Off Tomorrow

I will try my best to remain in touch during our travels. However, just to let you all know that we are off tomorrow on our summer trip. Spent today packing and about 1/2 way there. Luckily summer travel with kids is quite easy - light clothes, few shoes, and no jackets. We're hoping our luggage is as minimal as possible! Right now I have it organized that Mia and Ali are sharing one suitcase, Curt and Terence are sharing 1 1/2 suitcases (it was supposed to be 1 but went over slightly. I'll easily fill up the other 1/2 with toiletries, presents, etc). I have my own suitcase! Then, we'll have 1 more extra one that will be for all that extra stuff last minute stuff... (night time nappies, toys, books, pool stuff, etc). Wish us luck with our traveling as it's never easy with 3 little ones. However, it does seem to get easier each year as they get a bit older so I'm remaining positive on this year's flights (there are many!)

We are all really looking forward to it! We plan to see tons of friends and family and so excited about it!

Mia's Artwork

The girls in our family love to draw. Terence also likes drawing but his style is much more simple and less about color and more about his ideas. Mia, on the other hand, loves to draw with lots of color, enjoys drawing people and loves writing her name. This first picture is one that she just gave me today and she said that I was the lady in the colorful dress on the right and Ali is the little one on the left. I thought it was so pretty.

These below I find everywhere! She draws them on scraps of paper - preferably 4 x 6 inches. If she has to, she'll cut to her size preference then draw her little drawings. When I say, 'everywhere', I mean everywhere! I find them in her pockets, in my pockets, in the car, in her room, in my bags, in her bags, around the house, everywhere! I am trying to keep as many as possible as I think they are all so sweet.

Last Day of School

No photos, just a note... Terence and Mia's last day of school was today. Ali's last day was also today but that's only because we are heading out of town on Sunday.

T and Mia were so happy and ready for a break. When we got in the car, I had Alice Cooper's Schools out for Summer on my iPod so I could just press play when I started up the car. They were both so excited to hear it!

Last Football Practice of the Season

T loves football. He plays for the French team and has practice every Saturday from 9:30am - 11am. Last weekend was his last practice until September when school resumes. Here are a few photos of his practice. He especially loves when we stay to watch and cheer him on...

He always looks over to check that we are watching him and not busy chit-chatting to all the other parents.

Mia with her buddy, Emma

Here a few photos from last Saturday when Mia went to her girlfriend, Emma's birthday party at Challenge Land. Emma is Belgian and only speaks French. Her and Mia have now been in the same class 2 years in a row and have become very good friends. I'm lucky as Emma's mother, Benedicte, is really nice and helpful to me at school. It helps that her English is pretty good too!

Mia is much taller than all the other kids in her class... The great thing is that she loves it.

Ali's Nursery School

Many of you have heard me and Curt rave about Ali's nursery school. It's the same one that Terence and Mia went to before starting at the French school. It's really incredible. Marcsi is the director of the Heidi Ovoda and it is on the same property as her family's home in Pilisszentivan (about 6-7 miles from our home). It's a wonderful, loving environment for children ages 6 months - 7 years of age. Ali is so loved there and enjoys going. Below are some photos / videos from their recent end-of-year party. We stayed much later than all the guests as we are very close to Marcsi, her husband and her 3 kids (Linda, Brigi and Kriszt). Linda and Brigi are both in their 20s now and also nursery school teachers at Heidi nursery school. Brigi has spent a lot of time babysitting Ali since she was a newborn and has grown very attached to Ali (and vice-versa). Life in Hungary would definitely not be so wonderful and easy without Marcsi, Brigi and the rest of their family around the corner always willing to give us a helping hand.

Ali and Marcsi

Ali dancing with Brigi and another little girl from her nursery school class. Ali lives for dancing!

More dancing video. Ali with a friend, Marcsi, Brigi and Brigi's boyfriend, Krisztian.

PS Terence and Mia were also at the party but they were busy either swimming in the pool (real in ground pool) or jumping on the bouncy castle.

Wednesday Night

On Wednesday night we had a great time meeting up with old friends, John and Leslie who used to live in Budapest. They spent 5 years here before they moved back to Omaha, Nebraska with their two little girls. Well, their girls are no longer so little. The 4 of them were visiting Budapest this week and we had a great time meeting up again. We've probably only seen each other twice in the last 6 years. Every time, we wonder why we don't try harder at getting together more often. Great people!

Here are some photos of us with them at Negro Cafe at St Istvan Basilica then at Tom George for dinner.

Curt with John

From left to right: John, Bell (their nanny while in Budapest), Leslie and daughters: Whitney (16 on June 26) and Alex (13)

Curt and I with the Allbery family in front of St Istvan Basilica (where all 3 of our kids were christened)

Below are friends from the office who joined us for dinner.

Left is Jim with Judy (girlfriend visiting from Boca Raton) and on right is Jay with longtime girlfriend, Asta. Jay overlapped a bit with the Allberys before they left Budapest.

Judy, me and Leslie. On the right is the atmosphere (with Basilica in background) at the Tom George terrace. Everyone was gathering around to watch the Euro Cup on the wide screen TV. While we were there on Wednesday night, Germany beat Turkey in a close 3-2 game. This means that Germany now goes to the finals on Sunday against Spain (who beat Russia last night).

Lycee Francais Yearbook

Below are the class photos from Mia's Moyenne Section and Terence's CP classes at the Lycee Francais de Budapest. We just got the yearbook this week.

The morning of Terence's photo I made him promise to smile big. Well, guess what? He did!

Staying in Bed Challenges

About 2 weeks ago, Ali started fighting going to bed. Maybe fighting is too strong of a word. Really, she just pushed the boundaries by sneaking out of her room after we had kissed her good-night and tucked her in. I think a lot of it's been because of how light it is so late at night. Also, she's just at that age. At first she'd just come downstairs to wherever Curt or I were. When she realized it resulted in a quick return to her bedroom, she started just exploring other areas. We'd find her playing outside of her room or sometimes just in her room. I would always pick her up and put her back into bed. Sometimes I'd be faced with tears and even a few tantrums.

Two nights ago, I put her in bed with 3 of her baby dolls. I explained to her that she had to take care of them and make sure they stayed in bed and didn't cry. She did her usual 'Yo Mama' and turned to comfort and talk to her babies. I realized this little game worked as she never came out of her room. When I went up to check on her about 45 minutes later, I found her in bed not just with the 3 dolls I put with her but every doll and stuffed animal that she had in her room. They were all around her head lined up on her pillows. It was so cute to see her in the middle (sort of like ET in the closet) amongst them. I had to run and grab the photo for a few snaps. Check them out.

My Sweet Baby Girl

A friend just sent this photo of me with Ali (2 yrs and 5 mos) from a party recently. There was a face painter for the kids - hence her pink face. Had to share as I have very, very few of myself and very few of myself and Ali together. I'm usually the one behind the camera clicking away.

Tequila-Glazed Chicken With Jalapeño

This is seriously the best chicken on the grill! The only thing I modified slightly was that I used coriander powder rather than grinding the seeds myself. Also, I just used chicken legs and thighs instead of a whole chicken.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds, coarsely ground in spice mill or mortar with pestle
• 1 3/4 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
• 1 (3 1/2- to 4-pound) cut-up (best of fryer) chicken
• 1/3 cup orange juice or pineapple juice
• 1/4 cup gold or silver tequila
• 2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 to 2 red jalapeño chiles with seeds, finely chopped
• 1 shallot, minced
• Nonstick vegetable oil spray

Preparation

• Mix coriander, salt, and red pepper. Sprinkle mixture all over chicken. Arrange chicken, skin side up, on baking sheet; cover and chill at least 6 hours or overnight.
• Combine orange juice, tequila, brown sugar, honey, 1 jalapeño, and shallot in small saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until mixture thickens slightly, about 10 minutes. Add 1 more jalapeño if more heat is desired. Cool glaze. Transfer 3 tablespoons glaze to small bowl and set aside for serving.
• Spray grill with nonstick spray. Prepare barbecue (medium heat). Arrange chicken, skin side up, on grill. Grill 15 minutes, turning occasionally. Brush chicken with glaze in saucepan. Turn chicken over; brush with glaze. Grill until juices run clear when pierced with fork or until instant-read thermometer inserted into chicken registers 170°F, turning and brushing occasionally with glaze, about 10 minutes longer. Transfer to platter. Spoon reserved glaze over.

Mia's School Performance

Last week, the entire Maternelle (3 years of Kindergarten) held a performance for the parents called Spectacle. It was unusual and very French. Mia's class acting like sculptures to strange music and pictures on the overhead. No wonder when I asked Mia the night before what she'd be performing she answered, "I don't know".






From left to right: me with Mia; Mia's 'best friend' Ignace and his mom, Catherine

Mia with her teacher, Claudia. Mia's great friend, Olivia.

Mia's on and off 'boyfriend' Abel

Sunday BBQ

Some Move One friends came around for a Sunday bbq in the hot summer weather. It was great fun and the kids kept themselves and us entertained. Nothing like a hot summer day with the slip-and-slide and outdoor inflatable pool. Check out the fun photos and videos below.










When Jon and Szilva arrived with baby Aidan (7 mos), the kids (and I) couldn't get enough cuddles with him. He is so adorable!






PS The tequila chicken was great!! Curt cooked it perfectly on the grill. Will post recipe soon.

A Sunday Update

Curt is now home safe and sound. We are all happy to see him.

We had a very crazy Sunday starting with Terence's last day at football (it will resume in September) which consisted of games and a party from 9:30am until about 11:30am. Mia had a birthday party at Challenge Land (I've posted photos and stories about Challenge Land before) from 10am for her friend / classmate, Emma (a little French girl). I dropped Mia off with her 'best friend', Ignace (a sweet little Belgian boy who lives near us).

From 1pm, Terence, Ali, Curt and I went to the US Marine house. They still have this amazing house (a famous old prison) up in the castle near the Hilton hotel. Their garden is huge and overlooking the river, bridges and Pest side. There are only about 6 or 7 marines residing here and they were great hosts. They put on a fantastic, all-American bbq for about 150 guests (1/2 of which were kids). They had a basketball court, volleyball court and horseshoes.

From there, we went to get Mia and Ignace from their 2nd birthday party at 5:30pm (Ignace's mother drove them from party number 1 to 2 for us). We dropped Ignace at his home then went on to our 2nd family party. It was at Ali's nursery school. The same nursery school that Terence and Mia attended for 2 years before the French school. They put on a great party and the kids spent most of the time jumping on the bouncy castle and swimming in the pool. There was a 2 man band so Ali danced 90% of the time. I have some great videos of her dancing which I will post later. The cutest was when one of the songs ended, Ali shouted out in Hungarian, "Meg egyet!" In English this means, "One more!" Everyone laughed and clapped. She couldn't get enough. With it being summer solstice, we didn't even start heading home until close to 10pm!!

Today we are having some friends around for a bbq. Trying another new recipe. It's a tequila grilled chicken. Sounds weird but has some fun ingredients. If it's successful, I will post for all of you to try on your own. Or, we'll try it in Kansas or Kiawah on the bbq. Worst case scenario, we'll have enough tequila left over for some yummy margaritas.

Happy Sunday!