Bucharest Stay-cation Week 2

So we're already at the end of our second week back in Bucharest and time is flying. So what have we got up to this week?

We started the week with a rather impromptu trip out of Bucharest. We'd heard good things about the zoo in Ploiest being worth a visit (the school take kids there instead of the Bucharest zoo down the road) and so we got up and headed there.  We knew it was a bit of a drive, but it too over an hour to get there....not including stops to deal with our lack of satnav or an in-date road map..... The zoo had loads of space and was lovely to walk around; three large lions, a huge bear enclosure, tigers and cheetars up close, piglets and monkeys galore.  But in terms of comparison back to Bucharest zoo....the range of animals isn't any more significant (they don't have the monkey house for example), and although the space of each enclosure is larger for the animals we didn't think there was a significant improvement in animal welfare (we saw a few slightly injured animals).

On Tuesday we continued our exploration outside of Bucharest (but only 'just' this time) and we went to Edenland. This adventure park had been recommended to us by parents of older kids before, but talking to Lucy she convinced us that it would work for Leila and Edward. And she was right - we all loved it!  Edenland is set in a huge forest about 30mins from ours and their main focus are their high-ropes courses that run throughout the trees.  These are graded according to age and the lowest courses are meant to be for 4 year olds, but we'd heard that they don't check kids ID if they look old enough!  You park on the edge of the forest and then walk through to the main part of the 'park'.  We spent over an hour playing in just their playground which was really well set up with new climbing frames, swings and sandboxes.  All of these were well geared to learning techniques for the rope courses when you are older. When Leila left the play area for a wee she saw the high ropes courses and said "Can I do that?" and was ecstatic when we said "yes". So after lunch I kept Edward busy back in the play area and Scott took Leila onto the kiddie high ropes. She loved it! And was so good at concentrating on the safety parts too.

Our exploring continued on Wednesday afternoon when we went to Promenada - a mall we've been to before - but went all the way up to the roof.  Stepping outside we found a dancing fountain for the kids to play in (fortunately we'd been given a head's up about this and so had a towel and change of clothes in the bag!). They also had sport on the big screen there and a climbing frame so the kids were busy for over an hour! We then went for dinner at one of the restaurants there and the meal was surprisingly good!

Packing it in we went to Otopeni Waterpark with friends on Thursday.  This was probably the most looked forward to all week, but our least successful outing.  Leila and Edward have been amazing and splashy at hoe since getting back, but totally changed at the water park. Nerves, cold water? Who knows. BUt we spent the whole morning trying to please them with the different parts of the park (water, slides, splashy, lazy river etc) and decided that we're not going to bother again until next season :-( A real shame, but they'll get in to it eventually I'm sure.

Friday was a quiet but fun one back at Jolie Ville again - a good chance for the kiddies to run around and burn some energy on this suddenly cold day (20C and drizzle....it was 35C yesterday!)

A long bike ride this morning - 15km - that ended up at the park. Followed by a BBQ this evening at home.  A shame that the kids have been playing up a bit, but that's sort of the nature of the long summer break, hot days etc.

Otopeni Waterpark

First visit to Edenland

We first heard about Edenland over a year ago - but it wasn't until we spoke to our friend Lucy that we realised that our two would enjoy it as much as older kids. We spent a good hour in the playground before lunch at the (excellent and well-priced) restaurant, after which Edward went back to the playground while Leila went on the high ropes course. Well, it was more like a low-ropes course but was still brilliant.

After getting kitted up with her harness Leila was given a quick instructional introduction during which she was both nervous and excited...and then on she went! 20Lei for two hours of kit hire is frankly a steal and, even though we only did an hour of it due to the need to get back for Edward's nap, Leila managed to complete both courses for her height/age group. It was one of those proper 'proud dad' moments.

Bucharest Stay-cation Week 1

A slow start back to life in Bucharest this week.  It was great that as we boarded our flight to come home we were already having invitations for playdates being set up and the thought of Edward and Leila playing with their friends again was good!
We also received news as we boarded our flight that the work on the house (re-paving the balconies to improve their drainage) was not yet complete.....we kind of suspected this might be the case but were glad to know before we got home that there would be workmen in the house and the garden would be out of bounds.  The work was a lot further along than we thought though and they only needed another two visits to complete it and clear up (clear up, not 'clean up').  The garden though was a complete mess - the grass had been worn down the middle as they walked back and forth from the back fence (at least though it was the grass worn down, rather than them traipsing through the house), the area at the side of the house was covered in concrete dust, as was the decking, and bit of concrete were around too. Inside the house was immaculate though as Oana had visited the day before!!!
When we got home the kids just watched TV (courtesy of the landlord's dad who plonked them in front of it whilst we inspected the house!) and although this was not the plan it did mean that we got loads of unpacking and settling in done.  We put the kids both in Leila's room so that they would have the
As the garden was out of action we set out for the much needed Lidl shop first thing the next morning, but then rewarded the kids with a trip to Starbucks.  Here we bumped into Jo with Jack and Livvie and it was great to catch up and then head to the park together (this holiday has featured a lot of parks!).
Wednesday and we set of to Jo's for a playdate and manage to catch up with loads of friends who have either been in Bucharest most of the summer already, or have just returned, like us. Jo has a pool and so Leila and Edward both took a dip - it was great to see Leila splashing happily about with her swim float on again!
So far so good - a lovely introduction back to life here and more playdates planned....All put on hold suddenly as Edward has a terrible night - taking me nearly a hour to physically put him down (he was clinging to me for dear life it seemed!). It all became 'clear' around midnight when he threw up; first in his cot, then in our bed and finally in the spare room bed.  And he had a fever of 39c.  Calpol and cuddles from me, whilst poor Scotty put on three loads of laundry and tried to catch a bit of sleep in between our demands.
But on waking up the next day E seemed his perky self and so we decided that we'd cancel our playdate but still head out to do some shopping for bits and bobs (Ikea and Brico). All was going ok until the morning calpol dose wore off and E started flagging.  He did manage a broken, but nearly four hour nap in the afternoon and by the evening his temp had gone (no sickness since 6am) and the following day he was fully himself again - a real '24-hour' bug!
With that out of the way we decided to still quarantee ourselves from playdates, but got out in our garden to play instead with our new paddling pool! Great fun was had by all!
On Sunday we made contact with the outside world again and went to the farm with the Batsons.  The kids had a great time - as always - fully justifying our decision to buy annual membership!  The kids enjoyed feeding the animals and the pillow trampolines, but for the first time Leila tried out the zip-wire and loved it! A speed queen in the making we think!  Edward also took his turn on the pony ride (he'd backed out previously) and again he was very proud that he went on a horse and I didn't need to hold him at all!

At home we've been having BBQs for tea, generally trying to sort the house out (moving storage around in the kitchen, garage, kid's shelves, our room, attic etc) and trying to watch a bit of TV and get to bed before it's too late.