Fi's first holiday 1

Tara and Lia have spent 2 weeks in Budapest with my husband's parents and Fi and I joined on the 18th.

I love returning to Hungary for a holiday, I would not want to move back, but there are lots of things I enjoy:
- Budapest is a beautiful, eclectic city and I am not just saying that becasue I was born and raised here
- There is lots of Turkish food which I love and miss in Ireland... in general eating out is super cheap compared to Ireland and there is lots and lots of variety and SPICES
- There are LOTS of really nice cafes
- Budapest is generally a really safe city, you almost never feel threatened, which is pretty amazing for a city of over 2 million people...
- People completely crack me up... Hungary is one of the few places in the world, where you ask someone how they are they will actually tell you, this is a really amusing habit...
- On the other hand people are rather negative and it shows in their interactions


T&L have had an absolute ball, I thought they would roast in the 35-38C, but they actually have really-really enjoyed their stay. My mother in law is amazing with the kids, I really think she should have gone on to do art therapy or something along these lines, she has a really special way of involving them as they play. 


I dreaded the 3 hour flight with a nearly 14 months old who normally spends most of her day cruising, but it actually was really easy, she loves the airport, and did super well on the flight, no crying at all, we played, ate, read and walked a few lengths, nothing excessive. No crying even in the taxi from the airport (family doesn't have large enough car to transport all of us :-))) I was positively surprised. I feel a lot more optimistic about our upcoming trip to Paris to see the endocrinologist in September and our October trip to Bmore and Madison... I should probably lower my expectations, better to be positively surprised than really disappointed. 
What I wasn't ready for, was how upset she would be as it was pitch dark in the room where we slept and she is used to some light, plus there was no cot... Her cot is besides our bed at home and she does settle next to me most of the time, but it's not very comfortable in the heat, I don't think she has been exposed to more than 20 C  so 26 at 10 PM on the first night was a bit of a shock to the system. 
She is VERY weary of strangers invading her personal space and of course our Hungarian family who are eager to see her, are all strangers... So the 3 days in BP were practically spent in my sore arms...


Then we drove to my parents place near the Austrian border, where they basically live in a suburb of a few thousand people near a city of 30,000. Do not think suburb, think proper old fashioned village with 3 shops that would totally fit in in Albania - I love it, very nostalgic, reminds me of the old Eastern Europe - wouldn't recommend purchasing any perishable goods though. 
My parents only moved here a few years ago, so I can easily say that over the last 5 days I know more about their home village as they do, as I keep taking Fi for walks whereas they would drive through...
Fi is slowly easing up and it is refreshing to be able to go to the toilet on my own... She is mesmerized by the washing machine and I have washed a load every day just so I could park her for a few minutes in front of it... OK, I am exaggerating a bit. 
This is a kids' paradise with all the little garden jobs they get to do: go fetch some tomatoes, or peaches, feed the chickens, give some water to the horses (my stepdad does horse riding therapy for kids with special needs, hence the horses). They have their own swings and "sand pit", they get to ride every day and best of all there is a party every night, they get to stay up as long as they want to and we sit around and play games. Love the holidays!!! More to come soon with pics which will not upload now...

Oh and Fi LOVES the horses, she crawls across the house, and bangs on the door to go to the horses, whom we need to visit about 30 times a day.