Castle Tour (post by Austin)

Yesterday was the day Adam came...oh great… LG is loud enough without him crying. LG always cries when Adam leaves. So, today I woke up, and LG was eating not eating. Wow! He was in the other room playing. I put on a shirt, then walked over to the table with my dad. I sat down, then got back up to get a breakfast bar. After I ate, we left to get bread from the bakery.  Then we came back to drop off my dad and LG. Me and my mom went and got a coffee and a juice. When we came back, LG and my dad were listening to music and LG was eating lunch. About an hour later, Adam and the social workers got here. My mom and dad talked to Adam and the social workers for a little bit, until LG ran into the room. Then the social workers started playing with him. 

Then they left and LG started whining (but not crying this time!!). Then we put him down for a nap. When he woke up, we left for the castle. When we got there, we walked to the castle. We got those paper wrist bands that they give you when you go to certain places. We looked around the castle. They had something kind of like a smushed penny machine!

Then we left the castle and went to a place with tons of ice cream flavors. Then we headed home. We ate dinner, then LG took a shower. After that, my mom put him to bed and I started this.  ß

The Visa and Passport Trip

Yesterday was the day we traveled to start the process of getting LG’s visa and passport. We met our driver Zsord (I think??) at 10:30am outside of our apartment. Then we headed off for the 1 and a half hour trip to the embassy. This was really the first time LG had been back in a car since we had arrived at our apartment. During the drive we found out that Zsord had actually been an exchange student in the U.S. for a semester during high school back in the early 90′s. His English was really good although even he said that sometimes he still has to pause and think of what word he is wanting to use since he doesn’t use English on a daily basis. We talked about quite a few things, baseball included! So that was nice.

Finally we arrived close to the embassy and stopped at a pretty large mall to grab some lunch before our appointment. LG once again, scarfed down lunch, which would have been enough food to feed Jen or I. He cleaned the plate….the kid can eat!

Then it was off to the Embassy. We met a lady there who was our translator for while we were there. While we waited outside, Jen was able to snap a picture of the Embassy seal on a window outside the security station. She didn’t like the way it turned out and asked me to snap another picture. I started to but then a guard stepped out of the building and told me there was no picture taking….so she got away with one. ;-)  Once we got into the guard station, it was similar to going through security at the airport. Put any bags on a conveyor and empty your pockets and take off your belt. The same guard that told me about not taking pictures was the one helping us through security. He saw my Cardinals wallet and started telling me how the Blue Jays were much better. We joked a bit about the Cards and the Jays and then we were off….although without our phones and flash drive Jen had in her purse. Not allowed to take those into the Embassy. 

Once inside, it was like you would expect. more waiting than doing anything else. We paid for the Visa process and then an American lady had me take an oath that the forms we filled out and our answers to any questions were truthful to the best of our knowledge. She asked us a few things, really more about how long we’d been in the country, our experience with our adoption agency, how the support had been for us while in the country, how we came to choose this country, etc. She was actually very nice and we were quickly done and ready to head out. (At this point, I’m still not really sure who was on vacation originally that delayed our visit until the 28th….but hey…whatever). 

Back in the car and we were headed back to our apartment. More conversation with Zsord finally led to the question I figured would come up at some point….what did I think of Hillary and Trump? It’s the third time I’ve been asked since we’ve been out here. Always interesting to hear someone from a different country’s take on our politics. But this blog isn’t for that discussion. Finally back at the apartment after a long day and only a brief 45 min. nap for LG in the car. He was pretty tired but we went on a walk to the small playground and he did perk up and played for awhile. We then headed back home, of course stopping for the daily ice cream fix. Baths for everyone and then bedtime.

LG, and therefore Jen, had a pretty rough night’s sleep and they are both down for a nap right now. Everything else though is going really well. Thank you for your continued prayers for sleep (they are needed) as well of for the rest of our time here. Please also pray for Austin. He is doing great as a big brother and a helper but the longer we are here the more you can see he is just tired and ready to be back home. He's not complaining at all, just starting to struggle a bit. Also, as we are getting closer to time to come home, also please be praying for LG’s first experience on an airplane. 

RIDE TO VISIT FRIENDS (blog post by Austin)

Finally! The day was here. We were going to visit some friends in different town. I wake up next to my dad in the living room. My mom is getting dressed and my little brother is doing what he does best: making noise. (and being a messy eater. He was doing that, too) I got dressed and ate breakfast. (Nutella croissant! Yum!) LG started complaining about not going outside, so I told him we were going on a train. We caught a tram to the train station. Getting on the train was kind of stressful, but we made it. We rode the train for an hour and a half, which was fun, and my ipad made it better! 

When we finally got there, there was some confusion because we didn’t see the people we were meeting. We found them, my mom went to get tickets for our trip home, and their mom went to get a tram pass for getting to the park. We hopped on the next tram and rode all the way to the first park. It was pretty cool. There was a giant wooden frog that you could ‘drive’. It also had a slide on its back.  There was also a big zipline that was a fish that looked kind of like a ship wreck. à |\_______/| 

We played there for a little while and then went to a restaurant. It was good but there was too much for me to eat. I had a chicken cheese quesadilla and a little bit of LG’s pizza. After that, we went to a big playground, but I didn’t like that one that much. We took a tiny tram to go get ice cream. (I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream, LG still just screams.) After ice cream, we said good bye and started walking to the train station. Right when we were getting there, it started to sprinkle, then rain, then POUR. By the time we got there, I was dripping wet. We got a few drinks, then then went to our train. When we got back, LG was falling asleep. We took a tram home and LG is getting put to bed.

ANOTHER GOOD DAY

After Tony received a full night sleep, we were able to take Tony to all the spots he missed that last time and some of our new favorites. 

LG showed Tony is mad zipline skills and the big playground. Austin demonstrated his favorite exercise equipment. After a full morning at the the park we headed down mains street to the grocery store and bakery. Most shops are closed on Sunday so it was pretty quiet around town. 

In the afternoon George paid us a visit and went over our itinerary for the remainder of our trip: 

June 28th: US Embassy visit
June 29th: Social worker visit 
July 8th: Finalize LG’s adoption in the city we started in (They call it ‘decision date’) and head to stay in Budapest for our remaining time. 
July 8-12: wait on LG’s visa, passport and a Dr. appointment.


After George left we went for a walk, got ice cream and heading to the small park.   

Once LG was fast asleep I joined Austin and Tony to watch the Euro2016 soccer game of the country we are in. Unfortunately they lost. The streets were pretty quiet around here. 

Thank you for your prayers,  LG slept great tonight! Looking forward to more nights like this! 

Please pray for a successful trip to the Embassy and for LG to adjust to moving (first to embassy city then US). 

WAITING FOR PAPPA

Yesterday was the day we’ve been waiting for for two weeks! Tony is back with us!!! 

I knew it was going to be a warm day, so I need to get the sheets out to dry as soon as possible. After stripping the bed the boys decided it was a great time to play in the blanket and pillows. After quite a while at playing we headed off to go grocery shopping. 

Not soon after we left the house did I realize that we were low on Forints and would not have any USD cash to exchange until Tony got here later on the afternoon. So we spent the day looking around the malls. Then we headed off for coffee (there’s always enough money for coffee!). We spent the rest the afternoon resting and waiting for Tony. We colored, built forts, watched a movie, and played with toys. 

Tony arrives! At 4:30 Tony arrives at our door and although he’s exhausted, he’s ready to try to stay awake as long as possible to get on this time zone (6 hrs ahead). So we headed off for ice cream and a walk. It is taking a while for LG to adjust to Tony again. He keeps questioning who Tony is and we keep playing the name game. He’ll point at Tony and say a name and then say no, point at me and say name and say yes, then point at Austin and say his name and say yes. This occurs over and over. LG can be quite a worrier sometimes (understandably). So it’s taking him a while to really understand who Tony is. Tony, Austin, and LG hit it off playing with the trains and blocks and having fun before bedtime. Although LG had a poor night sleep and so did I, we are ready to start the day.

IT FEELS LIKE SUMMER!

(I'm catching up on a few days of posts that I missed from Jen ;-P)

It is quite warm here. This is not ‘usual’ according to some locals. Most places don’t have air conditioning for homes. And shops that have it never get quite cool. So your best bet is shade of a tree, building, or umbrella.

We found some reprieve from the heat by going to the park early and coming home to our air conditioning (thank goodness!!) for the main part of the day.

At the park we had the zip line to ourselves, this was a first and I felt comfortable having LG try without too many other kids waiting. He loved it! He is quite the dare devil:). Austin went a gazillion times and even I got in the mix! These are the best things! I wish U.S. parks would have them!

Also an interesting thing to note, for all my mom friends that dread going to the park only to have a daycare bus show up- it happens here too! Thank goodness they chose the older park over the furthermost park! So it wound up ok.

We refreshed with Juice and a pretzel. And a couple errands.

When we arrived home the cooking lady, Alina (my poor English translation) made another amazing meal for lunch! Austin was super happy about the main course! First was an amazing meat soup, I am learning to like soup even in summer! Then for the main course pancakes filled with Nutella or vanilla curd cheese! So amazing! Austin said I needed to get the recipe from her :) I wish I could have her come every week we are here!

After LG's nap we went out again, this time to cool off in the local bubbling spouting water. LG really got into it until he got all his clothes wet then he was DONE and wanted to go. Austin said it was to hot to go in the fountain. (???)

We ended the night listening to live music and a dancing part of a No Drugs campaign and they had games set up so Austin and I played tether ball, ping pong, basketball, soccer, and the boys even got to go in the trampoline! LG’s first time and loved it!

For those praying we had a great night sleep! Continue praying.

Also pray for LG's transition of having Tony back.

Day 26

(I'm catching up on a few days of posts that I missed from Jen ;-P)

Can you believe it!?! 26 days we have been here!! Life has changed dramatically since May 28! God has been so kind and gracious to us!

I have met some wonderful English speaking people (the Hungarian speaking are probably nice too but I don’t understand them :)) and shared our story to several of them.

Today was a down (quiet) day. We all woke up and started moving around late so we got to the park later(hot), we took a different way home to try to stay in the shade. Our normal way is direct sun between two buildings so we were craving some shade! Then early ice cream at the popular place then headed home for naps and lunch.

We got to FaceTime with Tony and LG’s favorite part is hanging up :) he says bye (with a southern drawl) and wants to push the hang up button. Ha!

I convinced Austin to go to a new coffee shop with promise of trying one of the desserts. LG surprised me by putting his sandals in with no socks! This is an Hungarian thing. Apparently older people believe you will be infertile if you have your feet exposed. This is that first them he has gone out with out socks and is slowly warming up to not wearing them around the house.

At the coffee shop, they had tons of coffee options around the world. I wanted something cold but was concerned the term ‘iced’ would be poorly represented. I ordered a Javan Iced Orange Mocha. Not much ice but DELICIOUS! Austin ordered Becsi Opera Torta cake. It was divine. I will be back!

Home we went after a bit to relax and play. I made spaghetti for dinner and love the noodles!

LG has started to get the hang of building with Legos and decided he wanted to take pictures with my phone. He discovered the Burst mode :) lots of deletes but lots of fun.

Another great bath, and easy bedtime. LG continues to be restless most of the night. Continue to pray.