Our Hotel in Budapest

Our hotel in Budapest was very nice. It was a large apartment right by the State Opera House. We had enough room for our family and my wife's brother's family. We had four spacious bedrooms, a large living room/dining room with an extra-long table, a kitchen quite far from the dining room, and a nice balcony. Also, there were enough bathrooms to keep emergencies from happening.

Our front door

Spacious kitchen

One of many bedrooms

Which isn't to say that emergencies did not happen. One night, the children were arguing over who would get to sleep with Mommy (typically, one child sleeps with one parent when we are traveling; it's annoying but at least we get some sleep). It was J's turn (since we alternate) but L really wanted Mommy. We thought about the compromise of both of them sleeping with Mommy, but that seemed really unfair. Plus J didn't want L sleeping in his bed. Perhaps he suspected it would be just the two of them while Mommy and Daddy slept in the other bed (which was something we might have been scheming).

So my wife took L to the other bed and she started bawling. I came in to lay with her. She was uncomforted by my presence. After a while, I tried to get L to take deep breaths to help stop the crying. L finally came out with her big objections to being moved out of J's bed: "My pillow isn't as soft and my blanket has no butterflies on it!"

Prosecution Exhibit A: Unsoft, butterfly-less bed accessories

It was the most irrational and random argument I ever heard in my life. Sure, the pillow cover on J's bed was softer but the same pillows were inside. I don't think the blanket really did have butterflies on it. Even so, who could tell or care in the dark. Her argument made no sense at all.

Defense Exhibit A: Soft but also butterfly-less bed

We parents, of course, immediately consented to swap a pillow and the blankets. That quieted her down but then J started complaining about his losses. He eventually settled down, about an hour and a half later. L was quiet within minutes of achieving a new blanket and pillow. That's the way things go sometimes.

Peace returned the next day after eating a breakfast of local cereal and hanging out with the family.

I think the cereal is targeted at American tourists, hence the English name

Relaxing with the iPad family