Been Away Too Long...

Hello All!

I realize it has been awhile since my last blog...but really, you would be so bored with my rambling on and on about our daily activities. Work, school, groceries, laundry, cooking, cleaning...not that exciting I'm afraid! We have had some lovely evenings with friends and the kids continue to enjoy tennis lessons. Things are really going well and the kids' last report cards were even better than their first, so we are pleased!

This past weekend, Spencer had "Daddy Days" from Friday morning until Monday evening since I was on a little getaway with 13 other fabulous people! I think Spencer and the kids enjoyed their weekend too, though! This was the weekend of my long-planned trip to Budapest with other COP spouses and a few other friends! What an AMAZING trip in a BEAUTIFUL city! I took about 275 pictures of Budapest - it has much to see and do and a very interesting history! So, I guess the next several blogs will be my Budapest memories with photos!

The trip started early Friday morning with a ride to the airport with my friend, Wendy. Her husband was kind enough to drive us both! We all gathered at the airport and took off for our first leg a little after 7 AM. We made it to Oslo and then boarded our next leg about 10:45 AM and arrived in Budapest about 1:30. We only had minor delays on the flights and no problems! We all managed to retrieve our luggage and get Hungarian Forints (the local currency) and then meet up with our driver in our chartered minibus for our trip to the hotel. We arrived at the hotel - ahhh, beautiful - The Kempinski Hotel Covinus, complete with day spa amenities! Oh yes, and you can bet I was the first to book an hour-long massage! Everyone got checked in with their roommates and it was time to get acquainted with the city. I took the opportunity of the open time to enjoy my massage while some of the others wandered around a bit. After my massage (which was awesome!), I went over the the big square a couple blocks from the hotel and checked out a couple stores and enjoyed the music from a gentleman playing water glasses, yes, glassware filled with varying amounts of water that he played to a prepared music track. Turns out I saw him out in the square each evening. He was amazing! We all met up in the lobby about 6:00 PM to head over to our first organized activity - a dinner cruise on the Danube River. We enjoyed a lovely buffet of traditional Hungarian foods with lively music from a group of three gentlemen and an amazing view of both parts of the city, Buda and Pest.

Following dinner, many of us stayed down in the hotel lobby and enjoyed an after dinner drink and conversation. Then it was off to bed with big plans for the morning - the first of our two half-day tours with our private tour guide, Andrea.

Meanwhile at home, Spencer was watching a movie with the kids and hoping Kyla's puny attempt at dinner, a slight flush, and feeling a bit warm was nothing more than that...luckily, a children's ibuprofen and a good night's sleep seemed to be the cure! Whew!

Here are a few pictures to wet your taste buds - there will be more to come in the next editions :)