Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Kinderhotel Round 2

Last year for Ski Break (that is a real thing in European schools...so nice!), we took our first trip to a Kinderhotel. These are all inclusive hotels that cater to kids. It is a week of relaxation and fun for everyone! This year, we decided to do it again at a different Kinderhotel that is a little closer to Budapest. We drove partway Friday night, enjoying a Valentine's Day dinner of Happy Meals. Saturday morning we arrived at the Kinderhotel Babyhotel in Trebesing, Austria.
Happy to see lots of snow!

Kinderhotels provide everything you may need - including robes for all. So cute!

We spent pour first afternoon just walking around and enjoying the hotel. Chelsea loved the sledding hill, but Cade crashed into the netting and that was the end of his love of sledding. 

There is an indoor pool, indoor/outdoor pool, and baby pool. 
Crazy girl almost went down the "snow slide." 
There is also a giant twisty waterslide that is fun for all. Logan LOVES it. 


This play area is adjacent to the dining room. Kids finished eating? No problem, they can go play and we can finish our dinner in peace. Win-win. This play car is a huge hit for all ages. 

The other great feature of the Kinderhotel is a kids club, with tons of fun activities all day long. Our plan for the week is to ski in the mornings, and then we play/swim/whatever in the afternoons. Logan stays at the hotel while we ski and plays with his friends. Not sure if he is happy with that arrangement, but he tolerates it. :) The kids club has these amazing German baby swings that hang from the ceiling and he sleeps for 2 hours in the kids club every day. I think I will buy one to bring home!

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Spring Sports

Okay, so maybe it isn't spring yet, but this week has felt more like spring than winter. We are not complaining.

A few pics of the kids current activities - 
Logan and I are going to a mommy and me gymnastics class.  He loves the bars and falling onto the mats...he tucks his arms underneath him when he falls and looks like he will just curl up for a nap. He is not a fan of the jumpy mat the teacher blows up at the end of class. 

 Cade and Chelsea are taking Saturday swim classes at school - our school has a fabulous pool and it is nice to take advantage of it! Swimming is Cade's least favorite activity, but he is getting braver. Chelsea is working on diving and stroke development - she loves it.
Cade has taken a few ski lessons again this year - he loves skiing. The lack of snow isn't a problem -  astroturf works just as well. Maybe we can continue skiing in Houston!

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Prescription for Light

We have been stuck in the gray days of January...not my favorite time of the year in Budapest. Everyone jokes about having Seasonal Affective Disorder and we all take vitamin D. When the sun is out, we soak it up like a drug. Thankfully, we have had 2 days of sunshine this week - hopefully more to come!

Today, I got a call from school that Chelsea had fever. I picked her up and she was complaining about her throat. She had strep a few weeks ago, so I did a Dr. Mom and looked at her throat with a flashlight. It was super red and had some pus spots. I called our doctors office, and they couldn't get her in for another 24 hours - that has never happened before! So, I decided to call the other expat clinic and see if I could get her in there. I didn't want to wait in case it was strep. They said they could see her in 30 minutes, so we jumped in the car and went.

The doctor was nice enough, but pretty Hungarian. This means many things- one, it was a bit hard to understand her, and two, I got chastised that Chelsea didn't have socks on with her shoes. Socks will help her fever, you know. She did her exam and said it wasn't strep yet, probably just a virus. She told Chelsea she could stay home for 2 more days and watch TV and eat ice cream. Chelsea liked that!
She proceeded to type up the note and we left.

Upon leaving, I looked down at the note and had to chuckle.
2 things written under the "prescription" section were:
1. use the vacuum cleaner to suction her nose as needed
2. Infrared light in the evening....
What?!?  I have no idea what that is about, but it is the first time we have had a prescription for light!