Happy Halloween, Part 2

No need to worry that the kids miss out on Halloween just because we're over here in Budapest. At the American School they are sure to celebrate Halloween. Friday the 30th was deemed close enough and the afternoon was filled with parties, activities, treats and games topped off by the Parade of Classes and Trunk or Treat at night.

This year Vito went as Optimus Prime and Katie was a 1960's Flower Child. Thanks to Grammy for bringing over our costumes from the States.

The kids helped me carve our Jack O' Lantern.

Vito and two of his best friends: Holden (USA) as Bumblebee, Flynn (Germany) as a Ninja and Vito as Optimus Prime.

Katie's 3rd Grade Class.

We of course decorated our car for Trunk or Treat. We were happy that Katie's best friend, Shiraz, could join us again this year.

The girls went around by themselves but Anna escorted Optimus Vito while I stayed at the car to hand out the candy.

Our friend Bob Lowe came as the Football Fairy. You can probably guess this but, yes, he did indeed lose a bet.

On Halloween we also were invited by some friends at the Embassy to the Marine House where they had games for the kids, beer and American hot dogs, and a haunted house. Vito insisted on going through the haunted house since Holden wanted to and enjoyed not a second of it. The Marines did a really great job.

Everyone had a great time this Halloween!

Happy Halloween, Part 1

I have lots to post about...and hopefully I'll get to that soon. In the mean time, here's some fun stuff to wish you a Happy Halloween.

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And of course, what post would be complete without a funny picture of my Dad? Just for Halloween, here is Zombie Frank:
Happy Halloween!

Frank & Bobbie on Soul Train

It's been a while but it's time for More Fun with my Parents' Pictures!

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Don't feel too bad for my parents. They like to see themselves dressed crazily, as evidenced by this picture from the mid-70's:

First Day of School

The kids have been back to school for almost 3 weeks now, but still...better late than never.

As a 3^rd Grader, Katie started out at the "big" campus this year. All the kids will be here by the end of October (Please God, let the New Elementary School Building be completed soon), but until then my kids are on 2 different campuses.

Here's the pictures we took in the morning, with the sun in her eyes and at a bad angle as I was trying not to get hit by other parents' cars.

After school was a little bit better time to take a picture.

Because they are on different campuses Katie takes the "bus" to school.

Here's Vito on his first day of Kindergarten. We are very happy that he has the same Kindergarten teacher that Katie did.

Croatia and Venice

After being home for two straight weeks we decided it was time for another vacation! We spent 4 nights in Poreč, Croatia.

After a 6+ hour drive, it was nice to take a swim at the beach. Croatia is on the Adriatic Sea.

After dinner we took a walk on the beach. The sunset was was AMAZINGLY beautiful.

While the sea water was refreshing, the beaches in Croatia are very rocky. It was very difficult to stand up and so we decided that the resort's pool was the better option for swimming for the rest of our stay.

The resort had a kid's club that we could check the kids into while we relaxed. The club held all sorts of games and activities for the kids, like races in the pool.

While there we celebrated Anna's Birthday. No Birthday Cake but no worries because the beer and wine were all included!Venice is just a little over 2 hours across the Adriatic from Poreč so we took the ferry over one day. Although we could have wished for a little more time here, we still had a really nice day.

A gondola ride was a must, of course.

Anna and the kids in Piazza San Marco.

The whole family poses on the Rialto Bridge.

On Saturday we ventured an hour south to Pula. The main attraction in Pula is the Pula Arena. Very similar to the Colosseum in Rome, albeit a little bit smaller. They still hold concerts here and were actually getting ready for one when we visited. (According to a poster in a store we saw we apparently just missed our opportunity to see Michael Bolton in concert...may be next time - not!)

We were very lucky and had a really easy drive home. We went through Slovenia - which was VERY picturesque and we look forward to heading there for a visit next year.

Lake Balaton

After getting home from the States and settling back in (Katie had a really bad case of jet lag) we spent a really enjoyable Saturday with several friends down at Lake Balaton - a popular Hungarian get away - about 1¹/₂ hours drive South of Budapest.

Vito and Katie with their friends Brianne and Haley making sand castles. The 5 families rented this boat and the kids had a great time siding into the lake.

There was even these great slides to go down! Katie had a great time but Vito only slid down once - under protest.

A really fun day capped off by dinner with our friends at a local Hungarian restaurant.

Summer - USA

Sorry for the delay. The start of the school year has been super busy. But enough excuses, on to the post:

We had a fantastic time in the US. We started off in Houston for 2 weeks. Anna worked in Houston for most of the trip and a lot of time was spent going to Dr.'s offices: 6 Doctor's Appointments (4 check up and 2 pedia-dermatologist check ups), 5 Dentist Appointments (check up plus I had to have an old filling replaced), 2 Eye Doctor Visits (Anna & I still can't see sh*t without our contacts) and 1 Mammogram.

But it wasn't all Medical Appointments. We had a great time visiting our friends and family in Houston. Renee and Marissa hosted their annual Independence Day Party. No fireworks this year due to the burn ban but the Fire Department did come and spray the kids from the Fire Truck. Lisa Marie was, of course, the designated photographer and took beautiful pictures as always. I mean, I assume they are beautiful as I forgot to request a copy of the files! Oops!

We also had a fun day at Schlitterbahn waterpark with Grammy and Aunt Reba. Katie was very happy that she could go on the water slides all by herself. It was a perfect day at the waterpark...due to some early morning rain, many people stayed away and the park was not very crowded at all. Again, no pictures. Sorry.

The rest of the time was spent visiting our favorites restaurants including The Outback, Wings & Things, Sweet Tomatoes, Chuy's, The Outback, Texadelphia, China Bear, Pei Wei and The Outback. I even took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese 3 or 4 times (it's not so bad when you go when they first open at 9:30am and you are the only ones there).

We then spent 3 weeks in Troy (Anna stayed for just 1) and had lots of fun with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Frankie, Cousin Ava and the rest of our family and friends.

We visited our friends the Mitola's at their place on Lake George. The kids fished off the dock but didn't have any luck this year.

My parents and I getting ready for the boat ride...

but uh oh! Look who's driving!

This is not any better.

We visited Saratoga Race Track one morning and met some of Uncle Tony's horses.

It's not quite true that there are only two names in my family, Vito & Frank. But it's not far from the truth. Meet the four Frank Salvaggio's, from left to right: My cousin Frank, his dad (my Granduncle) Frank, my brother Frank and my Dad Frank.

We spent another afternoon at Hoffman's Playland. Here's the family on the train.

Ava REALLY enjoyed the boat ride and my kids really enjoyed spending time with her.

My parents and I took the kids to Six Flags Great Escape. We had a great day, riding the rides and meeting many of the characters.

Here are the kids with Shaggy.

Vito loved to see the Batmobile...

...but refused to go any where near Hawkgirl. So Grandpa stood in for him.

Just had to take this picture, right outside the entrance to Ghost Town (if they even still call it that). Wells Fargo is where we do our banking in TX.

Bugs Bunny & Marvin the Martian.

Katie and I in front of the Steamin' Demon. I've been coming here since I was a kid, but this was the first time I ever went on this roller coaster. Katie REALLY wanted to go and since Anna was already back in Budapest... It's really is not a scary ride but Roller Coasters aren't my thing.

Riding the Desperado Plunge with Grandma...

...and then Grandpa.

We had a fun picnic with many of our friends. I only grabbed a couple of pictures of the kids in the pool. Vito and Jack played nicely while...

...Katie enjoyed jumping off the diving board.

We had a great time catching up with all of our family and friends this summer and look forward to seeing at least some of you this Christmas.

Katie's First Communion

Katie made her First Communion last Sunday. Special thanks to Fr. Ed for getting us the materials to "home school" her to prepare her and especially for making the mass all about her. She felt very special.

Katie looked beautiful in her First Communion dress.

Katie receiving the Body...

...and Blood of Christ for the first time.

Katie with Fr. Ed and her proud family.

Proud Grandparents.

And a very special thank you to Katie's Godmother, Lisa Marie, for not only coming up from Houston for the occasion but for taking all the awesome pictures. Including the slideshow below.

Lisa Marie took several photos of Katie in her dress just before we left Houston and put together this terrific slideshow:
www.life-lens.com/Katie2009-07-08