The Magical Paths

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23/02/2023

well...Instagram officially deleted my account for "violating its Community Guidelines." that's rich. i'm pretty floored, as this means they not only took down my account, but wiped ALL of my content, content that i shared with an open heart and dedicated lots of energy and time to.

at the top of their long Community Guidelines webpage, they state, "We want Instagram to continue to be an authentic and safe place for inspiration and expression." i was doing exactly that--authentically sharing my family's life. it was the most PG account ever and it brought me a lot of joy. some of the s**t on IG that's allowed to stay--do i even have to start to list it? we all see it in our feeds every day--and my account gets permanently disabled, an account where i'm sharing pictures of the pies i bake and the apples we grow in our garden and the books i read for the free kids book club i run.

shame on you, Instagram and Meta

for anyone who was following and enjoying my content, i don't think i'll be sharing via META anymore, as it's a company devoid of both integrity and transparency.

love how they've highlighted some of the wonderful activities in our region
16/02/2023

love how they've highlighted some of the wonderful activities in our region

we love visiting Kalvária in Banská Štiavnica, but this was the first time we visited in winter! we thought the climb up...
12/02/2023

we love visiting Kalvária in Banská Štiavnica, but this was the first time we visited in winter! we thought the climb up in the snow would be a bit treacherous, but it ended up being totally fine...we were so lucky to have such clear skies. sometimes when we visit the fog is so thick that we can't even see the trail behind us ☁️ even though snow is everywhere and it's nippy, the sun was shining and the birds were singing, reminding us that spring is coming.

for those visiting Štiavnica, walking the Kalvária pilgrimage and visiting all the chapels and churches definitely deserves a solid half day--the stations aren't meant to be rushed through. all signage is in English & Slovak, plus the descriptions of the stations of the cross are also in Hungarian & German. as construction began in 1751, modern Slovakia was then part of the Hungarian Empire (and later Austro-Hungarian Empire), so visitors will note that on the few original wooden depictions in the chapels, the captions are exclusively in Hungarian. there are a few parking spaces out front and a gift shop/attached restaurant.

yesterday was a very special day for our family--it' been 4 years since we moved to Slovakia 🇸🇰 ✈️moving back to Europe ...
11/02/2023

yesterday was a very special day for our family--it' been 4 years since we moved to Slovakia 🇸🇰 ✈️

moving back to Europe after 10 years wasn't purely a logistical move for us--the move has meant us taking a big step towards coming closer to and living out our values.

selling nearly half of our belongings before leaving was the beginning. (we still lugged 700lbs of stuff on our transatlantic flight...swipe for the 2nd pic!). after moving, we became a one-car family. we became a one-smart phone-family (Robo & I share... unconventional, we know ☺️). we also said goodbye to our television (have never looked back with that one...good riddance). as we shed all these material items, we also shed the responsibilities, costs, and distrzctions that come with them.

but the greatest shift for us since moving to Slovakia has been the fact that, for four glorious years, we've been together 24/7 as a family. i have worked from home since the move, which has been life-altering for us.

whenever I think about the pros and cons of living here, it's impossible for anything to be as important to us as time together, as presence, as the chance to unschool our children and live life uninterrupted. Slovakia has given this to us, these 1,463 days, and there's no way we could ever quantify the value of being able to be home together as a family.

this is the longest we've ever stayed in one place, which definitely speaks to the fact that it has shifted something deep inside us.

cheers to 4 years🥳 ďakujeme, Slovensko ❤️✨

we had an *awesome* February book club meeting this past Monday!of all the books I've read with my 7-10yo group so far i...
08/02/2023

we had an *awesome* February book club meeting this past Monday!

of all the books I've read with my 7-10yo group so far in our club, it's safe to say that the first in the Secret Spy Society series by has been my personal favorite✨

mystery is a fantastic genre for this age group because aside from being interesting from start to finish, it also lends itself nicely to predictions, alternative endings, and discussion of plot sequencing/organization. since we're a non-academic book club, i don't force any of these topics on participants, but instead weave them into the discussion. this is the exact same way i approach discussing literature with my own kids--if they read independently and end up wanting to share some elements from their latest book, i let them lead the way and ask follow-up questions that give them a bit more to consider.

the suggested age range for The Case of the Missing Cheetah is 5-9yo, and that's definitely reflected in the simplistic plot. however, i actually really appreciated a chapter book that was accessible for my own 5yo, as she felt she could follow along with her 8yo sister as we read aloud together. and even though the plot (particularly the solving of the mystery/spying) could have been more developed, Wang more than made up for it with both her fantastic illustrations and the nod to women spies from history.

after reading with my own kids and discussing during book club, I pulled Herstory by off our shelves so we could read more about Noor Khan, and then we watched a few YouTube videos about Josephine Baker. i love that Wang made each of the 3 main characters distinct, but didn't stereotype or pigeonhole them--that choice directly reflects the historic, heroic women who were highlighted in the book. can't wait to read #2 and already pre-ordered #3 in the series📚

looking ahead to our March book club meeting, we have space for a few more 7-10yo kids to join us...we usually meet on Monday late afternoons Central European time, as we cater to other unschooling, homeschooling, and worldschooling families. book club is *free*, all are welcome--link to register in the bio!

treating our last box of chocolate like ✨gold✨my mom is visiting from the US right now and always brings tons of treats...
06/02/2023

treating our last box of chocolate like ✨gold✨

my mom is visiting from the US right now and always brings tons of treats and surprises on her trips...but this one is the most special, as Bischoff's closed permanently on New Year's Eve after almost 90 years in business in Bergen County.

my parents grew up visiting Bischoff's, and since they got together in high school, my dad gifted my mom a box of their homemade chocolates on Valentine's Day every year, plus the occasional box here and there whenever he was in the neighborhood--that's 40+ years of nonpareils, almond clusters, caramels, coconut clusters...the works! so when I was growing up and still to this day, Bischoff's is what comes to mind when I think of chocolates--no one made them better.

I am so thankful that we had *just* visited in October, despite living out of the country for 3.5 years--talk about serendipity!...we had recently read about the history of soda jerks and ice cream sodas and shops in one of the kids' books, and so I surprised them with a trip to Bischoff's to experience the history first-hand....little did we know that those milkshakes and sundaes and chocolates would be some of their last. but you'd better believe we enjoyed them!

time marches on, that's for sure. but it's so sad that, in this day and age, small community businesses that use quality ingredients and family recipes/traditional methods are barely able to keep their doors open, as most people opt for convenience over everything, spending their money at impersonal chain stores run by big corporations. i always say i was born in the wrong generation, and oh how I wish I could have seen and patronized Bischoff's in its prime...but we will always have the memories❤️

happy !! we've been working our way through all these books that the kids got for their bookish Advent this past Chris...
01/02/2023

happy !! we've been working our way through all these books that the kids got for their bookish Advent this past Christmas.

it's no secret that reading aloud to and with our children is an essential part of our life together as a family, so this is something we truly celebrate every single day of the year.

every day at bedtime for the past weeks, Robo and the kids have been working their way through this 1959 publication fro...
23/01/2023

every day at bedtime for the past weeks, Robo and the kids have been working their way through this 1959 publication from Mladé Leta, which features folk tales from around the world.

as a family, it is definitely safe to say that short stories are our favorite genre, which is fitting because they've always been my favorite, too, so i am happy that everyone feels drawn to them.

i was thrilled that an Armenian tale was part of the collection, and it's so special for the kids to hear something about Armenia written in Slovak, combining their cultures in a unique way. their favorite so far this week has been a Korean tale, roughly translated as the 8x Unlucky Person (in the book, it mentions "pchar-ke-bogi" as the Romanization of the Hangul term for this person).

reading is such pure magic✨ we are always learning about nature, other cultures, history, different ways of life, and even ourselves.

wishing all who celebrate a happy & prosperous lunar new year✨ #2023
22/01/2023

wishing all who celebrate a happy & prosperous lunar new year✨

#2023

little helping hands in the kitchen today❤️ painted lady runner beans are almost too pretty to eat. ...
22/01/2023

little helping hands in the kitchen today❤️ painted lady runner beans are almost too pretty to eat.

dreaming about warm, crisp autumn days, feeling the breeze in our hair, taking train trips around Slovakia✨ ...
20/01/2023

dreaming about warm, crisp autumn days, feeling the breeze in our hair, taking train trips around Slovakia✨

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Banská Štiavnica
Banska Stiavnica
969 01

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