Ryan's Blanket ... June 29, 2008
Heather's mom made Katie 2 blankets that she still sleeps with. She also made a pink one that Heather never let Katie used, because it was too nice. After she passed away, Ashley was born and Heather wanted her to have a "Granny Blankie", so she let her use the pink one. Ashley loves it and still sleeps with it too... and it no longer has it's former beauty, but a new "thoroughly loved" sort of beauty. The same goes for Katie's. Heather really wanted Ryan to have a special blanket too, so Heather's Aunt Jaki was kind enough to knit Ryan his own blue blanket with the same pattern Nonie used for most of the baby blankets she made, but blue and white. Thanks Aunt Jaki! Aunt Jaki also made the snake that is in the picture with Ryan. He stares and stares at the stripes until he falls asleep.
Riegersburg, Austria ... June 27-29
So we took Ryan on his first cross-border trip this weekend. We thought about going to the Croatian waterfalls, but the thought of having to carry Ashley in the heat we are seeing right now (since no way she would hike through there with us for very long), we thought we would do something else. I googled "Austrian castles" and found a picturesque castle in Riegersburg, Austria, about 30 minutes from Graz (Eastern Styria) and about a 4 hour drive from Budapest. We took off Friday evening and made it to our apartment we rented for the weekend. There are a number of places like this in the area, basically apartments attached to family farms. It is a beautiful area and the view of the castle from our place was fantastic (price at 65 Euro/night was also fantastic...large kitchen/living area, upstairs 2 bedrooms and a sitting area). 
We couldn't find a grocery store close by, so I just picked up some schnitzel and frankfurters from the local tavern and brought them back to the apartment. It was hot and we didn't take into account the no air conditioning impact (not sure why) and leaving the windows open gave Ashley a mosquito bite on her leg that has now grown to cover most of her thigh and part of her leg is hard as a rock...I guess she is allergic! Despite that, Saturday was great, and very busy. After breakfast we drove to the castle and parked the car at the base and took the elevator up (this was installed in 2003, fortunately for us!). We only bought a one way, requiring us to walk back down. The castle is built on volcanic rock, built around the 10th Century. Because of the strategic location, it is one of the few strongholds that actually was never conquered by the Turks!
We wandered around the complex for a while before walking through the "Witches" museum. This museum details the different ways witchcraft was handled, basically like Salem. We saw the different methods used to kill suspected witches and for some reason they threw in a Werewolf, which Katie and Ashley enjoyed.
We toured the interior of the castle. They have a beautiful dining room with the an ornately carved wooden interior. I have no idea how long/how much that cost to complete. We let Ashley and Katie dance in the white ballroom before starting our walk down back to the village at the base of the volcano.
We passed the cemetary on a beautiful plot of land looking down to the valley before reaching the village.
We stopped at the local grocery store before realizing that we were not that close to the car, so I just left Heather and the girls with the stuff and hiked back to the car and drove back to pick them up.
We took a small break before going to the lake to swim and enjoy the weather. It was pretty rocky at the bottom, so quite painful for me, but the girls had a good time. We then rented a paddle boat and floated around the lake for a bit.
Ryan and Heather just sat on the banks sleeping and reading a book, respectively.
After changing clothes we drove to Graz to just walk around the downtown. We followed some anarchist march through a few blocks before getting annoyed and going back to our apartment for the night.
We woke up Sunday and went directly to church in Graz. It is a nice sized ward and Katie and Ashley went to primary, at first with some hesitation, but then were fine with it, German language and all. After church we ate lunch, packed our bags, and drove back home to Budapest.
It was a great couple of days. We missed getting out, and while it was a little more challenging than having 2 kids, Ryan was great and we are now prepared for a much longer trip to Croatia and the UK in August!
We couldn't find a grocery store close by, so I just picked up some schnitzel and frankfurters from the local tavern and brought them back to the apartment. It was hot and we didn't take into account the no air conditioning impact (not sure why) and leaving the windows open gave Ashley a mosquito bite on her leg that has now grown to cover most of her thigh and part of her leg is hard as a rock...I guess she is allergic! Despite that, Saturday was great, and very busy. After breakfast we drove to the castle and parked the car at the base and took the elevator up (this was installed in 2003, fortunately for us!). We only bought a one way, requiring us to walk back down. The castle is built on volcanic rock, built around the 10th Century. Because of the strategic location, it is one of the few strongholds that actually was never conquered by the Turks!We wandered around the complex for a while before walking through the "Witches" museum. This museum details the different ways witchcraft was handled, basically like Salem. We saw the different methods used to kill suspected witches and for some reason they threw in a Werewolf, which Katie and Ashley enjoyed.
We toured the interior of the castle. They have a beautiful dining room with the an ornately carved wooden interior. I have no idea how long/how much that cost to complete. We let Ashley and Katie dance in the white ballroom before starting our walk down back to the village at the base of the volcano.
We passed the cemetary on a beautiful plot of land looking down to the valley before reaching the village.
We stopped at the local grocery store before realizing that we were not that close to the car, so I just left Heather and the girls with the stuff and hiked back to the car and drove back to pick them up.We took a small break before going to the lake to swim and enjoy the weather. It was pretty rocky at the bottom, so quite painful for me, but the girls had a good time. We then rented a paddle boat and floated around the lake for a bit.
Ryan and Heather just sat on the banks sleeping and reading a book, respectively.After changing clothes we drove to Graz to just walk around the downtown. We followed some anarchist march through a few blocks before getting annoyed and going back to our apartment for the night.
We woke up Sunday and went directly to church in Graz. It is a nice sized ward and Katie and Ashley went to primary, at first with some hesitation, but then were fine with it, German language and all. After church we ate lunch, packed our bags, and drove back home to Budapest.
It was a great couple of days. We missed getting out, and while it was a little more challenging than having 2 kids, Ryan was great and we are now prepared for a much longer trip to Croatia and the UK in August!
Marine House Barbecue ... June 21, 2008
The United States owns some seriously valuable and prime real estate on Castle hill, the hill overlooking the Danube, called the Marine House, where the small band (regime? troop?) of US Marines reside that protect the Embassy here in Budapest (part of it used to be a prison where they held famous Hungarian resistance fighters). We received this property in payment for saving the Hungarians in World War II. I guess we recently decided to trade this property for a building currently adjacent to the US Embassy on the oppposite side of the river, so the days of the Marine House are numbered.
The Marines decided to host a party for American Families, so we decided to attend. It was great fun, the weather was great, and we were all very tired by the time it was over.
The Marines decided to host a party for American Families, so we decided to attend. It was great fun, the weather was great, and we were all very tired by the time it was over.
Katie's Loses a Tooth ... June 21, 2008
Katie lost her first tooth. I took her out for the morning to breakfast at McDonalds while Heather, Ryan, and Ashley went to a birthday party. We were standing in line when Katie told me that her tooth was coming out. I checked and sure enough, she had wiggled it enough that I just took it out of her mouth. Fortunately the napkins were close by and I could contain the blood. And fortunately nobody in the restaurant seemed to care.
She put it under her pillow that night along with a letter that she wrote to the tooth fairy. The tooth fairy's going rate these days is 1 Euro, which would be fine, except for the fact that the dollar keeps weakening and this costs "the tooth fairy" 30% more than if she could have lost all her teeth 2 years ago.
She put it under her pillow that night along with a letter that she wrote to the tooth fairy. The tooth fairy's going rate these days is 1 Euro, which would be fine, except for the fact that the dollar keeps weakening and this costs "the tooth fairy" 30% more than if she could have lost all her teeth 2 years ago.
Ryan's limbs ... June '08
Until you have a newborn and then compare it to your youngest, you forget how tiny these things really were! Ryan's cute little hands and feet.
Ryan ... June '08
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