Happy Hump Day! On another note, Happy St. Stephen's Day to the Budapesters, who are standing by the Danube waiting for the fireworks to begin momentarily (http://www.budapest-tourist-guide.com/20th-August.html). It's Weds the 20th and I am pleased to report that we have officially survived our first tropical storm here in not-too-sunny florida. Seems that Miss Faye is a fiesty broad, and is not much help on the tracking front. However she decides to fizzle out, we're just happy she skipped landing in Lutz. We didn't really get too worked up, just bought a few gallons of drinking water and stocked up on the dry goods. Apparently September is the kookiest month of hurricane season, so it's probably a good idea to get a plan together. I'm not sure where we should even hide out in the event that we really get hit - perhaps that might be worth looking into.

The boys had their first day of school Monday, and then got to stay home for a 'snow day-hee.hee-I mean 'hurricane day' on Tuesday. They were back at it this morning, with Liam hopping on the bus around 7:20am, and Riley being delivered to the front door around 8:50am. I tried to snag a photo of Liam embarking for the first time onto the big yellow bus, an idea which he vehemently nixed in a millisecond. Think his exact words were 'Mom, it's the second day of school and you're going to make me look like a total dork, thanks alot!' What can I say-it was a milestone moment for me, guess it didn't have the same feel for him :)

It's about a 25-30 minute drive to Riley's school, which means two hours in the car if I have to go there and back twice a day. We saw all the other guys waiting for the bus this morning, and I think I've convinced him to give it a shot tomorrow. The drop-off and pick-up lines in front of his school are completely bonkers (see video below), so I would be very happy to start the bus gig ASAP. It's obviously a much bigger deal for him, since he's in middle school and doesn't have the hand-holding that Liam does in elementary school to get him from A to B. Both buses pick them up right in front of the house, which is great. Everything is so organized, it's actually strange for me. When they canceled school for Tuesday, we got notes from both principals and a call from the school district. Then we got another call from the school district last night to tell us that we are back to business today. Made me chuckle to think about the French school, where I would find out school was canceled when I arrived that morning.

Here are a couple photos of the boys this morning (Monday was way too kooky to get the first day photo)...

School pick-up - discuss... So, Bill and I went to pick Riley up after the first day (school's in session 9:00-4:15) and were completely shocked when we got there and found about 150 cars in the pick-up line. It took us almost 30 minutes to get through the line, and that was after we ducked out of it halfway through to park at the high school next door so we could walk over and get him. It's a school of 1,200 kids, and it's friggin' huge. Poor guy, I think he was really overwhelmed the first day. He made it through the day though, changing classes every period, and figured out how to get through the lunch line, etc.. He opted for the a la carte lunch instead of the standard $2.75 attempt at a hot meal, and therefore could only afford fries and a Gatorade. I gave him $4 today to see what he can come up with. We will start packing lunch from next week (Liam concurs as the pizza was 'like cardboard'). Riley reported that while he didn't really make any friends on the first day, he didn't make any enemies either :) Remember middle school? What a nightmare. Never mind trying to learn, it's just an exercise in prepubescent survival. Even though I had plenty of friends, I was always trying to figure out where I fit in. Ugh!

And there's no help from Mom, you just have to figure it out. In some ways, I guess it's a good exercise for both of them, as they've been so coddled for the last seven years. I dropped Riley off at his homeroom class Monday morning and walked out crying, as expected. Bill's responds with, "it's not like it's first grade". Guess what, when your a mom, every year is first grade. Even when he's 35 and headed off to start a new job, it will be like first grade all over again.

Mr. Bill waiting patiently for the line to move

After we dropped the guys off Monday morning, Daddy took Keira and I to Dunkin'Donuts (America runs on Dunkin) for a healthy breakfast of chocolate-covered M&M donuts. Keira arrived four days ago and is already completely in love with American cuisine, most of which is derived from her two favorite food groups, chocolate and sugar. On a coffee note, I am of the strong opinion that Dunkin' Donut's coffee tastes better than Starbucks, and at about 1/2 the price. Whatever the economics, those donuts are yummy!

Yes, Keira is definitely adapting to her new surroundings just swimmingly, as seen here...

I hadn't seen her swim since before we left Hungary, and while they told me she was swimming like a fish, I was totally shocked when she started jumping and diving into the pool from a pretty good height. Bill's dad is in the pool with her. We haven't been able to keep her out of the water, with the exception of breaks for meals.

She asks about Linda daily, and wants to know how many sleeps it will be until Linda gets here (Dec.26th, so quite a few), but I think that she definitely grasps that this is where we live now. It was questionable for awhile, since the idea of our new house in Florida seemed like just another vacation, but once she saw her bedroom and realized that all our stuff is here, it registered.

She reminded me this morning, like every morning since we arrived, that I need to find her a new school and some new friends. I am diligently trying to do just that, since she will be bored out of her marbles hanging out at home with me. I was hoping that I could keep her for a few months and start her in January, but that's not going to happen. I've been unimpressed thus far with the pre-K options, but am visiting a few more places tomorrow. One is a montessori school about four miles up the road in Land'O'Lakes, Florida. She will just go for the mornings, 9am-12pm Mon-Fri.

Here's some more footage of the little lady, having a bubble bath this morning. I tried to keep it PG for the kids at home, but 1/10 of her little behind got in there somehow. Egads!!!! I can just here my mother-in-law now :) Sorry, but I'm totally over the ultra-conservative, way-too-prudish, goofiness that has become the norm in this great country.

And now, an exciting tour of my bathroom. Must tell you that I've been sharing a tiny bathroom in Bp. with my entire family forever, so this is indeed very exciting for me. The boys keep trying to come down and use my shower, brush their teeth, etc.. and I keep sending them back up the stairs to their own bathrooms.

Before I wrap it up, a big fat HAPPY BIRTHDAY shout out to my good friends John Fekete and Peter Tatrallyay, who will celebrate tomorrow. John's hitting the BIG FOUR-OH!! Gettin' up there old man. Have fun guys!! It's a good thing you're not in the same city, one could imagine that it would get ugly.

Riley's birthday is Friday, and we will most likely celebrate with a seafood dinner somewhere. Bill's dad is giving him golf clubs, so we will probably give him a gift certificate for the Lutz Executive Golf Center (.14 miles away - you can throw a golf ball from our house and hit it) so he can get some lessons, hit some buckets of balls, and get out on the course. They offer a golf clinic for kids every Sunday afternoon, and he can play 18 holes for $15, which is exactly what he needs when he's just starting out. He's very excited, although he's planning to keep the tennis up as well.

Still haven't posted the photos from the wedding two weeks ago, that will be the next task. Enjoy the rest of your week (and/or summer holiday, for those of you who haven't had to head 'back to school' yet). xoxo.