First Tea Party

Today was Maddie's day with me. She started out a little upset that she couldn't "stay with Mrs. Rankin," and I couldn't believe she said all that so clearly. We stopped by a jewelry store to have my ring repaired and then I asked if she wanted to go to the library or go have a tea party. Her face lit up and she asked if it could be a Princess Tea Party. When I said it could be a princess tea party, she asked if we could go get the purple princess shoes for the party, but I explained that the pink ones she already had would be perfect, so she was content. We stopped by the grocery store to pick up the "princess-perfect" lunch items and she convinced me we needed some flowers for the party, too.
When we got home, she got her pink princess shoes on, dragged the stool to the counter and watched me wash berries and cut princess-perfect circle sandwiches. She picked out blueberry-flavored tea and put the teabags in our cups. I put the kids' little table in the sunbeam in the kitchen and she set up the chairs. I pulled out a table cloth that she helped me spread, then she set the table and found a place for the flowers. As it all came together, her eyes lit up in excitement. I showed her how to put a little bit of milk and sugar in her tea and she loved that her blueberry tea turned a pretty lavender. I snapped a few pictures and we sat down and enjoyed our lovely princess tea party.
She pointed out that the tea party was only for girls and Mommy and Maddie are the girls and since it was a princess tea party, we were actually princess girls. She loved the way the spoon clinked against the teacup and the way it sang a but as she set the cup in the saucer. Each time she took a sip, she wanted to stir the spoon in the cup. We had a delightful time and I am so excited to teach her about tea parties. Next time, we might have to pull our fancy hats and beaded necklaces, as proper princesses would.

Oh, Lovely Mud. . . and they jumped in it!

Story #1: Guess What Jon: Hey, Mama! Guess what?!
Me: What, hon?
Jon: Guess what?!!
Me: What?
Jon: Hey, Mama, guess what?
Me: Jon, you actually have to tell me the "what."
Jon: What!

Story #2: The Carjacking
Yesterday the four kids were playing pretty well together. Will decided to be the "mom" and walked around with a purse and a funny (high) voice. He gathered his three "kids" to take them shopping. As hie put them in their carseats (the couch), he carefully buckled each one in and told them to sit "criss-cross applesauce." He quickly got frustrated. Although Jon and Maddie each followed his instructions, Ben was being stubborn and not sitting cross-legged like Will wanted him to. After begging, pleading, fussing, and whining, Will did what any kid would do in that situation -- came crying to me. As he was complaining, Maddie and Jon just looked at him, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ben. . . his eyes got really big, and with an excitement only that child can contain, he jumped out of his "car seat" and hopped in the "drivers seat." When Will noticed that Ben was in HIS seat, he ran at him yelling, and Ben leaned back and with all his might pushed down on the pretend gas-pedal and squealled. I wish you could have been there to see a two year old burning rubber and screeching the tires to high-tail it out of there before his "mom" got to him. At that point Will was REALLY mad because I was laughing so hard I was crying. To see the way Ben leaned back as if his "car" (the couch) was really speeding was hilarious.

Story #3: The ShovelLast evening, at dinnertime, Ben was rudely scooping food off his plate and shoving it in his mouth. Allen corrected him several times, but once I remember vividly. Allen said, "Ben, use your fork. Please don't shovel food into your mouth." With a confused look, Ben piped up "Daddy, the shovel is outside in the sandbox."

Story #4: The Shoe-loverLast Thursday was Ben's day out with me while Maddie and Jon went to Mother's Day out. On our shopping and errand-running expedition, I let him pick out a toy and he chose a small Tonka backhoe (but he calls it a tractor). On Saturday, I took Maddie and Jon to choose a toy for themselves. Jon picked a fire-engine, and Maddie chose pink Disney Princess high heels. Sunday, Maddie came to me and asked for her purple princess shoes, and I told her she chose the pink ones, not the purple ones. She confidently proclaimed, "Well, I need the purple shoes, too." That was the end of that conversations, but she made it clear she likes shoes like her mama does. This photo looks a lot like me, too -- notice how she's smiling, but trying hard not to drop the two babies.
Story #5: The Toystore
Sunday, I took Will shopping to pick out some new tennis shoes and a toy for himself (they were using gift money, I don't usually spoil my kids with toys.) As we wandered through the store, he spotted a squirt gun that claimed it would "Shoot water over 35 feet!!" As he caressed the packaging, I could see the gears in his mind moving, then he read it to me. "Wow! That's as high as our house," I told him. His eyes got big and his face lit up, "Mama! That means I could stand of the porch and shoot the babies on the swingset!" I patted his shoulder, "Yes, Will, you could, and that's why you aren't getting it." He was bummed for a few seconds until he saw the next neat thing. In the end, he chose Incredible Hulk hands and mask. Story #6: Present Day
We got through another week, but I'm not sure if we'll make it all the way through this one. We are still trying to deal with the kindergarten mood-swings after school, but the little ones and I have found a nice rhythm. They play outside all morning and I do dishes, laundry, or work on the consignment sale stuff -- all things I can do at the kitchen table while I watch them play. I talked with Will's teacher twice on the phone this week about his behavior at school, and today I was not too thrilled to get the call from the vice-principal, too. Story #7: Oh, Lovely Mud
I talked to a friend on the phone this morning, and that made the day a little more fun. While we chatted, I watched out the window as Ben, Maddie, and Jon played. . . and as they bathed themselves and each other . . . with mud. I decided a few days ago that life is easier when I don't spend my morning chasing them to make sure they stay clean. It takes much less energy to bathe them than to keep them clean. Here are some photos of our morning.
See? They shampood with mud!!
At least they took their clothes off before they got muddy. I thought "bare-back riding" meant no saddle, but Jon had another idea. . . I filled and emptied the tub three times -- three baths for EACH of the kids -- just to get all that dirt off. Now, I need to scrub the tub, too.
Right now, I am frustrated and in over my head. I don't know how to deal with Will's behavior at home or at school. Two of the triplets didn't nap today, and they woke the third, so I have four very grouchy kids right now, and that makes for a frustrated mama. Just when I felt like I had my act together, another day knocked me on my butt. It's quite discouraging, but I think I'll be okay if I can just make it to bedtime without loosing my mind. Tomorrow is another day, and we will all get to try it all again. If you pray, we could use help praying for health, wisdom, patience, and perseverence.

The first week of school

I hate going way back in my memory trying to recall all the fun, frustrating, or otherwise memorable events from the last week, but this time I kept notes. Since it’s been challenging to find time to get them on the blog, I’ve just kept a little card in the kitchen and when something happens I want to remember, I scribble it on there. So, digging way back in time to last Sunday, August 23. . . .

We got home from my parents’ house and tried to leave enough time to get a few things accomplished before school started for Will on Monday. When we got home, we found an invitation to a neighborhood scavenger hunt to say good-bye to summer, and Will and I decided to go. Allen offered to take Jon to the grocery store to pick up a few things, and Ben and Will decided they were going to go, too. Maddie got upset until I told her I would paint her toes while the guys were gone – she got excited. Allen told Ben he could only go if he put on shoes, and that was too much trouble. The next thing I knew, Ben and Will decided to stay home, but I still had promised Maddie a pedicure (a challenge with boys around who don’t understand why they can’t have pink toenails.) When Allen and Jon got home, Maddie proudly showed off her freshly painted toes and fingers then came to me and sweetly said, “Mama, thank you for pinking my toes.”

Will and I went to the scavenger hunt and I had a blast. On the way, we passed a few kids cleaning up from a lemonade-seashell stand. Will asked me when he could have a lemonade stand, and I told him when he was a little older and could be by the street. We proceeded to have a conversation about how many years of school he had and he counted them off “Kindergarten, First grade, Second grade, Third. . . Eleventh grade, Twelfth grade, and then I go to college, right?” Right. “So, Mama, when I’m done with college, will you let me sell lemonade, then?”

There are few things as fun as running with a handful of kindergarteners and their moms all the way to the other end of the neighborhood to snap some photos of a blue crayon, a book with a bear on it, and a banana. Somehow, the kindergarten team got back first and won, so that made it even more fun for Will. While we were on vacation, Will started showering every night on his own. He’s had enough of little kid bath-time. On our way home that evening, we were talking about what time he would shower and be in bed. He told me, “Since I shower everyday by myself like you and Daddy, you need to get me shave cream and some ‘odorant.” (Sigh) I’m really not ready for him to grow up so quickly. I explained that I would get him a shaving kit when he had a mustache. After dinner, books, and a shower, Allen and I tucked Will in to bed, but he got up many times. The last time I said, “Honey, I know you are excited about school, but you need sleep.” His response? “I’m not excited. I’m anxious.”

Last week, the first week of school, was different for us. The first few mornings, Ben, Maddie, and Jon were upset that Will was going to school. Jon had several pouting tantrums demanding, “Jon wants school now, too!” The little ones enjoyed waving good-bye from the porch as Allen drove Will to school. I am pretty sure Will is enjoying school, but he doesn’t like to talk about it. Our few glimpses of what his day is like have happened in the evenings when he lines the little ones up on the couch or floor and pretends he is the teacher or coach. We can tell from the things he says and does as the “teacher” what is going on at school, and he seems to like it a lot. The afternoons have been challenging because I’ve had to wake the little ones up to go pick Will up. They have been confused as to where Daddy was. They saw him take Will to school and can’t understand why we aren’t picking him up from school, too. Everyday last week, Will came home and had one long tantrum. Screaming, kicking, wailing, hitting, whatever. The things that set him off? EVERYTHING, but the two I remember most, “WAHHHH!! Ben is breathing too loud!!!” and “YOU JUST DON”T ACT LIKE YOU LOVE ME ANYMORE WHEN YOU TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!!” I think he is still adjusting from Allen and me being away, he is adjusting to a new schedule, and he keeps his act together at school so long, that when he gets to the comfortable zone (home) he loses control. It’s a lot for a little guy to deal with and I have bit my tongue and maintained a cool temper, but it has been a challenge. Hopefully, with time, things will calm down.

On Thursday, there was a kindergarten parent-teacher meeting. Not the one-on-one kind, but the type of meeting where the teachers go over what they plan to do with the kids and lessons and what they need from parents. His teacher also went over the list of sight words the kids are supposed to learn this year, with 10-15 words per six-week period. Allen and I gulped audibly when we saw the lists "a, an, the, . . . first, second, third." Afterward we waited and talked to her about the list and explained that Will is now reading levels-1, 2, and 3 chapter books to himself before bed each night, and we were concerned he would be bored with the sight words. When I was reading a Magic Treehouse book the other night and couldn't stop coughing, I handed the book to Will and he kept reading, not even slowing down to sound out words anymore. She was excited to learn about his reading and promised to work with us to keep him challenged with different word lists. I left the meeting confident that she would do her best to make sure he enjoyed learning.

Here we are at Tuesday of week two, and yesterday afternoon was less stressful for all of us. The little ones and I are finding a groove, of sorts. When Daddy and Will leave in the morning, we all stand on the porch waving and shouting "good-bye" loud enough to wake any neighbors that haven't already risen. We go back inside to finish breakfast and get dressed then we play school at the table -- reading, coloring, playing with toys. When I say we are "playing school" they are so excited to do what Will is doing that I don't think they notice it is what we always did. This week the weather has been beautiful, and they've spent the last two mornings outside until lunchtime. I've worked on things in the kitchen, keeping an eye on them while I fold laundry, do dishes, work on dinner, or tag things for the consignment sale this month. We've moved lunch from noon to 11:30 so they can eat and get a full nap in before it is time to go get Will. Now that we have a smooth running operation, tomorrow we throw in the first change -- MOPS ever other Wednesday and lunch with Daddy. Thursday, we start the mother's day out program for two kids each week. This week Ben will spend the day with me while Maddie and Jon get to go to "school." In a few weeks, we will add Tuesday morning Bible study to the schedule and see how that goes.

Vacation notes - Part 1

I have been going through my journal trying to decide what to type and what to just keep tucked away in case I ever want to read more. Not that there are a lot of personal things, but I scribbled away as the tour guide taught us all about history, art, politics, and more. I plan to create a scrapbook of our vacation, but this is my first attempt at narrowing down 2,637 photos and 93 pages of my travel-journal to something a bit more digestible and much less overwhelming. I am leaving a lot of the history of the places out of my text and linking to additional information in case you are interested.

ON OUR WAY:

We left the kids with my parents and Aunt Ann on Saturday, August 8th, and headed to the Dallas. After a quick lunch with Allen's parents, his dad dropped us off at the airport and we began the long flight.

Our first leg of the flight was from Dallas to Frankfurt, Germany, and was about 13 hours. We had a four hour layover, then another few hours on a plane to Athens. This is the Greece coastline as we approach Athens. Yes, I was getting VERY excited at this point.

We were thrilled to find all our luggage arrived with us -- an oddity for us. We got to our hotel around 6:30 pm (10:30 am, Texas-time). I told Allen I wanted to shower and lay down for just a few minutes before we found dinner. We woke up in time for our tour the next morning.

Monday, August 10th, we ate breakfast on the roof of our hotel, then set out to find the starting point for our first tour: a half day tour of Athens. Look how awake I am at 8:00 am!The bus tour was partly a drive-by-and-look-fast type tour, but we did get out to explore at a few key spots. The first stop was the Olympic stadium. This was built for the modern-day Olympics in 1895, is made completely of marble, and seats 67,000 people. It was used for the archery competition in the 2004 Olympics.

Our second stop was at the Temple of Zeus, another wonder that seems to have been plopped down in the middle of the huge metropolis of Athens. It is amazing that small parks surround the ruins all over the city, but modern marvels spring from the ground just outside the gates. Our next stop was to the Acropolis. It was packed with tourists, but no less awesome than I imagined. The Parthenon was built to be awesome, and it didn't disappoint us. Since it is under constant reconstruction, we couldn't get many pictures without the scaffolding. This is a photo taken from the Acropolis looking north over Athens. The mountain is Lycabettus and is the highest point in the city. The hotel we were staying in is on the side of the mountain. Yes, we walked. . . a lot!The tour ended at the Acropolis and we had the option of riding the bus down to the center of the city or staying to do our own thing. We chose the latter, but I was sorry I forgot my pedometer that day. . . and more importantly, my city map. Luckily we were staying at the base of the mountain, so we just made sure we headed uphill until we found our hotel.

Allen and I strolled down the Acropolis hill, passing the city walls, strolling through a bit of a forested area, and snapping photos the whole way. We found our way to a small cafe and enjoyed gyros with a view of the Acropolis. We strolled through the city happening upon small treasures. We stopped at Hadrian's Library (in ruins, but with beautiful mosaic floors partially intact.) We found the ancient agora and I was awestruck. Although the Parthenon was neat, this was the first time, Allen had to remind me to shut my mouth as my chin kept dropping. I don't completely know what it was. . . was it that in my high school Latin classes, we always studied the ancient Greek cities and looked at maps just like this place? Was it the grandeur of the reconstructed stoa with brilliant white columns and a lovely garden at the end? Was it the view from the stoa, looking out at the ancient ruins knowing that the everyday people used to live life here and seeing the beauty of the trees that are hard to find everywhere else? Was it the close up look at the statues that were displayed? Maybe it was that I could stand in one spot, see many ancient buildings and the Parthenon beyond them, everything old; then, I could pivot about 180-degrees, literally and figuratively. I would watch "old" in one direction, then turn around when I heard the metro train rushing by. Watching the modern train, I could look beyond it and see graffiti, cranes, and multi-level glass office buildings, apartments, hotels, cafes, cars and buses. . . Everything except old. I still can't identify the one thing that amazed me about the agora, but it held the "favorite spot" title for me for a few days.After we explored the agora for a good part of the afternoon, we headed toward our hotel -- uphill, all the way, remember? Along the way we went though the central market where vendors were starting to close up for the afternoon. We saw lots of fruits, nuts, olives and spices for sale. Then for some weird reason, I took the street of the meat market. What a sight -- and, I can't say I enjoyed it. Unlike our grocery stores where the meat is behind clean glass in a refrigerator, the beef, chicken, and lamb were on shelves and the butcher was in front of it with hacking away at the meats on a big bloody chopping block. Since, I watch too much TV and read too many suspense novels, this was sort of spooky to me. It didn't help that I had to hold my breath so I wouldn't smell the stench of old blood, and I had to watch where I was walking so I didn't slip on some stray raw organ. We walked about two blocks through the covered alley searching for a way out. We could've gone back the way we came, but we had already seen that, so we walked the other way. Full carcasses were hanging from hooks, but nothing was a creepy to me as the skinned lamb staring at me through dead eyes. I walked a lot faster after that. When we got to the end of that labyrinth, I breathed the clean air and burst out laughing when Allen pointed out the sign at the entrance: "Please to meet you and Meat to please you!"

As we zig-zagged though the streets, we found a place we passed on the bus tour and I was glad to revisit it for some photos. When we got up close to the neoclassical university building, we found beautiful paintings on the front that we couldn't see from the bus.Just next door, at the Academy building, we found intricate sculptures peeking down at us.

We kept climbing uphill meandering through the streets and found a pretty church and took some pictures. If you aren't aware, I love photographing churches on our travels -- the pictures have been my favorite souvenirs since I started snapping them when I was 18. This church wasn't too far from our hotel and is named for Athens' patron saint, Saint Dionysios. Just like on other churches and buildings we had seen, the paintings on the outside entryway, and the intricate details of the carvings were awesome. We made it back to the hotel and were exhausted. We probably walked over 10 miles, and since we had walked only one way, it was mostly uphill. We cleaned up, and I enjoyed coffee on our balcony while I updated my journal. We had a delightful, yet late (for us) dinner at a nearby restaurant, then went to the rooftop of the hotel to try to get photos of the acropolis at night. When we went to bed that evening, Allen commented that it was weird to be going to sleep before the markets even closed (CNN was one of the few English-speaking channels we found.)

That was our first full day in Athens. Soon I'll post photos and details about the second day, but I have to go deal with present-day life now. Since DAY 1 took me two days to write up, I hope to have the trip completely summarized by the end of September.

Eventually . . . stay tuned

What a whirlwind our life is right now. Not chaotic (yet) just busy and different. Allen and I got back to central time zone Friday evening, drove to Waco, spent the weekend re-adjusting to CST and parenting on jetlag (with the help of my parents.) We got home on Sunday afternoon and found a bit of calm that evening after Will and I ran throughout the neighborhood -- yes, we RAN since it was a speedy scavenger hunt for all the back-to-school kids. Yesterday (Monday) was Will's first day of big-kid, all-day school and I'm trying to keep things normal for Ben, Maddie, and Jon as I struggle to fill the fridge, plan menus, empty suitcases and do things to make them think they are in school, too. Luckily, Allen had one more vacation day to help the transition to reality a little easier. When Will went to school this morning, I had three sobbing toddlers -- upset that they couldn't go to school, too. So we played school. Now, I have a few quick moments to update the blog. I have a journal full of adventures in Greece and Turkey, and several quotes from the last few days when Will seems to have grown up overnight. I can't wait to share, but I'll have to. Three barking "puppies" are tired of playing GeoTrax and I'm off to play dogcatcher.

A Peek at our Itinerary

I have been writing letters to the kids the last few days. When Will stayed with my parents earlier this summer, I sent him a letter that he loved. After he received it in the mail, he went on and on about how happy he was to get it. Since we probably won't be talking to the kids while we are gone, and I know the postcards will take awhile to arrive, I decided to leave a stack with my parents to give to the kids each day to read. I made it seem like we were writing it that day and that it arrived in the mail. With each one, we not only tell the kids we love them and are thinking about them, but I tried to include a little bit about what we are planning to do that day. Here are some excerpts from the letters that Will will read aloud each day. If it seems "simple" that's because it is written so a five-year-old will understand it.

Sunday, August 9th: Yesterday we got on an airplane before dinner. Can you believe we are still on the airplane? We had a long way to fly so we slept and ate on the plane. First we will stop in Germany, and then we will go to Greece. We are staying in a hotel in Athens on the side of a mountain. Can you believe there is a swimming pool on the roof of our hotel? It gives us a nice view of the city of Athens. Today we will probably take a long nap. If you are reading this in the morning, it is almost time for us to have dinner.

Monday, August 10th: Today we are going to take a tour of Athens, Greece. We will get to see the old and the new parts of the city. It is amazing that some of the buildings here are over 2500 years old!! Would you believe that people have been living in this city for 4500 years – it is one of the oldest cities in the whole world. We are going to see some beautiful churches, the huge stadium where the first Olympics were, a palace, and some gardens. We will be going to the Acropolis, too. Will, that is the city I showed you in the book that looked like the city in the Hercules movie. Do you remember that? We can see parts of the Acropolis from our hotel. The Acropolis can be seen from almost anywhere in the city because is it is up on a big hill. The word acropolis actually means “high city,” and Athens started out as a fort on that hill. Many of the buildings up there are falling apart because they are so old and have been in wars, but we can still see parts of the temples and statues. It will be fun to show you pictures that we take. The weather in Athens is not that different than at home even though it is far away. It is pretty hot here in Athens, but it is dry, too.

Tuesday, August 11th: Today we are going to ride a bus to another city and sleep in a different hotel. You can look at the map and see where we are going. We are going to drive through the Greek countryside. We will go through a town called Levadia. There are a lot of farms here with mountains all around. There is a castle in Levadia and we hope we get to drive by to see it. After that, we will drive through a town called Arachova where they grow walnuts and olives. Finally, we will arrive at Delphi. Delphi is a famous city. The ancient Greeks used to think it was the middle of the earth and the universe. They also believed in an Oracle who was supposed to be at Delphi. Will, do you remember Hercules talking to the oracle in the movie? Way back then, people asked the oracle about everything such as who to fight, where to build a city, and how to be great. They talked to the Oracle kind of like we pray to God. We hope to walk around and enjoy the old buildings and statues and see pretty landscapes. Hopefully, this stop will be relaxing for us. We will sleep in a hotel here tonight.

Wednesday, August 12th: We are still visiting Delphi today. Mama read that it is best to visit it early in the morning, so we are going to do that today. By the time you read this, we might already be done and on our way back to Athens on the bus.

Thursday, August 13th: We woke up in Athens again this morning. Sometimes we don’t make plans for the day, we just let the day take care of itself. Maybe that is the kind of day we will have today. There are still some things in Athens we want to see, and we’d like to do a little bit of shopping, so that may be what we do today. Did you know that here in Greece it is eight hours ahead of your time there in Texas? That means if you are reading this at 8:00am, at breakfast in Texas, it is 4:00pm in Greece and almost time for dinner. It has been weird having a time change, but it is also strange because the people here eat dinner much later than our family does. Most people start dinner around 9:00pm – that’s past your bedtime. Then they stay up really late. We are back at the hotel on the side of the mountain again for one more night.

Friday, August 14th: We are really excited about today. When you read this we will probably be on the cruise ship getting comfortable in our new room. The ship is like a floating hotel – there are bedrooms and bathrooms, a swimming pool, a few restaurants, and even stores on the giant boat. Our ship is called the Navigator. Dinner should be quite tasty, but it will take a long time to eat it. We will probably walk around and see what else is on the ship.

Saturday, August 15th: Wow! When we woke up this morning we were in a different city. The place we are visiting today is called Nafplio. It is still in Greece. We are going to see a big fort and castle today. The walls are really strong – it would be really hard for armies or pirates to invade this castle. It has also been a prison. I think we will get to see the inside today, and if we do, we will take pictures so you can see what it looks like.

Sunday, August 16th: Today we are visiting an island called Santorini. Will, do you remember what an island is? It is land surrounded on all sides by water. This is the place Mama and Daddy have wanted to visit all along and the reason we wanted to come to Greece. We saw a picture like the one below and thought it would be a beautiful place to see.

A long, long, long time ago, Santorini island was round because it was the top of a mountain. The mountain was actually a volcano that erupted and caused the center of the island to sink. We will be going to a village called Oia (pronounced “Ia”) where most of the buildings are white with
blue doors and windows, the churches have blue domes, the streets are made of cobblestones, and many of the buildings are built into niches or caves in the rock. Most of the villages in Santorini are really high up on cliffs because a long time ago pirates would try to rob the people. Building the city really high made it very hard for the pirates to win. We are really excited that we are going to learn to cook some Greek food while we are here. Mama and Daddy enjoy
taking cooking classes when we travel. It teaches us new things to cook that we can make when we get home. That is one way you can taste what we are tasting.

Monday, August 17th: Today we are visiting a different country. It is called Turkey. The place we are visiting is called Kusadasi. It is near a place called Ephesus and that is another place we are going today. Did you know that in the Bible, Paul wrote a letter to the people of Ephesus? Do you remember reading the Alice in Bibleland story about Jesus’s disciples? One of them was named John, and he was a very good friend of Jesus. John brought Jesus’s mom, Mary, to Ephesus to live. It is really neat to be in a place that is in the Bible, and we can’t wait to show you pictures. There are beautiful columns that were hand-carved, and there is an enormous theater that is in really good shape for being over 2000 years old. It used to hold more than 25,000 people. That is a lot!! It used to be used for music concerts, plays, and talks. It was also used for gladiator fights. We are going to get to see the theater and some houses that very rich people used to live in a long, long time ago.

Tuesday, August 18th: We are back in Greece today. This time we are at an island called Rhodes. There are many castles and forts on the island of Rhodes because 2000 years ago, pirates came here a lot. Some of the castles were even built in the Medieval Times just like we read about in the Magic Treehouse story. We will be on a tour part of the time we are here, and hopefully we will see several castles. That seems to be the easiest way to see as much as possible without getting lost. We are going to visit the Acropolis at Lindos in the morning. Do you remember what acropolis means? It means “high city.” A lot of cities in this part of the world had Acropoli as their forts. Our tour will take us to the small fishing village of Haraki for lunch, then we will drive near the coast and probably get lots of pretty pictures. We are going to visit the Palace of the Knights (see photo below) and a museum. There should be plenty of time for Mama and Daddy to explore the old town on our own before we have to be back on the ship. Will, look at the picture of the castle here. I’ll bet you could teach Granddad about the crenels and merlons like you learned from Jack and Annie. The crenels are the gaps, and the merlons are the solid parts that the sentries hid behind. We can’t wait to take pictures of real castles to show you.

Wednesday, August 19th: Do you know what is neat about a cruise? Every night we sleep in the same bedroom, and every morning we wake up in a new place. The boat moves during the night while we are sleeping. It is fun to be able to visit new places without having to pack every day. Today we are visiting another Greek island. This one is called Mykonos. We are going on another tour, but then we will have time to explore on our own. Do you remember watching the show about Mykonos? It was a Travel Channel show that we watched together. We are going to a bakery that has been in business for 400 years, and we will probably get a little treat to taste. There are lots of windmills, white houses, and pretty churches to take pictures of. Did you know Mama likes to take pictures of churches when she travels? Maybe we will have enough time to see the beach before we leave, but it won’t be as much fun as when we are at the beach with you kids.

Thursday, August 20th: Today we are still at sea, but in the afternoon we will be in Istanbul, Turkey. Istanbul is a unique city. It is the only city in the world that is on two continents. Part of the city is in Europe and part of it is in Asia. Isn’t that neat? Mama and Daddy enjoy a song about this city. The song we like has words that are a lot of fun to say even if they are hard to read:

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night

...So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works
That's nobody's business but the Turks

Mama will probably be humming that song all day. It is a song that is hard to stop singing once you start. Today we have a lot of exciting things to see. We are going to see a really, really old museum. It has a lot of pretty art of Bible stories in it. The place Daddy is really excited to see is called Hagia Sophia. It is an enormous church that is awesome because of the marvelous dome. It is one of the largest churches in the world, and the inside is spectacular! Can you believe we will get to see a building that is 2500 years old and is still being used? Something else we are going to see is the underground cistern or water tank. It is extremely old, too, but was rediscovered when a man noticed everyone putting buckets in the floors of their homes. They lowered them to get water and fish from underground. Our last stop will be to the Grand Bazaar. It is like an outdoor mall, but one of the biggest in the world. We hope to have time to find the spice market, too.

Friday, August 21st: Today is Friday. We got off the boat at around 2:00 AM – that was about the time you were going to bed last night. Lucky you! We didn’t go to bed at all. That might sound like fun to you, but we are really TIRED! It is a good thing we have such a long way to fly so we can get some sleep. We got on an airplane in Istanbul and flew to Germany again. After a while there we got on another plane and flew back across the Atlantic Ocean to Dallas. You know where that is! Do you know what that means? We are almost home! We can’t wait to see you kids. We have missed you so much and we have so many hugs and kisses to give you. It is a good thing we had two backpacks and the suitcase – we needed all that room just for all the hugs and kisses we’ve been keeping for you.

Packed and (almost?) ready

Just days before we leave for an extended vacation, and I have nothing to do? I've been so excited that every spare minute I've had in the last two weeks has been used to print maps, wash clothes, put away clean clothes, clean house, and pack clothes. The kids' suitcases have been packed for at least a week, and all I need to add are their blankies, pillows, and stuffed animals that they sleep with every night. Mine and Allen's clothes are all neatly folded and sealed in the vacuum bags. I have a few odds and ends ready to put in my carry-on backpack, and I feel like there are a few chores around the house I can do. There isn't much left to do, but the count down has begun.

I've been trying to wrap up a few loose ends, but mostly I am cuddling my kiddos, and making sure they get as many hugs and kisses as they can stand. Jon got lots of love last night since he was having a second night in a row of nightmares about a fox (at least that's what we understand.) He was up about eight times last night -- sometimes pouting, sometimes trembling in fear, sometimes crying, most of the time just pitiful. I hope to get plenty of sleep tonight and tomorrow night before I have to deal with jet lag -- I've never had to adjust more than two hours, so eight will be a challenge for me, especially since I need my sleep so I don't get headaches.

The kids, especially Will, have been playing restaurant every day. Will has created a menu and decided he likes a pirate themed restaurant called "Fisherman Will." The subtitle says "Sefood and steaeks" (sic) and he creatively made the "F" in the name be a fishhook (like a J with the two lines on top.) Each time he sets up the restaurant, he decorates the area with his Captain Hook hat, his Pirates of the Caribbean parrot, and a pirate book. He likes to serve bread, shrimp, lobster, and t-bone steaks, and when he is playing maitre'd or waiter, he deepens his voice as he frowns slightly -- I suppose so we take him a bit more seriously? As much as I'm getting tired of the same game (and same menu) I am trying to just enjoy the time with the kids. They are having fun, so I am, too.