At the beginning of March, Freyja and I went on our first international adventure together. We flew to Budapest, Hungary on the 2nd, just in time to celebrate an important Father/Grandpa birthday on the 4th.
It was all very exciting, for so many reasons. It had been a long time since I've visited...my last trip to Budapest (and abroad in general) was in 2004. I'd never met my youngest sibling, Timothy, who was born in 2006, Freyja had never met her other Grandpa and Grandma, and it had been so long since the rest of us had seen each other...a lot of people and things had grown and changed. But, the biggest source of excitement was that the whole thing was a huge secret! Grandma Szilvi and I had been planning the trip for over a year, sneaking around and giggling, hoping he wouldn't find out. We were both hoping that when Grandpa Theo came home from work and saw us nonchalantly sitting in the living room, he would display such an earth-moving combination of laughing, crying, screaming, and general festive dancing around, that the reaction alone would be worth all the planning. Well, at least that's what I was thinking. I don't know about Szilvi! Although he was excited and happy, it wasn't all the above, but that's okay. I think my expectations might have been a little unreasonable. Ha!
Anyway, even though I had some initial concern about travelling alone with a small toddler for such a long length of time, things went pretty well! I made what I consider to be some super smart choices regarding what I packed in my carry-on bag. As a result, I really was prepared for all the little situations that came my way, and was even able to keep Freyja entertained for almost the whole trip...and back! (More on that in a future post) Also, the KLM flight attendants I met on the trips between the US and Amsterdam were so amazing and sweet, and that made things even easier.
She loves playing with my sunglasses!
Once we arrived in Budapest, our trip involved a lot of time spent at home, visiting with family...and taking in all the meals, play times, talks, baths, bedtime stories and songs...the usual stuff...that make up a household's daily rhythm. Freyja banged on the piano, spied on the turtle, climbed in the indoor hammock, played with trains and blocks and baby dolls galore, ate new foods, road a bus for the first time, went swinging at the park, and we made
spaetzle with Great Grandma's
spaetzle press...all kinds of good things.
Freyja and Timo spying on the turtle
Sitting in Grandpa's rocking chair
Playing with the wool mobile in Timo's room
An early morning snack
Grandpa and Timo
Sitting on Uncle Ollie's Lap
Hanging out with Uncle Alex
Grinning in the hammock
Sitting on the stairs with Aunt Abby
Ollie with the spaetzle press. See Abby and Timo in the background?
We went to the children's school one day, the Obudai Waldorf School, which is so beautiful and unique. It has a certain magic about it that you can just "feel" when you're inside.
The Seasonal Table
The beautiful chalkboard...it opens in the center to display another lesson inside
The watercolor area
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Teacups for all the students in the classroom. There's Abby's cup, top right.
In the foyer of the school...watching as all the kids leave class at the end of the day.
Ollie brought his kobza home from school one day and played it for Freyja and I. She loved the music...and running her fingers across the strings.
It was fun to see Freyja hanging out with other children, and watching how they interacted with each other. It's rare that I see this, because she doesn't have siblings, go to daycare, or attend a playgroup. On occasion she goes to work with me, but the little girl I take care of and Freyja usually play alongside each other and not "with" each other, which is very normal for their age, so the dynamic is much different. Also, I would suggest that because my siblings are related to Freyja, something in her subconscious is aware of this connection, and it made her time with them more special and natural.
Reading with Aunt Abby...look at her grabbing those toes!
Freyja seemed to have a special affection for Abby...she followed her around everywhere!
Playing with Uncle Timo's wooden boat and animals. Some lucky little girl just might have one of those on it's way for Yule!
More reading with Abby and Timo.
This Curious George lift the flap book was a huge hit with these three. Ha!
Even more reading with Uncle Ollie
Playing ball with Grandpa and Timo
Freyja and Timo building something with blocks. Check out that cool baby carriage!
Grandpa and Freyja playing with a top
In the hammock with Abby
Hmmm. What else did we do? Ah, yes. We went to a giant indoor market and the regular grocery store a few times, which I always love doing. (Insert Szilvi rolling her eyes here. Ha!) Call me weird, but it's interesting to me to see what kinds of foods people grow, buy, and use in other countries...and what they don't! The market and the grocery are also awesome places to see people interacting with each other and hear their language. While I was there, I bought a big bag of paprika that I plan on using for a pot of
Chicken Paprikash someday really soon. I haven't made that in a long time. Yum!
We also took all the kids to the
Tropicarium Oceanarium, which was a hit with everyone. I think Freyja screamed the word "fish" over 1000 times, and I was able to con both Ollie and Alex, after some serious big-sister peer pressure, into jamming their arms down into the sting ray pool so they could feel their soft satiny skin when they swam by. For two kids who initially acted like they didn't want to do it, they sure were hard to pry away from the pool when it was time to leave. Ha!
Fish! Fish!
Checking out the alligator!
We went to a couple of toy stores during our visit, and I bought Freyja some cute wooden toys for her birthday and Yule, which I promptly hid away when we got home. These are hard to find in the US without buying them in a huge city at a specialty toy store or purchasing them online, and paying shipping costs is one of my pet peeves. I do have some good wooden toys, but not as many as I'd like. I'll post photos of the toys I bought in Budpest as I give them to her. They're too cute!
Waiting outside the bookstore
Freyja and Grandpa checking each other out
A regular part of my trip to Budapest usually includes a visit to
Hosok Tere and
The Museum of Fine Arts, which my father and I still did this time around, with Freyja in tow. She enjoyed running around the square, pointing out the horses, and splashing in puddles. Freyja was also so well-mannered in the museum...content to ride around in the sling, pointing at different things in the artwork, and eventually snoozing off against my shoulder while we enjoyed the amazing temporary exhibit on
Gustave Moreau. I'm so glad the stars aligned themselves so perfectly in such a way that I was in Budapest to see that awesome body of work. Spectacular!
She just happened to jump in the only puddle...
Okay, Grandpa can hold me...but only for a second!
There were some shenanigans, as all trips have. Freyja hurled on the airplane from Amsterdam to Budapest (Yay!), but thanks to my handy dandy carry-on bag, everything was cleaned up rather quickly and we were back on track. She had some insane jet-lag for a couple of days once we arrived, but that eventually subsided. She also developed a random and rather gross eye infection while we were in Hungary, and she had to endure being pinned down several times to have eye-bright dripped into her eyeballs, but overall she took it pretty well. It actually, to my surprise, didn't end up going away until about one week and a full treatment of antibiotics later. Poor kid...but she didn't let it keep her from having fun!
Is this really the only photo we have of Freyja with Grandma Szilvi?
Both of these kids look silly here! What are they doing?!
Freyja...passed out with Mommy during a mid-morning nap
A happy moment with Grandpa...
So, we had a fantastic trip...and even though we were able to stay for nine whole days this time around, it just didn't seem long enough. But I suppose it never really does! I hope we won't have to wait so long to take a trip back...
Petting the bunnies...
Eating some warm fall goodies: A bratwurst (and they didn't have sauerkraut, can you believe that?), a cabbage roll, a pumpkin muffin, and hot apple cider...
...although I think he meant for those pumpkin guts to go in the trash can, rather than in his hand! She looks so proud of herself...like "Aaaaah! It's so gross!" 
Lights off! 
...and digging in (before Mommy hides the rest)! 
