The 7 Day Countdown

The kids are counting down. 7 days until we hit the Disneyland Resort Paris. We will be there for 4 days. Above is a photo the main Disneyland Resort Hotel where we will be staying and eating our meals with the Disney Characters. The kids are going to be sooo overstimulated and have such a magical time!! Curt and I hope they serve beer! ;-)

We have spent this morning checking out the rides and the layout of the park so we are ready to hit the ground running. The most exciting part of it is that the height minimum for the extreme rides (like Space Mountain Mission 2) is 132 cm. We measured Terence this morning and he is clearly 134 - 135cm. He is so excited but I'm worried it maybe a bit scary as they do not recommend kids under 10 years old on the ride. We have yet to measure Mia but I think she will be cleared to ride the next level of rides. There are plenty for all ages!

The reason for our visit to Disneyland Resort Paris is that when Terence and Mia started at the French school in Sept 2006, I had made them a promise. When they finally learn French fluently, we will go to the Paris Disney. Well, guess what? I am fulfilling my promise. The funniest part about this story is that Terence thinks that there will only be French spoken at our hotel and in the park. He believes that he will have to do all the translating and said to me the other day, "what if I forget how to say something?" Poor little guy. I told him that we will try to find somebody who speaks English and I too will learn some key words like 'rollercoaster'. When we arrive at our hotel, Curt and I will have to act surprised when we are greeted in.... English! I know this is a bit sneaky but it has worked as an incentive to get them through their first challenging year at the French school...

This picture is a map of the resort. Our hotel is number 1 - right in the center! The best part about staying at this hotel is that we can enter the park a bit earlier than the general opening time of 10am, plus we receive a Fastpass. A fastpass allows us to avoid rides. We simply go to the ride, receive a time when we should come back and then waiting time is a couple of minutes! However, before booking our visit I checked to make sure none of the French, English or Belgian public schools are on holiday so we shouldn't have to worry about an overly crowded park. This is also why we are arriving on Sunday so we even avoid the general weekend mob! Curt is very impressed!

Dart Tag - a Boy's Dream Come True

Thank you to the McGann family for a rockin' bday present for T's 7th bday. The Nerf Dart Tag is fantastic! Here are some photos from earlier this evening. Riley and Liam helped show T how to use it. They had a great time in the garden except we had to lock Blue up to keep him from chasing after the darts and chewing them up.

Below is Mia getting a turn after begging for one. She couldn't figure out how to cock the gun and I found her outside crying while being a target for T.
When she saw me, she came running over to me in tears (love her face in this photo!)

After this last photo (above), I helped her and we hit T a half a dozen times! She quickly went from tears to giggles!

This video is the boys having target practice.

Ali in Curt's Gear

What 2 year old doesn't like to try on big shoes and other people's accessories and clothing items??

Here is Ali with Curt's biking bandana and his biking shoes. She managed to get his still tied bandana on her head by herself. She was having a great time acting for all of us in this funny outfit this morning.

The first photo is without flash and the second is with flash. It was an in-between type of lighting.

Postcards from India

Curt is always pretty good about sending postcards to the kids. Especially when he is on long trips away (like the last one that was 2 weeks). His postcards from India arrived the day before he arrived home but I am just getting around to sharing them. The kids love them. They look at them and talk about them daily.

For those of you that know Mia, you can guess which one she adores most: the 3 beautifully dressed Indian women. Mia is currently obsessed with glitz and glam. She's also intrigued by darker skin. She finds darker skin interesting and beautiful. Maybe because it's not something you see often here.

Ali likes the elephant walking in between the buses. She likes any form of transportation plus animals so the combination of the 2 is really fascinating for her.

Terence likes the last one of the guys playing music to their snakes. I included what Curt wrote on the back as he always writes something personal and funny to each of the kids. This one was to all 3. Ali, however, got her hands on it and drew over part of it with a yellow crayon (she cannot even make it an hour without coloring!)

Girl Power

I absolutely LOVE this photo of our 5 year old, Mia. It perfectly describes her personality. She loves the pink, ballet, girlie stuff but at the same time she has enough of an edge to choose to wear her hair down and wild and test out Terence's shin guards. She's an incredible athlete without giving it much effort or thought. She chooses to do dance and other girlie things but she'd be great at a lot more. I must admit I find it entertaining when she climbs a tree faster and higher than Terence and any of his friends. The coolest part about her is that she doesn't do it to show off or make others look bad. Or, at least not yet!

Terence's 7th Birthday

Here is a short video and a photo from T's birthday on Saturday. Per his usual request, sponge cake (including 12 egg whites!) He also requested, for the 4th year in a row, sushi on his birthday.

Terence with his best buds, Liam and Riley. Liam is 9 and Riley is 11 1/2. They are also Americans and they too go to the French school in Budapest. Their mom is one of my nearest, dearest friends!

Ali's Smudged Face

I've always blamed our 3 dogs for our dirty and smudged windows. I think I figured out the cause!

Tramp Time

Curt surprised us by arriving home from work much earlier than usual. He walked in at 6pm which is very, very early for him! It was such a great surprise for all of us (except Mia who is still not home)! He said he was excited that it was taco night! haha. After his shower (he rides his bike to and from work), he immediately went out to join T and Mia playing. Note: another great outdoor investment is a trampoline! They love it! The funniest is Blue (our border collie) who just barks underneath with pure envy. I think it's all the balls that get him excited. He sees them but can't actually get to them.

Curt, Terence and Ali just went to pick up Riley and Liam from tennis nearby (5 minute walk) as they are joining us for dinner too.

Sandbox Fun

I'm starting my last 4 days of posts backwards. Had to include these photos from about an hour ago. Mia was over at a friend's home playing. Terence and Mia were inseparable - playing in the beautiful spring weather in their sandbox. If anyone is looking for outdoor toys for their children - a sandbox is a great investment!! However, we actually imported our sand from the US. How embarrassing is that? I couldn't bare giving them the sand that they have here. It's construction sand and filled with pebbles and rocks. The play sand that we got from the US is like a Hawaiian beach. I lay in it in the summer and pretend I am at the beach. The kids splash water on me like waves! haha.

The one on the right is Terence in my garden searching for bugs.

No New Photos or Big Updates

Sorry that I haven't added anything since Saturday early am but we've been going a 100 mph. T's birthday celebration was great fun. Sunday was also loads of fun as we had breakfast with friends (I used a Barefoot Cantessa recipe for some delicious homemade blueberry muffins that were a huge hit in our home), a trip out to the AISB's (American International School of Budapest) spring food festival then a bbq at Jay and Asta's flat on Sziv utca in downtown Budapest. We had fun, fun, fun ... till my daddy took my t-bird away... Isn't that how the song goes?

Anyhow, I made it into the office today and had lots of stuff to catch up on. Rushed to school by 4pm. Took T and Mia (with Ali) to swimming lessons from 4:15 - 5:15pm. We then had a walk around to see the horses in the stables nearby. Came home to find friends who came around to surprise T with a b-day gift. Dinner was salmon fillets, asparagus, baked beans and brown rice. Then, homework, brush teeth, pajamas and bed. Kids got to skip bath / shower tonight as they got one after swimming. Curt is still up reading books to them and I'm too tired to load any photos.

I will post some pictures and possibly a video from T's birthday probably tomorrow. I promise.

xoxo