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First Lego League 1st place CHAMPIONS!

1st place CHAMPIONS today, which means that the team did well in all 4 qualifying areas. The judges were extremely impressed with their presentation and their amount of knowledge on the subject. They also commented on their teamwork, their "gracious professionalism" of sharing each others' ideas, their support of other teams and more. This is one well-rounded team! See a video.

Now, off to the Champion tournament in December!

Lego League

On Saturday November 14 Nathan will be participating with his team of 4th and 5th graders in the First Lego League regional competition. The theme this year is "Smart Moves" and the team had to come up with one solution to help movement in their community. His team chose "space" and came up with this presentation:

They will also be judged on their Lego robot and how it performs specified tasks.

He (and Dave, of course) are very excited. Wish them luck!

Trick or Treaters

The Headless Horseman and Dorothy (with Toto) had a fun night of trick or treating with friends. The candy swapping afterwards was big fun, and necessary for Nathan since he how has an orthdontic expander on the top of his palate and can't have hard or chewy candy. It was kind of cruel and unusual punishment to put that in the week before Halloween. But, he took that (along with hardly being able to see in his costume!) like a trooper!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

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Spot

We have a new addition to our family! Spot the beagle came to us this week. She is just the sweetest 3 year old beagle who came from a puppy mill past. She was pregnant when the Hound Rescue got her from the puppy mill - who knows how many litters she has had, but they terminated that pregnancy and got her on the road to a normal life. I have heard terrible things about puppy mills and can't imagine the horrible conditions she probably lived in. She doesn't bark and is super friendly to everyone. She just needs lots of TLC, which we are happy to give her!

The Crazy 5 Weeks

So, we knew that the only way we could work Dave's assignment to Hungary was for the kids and I to come back early. And, as the school schedule ran, it worked out that we had to come back five weeks early. But, five weeks is a LONG time to be apart! I know Dave has been super lonely by himself in Hungary and we (I) are all exhausted here trying to get back into the swing of things.

But, he's coming home tomorrow, September 18. YEA! We are all very much looking forward to being on the same continent.

We'll have to take it easy this weekend, though. Nathan got diagnosed with shingles today. Poor guy! He was complaining that his upper arm hurt, and when I took him to the doctor earlier this week, they thought it was just some bruising. After taking him back today and insisting that something else was wrong with him (and having 2 doctors look at him!), they diagnosed him with shingles. So much for keeping us all healthy while Dave was gone! But, hopefully since he's young and since he's had the chicken pox vaccine, he will recover fairly quickly.

So, please send some well wishes Nathan's way. THANKS!

Scampers the Hamster

We have a new member of the family! Nathan got promised a hamster for his birthday and couldn't WAIT to come home to pick one out. He picked out a dwarf robo hamster - the smallest, fastest type of hamster. Her name is Scampers!

Heading for home

We're all headed to Budapest tonight for one last sightseeing day before the kids and I get on the plane on Friday. We'll also have one last "hurrah" in Philadelphia on the way home - we'll be visiting Kris and Patrick and meeting Maya! We'll be home on Monday August 17th. Dave will chug along in Debrecen until September 18th. It may be a crazy month for all of us!

Scenes of Debrecen

Some pretty churches, some ugly concrete apartment buildings. A neat fruit and vegetable market, lots of graffiti. These are some of our impressions of Debrecen.

Click on the photo below for more photos.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa - part 3

The Leaning Tower of Pisa - part 2

The Leaning Tower of Pisa - part 1

Ahhhh - Tuscany

Our trip to Italy was everything we hoped it would be: beautiful, peaceful and enjoyable. Without really intending to, our entertainment gravitated towards Italian food and wine and tours thereof - it was delicious! We stayed on an olive farm and learned how premium olive oil is made, we toured a vineyard and sampled many types of Chianti that are made in the area, and we took a pizza class. Our location was so beautiful, and it was away from the flock of tourists. We did a lot of relaxing and enjoying the countryside (with the resident cat Bililo on our laps). We took a sunset hike one night and had spectacular views! The kids desperately wanted to visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa, so we did that too, and got to go up in it. You can really feel it lean as you climb the stairs.

Click on the photo below to see more pictures from our trip.

Off to Italy

We're headed to Tuscany, Italy today to eat pasta, drink wine and enjoy the countryside. Oh, and we may see a museum or cathedral too. The kids are very excited to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We'll catch you up when we return next weekend

Thermal Baths

There are thermal baths all over Hungary, and the Hungarians LOVE to spend time in them. They're not as hot as you would expect - they feel like warm bath rather than a hot tub. And, alongside many of the baths they have added water pools with slides for the kids. Nathan and Kate's absolute favorite place that we've been so far is the thermal baths (The Aquaticum) in Debrecen, and we frequent there once a week.

Check out the water slides in Debrecen under the videos section here.

Yesterday we explored some "Cave Baths" in the town of Miskolc. These baths were literally inside a cave - making for a very unique experience. We didn't take any photos - too hard to protect the camera, but here's the website. Very cool!

Hungarian cuisine

Cock's Testicles anyone? It's true - check out #13 on the menu:

Maybe this is why we don't want to eat out too much? While we're in Debrecen, it's easier and cheaper to eat at "home." Shopping for food has become quite an adventure, though. We had success today at a huge market where all sorts of meats, fruits, and vegetables are sold. The meat market grossed me out - I can manage to buy sliced salami for Dave and the kids at the regular grocery store but much more is rough. I prefer my meat to be packaged nicely with cellophane and refrigerated!

We are loving the fruit and vegetable market, though! We came back today with fresh carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, raspberries, corn on the cob, and paprika (not their beloved paprika powder that is red, but sort of a white bell pepper that is excellent on sandwiches). Everything there is local and very fresh.

The kids' main staple (other than ice cream, which they seem to beg off me frequently!) is big, white rolls (that cost about 5 cents and are delicious!) made into a salami sandwich. Easy enough, especially since we have been picnicing a lot.

So....we'll pass on the cock's testicles. Bocci Chocolate anyone?

The Maze

Click here to view this video

Settling in in Debrecen

We've been here 3 weeks now. Some things are becoming familiar, others are becoming increasing frustrating. We all thought it was pretty hard to come home from Vienna to Debrecen. Vienna is such a modern, bustling city with wonderful food, clean streets, cool museums, and everything seems easy. Here in Debrecen it's dirty, there's graffiti everywhere, and things seem harder since few people speak English and there just isn't that much to do (being a tourist and having kids to entertain). So, we had a mellow week: we lived without a refrigerator for a few days (it broke while we were in Vienna), we tried to go see Ice Age 3 but learned it was dubbed in Hungarian, we had a mellow day trip to a National Park, we found peanut butter at a big grocery store and bought it.

No complaints though. We're having some laughs too: After I learned at our Hungarian lesson to say, "I would like one adult ticket and 2 children's tickets" and then attempting to say it at the waterpark, the woman said to me, "Do you speak English?" "Yes!" I said. She then said, "It sounded like you were trying to speak Hungarian!" Haa! Well, so much for my attempt. :)

At the National Park yesterday we bought tickets to what we thought was a horse show, but it turned out to be a horse drawn carriage ride! Oh well - something to do with horses anyway.

Videos of Vienna

The kids are really having fun making videos of our summer. Between the Blogger software and our internet connection, I'm having trouble uploading them on here. So, click here and scroll down for Vienna videos!

Vienna

We had a fabulous trip to Vienna! Our mouths enjoyed the wienerschnitzel and the local wine, our eyes were in awe at the beauty of the city and the magnificent palaces and museums, our ears delighted at hearing a Mozart opera (performed by Marionettes!) and our souls enjoyed spending time with our Austin friends who showed us much of Vienna. Nathan announced that he will be moving to Vienna when he is older! Click on the photo below to see more of our fun trip!

Budapest

What a weekend we had! We toured all over Budapest in 2 days. The kids and I counted 10 types of transportation that we tried: foot, taxi, train, tram, funicular, cog railway, children's railway (operated by children!), chair lift, bus, and subway. Whew!


see more Budapest photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=18565&id=1652978451&l=0846b49c1a

Hanging out in Debrecen

The kids and I are getting the hang of getting around Debrecen, at least on foot and with public transport! Our favorite past time seems to be feeding the pigeons in the city center and getting ice cream. :)

We're learning some lessons along the way, though, like when you are in a public restroom, take some toilet paper at the entrance BEFORE you go into the stall. (Learned that one the hard way)

And, just because you have room for 9 punches on your tram card, does not mean you can ride 9 times on that one ticket! (We learned that from one of Dave's colleagues, luckily not from the conductor).

Nathan and Kate's Hungarian Adventure - part 2

Today Nathan decided to be the film-maker while Kate is your tour guide....

Nathan and Kate's Hungarian Adventure - part 1

Nathan and Kate are documenting their summer through videos! They actually censored some of these to cut down the time, but I thought they were adorable as is. So, here's a few from Nathan in their uncensored version:

Exploring Debrecen

We had a good first weekend in Debrecen. The kids love the fountains and all the action in the city center - just a few minutes' walk from our apartment. We took the tram (with tickets bought by yours truly - all in Hungarian!) to the "Great Forest" and got in a paddleboat ride before a big thunderstorm. No worries though - we ducked in to a restaurant for an early Father's Day celebration. They gave us blankets to wrap up in! Sunday we checked out Debrecen's indoor aquaticum - fun waterslides for the kids and warm "theraputic" water for the grown ups!

Hungary - the first few days

We made it! Impressions of Hungary in our first few days:

• A fun flight on British Airways with "gifts" - socks, a sleeping mask, and a tiny toothbrush and toothpaste. The kids we so excited about all of their goodies!
  
• A cozy apartment - plenty of room for the 4 of us.
• Jet lag - the kids and I had a "party" last night at 2:00 a.m. and now they are still crashed out at 10:00 a.m. We'll get on this time zone eventually.
  
• Lots of graffiti!
• Tall, concrete buildings that remind me of their communist days.
• The security guard at National Instruments blabbering to me in Hungarian to tell me that I couldn't go in. Thank goodness for an NI employee coming out to translate - we were only there to pick up the car. :)
  
• Being totally overwhelmed in the Hungarian grocery store. We found some things to eat, but it's going to take some time to figure out how to cook here.
• Nathan finding Kinder Eggs (chocolate eggs with a toy inside - Dave usually brings these home as a treat for the kids) at the corner store in less than 30 seconds. Here's a kid who knows how to find the good stuff!
• Beautiful weather - warm but the evenings are incredible. The photo is of us enjoying "people watching" at the local beer garden.
  
• Hungarians sternly staring at us - I'm sure we must stick out.
  

We're off!

Our trip to Debrecen, Hungary is finally here! Our suitcases are stuffed and we're decked out with passport carriers and comfy shoes. The total transit time from Austin, TX to Debrecen, Hungary is 24 hours door to door, so don't expect us to be too perky after we arrive on Thursday, June 18, but we promise to update y'all frequently on our adventures. We are counting on all of you to keep us company too, so email us, Facebook us or Skype us! You can reach us on our cell phones too, but that's kind of expensive so use those those sparingly. Szia!

First Piano Recital

Nathan and Kate had their first piano recital today. They played so nicely! No nerves, no mess-ups, and they looked like they actually didn't mind it too much. Their mamma and daddy are so proud....

Heather's new toy

Dave and the kids got me an iPhone for Mother's Day and I am having so much fun with it! I'm attempting my first blog post from here, so nothing fancy this time but more posts to come.

Pioneer Day

Nathan's 3rd grade class is finishing up a unit on Pioneers, and the finale was "Pioneer Day," a half day event of pioneer-themed crafts, food and games. The kids dressed up as pioneers too. Nathan says, "Mom, they didn't smile back then," which explains his expression in the first photo. I had fun at school helping the kids make Johnny Cakes (cornmeal pancakes) and homemade butter. The kids had a great time (and the moms had some fun too).

Artist of the Week

Kate was artist of the week at school this week. Her block print was displayed outside the cafeteria and her name was announced on the school's broadcast system. She was very proud!

Countdown to Hungary: 50 days

Yes, it's official, and it's coming soon! We're headed to Debrecen, Hungary on June 17. We're so excited! We've still go a lot of planning to do before then, but we have the basics covered, like:

• Dave's work permit - ask him sometime about all the things he had to go through for that! Hungarians seem to be very particular about documents looking official and things done a certain way.
  
• Our passports and visas - even though we don't really need visas for such a short time, National Instruments (NI) wants us to do things the "correct" way.
• A place to stay - we'll be staying in the NI company apartment, a 4 bedroom place fairly close to the center of town. The only downfall is that it is on the 3rd floor, which means no wrestling!
• Our plane tickets - the kids and I will head home on August 14, but Dave will stay until September 18.
  
• A car - not sure what kind yet, but at least we'll have some method of transportation.
• International driver's licenses - again, being "correct!"
  
• A Hungarian/English dictionary - hopefully that will help a little with figuring out what's for dinner. We're pretty sure we won't need the "Romance" section - we have had some good laughs figuring out why you would need a dictionary for something like "Kiss me now!"
• A sense of adventure - we're ready for fish soup (well, not really but we'll probably have to try it), getting our luggage lost (as always seems to be the case with Dave's trips), a lot of pointing in stores, and some good family times.
  

Stay posted for more updates!

Kate's missing teeth

Dave and the kids were playing around in the driveway when Dave picked up Kate and put her head through the basketball hoop. On the way down her two front teeth got stuck in the net and popped out! Luckily for her, she said it didn't hurt and was thrilled to have them out. The tooth fairy will be visiting our house tonight! Now we have an adorable "lisper" in the house.

Spring adventures

We had fun with Ron and Frances during their visit at the end of March. We spent a great spring day at McKinney Falls State park searching for tiny shells, skipping rocks, and enjoying the sunshine (and the Texas-famous bluebonnets!)

Easter day started out with the obligatory photo shoot before church and we had some friends over for brunch. We must have been relaxing too much with our mimosas because we forgot to take pictures and to give the kids the confetti eggs to play with! Nathan and Kate had their own fight this morning with the eggs, since they were enjoying a day off of school.

A musical weekend

We had a great weekend hosting 2 boys from The American Boychoir. These boys are 6th-8th graders and go to boarding school in Princeton, NJ. They are hand-selected to be in the school and then they must show exemplary behavior and performance to go on tour. They stay with host families during their tours, and we thought it would be great fun to host them for 2 nights. On Saturday night, while Dave and Kate were at the Daddy-Daughter Sweetheart dance, Nathan and I took the boys to play laser tag and glow-in-the-dark mini golf. Nathan LOVED hanging out with the big boys! And, these boys were extremely polite and mature (and nice to Nathan).

On Sunday, we heard this beautiful choir at church and then our own kids got to sing with them for their afternoon concert. We weren't able to videotape the performance (I was so bummed!). So, check our some samples of The American Boychoir here: http://www.americanboychoir.org/music.html. and imagine our kids singing with them. They did great!

Daddy-Daughter fun

Kate was sooooo excited to go to the Girl Scout Daddy-Daughter Sweeheart Dance last night. She and Dave dressed up for the western theme and had a great evening - going out to eat and then dancing the night away. Kate was seen doing the Macarena and Chicken dance, along with being swirled by her daddy A LOT.

The Rock Lover

We took a day trip to Enchanted Rock State Park on Valentine's Day and hiked up the big rock. Nathan was either being a 9 year old boy, or he just loves rocks, but either way, he was all over the place! He was worrying his mommy. Kate wasn't so sure about the rocks, but a bribe of chocolate at the top was enough for her. It was a great day!

Valentine's Day and the Science Fair

Happy Valentine's Day! The kids were sooooo excited for their school parties today. They handmade their Valentines and were looking forward to exchanging them. We are sending all of you some love today.

The kids did wonderfully in the Science Fair a couple of weeks ago. Nathan's project was "The Force of Water" and he knew his material well. Kate's project was "Electricity from Fruits and Vegetables." Both kids really enjoyed the experience.

My time of unemployment is nearly over! I got offered a contract job this week for a company that does online marketing consulting for non-profits. This company actually wants me part time (with flexible hours) and they are completely fine with our trip this summer - I'll either scale down on my projects or work remotely from Hungary. YEA!
Dave is busy getting his work permit together - there's a lot involved, but everything is on track. We are getting excited. He is also busy getting our school's First Lego League together - I don't know who is excited - Dave or his students!

Our big summer plans

Well, it's official - we are going to Hungary for the summer! As y'all know, Dave travels to Hungary frequently for his job. His boss had asked him is he would consider going over there for the summer. He supervises people over there, and he could really benefit from some face time with them.

At first, we were hesitant, especially since I was working. Well, as of yesterday am not working anymore! Most of you know that my job situation has been very shaky with this economic crisis. My hours have been scaled back while others in the company saw no change in their hours. After another scaling back of my hours and a clear message that us "part-timers" would be the first to go if things got worse, I decided to end my stress and quit. I am so relieved to be out of there! Dave and I had been really toying with this Hungary experience and decided that we couldn't pass it up. We are so lucky that Dave's job is secure right now and that we can do without the extras that my job provided.

So, I am going to be scrapbooking, cleaning out closets, and taking lots of walks this spring. We'll head to Hungary in mid-June. The kids and I will need to return in mid-August to get ready for school again. Dave will need to stay over there until mid-September to complete a full 12 week Ex-Pat assigment. We'll stay in their corporate apartment that is completely furnished and fairly close to town. The kids are kind of wondering how we will get by since we don't speak Hungarian but we've told them that it will be an adventure. (Although Dave is a little peeved that his favorite new toy, his iPhone, doesn't have an English-Hungarian translation application on it.)

We're looking forward to travelling on the weekends and figuring out what to eat for dinner. We'll keep you posted!

PIANO!

We bought Kate a digital piano for Christmas and got her signed up for lessons. She was so excited! Nathan got caught up in the excitement too, so he is taking lessons as well. One appeal of the digital piano is that, while it has a full keyboard and is weighted like an accoustic piano, you can push different buttons to make different sounds. The button the kids like best is the one in the video: "Concert Pianist" which plays the song no matter what keys you press. (So, of course Nathan gets the idea to play the Star Spangled Banner with his nose!)

Christmas Fun

Trampoline jumping, Wii competing, and playing with Santa gifts occupied us for Christmas week with Rob and Hannah.