Bojnice, Slovakia

So you know the usual happened...

You are driving home from skiing and see a castle off in the distance,

so you stop and get a tour, see priceless items dating back to the 14th century, 

go deep under the castle into a natural cave see a pristine water source, 

watch some ducks and swans trying to ice skate on the moat,

and then get back in your car and drive home. 

You know the same old thing, just another day.

Marie Antoinette

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soaking in some sun "Timothy Green" style --good movie if you haven't seen it yet-- 

I could almost picture the royalty walking along the gardens enjoying the afternoon sun

walking down into the cave

deep in the cave

Ski Break

Growing up in Idaho we would get 2 weeks off of school every fall for 

"spud harvest" when teenagers would go and try to help the potato farmers

harvest that years crop. 

That is a whole other topic that I am sure deserves it own post, because

oh man the stories I and every other south eastern Idaho kid could tell...

But for now I will focus on the kinds of school breaks 

my kids are getting while living here.

We had a week for fall break,

3 weeks for christmas,

another week for ski break, and

soon we will have a whole week for spring break.

I love all these breaks and the opportunities they give

us to spend time together as a family. 

I think the schools in the states should get on board with this mentality.

According to my kids it is called "ski break" not travel and sight see break so 

they determined we must ski. 

Alright, twist my arm, I guess we will ski. 

We decided to go to Slovakia, it is close by and has a few small

family friendly resorts great for my little men.

some gondola fun!

Callan mastered the broom stick lift 

by the end of the afternoon we were all skiing together and having a great time.

Callan and his ski instructor

 There was a fun park loaded with jumps, ramps, rails etc. for boarders and skiers who like to take it to the next level. My boys decided they were ready and wanted to jump. I at least convinced them to stay on the little jumps and steered them clear of the life threatening jumps.

Down and Derby y'all

Another year, another derby car for Cam...err I mean my kids. :)

Trust me when I say this,

Cam really doesn't like building these things

but I am pretty sure the competitiveness makes it a little bit more appealing for him.

Luckily, Mack wasn't interested in building a new car and wanted 

to use his one that Cam..err, dang it!... HE made in VA last year.

Is that even legal???

If not, no one seemed to care here in Hungary. 

Although next year he might not be so lucky.

Creed being a newbie and all couldn't wait and was actually

pretty hands on with the whole process and was more than

willing to work on his car any chance they had.

Both cars did great and luckily for us 

they BOTH got 

2nd place in their dens. 

Can I get a big Ol' YAY!! 

For not having to deal with sibling rivalry for a day. 

Puxatony...Bear???

In the States we celebrate Groundhogs day.

In Hungary we celebrate the waking of the bears at the zoo.

The Budapest Zoo has a bear waking from a long winters nap ceremony.

Complete with adults dressed in random bear costumes roaming 

around the zoo and you witnessing them actually waking the bears.

Don't ask me how they wake them, we were late {shocking, I know} and sort of missed it. 

However, I jumped at the chance to spend 

a beautiful afternoon -reminiscent to our Valentines day last year-

with just my littlest man exploring the zoo.

It was again the perfect day and best time to go,

not too hot and crowded like this summer when I took all three boys,

the animals are awake and active-- unlike they are in the summer heat--

and they had a lot of free activities for kids.

I am starting to really enjoy this tradition 

I have inadvertently started with him. 

The minute the lady started painting he realized it tickled and I don't think he really wanted to finish.
He told me at the end that he would have told her to "stop" but he doesn't speak Hungarian
and didn't know how to tell her,
so he persevered.
What a trooper. ;)

Well worth it though.