Faster!

While in Bled, we visited the local thrill ride - a bobsled run on rails down a mountain. The kids took turns riding the chairlift up and then careening down the mountain with Daddy.

Up they go

The view from the top - the mountain was steep!

                                                                  Ready for take off

                                                                     Away they go!

The quote of the day was from Cade. He is usually cautious and hesitant about trying new things, but this time was the opposite. He wasn't afraid at all and yelled "faster!" as he and Larry came down. Fun for everyone!

Lake Bled

 Two weeks ago, we took a trip to beautiful Slovenia. Lake Bled is just a 5 hour drive from home, so it made for a perfect weekend getaway. It was a lovely, relaxing, nature-y weekend.

 We splurged on a horse drawn carriage ride around the lake - so fun!

One of the popular things to do at Lake Bled is to ride in a row boat out to the island in the lake. Typically, this is a large boat that holds 30 or so people. We decided on the personal row boat approach and we had an excellent rower. We were assured by the boat rental lady that there was no need for the kids to have life jackets. I wasn't so sure about this, so I just prayed we wouldn't fall in! 

After docking at the island, we climbed 100 steps to the top and visited the small church. We all took a turn ringing the bell, but sadly our pics didn't turn out.

We capped off the day with a visit to a bakery for some of the Bled area's kremna rezina. 

It was yummy and a perfect end to a memorable day! 

International Day

Chelsea and Cade attend an international school, and every year the school has an International Day. It is a fun day where kids wear clothing that represent stheir home country. Parents bring food for an international lunch, and the day ends with a parade with each child marching behind their flag. It is always moving to see so many countries (at least 20 - I have no idea the true count) represented!

My kids were torn because, you know, Texas is like a whole other country. But, there was no Texas flag in the parade, so they marched with the good ole USA. They did represent Texas with their boots and Cade of course wore his "Don't Mess WIth Texas" t-shirt. 

My observations this year - 

*Many of the other countries have some sort of fancy national dress/attire. The American kids have Old Navy July 4th t-shirts. 

*For the lunch, most countries bring sophisticated food like sushi, fancy desserts, crepes, etc. The American kids bring jello, rice krispie treats, and mac and cheese. I will say those items are the first to go, though. We may not be sophisticated, but our stuff tastes good!

Seven!

This little dude is 7 months old! He is pure joy and usually wears the smile you see above. He is now mobile and army crawls all over the place. Soon, it will be time to put the baby gates back up. He still loves every food we give him and will eat anything he can get his hands on. He is wearing 9-12 month clothes and weighs about 19 pounds. He had a good streak of sleeping through the night, but lately it seems he just needs a little company around 3 am. 

He is a great little traveller and will hit his 7th country this month. He has been to the US, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland. For 7 months, we will add Slovenia to the list this weekend! He will hit 8 at 8 months with the UK added, possibly 9 at 9 months...I think that is where the streak will end. Too bad he will not remember any of it!

We sure love this little guy!

Under the Big Top

 What fun it was to take a trip to the Budapest Circus when my parents were here last month. The circus runs year round, but this was our first time to go. We will go back for sure! The arena is quite small, so you are close to the action. Sometimes, it felt a little too close!

They did put up a little fence at intermission, but we weren't so sure it would stand should the tigers decide to test it. Thankfully, the tigers obeyed and stayed within the ring. 

It was a nice mix of animals and acrobats - kept us all entertained! 

 In the lobby, they had a green screen set up for fun photos. They were super cheap, so we decided to have some fun.

Cade tamed a tiger. 

 Chelsea was an acrobat.

 Mom and Larry sacrificed others to save themselves. 

The act changes every few months, but I think the tigers remain. There is a new act that just began that appears to feature goats...should be interesting!

Off to School

This year, we have a First Grader and a Preschooler at AISB.

Chelsea started First Grade on August 21st. Her teacher is Mr. Connell and she is quite happy. She begins her after school activities this week, and she is doing Ballet and Baking this trimester. 

 Cade is also attending AISB this year  - it is so nice having them in the same school! He is going to PreK 3 3-4 days a week. It is a 5 day program, but thankfully they are flexible and his teacher is great. I am not ready to send him 5 days a week!

Logan is enjoying Mommy time and also spends a lot of time at AISB with me!

 The big kids ride the bus to school on most days. Chelsea is such a great big sis and takes Cade to his class every morning. She helps him change to his indoor shoes, get settled, and then she goes to class. Melt my heart. He gets to see her a few times a day on the playground. The first few days, he tried to go back to class with her!

We are looking forward to a great year at school!

Wieliczka Salt Mines

While in Krakow, we visited the Wieliczka Salt Mines. The mine was bult int he 13th century and still produced salt until 2007! The unique feature of these salt mines is the statures that were carved from the rock salt by the miners. Things to know if you decide to go....the tour takes about 2 1/2 hours. That is a long time to be trapped underground with 3 little people! The kids did really well, but it was not that interesting for them and there is a lot of walking (800 stairs and about 2 miles of walking). The first part of the tour is 400 stairs down - one windy staircase that never ends. That part was super claustrophobic, but after that it wasn't too bad. 

Meet our pack mule - he is awesome. He spent much of the tour carrying Cade and Logan. 

The statues were impressive. 

The Lord's Supper

The Great Cathedral was the most impressive part of the mine - too bad it was hard to get a good picture due to the weird light and reflection off the salt.  

 This was how we all felt at the end - so happy to see the exit. The mines were interesting to see, but we would have enjoyed it a lot more if the tour was about an hour. After we saw this Exit sign, it was at least 20 more minutes before we were actually out. We had to wind around and around and finally, gloriously found the elevator to take us to the surface. We were so happy to see daylight again!