We're back home, y'all! And I have a million things to post, but since my camera & computer are currently at odds, and I hate to just post words & not the pix about all our recent adventures (the grandparents hear the stories, now they must see the proof :), I have yet to post. So here's the "coming soon"...Zora's 1st dental exam (went well), beginning to potty train (going okay, poos in the potty well), lots of dress-up, play time & play-dates. We are so happy to be home! L is back in pre-school two days a week, which gives him some much needed kid-interaction & Zora some one-on-one w mom time. Good stuff. I will confess that it took me about a week or two to get really unpacked & re-organized. And I was doing grrrreat on early bedtimes 'til the dread time change. Now I'm having difficulty getting back in the groove of the bedtime "crunch." I'll keep trying, though. I've got a kindergarten guy on my hands now! Life will change in the fall! Oh, and L. is signed up for his first year of T-ball, so he & B have been ballin' for March Madness w his tiny goal inside & ballin' w his tiny tee outside. Of course Lady Z tries to copy big bro in all ways, so she is dying to catch a pop fly or strip the net. :) I'm posting pix of "the day before we left Kiecle," so they include one of the pix Leanne took of our fam (nice purple facial hairs, L!) and the kids showing off art that we took pix of instead of mailing it all back for scrapbooking purposes.
Hello, Macomb homies. Do any of you have any house plants that have outgrown their containers & need to be separated into two smaller plants? If so, I'll take a halved plant! We are coming back to a plant-less house...in less than two weeks! :) Please contact me if you can help. Thanks so much!
The Christmas tales continue! Here is L. in front of one of the many nativity scenes we've seen. Both Budapest & Krakow had their "Christmas" markets in the square & we got to see/shop a little in both as we traveled during the Christmas season. There were usually booths set up w everything from wooden toys to hot wine to clothing to seasonal cakes to horse shoes that a person would hammer your name into for a small fee. :) We were reunited w our friends from the states (& fellow F.Bright family), the Gartlands (Myles and Lisa), for a few days. It was so nice! They have four kiddos & the youngest, Trey, & L. get along really well. The older ones are wild about Zora. (She's wild about the girls, but doesn't care for teen-aged Ben. We don't know why; he's super sweet.) Here's our first attempt at a group shot via a self-timer & running-to-place Sonya.
I've got to begin posting about our "out to eat" adventures. Those of you who have done the "out to eat" thing w herds of children know that esp. when we were grouped w the Gartlands & all together had 6 kids, it was something to behold. :) Here's our little fam (day before G's arrived) trying out "Biogardens" in Budapest, which didn't hold a candle to my beloved MoMo Bar in Krakow (both veggie-type places).
The next pix are from a delish restaurant that took WAAAY too long to bring out our food. I think our total time in there was a little over 2 hours (not good for those "just after lunch" nappers of mine). But everybody held up okay. The waiter brought out loads of stuff for the small fries... and they did their thing... and so did we. :) Notice the "girl section" of Lisa & me with Abby & Natalie. We actually began making lists of "books you need to read" for each other on scraps of paper. :) It was SO wonderful to talk to another mom!
Yet another meal time for the group. Yet another attempt at a group shot. I actually thought this one would be "just for fun." We were also waiting for Leanne to join us. Beautiful shot of Gellert Hill. Barclay took Langston here one afternoon (& let him "skip" rest) while I got Z down. They had a blast. the view from the hill... the boys posing...and Langston flashing some "peace" signs. He just said to me, "I did that "peace" on purpose.
During their adventures that afternoon, they discovered these monster slides. A few days later, Lisa & I took the kids there as Barclay, Myles & Ben did "manly" things...like explore more museums. :) We all had fun & got dirty. (And poor Abby tore her skirt, but don't worry, she bagged a new one. :)
Another fun thing about being around friends w kids was...the "kid trade." We each got a date night. Here's Zora w Natalie on our "date night." We went to Saint Stephen's Basilica to hear an absolutely beautiful concert. Then we grabbed some hot drinks & went home. Myles & Lisa did a dinner cruise & talked about how nice it was. Ah, date night. :) (As I was reading this to L. he asked me to add that the kids watched Charlie & the Chocolate Factory & Zora feel asleep on Lisa.)
Saint Stephen's Basilica...above an up-close & below...from the street. Pictured above: the kids & mommy at Heroes Square...and below our fam (looking tiny) at "half" the square... Two pix above is one of L's fav heroes bc he "looked cool & had a snake." Next, a shot of the whole "Heroes Square."
New Year's Eve was a little too wild & crazy down our street. The owner of our "apartments apart" told me that it would get pretty loud & maybe not be the best place for kids late on NYE. By about 9 pm, I believed him. It was packed w people partying (all versions), from blowing noise makers to wearing costumes to setting off fireworks at each other (I am so not kidding!). It was wild. We walked down the street pretty far before deciding to head back to the apartment. Around 10 pm. At least the kids & I headed back. Leanne came w us bc she had just gotten back from the U.S. & her biological clock was still coo-coo. Neat-o. Some people were making pretzels. We stopped to watch.
Some of those Giant Pretzels. Langston pretended to be afraid bc they were bigger than his big head. Ha! Group shot of the kiddies...ours & theirs. :) Ah, and here I must add that Myles almost took this group shot in front of a nudie bar complete w a gal shaking her groove thang w a shade pulled down (more exciting through the "shadow effect"). Anyway, his sweet wife alerted him to his "mistake." Oh, Myles...
On our way home via subway. Party-ed out. And a little frightened. ;) Okay, almost done! Only one more "Christmas-Budapest" post to go!
A little Buda and A little Pest... As Leanne made great "pun" of in her FB pix, Budapest is actually composed of "A Little Buda & A Little Pest..." as in there were once two separate cities and now there is one. Pretty neat. This isn't a new thing, btw, it happened LONG ago. We stayed in "old Pest" and visited "old Buda." To do so, one must cross one of the bridges separating the two. Here we are crossing a neat one.
We are crossing the Danube... We decided to explore the Budapest history museum. I think I was "museumed out" by this point (or maybe just "trying to control the kids around all the old stuff-ed out") and didn't enjoy this one much. Langston & Barclay liked it, though. My sweeties pose beside some stained glass. Doesn't Barclay look adorable with a money belt & a kid on each arm? Aw. The things one does for love. :)And now, the Labrinith, which scared poor Langston to death. It was a dark, twisty, cave thingy, but I think that the tribal, heartbeat music & the strange smell got to him most. This is the way he looked most of the walk through. I carried him a lot. He cried a little. He & I ended up sort-up racing through, only pausing in the well-lit areas (but some of them were creepy)...
like this one. It had little heads with wine spitting out of their mouths. L. wasn't too happy w it. So, we rushed through (singing songs from "The Sound of Music," no less...hey, whatever keeps him from feeling terrified).I tried to get a few pix before L. got too scared. This one was of a painting done on the stone wall. There were a lot of them. I tried "no flash" first, but it turned out too blurry.So I took the rest w the flash on. Better. There were all kinds of things down in that drippy-ness! Sculptures, half buried (I don't remember the "why," B. probably does), strange tunnels (some one could go in, some not), chains to pass through...all kinds of slightly spooky stuff. B. enjoyed it. I think I could've if not for being w a super frightened kid. Poor L. So, the next day (happy anniversary, to my parents! this is what we did on your 3oth!), we headed out to see some art. The Italian exhibit was great. We were engulfed in Madonna & child paintings. I think we all enjoyed them. Even tiny Zora liked seeing "baby De-sus," esp. the few that showed a chubby J.C. nursing. :) L. got a neat book that told a story & had him "fill in" some famous paintings that went along w this "story." (it had tiny reprints of said paintings in the back flap complete w their current location & a smidge of info about the artist). He also scored a feather pen. Yes, a feather pen. Zora got one, too, but she immediately teethed on hers & broke it. Then we ate lunch at Robinson's, which was grand. Yummy pumpkin soup (a must-eat when in Budapest, fyi). There were lots of ducks, geese & birds right outside on the pond/lake beside us. The kids had fun watching the birds.We decided to make a LONG day of it (which we rarely do...I'm a stickler for getting Z's one nap in; and letting L. have some downtime) & went to the Circus! We actually stood in line for a while, then had to buy tickets for a while later, so we walked to the nearest "bath" (like a pool-hot tub kind of place). It looked a little too much like a place for "singles," not families to me, so we decided to do the other "bath" later. (Which we did & I didn't think was all that great. A big cool temp pool on one side & smaller warm one on the other. The building was lovely & if I had wanted fake nails or to be waxed somewhere in there I could've gotten hooked up, but that's not what we came for...I digress...) So, back to the circus! The pic (see: 2 above) was the best pic of our fam there. Z. didn't like it at first (she waved her hand saying, "Don't whan et!" But the cotton candy we purchased soothed her. :) Also, by this point it was nap time, no doubt about it, but she stayed awake for MUCH longer than I expected. She finally passed out nursing near the end of the show. (Isn't that how it goes, parents?)I had not been to a circus in years...one of the only things I remember about it was getting some kind of toy & playing w Dave. So, we all enjoyed the hoop-la. The clown was funny & got the audience "into" the action. B's fav was a gal who positioned herself a top a swing & then balanced on her head while twirling around. Crazy. I like the gymnast girls who contorted themselves on each other (see above...B's girl was swinging too fast for a good pic). Zora liked the animals & Langston loved the silly clown's acts. We all enjoyed ourselves. Speaking of enjoying oneself, please stay tuned for post 3 of our Christmas adventures. I'm sorry it's taking so long, but there is a lot to tell (our pals, the Gartlands visit, New Year's Eve, Heroes Square...) & darn Blogger--loading one pic at a time is so slow!
Tonight, as I was feeding a very happy Zora some chocolate cake, I say, "Girl, I love you so much!" She immediately replies, "I dove me, too!" Ha! Well, she should. :) more Zora-isms...she loves when we play "family Uno." She chants, "E-no, E-no!" while waving her little fist. :) Since my last post about her, she's trying hard to say "Langston" and "Leanne"...she's gotten up to "Nangston" and "Neanne." Pretty good...those are toughies. She also calls babyFred "Fed" and her friend, Frank "Fink" (which is pretty funny). She is in the "language explosion" time of life. She's got a new word or way of saying something almost everyday. And if you watched her attempt at "fork," you know what fun lies ahead. :)
Here begins our Christmas adventure. I don't know how long it will take me to tell all the stories, so be sure to check Barclay's blog for his version & more pix. I'll try to post different pix than he does, but it takes a while to upload, so...here goes! Enjoy! ;) Here is our tired fam between flights in Prague. We came. We saw the airport. We got a coffee mug w their national flag on it. :) This was the beginning of our 1st Christmas with "just our little family," which was really nice. (Yes, parents & brothers & sister-in-law, we missed you!) ...and that would be a worn out Langston napping on Barclay's chest. Zora had just woken up from a lengthy nursing/napping session. The Great Market. Really neat. And a good pic. (My husband takes good pix.) There were all kinds of vendors in this *pretty much* indoor building. One could purchase local baked goods, fruits, veggies, dairy products, meats, etc. all on the bottom floor, or go up to the second floor for scarves, shirts, bags, toys, post cards...all kinds of stuff. Fun, touristy times.
Poor porky. Zora kept saying, "Pheg!" as if the little porker could hear her. DeWayne, I thought of you when I saw this. Outhouses, hog killin', chicken hockey, "bought" milk,...I hope you tell the kids about these experiences someday. :) Lots & lots of piggie parts. This reminded me of that Beatles song..."have you seen the little piggies in their starched white shirts?...for all the little piggies, life is getting worse..." Daddy, Zora & the Hungarian Christmas geese. Birds were everywhere. It gave new meaning to the phrase "have all your ducks in a row." While B. bought the kids a couple of Christmas gifts, I entertained them by getting their pic drawn by one of those cartoonists at the mall. It was a pretty cheap thrill.
Here we are at the "Tropicarium in Budapest," just as the pic says. :) The main reason we came here (on Christmas Eve, no less) was bc they offered a "shark feeding" session...(see: diver w the metal glove & shark swimming away from him below) which both my boys were pretty thrilled about. Also, as B. mentioned on his blog, according to the website, we could've "fondled Ray." Some folk did. (Poor Ray. How dare they do that to him. Ha! Translations kill me sometimes.)
This is what I end up doing pretty much where ever we go right now. I think Zora has moved back several months in the "I need to nurse" category. She was actually down to only 4 feedings before we moved here. Now I don't even count 'em. We'll have to readjust when we get home...and when those 2-yr. molars finish cutting. :) My boys have a serious reptile fascination. Barclay used to really want a snake. Then we had kids & the whole idea of a "pet" kind-of takes a back seat. Maybe someday we'll get a pet. Although living in a city w dog poop everywhere & where people allow their dogs to fun around leash-less as they follow several yards behind them has somewhat turned me against the whole dog thing... Langston is surprised to see a fellow gator...from same swampy area where he was born! Two of a kind! What a good big brother. He even rides w her to the ball. Silly Langston. It was Christmas Eve, so he was helping St. Nick check it twice. :) The loot! Christmas morn & our tiny tree! Notice that the stockings are the kids socks! ;) Filled w candy & a tiny toy a piece.A family pic (via the self timer) w us and/in our Christmas stuff. I'm in my new p.j.s & everyone else is sporting a new Budapest tee.We tried about 5 times to get a good pic of both kids & their booty. Here's the best attempt. :) As usual, they got mostly books, workbooks, coloring books, sticker books, etc. But Z also got a tiny Hungarian purse, a Pooh, & two babies. L. got a car, an airplane, a pretend watch (he can get a real one if takes care of this one), & some craft supplies. OH! And I think that B. mentioned that we got so much stuff on the airplane (to entertain the kids: a comic, a pack of colored pencils, an airplane, a puzzle, a pack of cards...per kid) that we used some of that stuff as stocking stuffers, too. They have shared all their gifts pretty well. It was a fun Christmas & MUCH less stress than our ordinary ones.Langston taking a lick off of his giant 'pop, which he did not finish...even over the course of the two weeks!
I actually really enjoyed cooking our special lunch. We had ham w pineapple, steamed broccoli w cheese, butternut squash (prepared like a sweet potato...they don't seem to have those here), a few other sauteed veggies & bakery bread. It was yummy & somewhat like a what we eat at Christmas...only more healthy & more veggies. :) Well, that only takes us up to Christmas day! Lots more to go! I'll post part 2 asap.
