Update from the McBookWorms

I came across this little nugget of truth whilst I was squandering time on Pinterest the other day. It served as a little affirmation that the more time we spend reading together, the better.

I'm proud to report that Claudia loves to read. She loves all her little books and knows them all by name. Some of the books have been memorized... This Jazz Man, every Llama Llama book, Dr. Suess' Lorax. She is very interested in dinosaurs right now, so William Joyce's Dinosaur Bob (my childhood copy) is also a favorite.

So Claudia, these are your favorites. Your go-to book: Richard Scarry's The Best Word Book Ever. Daddy and I cringe when you ask for it... because you ask for it about ten times a day. But we read it again, and again, and again, because it makes you happy. And that makes us happy.

I credit Daddy for your love of reading. The day he found out you were on the way he ordered a sweet little book called Oh Baby, the Places You'll Go. It's an adaptation from Dr. Suess' books, especially for babies in utero. Suess' wife commissioned it after he passed away. Suess was fascinated by a project where in utero babies were read The Cat in the Hat. Increased fetal activity was reported during the reading of the book. Interestingly, after birth, increased activity was reported when these same babies were read the book.

So Daddy chooses to read you lots of Suess. Hunches in Bunches of it.

Reading is a great family activity.

It's something you can do with your friends...

... assuming you can all agree on what to read.

A good book makes everyone happy.

And being happy is good.

Here's a little something extra. I attempted to take some pictures of Claudia at Margit Island. It is one of the most beautiful spots in Budapest. The gardens are amazing. I thought it'd make for some nice shots. But it was hot. And Claudia decided to cool herself off by dumping fistfuls of moist dirt on her head and face. This was a post-dirt pic.

Pre-dirt pic.

Also pre-dirt. The Black Eyed Susans were her favorites.

Post-dirt pic. Clever self-cooling method.

Little miss was actually trying to stick a rock in her mouth.

I love this place. It's a series of walkways, all bordered with rows of bright, beautiful flowers.

Claudia loves the flowers too. Just have to remind her to admire with her eyes, not her feet.

Hello, pretty Zinnia.

Hello, Black Eyed Susans.

And last... she sprinkled a little dirt on the flowers to cool them off as well.
Very thoughtful!

Budakeszi Vadaspark ... Claudia Returns to the Wild

We decided to capitalize on the beautiful weather here in Budapest with a trip to the Budakeszi Vadaspark. It's a wild animal park out in the woodsy Buda hills. We stupidly forgot the stroller, so poor CC hoofed it most of the way. She was a trooper, but eventually tuckered, so we only saw about half the park. We'll save the second have for the next trip. Claudia is so interested in animals right now... what they eat, where the live, what noises they make. I'll admit that she was a little disappointed that some of the animals, particularly those portrayed in Disney cartoons, are not as cuddly and cute in person as they are on film. Better she learn now, I guess.

Entry to park. Note, we went to a restaurant at the park which was quite nice. Nice for being in a remote wooded area, in a children's animal park. However, it was somewhat suspect that everything on the menu was also a feature animal of the park. I guess this is where the animals go to, how shall I put this, retire.

First up, wart hogs. Claudia was keenly interested in seeing a real Pumba, as he is one of her favorite characters from the Lion King. However, when she saw them eating this stinky slop out of the trough and making un-Pumba-like grunts and farting sounds...

... and when this guy ran up with what is, hopefully, mud covering his outstretched tongue...

... she let us know that she was not impressed by the wart hogs and that she would like to move on to some different animals. So we did.

Daddy had this little baby deer successfully eating out of his hand, until some little punk ran up and put his hat on the poor creature. Startled, the deer bolted. Daddy looked at the kid and said "thanks." It was shocking to see that most of the parents let their children virtually terrorize the poor goats and deer in the petting zoo. Some laughed and took pictures. We're teaching Claudia to do better than this. Animals should be respected!

We eventually got this guy to cozy up to us, but he was pretty skittish too.

As we were leaving, Claudia turned around, pointed at the petting zoo animals and said "Thanks! Thanks, goats!"

Moving on to the buffalo. Claudia spent most of the time patting Daddy's face.

Daddy says "Claudia turn around." Claudia said "WHAT is THAT?!" Daddy says "It's a buffalo." Claudia says "I think its a cow." Daddy says "No, it's a buffalo." Claudia says "Ok."

Yes, definitely a buffalo. I love buffalo. Something so majestic about them.

Last up... the bears. She was excited.

After asking various questions about bear teeth and claws...

... her face drops and she solemnly whispers "he's going to eat me." Daddy assured no bear would eat her. Funny, she had no concern with this happening when we were sticking honey covered spoons directly into bear jaws at the ASPCA bear sanctuary. And this place had much better fencing!

We concluded the adventure with a trip to Daubner's. It is the best place for ice cream in Budapest. The best, Jerry, the best. Claudia had her favorite, the raspberry. She's very careful when it comes to eating this ice cream. She carefully dips her tongue in, not getting any on her face.

Doesn't want to waste a drop.

This was probably her favorite activity of the weekend.

It always is.

And there's nothing wrong with that!

Blazing Marshmallows

Sorry for the two week absence! Our internet hasn't been working properly since about June 24th. We had the upload speed of 0.02 mbps. In case that doesn't mean anything to you, I had a better chance of getting a smoke signal to you than a blog post. But, after two weeks and twenty calls to T-Home Budapest, our internet is restored!

But don't worry, you really didn't miss much around here. Russell is working a lot and is studying for a certification test for work, so he's been real busy. Yuck. When he's not working, he's starting fires...

After reading Suess's The Sneetches, ten, maybe a hundred and ten times this month, Claudia wanted to have a frankfurter & marshmallow roast. She really likes marshmallows. Which is not necessarily a good thing. They certainly won't ever make it onto the USDA food pyramid and they cost about $7 a bag here.

Starting a fire in a foreign country is, well, a foreign thing for us. Here were the tools we procured from the local hardware store. That thing resembling a bottle of malt liquor is lighter fluid, we think. The box that says "Feuer Maxx" contained highly flammable little wicker balls. For good measure, we got some foot long match sticks.

All these elements combined to create a spectacular fire! I love that fire pits are popular here. This one is tucked away in the corner of our yard. After we get a little more practice with ours, I want to have a big weenie and marshmallow roast for all the kiddos.

Daddy taught Claudia about fire safety...

... and how to roast a good weenie.

Claudia mostly just wanted to throw stuff in the fire, so we will need to work on this.

And the kicker... she doesn't like roasted marshmallows. Finds them too messy. Doesn't like to get her little mitts sticky. Which is pretty amusing, as her hands are perpetually coated in all manner of gross stuff.

She was content to kick back and munch on her hot dog and eat melon.

Here's that smoke signal I mentioned.

Last week it rained every day. Finally it stopped on Sunday. And a rainbow appeared in the sky. A rainbow! I hadn't seen a rainbow since I was a kid. I don't know if I've just stopped looking for them or if the light polluted cities I've been living in have just drowned them out. Regardless, we were all excited to see it!

With the internet being out, I kept myself busy with a little craft project. I made this for Claudia last week. I'm still getting the hang of sewing, but I really like it. The first time I used this pattern, it took 5 hours, but this time it only took about 3. I've got some seersucker fabric in pink and blue, so I'm about to do something with that next.

Side view. Check out Claudia's first Barbie. It's a Sleeping Beauty ballerina. She loves Sleeping Beauty and loves ballerinas, so she was really excited when this arrived in the mail from Gram. She dances her all over the house. Thank you Gram for all the goodies you sent!

This is the last thing I do with every sewing project... stitch the tag in. Russell's grandmother sent him a roll of cloth name labels when he went to college. She suggested he have them sewn into all his boxers and undershirts. This was low on his freshman year priority list, so it never happened. Now I have them! And I put them into all Claudia's clothes. =) I think this will give Grandma Irene a laugh when we go home next.

I'm annoyed that this picture keeps turning on me, but I wanted to share... so maybe cock your head to the right. Claudia painted a picture of a sailboat on the lake. Do you see it?

Also, we transplanted the pepper, pumpkin and radish seedlings into big pots and moved them outside.

I don't want to say she lost interest, but shortly after the seedlings were transplanted, she sat in the pepper pot...

... then she ran away.

She figured her time was better spent spinning.

We're still trying to figure out what manner of fruit is growing in our yard. They look like fat pink-orange cherries, but when you cut them open, they look and smell like persimmons. I'm confused.

These are far less confusing. Just pretty. Growing just adjacent to the mystery fruit.

And I made some Oreo-stuffed chocolate chip cookies.
They are stinkin' delicious. Obviously lacking in nutritional content, but I don't care.
They are that good. Best right out of the oven.

Also, they are easy as pie to make. I also made an apple pie. I didn't take a picture, but it was surprisingly good. I fervently believe that fruit and nuts were not intended to be desserts, but I may make an exception for apple pie.

Lastly, I'd like to give an update on the move to the big-girl-bed. It has, for the most part, gone very well. She likes her bed and its nice to snuggle in while we read bedtime stories. She does have her moments, though, when she abandons the bed for a less conventional sleeping spot. For example, I checked in on her during nap time to find her nestled inside a dresser drawer. She was also wearing two pairs of big girl panties over her leggings. Other resting spots have included her changing pad, placed on the floor, and the bare floor itself. On the road to becoming a big girl, we are getting there slowly. Which is absolutely fine with me. =)