Screwball: Claudia's First Ice Cream Man Purchase

waiting for ice cream, drool running down chin
Gram arrives... happy day!

reading with Gram

ok, ice cream time!

very curious

her selection? the Two-Ball Screwball. Good choice.

Mmmm... good.

Technically, it will be fall in about a week or two. In Houston, however, summer pretty much extends into November. Hence, business is still booming for the local ice cream men. On Saturday, Gram and I spent the day conducting a required top to bottom inventory of the contents of the house. Claudia helped. It was tedious and I now have the desire to live much more simply. Luckily, a trip from the ice cream man broke up the monotony of the day! Here are some pictures of Claudia enjoying her first ice cream from our local ice cream man. She selected the Two Ball Screwball, which is a pink sherbert ice cream with two little balls of bubble gum, all in a little cup. She loved it! However, the word "screwball" has now been added to her vocabulary. So now, if you hear her saying "skewba! skewba!" you know its ice cream she speaks of.

Playing at Gram and Grandpas & Visit from Uncle Hank

push!
she prefers to push rather than ride.

Bop's working so hard pushing her stroller. tending to the plants

inspecting marigolds

here, Grandpa, this marigold smells great!

running around the yard

sleepy Bop with Uncle Hank and Mom

here's a preview of Claudia's halloween costume.

Although they don't celebrate Halloween in Budapest, we'll figure something out!
This bug needs candy!

Yesterday we went over to Gram and Grandpa's house to go visit Uncle Hank who came in from Louisiana on business. We had fun playing in their front yard and running up and down their street. We are enjoying these last days of summer. Claudia even tested out her new stroller. It's built for speed. She prefers to push the stroller though, riding, not so much.

Labor Day Play

she rises early...

... "stuff" (blankie + Oatmeal) in hand.

BFF

smooch!

Reading Llama Llama Red Pajama

Engrossed in the story, Claudia will not look up from the book.

playdates over! Audrey is reh to gah.

I've been hard at work preparing our house to be listed. I have to say it looks great. I've decided not to move and stay here it looks so great. Just teasing. I just hope it sells! The real estate photographer is coming to tomorrow to take photos. I may tag along and take some pics too so I can memorialize the McLendons' first home. I'm going to miss it. We took a break from cleaning to play away the afternoon with Audrey and Jessie. As always, we had a blast. Claudia has discovered a new book - Llama Llama Red Pajama, from the Llama Llama series. She asks for it by name. Yama Yama. It was a going away present from her little boyfriend, Jay. I must find more of the these Yama Yama books.

Game Time!

Here's some chapstick, Aunt Debbie. Your lips look dry.
Clap your hands! It's game time!
Nevermind about the games, it's pillow toss time!
Weee!

That was fun!

Do it again!!

Look! I found another tiger down the street from us!

With Russell being away, the fact that college football was starting completely escaped me. We usually have Mike & Mike on in the morning and PTI on in the evenings, so I'm typically aware of what's going on in the wide world of sports . But yesterday, when Aunt Debbie and Matthew invited us over for "the game", I had to think a second. Oh, yes, the LSU game. College football time. Wow, that came fast. I guess with that and tomorrow being Labor Day, summer is officially over. And that's fine with me! I welcome fall! The game had all the makings of a good one. Two forced turnovers within the first few minutes... a touchdown off a kickoff return, etc., etc. Who would have known the 4th quarter would be such a bust. But... a W is a W! Go tigers! Also, go Bulldogs! La Tech stomped Grambling. I'd say it was a good day in Louisiana, but not so much for the Grambling Tigers. Oh well, such is life. Claudia had more fun playing "pillow toss" on Aunt Debbie's bed than watching any of these games. Her new favorite activity is applying chapstick to everyone's lips. She's so considerate. =)

House Hunters: Hungary Episode

city dwelling
more city dwelling

appartment skirting the city

getting to the country

Hello country living!

Those are antlers you see adorning the window of this gem!

District 2... its a burb, very close to the city, & you get a house & a yard

District 2-A... long commute, but giant houses (think The Woodlands)

Another drawback (besides the commute): all the houses are on a hill &

the garage is at the bottom of the hill.

I'd be schlepping groceries and Bop 2 flights from garage to house.

Not happening.

If you do chose to live "in the hills" - you get amazing view of the city

And nice big yards, or as they call them "gardens."

I can see Claudia playing here!

Again... we currently have a 10'x10' backyard.

I dream of a yard like this

Another hit or miss amenity... the kitchen.

This would be a nice kitchen.

and this one too.

I'm not going to show you some of the bad kitchens.

Their too depressing. But here's a weird thing.

They put the laundry machines IN THE KITCHEN.

Plus - no dryers. Apparently they hang dry their clothes in Hungary.

Ok, this is one of the more bizarre houses.

It's in the hills & I'm pretty sure it serves dual role as a house-windmill.

Bizarre fact: Hungarians like to build spas in their houses.

Here's a lap pool in somone's basement. Weird.

The epitome of weird: a spa in the living room.

Sold! We'll take it!

Sorry, I should have posted this much much sooner. Russell arrived in Hungary safely and is enjoying his new job. He says that it is a bit of a culture difference (both in and out of the office), but that everything is going well. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we MISS him SO MUCH. Today our Daddyboy is house hunting, Hungary style. Sorry, these pics aren't the best. I got them from the listings that the Hungarian realtor circulated to us. These are some of the places Russell is looking at today in Budapest. Some are from the city, some from the country. These will be some of the biggest decisions... do we remain urban city dwellers or do we move to the burbs? Do we live on the "Buda" or the "Pest" side? Do we want to live in the hills or in a flat in the city? So many decisions. We'll let you know where we land.

The Puff / Shoe Gal

Puffy McLendon
Puffy on the move

Puffy too hot... take this off!

I guess this is a universal toddler thing...

but she LOVES to wear grownup shoes.

She raided Aunt Debbie's closet last Friday.

Too funny.

We've received some advice that Budapest winters are pretty intolerable. We were further advised that we should invest in some winter clothes for Claudia. I ordered a few... a little fleece coverall, a down puffy coverall (shown above), several jackets, some hats and mittens. I hope we're set. Other random stuff I was told to buy over here (because Hungary doesn't have it): bed sheets - because the beds there are irregularly shaped - ziplock bags, shoes - because they're really expensive there, and books in English. Besides buying supplies, we have enlisted a realtor here and retained a realtor there (hopefully Russell will send me some pics of the houses he's looking at this weekend and I'll post them - they should be... interesting....), we have had our house inventoried (apparently all our stuff WILL fit in a 40' cargo space) and I'm in the process of getting the house appraised. Fun, fun, fun! In the mean time, we are REALLY missing Russell. We can't wait for him to come home.

Daddyboy & Bop

My heart is heavy. Russell is leaving on Saturday for Budapest and we miss him already. He will be gone for three weeks. It's times like these that I realize just how much I appreciate Russell. He is the procurer of our groceries, the reader of the bedtime stories, the preparer of (about half) of our dinners, the changer of all light bulbs, the banisher of all unwanted phone solicitors. I cringe at the thought of enduring these next weeks without him, but I know he will be working hard in Budapest and I am so proud of him. Just a few more weeks and we will all be together... in Budpest. Can't wait!