Christmas Morning ... Dec. 25, 2008

The girls woke up around 7:30, so not too early. We had to hold them off for a few minutes while we got the video camera all set up and then we let them come down. I think we have posted every year that they got way too much stuff, and this year was no different. Santa brough Katie a new bicycle (now that she can ride on her own) and Ashley an easy bake oven. We didn't realize that for the oven you needed a 100W incandescent light bulb and one specified to the United States. You would think it would be simple since my company MAKES light bulbs, but it is still complicated. I am having the factory make a few special bulbs for us, so that will help.
Ryan got a few presents but, as any baby, was more fascinated with the paper and boxes. Not sure why we didn't just wrap up some empty boxes.
After we opened presents we had our traditional breakfast of Eggs Benedict and Caramel Pecan Rolls. We thought about going to a movie in the afternoon but decided to just enjoy the day in our pajamas.
The girls watched their American Girl Doll Movie they got, "Kit Kittredge" twice, which still baffles me that they can watch those over and over again. As expected, it was a fabulous day.

Christmas Eve ... Dec. 24, 2008

For Christmas Eve we each opened one gift, as is tradition. Katie is starting to realize that this gift is always pajamas, but I think we can get away with this for a couple of more years. Heather even got me some new pajamas as well.
We changed into our pajamas and had our small Christmas program. We opened singing Silent Night, and Katie accompanied us on the piano. We read Luke 2 and told the story of the birth of Jesus using the Little People Nativity Set.
We set out cookies, milk, and carrots (for the reindeer) and the girls went to sleep pretty quickly to wait for Santa to come.

Gingerbread Houses/Christmas Eve Dinner ... Dec. 24, 2008

We decided to spend Christmas Eve relatively low key this year. Normally Heather does a big Christmas Eve dinner of Beef Wellington plus a number of other dishes. This year we invited our friends, the Clarke's, for a simpler afternoon/early evening. We decorated gingerbread houses (which Heather made from scratch ... complicated and we wouldn't recommend it!), well Katie, Ashley, and Liam did.
While they were decorating we were eating appetizers of Artichoke dip, Spinach Dip, and vegetable dip. Dinner was clam chowder and tortilla soup and pecan cheese cake. But by the time we were ready for dinner, I was too full from the appetizers to really want anything. But it was fun to have the Clarke's over and it was a good late afternoon event.

Disney on Ice Budapest ... Dec 24, 2008

We took the girls (and Ryan) to Princesses on Ice at the Sportarena in Budapest. We thought it would be a pretty good Christmas Eve family event. It was a pretty good show (although most of anything that Disney does usually is) and the girls enjoyed it. Ryan not as much. Heather took Katie two years ago and last year it was Peter Pan on Ice, so we skipped that one. So this was Ashley's first visit and she was excited throughout. The battery died at the end before I could get a good picture with both the girls, so I was taking this shot blind and only got one chance at it.

Rome, Italy ... Dec. 18-21, 2008 (Day 3)

Our last day in Rome, and while we had thoroughly enjoyed this city, we were ready to call it a trip and head home. However, our flight was not until 10PM and we still had a few more things to see, so off we went. We got a later start, considering we had to check out of our apartment and then survive without a base until our flight that evening. We packed up, gathered our one big backpack that we managed to pack everyone's stuff into for the three day trip and headed for the main train station, taking a bus that left just a block from our apartment. We dropped our bag off at the left luggage desk at the train station then headed for the ancient ruined city of Ostia Antica, about 30 minutes outside of Rome. This city used to be a harbor city at the mouth of the Tiber as it spilled into the sea. However, due to silting, the city now lies about 3 kilometers from the sea and a bit away from the Tiber now. As the town slowly drifted from the sea, it became less and less significant, finally becoming abandoned around the 9th century AD. Numerous sackings of the town for bricks and other treasures were undertaken throughout the middle ages (supposedly the Leaning Tower of Pisa was built entirely with bricks from Ostia). The ruins were slowly discovered during the 20th century and it is now estimated that 2/3 of the city has been uncovered. We noticed the baths and the intricate designs of Neptune and Sea Horses on the bath's floors. The theater was relatively intact. And Katie and Ashley had a great time meandering through the mazes of old ruined streets and houses of an ancient town.We spent a while in Ostia before heading back to Rome, where we accidently got out at the Piramide station instead of Circus Maximus, and this is what we saw as we exited the station. Like Athens, Rome is just a city of wonder, which probably one takes for granted eventually, since structures like this are all over the place. We went back down to the station to the next stop, Circus Maximus, where they had chariot races in ancient times, overlooking Palantine Hill and the Forum.
We walked from the Circus Maximus across the river to the area of Rome called Trastevere (literally across the Tiber). We found our second favorite food of the trip (this time it was actually some excellent pizza and risotto) for a late lunch, visited the Piazza Santa Maria and the church there. And of course, finished it off with our final portion of gelato. It is an interesting part of Rome, with tiny cobblestoned streets lined with medieval houses.
We walked back across the river, back to Campo di Fiori, caught a bus to the train station, and headed back to the airport. We made it home quite easily, although very late. We arrived back to our house in Budapest after midnight, so another late night for us. But ultimately, it was very worth the trip and the experiences we had over those last few days.