Bike Ride

After Ethan realized that he could easily ride his bike without training wheels he constantly asked to ride his bike in front of our house.  This particular day he didn’t even take the time to put socks and shoes on; he just threw flip flops on and started riding.  I was hoping that none of our Hungarian neighbors were watching since it is a cultural no-no for him to be bare foot (or in flip flops) in cool weather.

The weekend after Ethan rode his bike without training wheels we decided to go for a bike ride.  Our neighbors, Ryan and Kevin, joined us for the ride. 

 This is the closest we got to a family picture on the ride.  We have a few without Kevin, but one of us is missing a head or something like that in the other pictures. :-)

Sienna enjoyed sitting back and going along for the ride.

Ethan is so happy that he can ride his bike like a big kid!

No Training Wheels

Some Hungarians use training wheels on bikes when their children are young, but what seems to be the more common thing is to use something called a balance bike.  It is a bike without pedals.  Children use their feet to push off from the ground and stop, and they can hold their feet up which helps them learn to balance.  We bought a bike with training wheels from someone for Ethan last year but this summer we also borrowed a balance bike from a friend.  Ethan used both during the summer and I kept thinking he was more than ready to try his bike without training wheels.  However, we didn’t seem to have many opportunities to bike this summer, so we never took them off.

Finally, in September we took the training wheels off.  We were going to drive to a nicely paved road in our area that was large and flat for Ethan to practice.  I was getting my camera and putting my shoes on when Gary walked in the house and said that Ethan was already riding the bike around the street.  Ethan basically just said he wanted to try, got on the bike and started riding it on his own!

So, unfortunately, we didn’t get to see (or take pictures of) Ethan riding the bike for the very first time without training wheels, but I did rush out of the house soon after to watch and get some pictures. Sienna enjoyed riding the trike (passed down from Ethan) while he rode the bike. 

Preschool Begins

Ethan began ovoda (the Hungarian word for preschool) near the end of September.  It started the beginning of the month, but they only want one new child to come each week.  He ended up being the last new child to begin for the first of the school year.  Other children will begin coming when they turn three (which is the age children start attending ovoda, though Ethan is four and a half).

Ethan in front of the ovoda.  Everyone calls it the blue container because it looks like a shipping container.  It’s actually the ugliest ovoda and has the smallest playground in our village, but we have heard wonderful things about the teachers in this ovoda and requested that he attend here.

Each child keeps a toothbrush and cup to brush their teeth after lunch.  And, they each have their own hand towel!

Ethan’s class (called the sunshine group)

Some kids eat breakfast at the ovoda.  It’s basically bread and drink such as children’s tea.  One teacher motioned for Ethan to come over and sit down on his first day.  In the picture above he is trying children’s tea for the first time.  He didn’t care for it.  Nor does he like eating the breakfast there.  At home he gets either eggs and cooked ham, cooked oatmeal, or pancakes every day along with fruit and homemade granola.  However, he is like his dad and enjoys having a long breakfast time, which isn’t possible anymore since he is supposed to be at the ovoda at 8:30. 

During recess on his first day this little girl in the red coat, Vivi, started playing with Ethan.  They played together the rest of recess.  The next day she came over to him as soon as he arrived.  Ethan isn’t shy and just jumps in with playing with kids who don’t speak English, but I was still thankful that she took such initiative to play with him.

One parent of a new child is supposed to stay for the first week to make sure the child is adjusting well, etc.  Gradually they are supposed to leave for 30 minutes, then  it builds up to one hour, etc. to help the child adjust.  Before Ethan began he asked us not to stay with him.  After being there for 30 minutes on the 2nd day, the teacher told me that I could leave for an hour or so and return during their recess (which is the last thing before lunch—and Ethan wasn’t going to begin until later in the week).  She told me to tell Ethan that I was leaving.  When I told him he asked if I could not come back.  The teacher ended up telling me that I didn’t need to come back at all the next day.  She was quite surprised at how quickly and well Ethan was doing, especially with not knowing the language.  I just told her that he loves people.

  Ethan’s first craft—a hedgehog, which I don’t think are found in the US, but are in Europe, and have even been in our backyard!

Each child has a symbol, and Ethan’s is a ball.  You may be able to see a ball drawn on the top, left potato in the picture above that shows it is Ethan’s.  There are balls like the one below on Ethan’s cubbyhole, where his hand towel hangs in the bathroom, etc.

Hungarian Fire Truck

One Saturday in September there was a child safety time in the same town where Gary’s office is located.  We took the kids after Sienna’s nap to check it out.

They had an ambulance and a fire truck where kids could go inside to look around.  Ethan and Sienna weren’t so interested in going in the ambulance, so we just got a picture outside of it.

But the fire truck was a different story!They were letting kids climb up on top of the truck, so Ethan and Sienna were both able to go.  Gary had to be with Sienna since she was so young.I found it interesting to see what was in the sides of the fire truck.  When going to the fire department in the States I don’t remember all of this kind of stuff.I’m not sure if you can tell in this picture, but the hose is on the side of the truck, near the top.  There is a little red door sticking out that had all different kinds of axes, etc. attached to it.

And, like in the States, the kids got to try on a fireman’s helmet.

Beginning of the Year Fun

Each September our mission has a cookout/pot luck meal for everyone to catch up some after being gone for the summer (many are in the US raising support each summer).  It’s also a time to introduce new people with the mission.

For our kids it’s a time when they get to play with a lot of other kids, so they both love it.Eventually the game of Duck, Duck, Goose that was being played in the picture above turned into lots of physical contact with the boys (not in a bad way).  

Sienna getting her water balloon ready for a new game that involved a giant sling shot.

All of the kids had a turn to sling a water balloon up in the air trying to hit a target on some rocks (we were in a rock quarry).Ethan is so focused on the target! 

Gary had to help hold Sienna down while she pulled the sling shot back.Sienna actually got it real close to the target.

 Then some of the men took a turn.Gary’s shot was the closest for a while, but then someone else got closer.

Backyard Camping

We have wanted to camp with the kids in our backyard so that they will get used to it for us to do during our vacations in the future.

My tent is a two-person tent (which is for one person, or two people if they don’t want to move around much), so we borrowed one from some friends.  It was probably the biggest tent that Gary or I have ever slept in!

We went to someone else’s house for a cookout and didn’t return until it was already the kids’ bedtime, so unfortunately we didn’t get to do the campfire that we had planned.

Heading out to the tent!  Sienna doesn’t look too happy here, but she was excited about sleeping in the tent. 

Reading by flashlight

We bought Ethan’s sleeping bag in May from someone moving back to the States.  We didn’t have anything for Sienna, so used this sheet sleeping bag that a friend’s mom gave me as well as blankets.  It was the middle of August and was much colder than Gary and I expected for the night time.

We were all sleeping when Gary and I were woken at 11:00 by our neighbors coming out on their back porch laughing and being quite loud.  The next thing I knew there was very loud music playing on their back porch, just 20 feet away.  Gary and I both were shocked that the kids were sleeping through it.  So, we tried going back to sleep… without success.  Ethan woke at 1 am, we assumed either from being cold or by the party, which yes was still going.  After Sienna woke, Gary and I just decided that it was best to go inside.  From our experience when our neighbors have a party it goes into the early hours of the morning, so between Gary and the kids being cold and the music blaring into our yard we decided we would try again later (probably making sure that our neighbors weren’t planning to have a party first).

It was a fun first attempt at camping with the kids.

Caving for Our Anniversary

Gary and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary on July 15th.  Often it seems that people like doing something special for their 5th, 10th, 15th, etc. anniversaries, but we broke the norm and decided to do something special for our 7th!

The couple who did our pre-marital counseling knew that we wanted to go caving and that there weren’t many kids around this summer to babysit, so they offered to watch our kids while we went.  And they told us to go out to eat afterward (thus, making it about a 6-7 hour babysitting day for them).  Al even brought a change of clothes, thinking that they would do some outdoor water activities.

There was a place in the Buda hills in the city where you could go caving, so we made reservations for one Saturday (actually a few weeks after our anniversary).

The cave was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit.  Considering that it was over 90 degrees outside, it felt great!  We had to wear overalls, and now I understand why!It was constantly climbing up and down rocks, crawling on our knees, stomachs, etc.You can’t really tell by this picture, but I’m having to lean against one rock with my back and hold myself there with my foot on another rock.  It had a crack/open space between the two.  Then I scooted down on my back and held myself between the two rocks, then reaching down with one leg could get a foothold in the rock.  Then I had to put one hand down where my foot was and kind of jump down to the ground.

My camera didn’t take good pictures because of all of the dust particles in the air, but here everyone is having to climb up rocks and straddle them with one foot on different rocks half way up.

 Not everyone made it through this hole (there was another way around it).  But Gary and I did, though not easily!

Thankful to be married to this man for these 7 years!  He is such a gift from God, and I wouldn’t want to be married to anyone else!