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Making the most of a rainy day afternoon with a book of Russian fairy tales.  Some of them are pretty grim, some of them are pretty sweet, but all of them involve someone named Ivanovic.  And she is hooked on them.

In an ideal world, Patrick's ideal world, that is, all meals would be spaghetti, eaten with his hands, while standing up, in a diaper, with Daddy there to help him drink a giant glass of cold milk.   Because I am a sucker for bulging baby bellies covered with tomato sauce, this dream of his comes true every so often.  =)

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."  

Inspired by Jodi.   

Sweet, Sweet Summer

We have squeezed every last good bit out of this summer.   We wake up early.  We stay up late.  We make lemonade.  We eat ice cream.  Every day.  We walk the woods.  We swim the pools.  We stay outside all day.  We are lazy.  We are happy.  =)

I drew the hop scotch board, Patrick helped color in the blocks.

A fine hop scotch leap.

Check out this girl go!  And try to ignore that voice in the background... I have convinced myself that if I don't constantly encourage her, she will just fall off that bike.

She is really getting good with that hula hooping... not so much at the hula-ing part, but rather the hurling it really high into the air part.

We had a dance recital one night.  Daddy brought flowers to throw at the end.

The favorite toy of my favorite boy.

This little cart has gone with us everywhere the past few weeks.

It did not travel through the woods very well,  but he insisted on bringing it.

The water hose brings countless hours of entertainment.

I repeat... countless hours of entertainment.

I hope everyone is enjoying these last summer days before school kicks up!

Slovenian Summer

Our home sweet Hungary shares it's western border with Austria and Slovenia.  While we have road tripped to Austria many times, we have never ventured over to Slovenia.  How dumb of us!  

This place is beautiful!  Tucked away in the Julian Alps is the small, quiet town of Bled. Hiding within Bled is the beautiful, tear shaped Lake Bled, which looks like it is made of greenish-blue sea glass.  Floating in the middle of Lake Bled is a storybook island, Bled Island.  Perched atop Bled Island, 99 steps high, is a beautiful little church, the Assumption of Mary Pilgrimage Church.  Inside the church is a sweet little wishing bell.  I rang that bell and wished that I would always remember how beautiful this place is. 

 

Luckily, I took lots of pictures, so they will remind me when my memory fails.

To reach Bled Island, you ride a pletna, a small, flat bottomed, traditional Slovenian boat.  It takes you right to the 99 steps of the island.  The church is built where an eighth century pagan temple once stood, built to honor the Slavic goddess of love and fertility.  

To this day, brides and grooms still row out to the island, where grooms carry the bride up the 99 steps to the church.  You can see the staircase behind us here... so steep!

We stayed at a hotel with history.  Villa Bled is most noted as being the former summer home of the Yugoslavian president for life, Josip Broz Tito.  Tito, who enjoyed a very lasting, colorful dictatorship entertained numerous dignitaries here.  Daddyboy sat at his desk and Claudia took a rest here and proclaimed to be "bored!"   If you don't know much about Tito (which I did not), he is worth a Google search.  He was a dictator with a flair for the dramatic.

The villa itself is a time capsule.  Nothing has been changed since it was Tito's summer place.  It is filled with Communist art and simple but well kept mid-century furniture and furnishings.  What it lacks in air conditioning and modern conveniences, it makes up for in delicious food, attentive staff and a colorful past.   

The best part was the garden and the grounds.  Lots of places for the little ones to run, explore and swim.  

And the Vintgar Gorge was the icing on the Slovenian Bled Cake (note, this traditional Slovenian cake is one of the most delicious cakes I've ever had and I want to learn how to make it).

You can follow the gorge for about 1.5 kilometers, walking along wooden footbridges that track alongside and even cross over the gorge at various points. 

I think (?) this place really made an impression on Claudia. 

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Summer has officially gotten the best of me.  I have been taking pictures, but due to my laziness, I just haven't managed to get said pictures off the camera, into the computer and onto the blog.  Eventually that memory card had all the summer memories it could hold, so I'm sifting through them now.  =)  

Claudia, you are enjoying every last second of summer and all that comes with it.  You had many accomplishments this week... swimming with your face in the water, riding a bike without training wheels and, most importantly, being a true friend.  Specifically, when a lot of kiddos were excluding a fellow playmate, I watched you take the girl by the hand and bring her into the fold.  I could not be more proud.   

Busy, busy, busy.  Too busy to even look up for a picture!  Paddy, your little motor skills are developing so nicely.  You still don't say much to us, but you smile, giggle and play all day.  I know you are happy.  And that makes me happy.  =)

My favorite from last week ... Roald's face when he sees his mom after spending the weekend with his grandma.  Look at the pure joy on his happy little face!

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."  

Inspired by Jodi.