melted smoosh

bookends a belated birthday recap for our beloved Vicky, who isn't exactly a baby anymore since she turned two on the Fourth of July. Victoria Anne is sweet, spunky, smart, and mischievous. as long as she is with her older sisters, she's happy. she's often running around behind them, calling, "wait for me, guys! I coming!" and just the other day we were talking about Halloween costumes and she announced she wants to be "a big kid" for Halloween. despite her dreams of getting bigger, she's still petite and the perfect size for snuggling.  on the morning of her birthday, Greta and Cece made patriotic pancakes for breakfast. then we headed off to the town in south central Pennsylvania where we got married and where Nick's dad grew up -- many of his siblings still live in the area and they host an annual chicken BBQ and festival that has now become part of our family's tradition. 

(read part one here !) next they were off to Slovakia to visit  Ľubovňa Castle. what a life! I think this visit will be especially memorable to Cece during this upcoming school year, as the third grade history class always does a unit on medieval castles and the children create their own out of boxes and paper towel tubes. on their way to the next stop, the group made a quick stopover in Fr. Aron's ancestral hometown and surprise his cousin. his cousin speaks only Slovak but the joy and emotion was palpable when she opened the door to find him standing there. I just love these photos!  then the bus drove on to Hungary, where they had a traditional dinner of scones, goulash soup, potatoes, pickles, bacon, and fried gypsies (similar to ribs). and finally it was time for bed!  the next morning they visited St. Stephen's basilica and took a walking tour of the Budapest, including the famous market hall. that afternoon they spent a few hours at the Szechenyi mineral baths, and...

in Krakow in June, Nick and Cece took the trip of a lifetime along with a group from our priest friend's parish. for years, Father Aron has led pilgrimages to Europe for his confirmation class and their families, supported by incredible events throughout the year (he really puts the fun in fundraising). this year, they planned a twelve-day trip to Eastern Europe, visiting religious sites in Poland, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, and Croatia. our whole family was invited, and in a different season of life, I would have loved for all six of us to go! but we already did the two-toddlers-in-Europe thing once when we were young and crazy. for logistical reasons (not least being that Nick's services as organist for daily mass were requested), we decided that Nick would go with the older girls and I would stay home with the younger ones. from the very first time we brought up the idea of the trip, Cece was all in, and Greta was adamantly not interested. Nick and I debated about whether o...