featured here. What a lovely surprise. I admire the style and creativity of that magazine. Having my two year old featured is such an honor.

I’ll leave you with some pictures of Natasha and her best friend, getting ready for some adventure.

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I love it, when Emily gets her camera out.

Have a lovely Memorial Day weekend!

-Sofija

 

All pictures taken by Lonely Mountain Photography

 

Little Friends