Budapest?

Chasing chickens at my uncle's house...

Rajzoljunk!

Well, after a month delay, I am finally determined to post something. We did have a great trip to Budapest during Easter, although aside from the new faces or a random piece of furniture on a picture here or there, you will certainly not be able to tell that we were anywhere but home. Visiting family with a baby, a toddler and a dog (yes, Lexi came) means 2 things- lots and lots of food and no sightseeing. Regardless, we had a great time, stayed with Mami ( my grandmother- the proud 88 year-old great grandmother of 2) and visited with lots of aunts and uncles and cousins. Miki loved all the attention of course, and Lili was her usual happy self. Mikael sat around a lot (I suppose a lot is a relative term- that is, when he was not busy eating, drinking, running after 2 kids and walking the dog), soaking in all the hungarian he could. I, as well, ate my fare share of food (especially Mami's kalacs (chainbread) with ringlolekvar (sort of like plum preserves) from a tree in her front yard.

Amongst many firsts for the children, there was also a first for us- thanks to my cousin Krisztian- Mikael and I had a night out without the kids (while Mami and my aunt Eva graciously babyset) and we went to see a play.

Ljubljana

On our way to Budapest for Easter, we stopped for a day in Ljubljana (the capital of Slovenia) and had a great time. We stayed in a little bed and breakfast, called the Pri Zabarju (it means frog) which we really enjoyed ( including Lexi- well, she probably liked the muddy field right next to it a little more). Miki quickly made friends with the staff and came away with all kinds of treats. Ljubljana is set on the Ljubljanica River and is really pedestrian friendly, with walkways on both sides of the river with cafes, restaurants, etc. So we just had fun walking around and then took the funicular up to the Ljubljana castle. It was a beautiful day, we ate outside and soaked up the sun and had dinner at the restaurant of the bed and breakfast. The next morning was a bit different- we woke up to probably 2 inches of wet snow and a long trip to Budapest...which will be the next blog... when I get to it.

Tivoli

The balloon, fountains and making Thneeds....






















Well, yet another month has almost slipped by. We celebrated Carnival, (another use for Miki's Halloween costume) the Chinese New Year- Miki liked the dragon that rode through the center of town, although the highlight of the day was his dolphin balloon which I accidentally let go. Luckily he was sleeping by then and tells me the balloon went to play with the dragon. Fine with us. Lili turned 3 months old and I turned 34. I think the former was the more momentous occasion by far, but we did have an outing on my birthday, to Villa D'Este in Tivoli. It is famous for its beautiful fountain filled gardens. Miki had a lot of fun, he ran around with sticks making thneeds the whole time. (He has been really into the Lorax, although clearly not getting the point yet.)

What happened to January?

I am not sure. I am still home with Lili and I honestly don't know where the day goes. Not that we are not having fun. She is smiling at everyone (just not the camera) and you can have little baby talk conversations with her. Miki is still somewhat on the fence although he always asks about her if she is not around (looks for her if she is in a different room). Yesterday he was trying to drag her and her entire bouncy chair ( scary, I know) into the kitchen where we were because Lili was crying and Miki wanted Dada to watch her. Otherwise he is doing well, we went to a little Carnival party this weekend and they will be in costume tomorrow at school (he is getting good use out of the dragon outfit- or rather Susu a sarkany for those in the know).
Rome winter is just lots and lots of rain- I have yet to wear a pair of gloves but I honestly don't miss it. Yeah, nothing to exciting on this end of things so I might as well just try to post some pictures and get back to my endless task of 'organizing'. I think I must be very bad at this because I am always doing it but I feel like you can never tell...

Karacsony (Christmas)

So we celebrated our first Christmas with Lili. Both kids were very good Christmas Eve and Christmas day ( which means Lili slept most of the time and Miki had no tantrums). It was a beautiful holiday and it was nice to spend it together with family (my parents were also in town).
The Friday before Miki had a little school Christmas party where all the kids decorated the tree- they all made little pasta decorations (although Miki decided that his was a necklace for me rather than a tree decoration- this was very cute). Mikael and my dad went on a little ski trip for the weekend to Cortina d'Ampezzo- they had a great time and got in enough skiing to make them both really sore.

Lili (Liliana Katalin) has arrived!

OK, so this is not such recent news since she is now a little over 3 weeks old. But it has taken me a little bit to get organized enough to get to post.
First of all, thanks to everyone who voted- we stayed loyal to the poll (and also our preferences) and the top 2 names are what she ended up with.
Anyways, Lili arrived like clock work- 13 minutes before her official due date. All of it was very fast- we arrived to the hospital at 10:30 and she was born at 11:47 pm. I should have listened to the midwife who told me it was going to be fast. Well, I started having regular contractions around 8 and I called the doctor at 9. He said in nice calm german fashion ' well, Dr Stadler, why don't we wait an hour and you can call me at 10'. We called him at 10 but we were already in the car. Everything in the hospital was super speedy and efficient (not true to Italian fashion), although the electricity did go out for a couple of hours the next day (right in the middle of my shower leaving me in a pitch dark bathroom). We came home the day after and all has been well.
Mikael's parents were in town for 2 weeks which was a great help. They did all the mundane chores like walking the dog ( no offense to Lexi) and washing the dishes, which was really nice and truly appreciated. Miki has taken to his sister well although it probably helps that she is a good baby so he still gets tons of attention. His first words when we arrived home from the hospital and he saw her in the car seat were 'Mama, ez mi?' ( Mama, what's this?), but he seems to have accepted the fact that we have a new family member. Mikael and I are also getting used to being a 2 kid family. It took me 2 hours to get the two kids and myself ready to go to the pediatrician yesterday morning and Mikael calls her Miki and Lexi more often than Lili but we are all happily adjusting :-). Ok, better try to post some pictures!

Halloween!!!!

I am trying to keep up here so here is the Halloween update. The Embassy has a big party every year where all the cars are decorated and kids can go trick or treating from car to car. Well, Miki was VERY excited about his dragon costume (courtesy of my parents), he even wore it at home the week before. The actual Halloween party was a bit overwhelming for him. He did not want to put the candy in the bag- every piece he got he just wanted to eat or put back into the basket at the next car. there was one car decorated as a huge monster ( or dragon) so we of course had to pose next to it- well as much as Miki is willing to pose.

Amalfi Coast Vacation

Seems like forever ago now, but actually only 2 weeks ago we took a lovely trip to the Amalfi Coast for 5 days while Zsofi and Szilard were visiting. We stayed at a great agriturismo called Villa Maria just outside of Minori and went on various daytrips to Ravello, Amalfi, Pompeii and took a boat to Capri. Miki loved it all, but I have to say his favorites were probably the boat, the bus ride we took (rather treacherous) and the giant lemon he got from the owner of the agriturismo ( who made him great lemonade every day). I think I liked Ravello the most, we saw to great gardens (Villa Rufolo and Villa Cimbrone) both beautifula nd with beautiful views, although Pompeii was truly amazing. Mikael and Szilard took an evening hike (also an early morning one with Zsofi) and got some beautiful pictures of the views from the hilltop behind where we were staying.

Pescasseroli

We wanted to do something for our 5 year wedding anniversary but between pregnancy, Miki, the heat, life, and some general laziness it did not look like things were going to work out.

Luckily, last minute, a colleague invited us up to her mountain house for the day. This is how we ended up in lovely Pescasseroli which in in the heart of the National Park of Abruzzi, in the mountains. It was a beautiful drive- although a little too curvy for my taste. We arrived to a full day of total Italian hospitality and really enjoyed being spoiled! We had a lovely lunch and then went to the stables to see their horse. They brought a little horse around for Miki- he was not interested. But as soon as he saw Mikael on the big horse, he DEMANDED to go up with him and just loved it. I, being a bit afraid of horses ( I am not ashamed to admit it- they are BIG), was having some serious palpitations but Miki could not get enough. Here they are, along with some pictures of our gracious hosts- Diana, Valentina (by the way she is riding bareback) and Nicola (he closed his eyes in the picture- so we will have to get one next time).

Visitors :-)

Well, after only a month, I am already somewhat behind in posting, but I guess that is not unexpected. We had some visitors in August- namely my uncle (Zoli), his wife (Emoke) and 2 cousins (Misi and Toni). We had a great visit ( hope they did too), learned a lot about Rome in the process ( they are hardcore tourists), and had some nice relaxed meals on the balcony. Miki loved all the attention he got ( of course) and tortured poor Toni (the architect) by making him sit at his little table and draw endlessly- Toni 'bacsi' was very kind and humored the boy. Here is a family picture to start with...