Life is Beautiful: Our Trip Begins

Ani and I spent our first 2 days of the trip in Hungary with my dear cousin Saci. She is my age and was my first ever "sister" when she lived with my family while going to high school. We had such great times together and I loved having her in my life, especially since all I knew before was a life with 3 brothers. We were very close and it was really hard to lose her when I got married. But like with almost all other relationships, once they turn into e-mails only they change no matter how important or cherished that person is. And so it meant a lot to me to finally see Saci and talk for hours although our talks were very much affected by our motherhood we both live in. And that is ok. Sometimes it feels funny when you don"t see someone for years and then when you do you realize you are both in such different stage of life, more mature, more seasoned with life. To me it is the beauty of life here on Earth and in situations like that you can see how much someone has changed, grown, and how their life has made them stronger. It also reminds me that we are all here for such a brief moment and just how important it is for us to use wisely the time we have with the people we love.

Anyway, we had a wonderful time catching up even though it is never enough time and we could talk, cry, laugh and talk some more for days without stopping. Both Ani and I were pretty jet legged when we got there so our first day was very restful. Saci is the best hostess and we felt just spoiled by her. One day we went to an inside playground because it rained and the girls loved playing there. Ani was a bit scared at first but she soon giggled and was enjoying herself. Saci has one little girl, Emma, who is turning 2 soon and she is just the cutest thing. She is very shy but Anika still liked playing with her or by her. Ani also loved their dog who was just the perfect size for her and so nice and calm, unlike the dog I remember from somewhere. :)

The second day we all slept way in and then made a trip to the Tropicarium which is always so fun to go to. Ani loved looking at all the animals there and I took way too many pictures of them. She didn"t want to touch the sting ray though, little Emma was a bit braver than Ani. :)

After that my parents came to get us and I am not sure why Ani thought they would have kids living in their house but she was very disapointed to see that their house was all empty and there were no kids anywhere. :)
Poor girl was pretty out of her place for a bit but everything was better yesterday when she got to see kids at a moms&kids class and then spent the rest of the day playing with her 3 cousins. Tonight she gets to see my other brother"s kids so it will be a fun weekend with everyone and I will try those pictures on here too.