We have an almost 2 and almost 4 year old. I sometimes feel so young and sometimes so old. So young to have such big kids, so old that they are already so big. I, all the time, feel so lucky to have them. They make me smile, they make me laugh (This post I am not mentioning the times they make me feel so tired, busy, mad, overwhelmed).
This past Halloween, one was a strawberry and one was a ladybug. They made me laugh.
Many thanks to Adele's godmother Aynur for these wonderful costumes!
We have been through most of our travels and big events in the last few weeks. Some favorite photos are below:
Fuzzy, but this photo shows almost all my immediate relatives on my dad's side. My four aunts, husbands, one of my cousins, my grandmother! My sturdy grandmother has lived to see my kids - it is quite amazing.
The Parthenon. My quick trip to Athens was amazing. It deserves a longer post on its own with the beautiful photos from this great city. I hope that I will get to it.
Lula started her second year at preschool. Adele is so ready to follow. Nowadays, her favorite word is: "me, too."
Since mid July we have been either on the go or had lovely visitors. A nice way to spend the warm summer...
First, we went for a short weekend getaway near Istanbul. One of Lula's schoolmate's parents own and operate this beautiful resort by a small river. We went there with some friends who also have similarly aged kids and it was perfect vacation for everyone. Meals by the pool, lots of play time with friends, a little chat time for grown-ups.
Adele, Lula and Ada, Bora.
Then we had John's parents visiting for 10 days. We showed them our favorite spots and also went to places that were on our to-see list, too.
Cafe Pierre Loti. The photo in between me and Lula is of Pierre Loti.
Both sets of grandparents at Santral Istanbul.
Girls enjoying the control room again. It is amazing to me how much they have grown since this visit...
Reading Vogue magazine is one of my guilty pleasures. It is always entertaining and I find the quality of writing pretty good, but the articles are usualy quite light in nature. There have been a few times that I was very inspired by women's business stories, maternity experiences and such, but not that many. Here, I learnt that there is a Turkish Vogue which started just a year ago and I had to try. It was a great call - the issue that I had purchased had a "20 up and coming young people" section and 123 the band was there. I was intrigued. Besides their good music reviews, it was written that their CDs came with a full illustration book! I got their latest CD and then the one before it. They were refreshing and intresting. Recently, one of their shows during the jazz festival worked well for our schedule, and John and I had a date at the IKSV Salon. Beautiful venue, wonderful music. In this intimate place, their music was so much better in person, Dilara's voice so powerful. We had a great time.
Salon IKSV and 123 the band.
We had a quick family vacation last week at Enez. My parents and my aunt had visited this small town which has a beautiful coastline before and told that we could have a simple, relaxing vacation. It was true. We rented simple homes right by the water and had lazy mornings, cow hunts (endless entertainment for girls!) and beach time with lots of snacks for girls.
View in the morning
View at night
We had a ladybug invasion and felt very lucky. They are called luck bugs in Turkey.
Girls doing what they enjoy the best. Adele snacking by the lounge chair, Lula playing in the water.
We are definitely in summer mode now. It is really warm in the city, so we plan a lot of friend visits indoors, pool outings and little getaways. Even though I feel like taking a shower is only good for five minutes, I do enjoy that I can have and wear summer dresses every day. I missed that in San Francisco for 10 years!
Wish us luck that our AC can be fixed tomorrow...
Adele overlooking the Galata Bridge. It was a beautiful day with fishermen on the bridge.
Lula at the movie theater before Kung Fu Panda 2 3D started. She was a tad scared. I really liked the movie. Inner peace!
We went to the viewing terrace of the Sapphire Tower, the current tallest building in Europe... It is quite nice to be able to look at the whole city from that high up. Scale gains a new meaning. You can actually see the main buildings you drive to and from, the two bridges connecting the Asian and the Europian side on the same plane. It is mesmerizing for any age.
Adele enjoying the view, observing the busses parked below.
The Bosphorus side and the Marmara Sea side
Walls of the viewing terrace and John's reflection
The only thing that was not beautiful up there was a realization that this city is filled with a lot of concrete without any taste or planning. Yes, the coastline is amazing with the old palaces, mosques, shipyards, fortresses and there is a lot of beauty in Istanbul, but there is also this:
I have recently seen a trailer for Ekumenopolis, a documentary about the non-existing urban planning in Istanbul. Beautifully done and intimidating.
Zeynep and Kevin got married past Sunday. In Istanbul where the winter had just ended and the spring was playing peakaboo, both Saturday and Sunday when we had the wedding festivities were unbelievably gorgeous. Instead of using the indoor area of their venue as planned, they had their wedding outside by the Bosphorous... I am so happy for them, it was a good start.
We are visiting my grandmother's town, Karacasu during Lula's easter break. Quite a different pace than Istanbul's. One little center area, no daily milk delivery (we need to buy it fresh from a neighbor), Monday farmer's market with produce and eveything else you might need. We have already visited most of the playgrounds in town. Here is a photo from a stroll in town... Lula got her hat and some other supplies in the plastic bag from the farmer's market.
Sisters sharing a moment.
This morning we visited the famous ancient site Aphrodisias. I have been there many times and I love every visit. It is a beautiful ruin in nature and it feels like my backyard, so close to my grandmother's. This time I visited with my two daughters!
It started with a fun shuttle ride, pulled by a tractor.
Adele was interested in this angel depiction .
Lula jumping at the Temple of Aphrodite.
The weather is a little cooler than we expected, but it seems like Turkey is having a second winter in general. We are here for another week and hope to get a some warm air.
We had a couple days of spring here before winter is starting again. So, we hopped into the car, drove trough the Fatih Sultan Mehmet (the second bridge) Bridge and went to the Anatolian Fortress, right across the one on our side. I always loved small fishing villages but did not expected to find one here. A small castle, a creek running through it, fishing boats, seagulls and of course balik-ekmek (grilled or fried fish sandwiches).
