Saturday Hike in September

A few Saturdays ago we had Carl, Wendy and their kids over after the girls dance class. Their daughter, Bailey, also dances on Saturday mornings at the same time as Mia. We know them well because Carl is a manager in our cargo division. Our lives continue to overlap as they've moved out into our area of Budapest and their 2 children now attend the French Lycee with Terence and Mia.

The main purpose of our hike was to get out to the horses that are kept out in the field and feed them carrots which we often do on the weekends. I came fully stocked with carrots. Unfortunately, the horses must have all been out on a run as they were no where to be found.

The hike was a bit long and many of the kids needed rides along the way.

If you look closely into the sky in this next photo you'll see all the hang gliders - the sky was filled with them. The hill in the distance is a popular area for hang gliding.

Towards the hike back home, we were all spread out. I ran ahead keeping up with Terence while the others kept their own pace. This is what it looked like when I looked behind.

There's a rock quarry that doesn't seem to be worked in any more right near our house. We got to rest a bit here. The kids love to hang out in it and climb around on all the remaining rocks. Here are a few shots.

We seemed to have a few props on the hike. Leah carried the Barbie video camera during most of the journey - even pretend video taping during many parts. We also had Carl and Wendy's kite that T found a good way to carry after we had fun flying it for a while.

2 of our 3 dogs. Blue, our border collie, doesn't sit still for long enough to capture a photo.

Greta (almost 10 years old) is on the left and Kiraly (7) is on the right. Even they were tired.

The New US Dollar

I just received a picture of the new US Dollar from a friend of mine living in the US.

French School's L'Enduro

Every first Wednesday of October the entire French school gets together for a run called L'Enduro. It is not a French thing but something created by the French school of Budapest. I don't completely understand the entire thing but I do know that it is organized by the graduating 12th grade class. It's their way of inviting all the classes below them (all the way down to the 3 year olds in the Petite Section - aka Pre-pre K) out for a morning run. They set up a track in the open field across from the school, blare on music, provide snacks and refreshments and run in groups based on grade. They divide the 12 grades plus 3 Kindergarten grades into 4 running groups. The 2 oldest groups run for 20 minutes; the third group which Terence now belongs to runs for 10 minutes and Mia's Kindergarten group (5 classes of about 24 students in each) run for only 5 minutes. Parents and teachers are encouraged to run alongside their children but it is not mandatory.


Unlike past years when each class was a color, this year they changed it and represented different countries. Probably a great idea as the colors ended up repeated many times. Now that Terence is older (in 2nd grade) he has to be reliable for communicating these messages back home. Responsibly he came home and announced that he had to dress in blue and white. Curt and I made guesses 'Egypt?' or 'Scotland?' or? He kept replying, 'I'm not sure. I don't think so.' Not until I was at the event this morning did I figure out that it was Finland. I'm sure if we had guessed Finland, he would have said yes as it is 'la Finlande' in French.

Finnish Flag

Mia's colors were not so simple. Her class was India and the colors were green, orange and white. I must say, these are not popular colors in our girls' wardrobes. White is in the summer but I couldn't really send Mia to a race in October weather in a white summer dress. Anyhow, I found a green top at a store near my office, matched it with a pair of white warm up pants and Terence's Texas Longhorns baseball hat and called it a day!

Indian Flag

One of the newest rules (as of spring 2008) is that parents are not allowed to photograph at any of the school events. Apparently, some older boys filmed a boy getting beaten up on school property, posted it on YouTube, it got around and sent the parents of the students into an uproar. I totally understand the director's situation and glad it's him and not me having to deal with all these upset parents. So, at every school function they elect a certain number of parents (with big fancy lenses) to do all the photographing. The photos are then approved by the faculty and the disks are then passed around school for the parents to copy. Fortunately one of my good friends was one of the three parents who were today's official photographers so I'm hoping to get a few good shots of T and Mia in action. However, it may take a month before the disk(s) ever gets around.


Here are the shots I do have from the day.


These first 2 are at the house before leaving. They both got their favorite breakfasts. For Terence it was a big pancake souffle and for Mia it was cream of wheat. They both ended up having some of both (as did Ali) so they went with plenty of energy!

Snuck a few shots at the end of the event. I did end up running with Mia's group for the last run of the day. It was only a 5 minute run around a smaller track so not too challenging. I carried Ali the whole time so it was a good work out...


All of the kids in Mia's class got to make their own Indian flag in the morning before heading over to L'Enduro. The gym teacher was clever enough to hold them all during the run so no one got jabbed in the eye! The photo on the bottom right is Mia holding hands with one of her best friends, Emma. Emma is a sweet little Belgian girl with a big sister who is Terence's age and a big brother who is 9 years old. So, the family dynamics are quite similar.

And, doesn't she look like she is feeling better. Yeah!

Below photo of Terence after school. Who doesn't love a half day of school? Especially when the half of the day they were there was a fun day like today.

By the way, he did so well running today and ran very fast, didn't seem to be effected (there were a lot of kids wheezing and having difficulty running the distance) and was quite competitive. He told me that for every student of every class that crossed the start / finish line their class got 1 point. He heard that his class got way over 100 points and they'll announce the winners either tomorrow or on Friday. Sounds like a great idea to do group teams / points but I'm also skeptical about how they accurately calculate the points. I guess the 12th graders try and count each one that crosses by color.

Must also point out that straight from school I took T to his 1 hour group tennis lesson from noon - 1pm. Then, today he started his private lesson (unfortunately at another venue) from 2 - 3pm. From Nov he won't have any school on Wednesdays so it won't be so hectic.

For those of you who have (and want to again) or haven't seen the photos from last year's l'enduro then you can check out my post from last year. Cannot believe I've been blogging for over a year now...

Sick Little Alexandra

Yesterday Ali came home from nursery school with a fever and extra runny goopy nose (sorry - I'm sure no one enjoys hearing those details). Anyhow, she was so clingy and cuddly so I just held her most of the evening - always a challenge while preparing dinner - until putting on a video for her in our bedroom (on the portable DVD player).

When dinner was ready I went in to get her but she was just motionless with her eye lids getting heavier and heavier so I just left her. When I returned, after feeding T and Mia, I found her fast asleep and all cuddled up in our bed. I felt so bad for her but found her so adorable that I had to take these photos to share with you. She's even still in her clothes with her braids in her hair.

I love how she always sleeps with her two hands under her face. This is how I almost always find her in her bed. So sweet.

She is feeling a lot better today. She stayed at home with me and went to support Terence and Mia in their annual l'enduro (a running race for all the kids at the French Lycee).

Mia and Ali have started to enjoy having a short movie or show in our bed before bedtime. It's usual on the weekends but as today is Wednesday and only a half day at school, we seem to have a bit more time in the evening. Notice Ali brought up her little chair (made out of spongy foam) to put her dolls in for the movie.

Recent Curt and Erika Photos

We went to a great birthday party for our friend Jon and Kim's joint 40th birthday. It was at a vineyard just outside of Budapest. We had a fantastic time with lots of friends living in Budapest, many who returned for the party and also many of their out of town visitors.

We were lucky the photographer, Miki (who does all of our events) took a few snaps of us before the majority of guests arrived. I like the way they turned out. I think everyone looks so good in black and white. I had to share.

These are our friends Jon and Kim - the guests of honor.

Funny Kid Stories

Terence (7 years and 6 1/2 months of age): He seems to think he's allergic to jelly. He always says he's allergic to jelly but not jam. I'll hear his friends' moms telling me this after he's been at their home playing. The other day I asked him if he'd like a jam sandwich. He loves jam sandwiches (sans the peanut butter) after having it at his friend Harry's home. Every time we talk about jam he mentions his allergy towards jelly. He continues by explaining that he can eat jelly and nothing serious happens but whevever he sees it his throat hurts. For those of you who know Terence, you'll know how odd this is as he's a really clever (quite grown up in some ways) kid so this is unusual. He's been talking about it for a while so it's not just some short term phase.

Ali (2 years and 8 1/2 months of age): On Sunday morning the 5 of us went out for breakfast. Curt and I love going out for breakfast or lunch on the weekends and it's one of those pleasures we've tried to maintain even with small children. The Four Seasons hotel has a fantastic breakfast / lunch cafe that are used to us and our kids. They even bring them crayons, coloring books and toys when we arrive so it's quite comfortable. The kids' threshold for sitting still is not very long so they often lay on the floor next to our table playing. Shortly after (about the time Curt and I get our coffees and newspapers) they all seem to have to go to the potty. Once they walk through the hotel lobby to the bathrooms they seem to get a burst of energy. Inside the hotel lobby are 3 tall statues that I always make them stay away from as I fear that they'll fall over. On Sunday, another family's 4 year old son was climbing on them. I was appalled that these parents didn't stop him (I think they were Italian). Of course, Ali was the first to notice this so as soon as they left she went over to the statue. Torn between climbing it and listening to my voice repeatedly saying 'stay away' she touched it and looked over at me for my reaction. I mouthed 'NO'. She mouthed back 'YES'. This is when we parents have to bite out tongues and keep from laughing. I didn't run over to her and remained where I was and silently mouthed 'NO'. Then, she replied with a silent yet very clear 'Poopy Head'. We both had to laugh. I know... not the parenting ideal but it was so funny. The best part was that she only stood next to the statue and didn't climb it or even touch it again. It was just a silly game.

Mia (5 years and 8 1/2 months of age): Last night Mia crept downstairs to where our bedroom is (on the ground floor). Curt and I always compare her to a ghost as she sort of floats. She's the only child that we often don't wake up to until she is whispering in our ear trying to wake us up. She's also our child who sleep walks and we find roaming around in a daze (that's another story). Last night she floated down to our bedside and asked if she could crawl in with us for a while. Ever since she saw the Harry Potter movie (the first one) she's been having nightmares. So, we let her crawl in between us. She tossed and turned so I asked her if she was okay. She told me that she had another nightmare so I asked her to tell me about it. She started with, "My nightmare..." first I have to tell you that this has been a hard word for her to remember and pronounce. She's always called it other names that sounded similar but she has finally been able to say it correctly. I was especially impressed that it came out correctly at 2am. I'll continue with her explanation: "My nightmare was about...um... um... well, we were really rich". She took a long pause and I thought to myself, 'what kind of nightmare is that?' haha. Then she continued that we were really rich and had a lot of money in the house. We had to hide it under the sofa while the burglar and the hyena were downstairs in the basement. The burglar dressed like a clown (she's never liked clowns) and the hyena looked in the mirror (not sure what this had to do with anything). Then she continued telling me about how we had to hide upstairs. The story sort of faded as this must have been when she woke up. She still struggled to finish the story but I could tell she was starting to make up the ending. She's been having a lot of fears about having our home broken into in Budapest. She always asks about the windows, doors, locks, etc. Homes in Hungary do get burglared often - especially at night time when the family is home. She must have heard this and now fears it from happening. Truth is that the burglars here have never hurt anyone and always flee when they hear movement. I know because it's happened to many of my friends. I reassured her that we had strong locks, an alarm that would call the police right away and 3 giant dogs that would never let anyone hurt us. I also explained how big and strong daddy was and he'd beat up any burglars (as I looked over at him sound alseep ;-) She was convinced by this answer and slowly dozed back off. Leaving me to my insomnia and book for the next 2 hours. yawn! I am tired but it was worth it as I love to hear how her brain works. Sometimes these middle of the night talks are the only chance for some one-on-one chatting time.