Budapest Day 9 (part 2)

(8/18/09)
After a wonderful morning out, we reunited with family to celebrate Nagymama's Name Day. This is a celebration similar to a brithday, but actually more celebrated that their actual brithday. It was a wonderful but sad evening. The kids enjoyed all the new gifts they recieved and we all loved the final night of amazing food. Food, cake, a little liquor and tons of fun came to an end with plenty of Thank You's for all the hospitality and love we experienced. Until next time... thanks for an AMAZING visit.

Nora, Janos and baby Dora

Family group pic


Nagymama LOVED watching Will eat his slice of cake!



ready to go home...

Budapest Day 9

Budapest Day 9 (8/18/09)
We started this day with a visit to Margaret's Island. This is a small island in the middle of the Danube. It's a beautlful island with plenty of floral gardens, old ruins, and bike paths. We rented 2 family bikes and rode along the island with stops at an old Monestary ruin, a Japanese garden, and on one of the many floral lawn for a packed lunch.










our final view of Parliment from the Bridge to Margaret's Island and connecting Buda and Pest.

off to pre-school

when we talk about how time flies when they are little... it is so true. i had a real hard time this spring, when all the other kids in our playgroup were signed up for fall pre-school classes and Will wasn't. I wasn't ready to let go. in my mind, this is why I stay home with him, to let him be little. however, Will comes first. it was recommended by several early intervention specialists that Will would highly benifit from pre-school for the social aspect. Sooo... off he goes. Today I will be driving him for his first class and tomorrow he is MORE than Excited to be riding the school bus. I think it may take me longer to adjust than Will, but I see the excitement in his eyes and I know we will all be fine!

so, our lil boy is off... but not before he snuggled with me for a reading of "Llama Llama Misses Mama", an extra kiss from Daddy and Isa, with his pint size Thomas backpack, a full belly, and new adventures for him to enjoy!

p.s.. when Isa and I got back in the car after dropping Will off, Isa said " May I see Will please?".

ahhhhhh....

still no computer at home! it's crazy to think how dependent we have become to them. I can't wait to get our computer back soon (hopefully!)

Budapest Day8

Day 8 (8/17)

If you are still reading this... Kudos to you! It seems liked the closer we got to leaving the more we did. This day was FULL. We started out visiting the Budapest Zoo. We were extremely surprise by how nice it was. It was huge, well kept and there were many new animals we hadn't seen at other zoos. The zoo was in another part of the city, so we were able to explore a little more after the visit. We walked to Millennium Park (also knows as Hero's Square), passed by The Pavillion, a Castle, and then took a train ride back near the Danube to see Budapest's Parliment. We did ALOT of walking and by the time we got to the Parliment, all the kids were fast asleep in their strollers. There was an air show over the Danube (these planes were insane... doing loops and other crazy tricks). Since the kids were asleep, we all decided it was a good time to stop for a coffee break. We then proceeded to walk by Freedom Square, St. Stephen's Basilica and some great streets before heading back for dinner at Margaret's.

Budapest Day 6&7

Day 6&7 (8/15-8/16)

The kids and I made it through a 3 hour train ride back to budapest on our own... we managed to survive. Nora and her husband picked us up and we headed back to her parents house. Monika, Arnold, Aidan, Andrew, and Leslie arrived that day. The kids were SOOO excited to see each other and Isa showered Andrew with kisses! We spent the rest of that day just catching up.
On the 16th Nora and Janos met up with us for a ride on Budapest's Children's Railway. This railway is run by children ages 10-16 who do just about everything except for conducting the trains. The kids LOVED this day. They swore Thomas the Tank Engine was pulling them. Aidan and Will both got necklaces with a train on them. After our last stop we were treated to a PHENOMENAL authentic Hungarian lunch which included goulash, bean soup, paprikash, and Palinka drink (which I couldn't have). This was the MOST amazing and delicious meal of the trip!
On our way back the kids and I met up with Gramma at the train station (she finally made it back from Vienna) and headed to Aunt Margaret and Uncle Joseph's house. We had another great meal with good company... and more Palinka!