I'm in love...

APU!!!!!! Stop!!! You're embarrassing me!!!

Family Selfie Day

At the park...

In a church...

And we ate about 30 eclaires! 

Celebrity sighting in Lyon!!!

Elsa from Frozen apparently Summer's in Lyon...

And drinks wine??!!!!!

Je veux tout partager avec vous...

Des baguettes, du beurre et la crème brûlée! 

Bon appétit! 

Sur le pont...

D'Avignon...

On y...

cry hysterically,

and force (les poupees/parents font comme ce)...

to buy sandwiches in a panic in order to get back to the car so no one else can hear us screaming at the top of our little lungs...

Les jeunes filles font comme ci...

Laugh and then fall asleep...

This is a GOOGLED picture because we didn't even manage to see the darn pont (bridge). 

A quick hello from Perpignan...

Life is so hard...

Playgrounds on the beach...

Une bonne idée.

So far mama is liking what she's seeing in Lyon. Lots of green, clean streets, and she heard from a Hungarian birdie on the street that they have a fresh market on the river EVERY DAY!!! Um, yes please! 

Happiness IS the way.

Mom woke up extra early this Sunday morning to take pictures of a sweet family leaving Budapest. This is one of mom's friends that was a part of the very first meeting she had with other mom's in Budapest. With expat life, you discover quickly that people come and go, and that they were actually important to you.

And mom is happy. Like, genuinely happy.

She woke up to this...

Got to take some really cool pictures...

Drank a lemonade...ALONE.

And got a text from Apu that everyone was still alive and actually having fun...dancing to country music!

Two days...

...à la maison avant notre prochaine aventure...

...to France! Where mom's soul feels at home.

First stop, Lyon, and then who knows...

Perpignan...

Cannes...

The options are unlimited! Except for wine and stinky cheese!! That's mandatory. 

No, Pompom!!!!

You can NOT steal my boyfriend at nursery!!!! Why do you have to be so social and the life of the party??! It's not fair!!!

Get off my man!!! 

Mom is a little "off."

So mom likes this guy, Wayne Dyer. He's sort of a spiritual motivational speaker. Well, was. He died earlier this year. 

In an attempt to hide from the cleaning lady, mom decided to listen to one of his audio books while folding laundry. Glamorous life of a house wife, I know...

Anyway, he was a big jokester, and told his kids, and basically all of his fans, that he would be sending signs from the other side, and all you needed to do was ask. Turns out, people say they actually get the signs they ask for...and some are pretty whacky! 

So mom, being a skeptic, but definitely open to all things bizarre, asked for a sign (because why not?) 

"So Wayne, I'm having a hard time with this moving business, and if you could just send me....uhhhh...a butterfly...I'll know that I'm where I'm supposed to be. But make sure I see it, because I'm sort of oblivious to everything."

She literally said that out loud, while simultaneously soaking in the beauty of the morning...she even stopped to take this picture. 

Maybe 120 seconds later, mom and Pompom were accosted by the most magical butterfly, who seemed to want its' presence known!

Mom literally laughed out loud, and thanked Wayne for the message. But she also jokingly told him that she's still going France and he can send butterflies to her there too, because she really knows that wherever she is, is where she's supposed to be.

It was a good day. And one she won't forgot anytime soon.

When Apu is away...

The mice have to go get groceries alone for a month...

Baby + fresh produce = 18.7kg = 41.2lbs

And a killer workout. Mom is sweaty.

Mom turns around for two minutes...

And then suddenly hears the mini vacuum!!! Uh oh...

Most fun Pompom has had in weeks.

Second mom to the rescue!! The real mom can take a break! Yehaw! 

Going through the BIG D...

...and don't mean Dallas...

Because Apu just HAD to show off that he's been on an island in Brazil with his captain and hot flight attendant for the last FIVE DAYS. Mom is not impressed. 

But Apu paid retribution in the form of an unnamed ailment that made mom genuinely cry laughing for like 15 minutes...and made the whole aviation dream lifestyle much less appealing. 

Crisis averted. 

Oh, Vienna.

Mama, Pompom and I went to Vienna yesterday with nagymama and nagypapa, and WITHOUT Apu. That's a WHOLE other blog post.

SO...mom wanted to check out a few apartments and a kindergarten that Aunt S raves about.  

Her assessment(s)...

-Vienna is BEAUTIFUL, and perfect, and fancy, and NOT her/apu's style. She LOVES nice shops and restaurants, but there lacks a certain genuineness that you find in Budapest. People in Budapest HAVE to be laid back, because there are so many bizarre quirks...and you have to roll with it.  Vienna seems...different.  

-1400€ is NOT enough for a nice apartment...which is semi disappointing. You either get a place right on the loud main street, tiny useless rooms, or no elevator and yucky construction going on right next to your bedroom.

-The kindergarten was AMAZING, and had a very impersonal "corporate" feel. The facility was INCREDIBLE, the food was cooked fresh daily, and the kids all sat PERFECTLY while eating lunch and being taught proper Austrian etiquette.  Something mama and apu lack.  But they also don't want me to think that Pompom and I have to be perfect with no room to be ourselves. Being yourself is the ONLY way to live a truly happy life (in their opinion). 

-The dress code is a tad fancier than mama's basic attire.  Mom felt slightly out of place in her jeans and three year-old sweater.  I mean, there were ladies pushing strollers in heels! WHAT?!! On what planet is that comfortable?!

-The judgment. (Yes, I am aware that mom is being judgmental in this post, but bare with it.)  Nagymama was explaining to mom that she needed to say "guten tag" to every random person.  Basically, mom felt like she needed to curtsy to the stray dogs (only there WEREN'T any).

-Another funny story worth mentioning is that nagypapa and nagymama were "explaining" to mama that she needed to get used to the cold. She then politely explained back "that getting used to something is GREAT, but getting used to something and LIKING something are two very different things." Mama does NOT like the cold (the cold equaling below zero temperatures AND wind). No thank you, she doesn't want to walk 15 minutes to kindergarten with TWO toddlers in arctic conditions....in heels and fur...passing penguins and polar bears on the way. 

So the search continues...

People dream of getting to choose where to live...and we do feel pretty darn lucky that we currently have this option. BUT, when it's up to you, and not your boss, you feel this overwhelming need to find the perfect match for you and your family...instead of just making the most of a new place. So maybe this is the universe teaching mom a very valuable lesson. 

In the meantime, we will spend some of the money we are saving to travel and enjoy our time when apu is home. Maybe we'll stumble across the perfect place when we are no longer looking.

Next stop in our craziness...the South of France or the North of France? We won't decide until the day before probably. 

Cheers to first world problems.    

  

Little baby toes.

Mom got to spend the morning with the owner of my nursery, who just had a little boy (at 4.3 kilos). Not so little actually. Mom could cuddle babies ALL day...

I know, I know, it shocks mom too.

www.kellyacsphotography.com

Birthday fever...

Two birthdays in two days...was too much...

Because I was assaulted with more germs than I could handle...and now have ANOTHER fever. 

But don't mom and I have an awesome group of friends? 

Our great bus adventure.

Mom, in her sleepless delusion, declared we were taking a bus trip today. All in all, it was pretty ok. No MAJOR screaming (well, a little, the bus is scary when you haven't been before...in three years), and we even managed to eat lunch out! 

Mom needs to brush her hair. 

Mom will now sleep for the next week.