reflection

now that we have recovered from jet lag and re-entry into our life in new york, i can share some of the thoughts about our trip with you. they have been bouncing around in my head for a few days now.

** i packed WAY more formula and diapers than i needed.  i was certain that the bean was not going to go hungry or be short on diapers. when i say too much, i mean 3 cans too much.

**people are not nice when they realize they have to sit near a baby. but are very nice when the flight is over and said baby was well behaved.

** there is nothing more irritating than having someone else's screaming child wake up your sleeping child.

**i understand why my parents took "children free" vacations. vacation with a child is not really a vacation, your life just moved to another location.

** being flexible with the schedule is ok when  away from home, as long as you keep the bed time the same, everything else falls in place.

** there is such joy in watching grandparents with their grandchildren. truly magical

** chace loved the water. i do not think that next year we will be able to keep him out of it.

** he is much like his mom and doesnt like to go to bathroom on travel days.

** no matter how prepared you think you are, you always forget something. i forgot burp cloths and suppositories for chace.

** this resulted in using the greek version which was like trying to put a gummy worm up chace's rear. not pretty.

** there were moments at the beach, when it was calm and still, that i missed cooper, felt his presence, shed tears and my heart ached for him.

**i am happy to report that chace is a good traveller. it is a must in my family.

** the need to get as tan as human possibly disappears when you have children with you at the beach.

** next year we are staying longer. like 3 weeks longer. even if we have to go with out ph for a while.

** the red tape that exists in greece never ceases to amaze me, however i was able to get my knitting needles through security this year.

** i feel incredibly blessed that we get to spend time in such a magical place every summer.

the journey home

i am currently sitting in a hotel in the dark, with internet access on my own computer, while the bean is sleeping away, and ph went out to get some bottled water.

we are on the first leg of our journey home. there is not an early morning ferry tomorrow, so we had to leave kea tonight. we will fly out tomorrow around 11:25 athens time and should arrive back in rochester around 9:30 tomorrow night. a long day for sure. the flight home seems epic. plus we have a five hour layover in new york city.

we had a great trip. i can not wait to share photos and stories with you. there were a lot of firsts, some were funny, some were milestones, some were joyous and some made our heart ache. 

i have one final guest blogger on monday and will resume my regular blogging duties. until then, i will leave you with some pictures.

live from kea greece

 for some reason my technology doesnt work in greece. so i am blogging from my mother's computer. this means i can not  post photos. but my brother arrives today, so i am hoping that he will be able to figure out why the hell i can not get on the internet with my computer, despite the fact it says i am connected. so for now, you only get words.....

** bean was AWESOME on the plane ride over. let me repeat that a again. bean was AWESOME on the plane ride over.  he slept most of the way and when he was awake was very happy. 

** what a relief this was for ph and i. so many people commented on how wonderful he was on the flight. and believe me they were skeptical when they realized they were sitting near a baby.

** in fact the woman in front of us was such a bitch, despite the fact she has 3 children of her own, i am quite certain she will never fly coach again.

** we did not get the bulk head seats. hopefully, we will on the way home.

** bean has adjusted to the time change, is napping and sleeping well at night.

** he loves the sea. loves it. and has charmed everyone on the island.

** he is however, teething. i am quite certain he will have one if not two teeth when we return home.

** i am taking lots of pictures, drinking lots of wine and working on my tan

** it is warm, but there is a nice breeze, so it is not unbearable heat.

** ph and i are enjoying watching yaya and pappous with chace. they get the biggest kick out of him.

** that is all for now, i am off to take a nap.

we are off....

our bags are packed.
packed full of clothes, swimsuits and sunscreen.
full of books, formula, and toys.
full of sea kayaks, strollers and backpacks.
if we forgot it, well we don't need it.

this is our first family vacation.
ph and i have talked about this moment
for a long time.
before we were married,
before cooper,
before chace,
before we were a family.

i am so looking forward to our time away.
to seeing the journey through my son's eyes.
to watching him discover this new place
that is so dear to our hearts.

i will post pictures along the way
so that you feel like you are with us.
until then.....

xoxo

a new toy for ph

one of the things we love about kea, greece is that the beaches are not crowded. it is not unusual to have an entire beach to yourself. or at least that used to be the case. as more and more people discover the island, more athenians buy second homes and the greek government continues to pave the roads, the beaches are becoming more populated. and lets be honest, who wants to share a beach in the Mediterranean with complete strangers.

but there are a number of beaches that can only be reached by boat. last summer we were all sitting on the beach talking about how great it would be to have a boat to go to these off the beaten path slices of heaven. of course, i was thinking how great it would be to rent a yacht and sail around. i don't think this is what my dad had in mind, so i will live out that dream in my head.

ph came home and started researching inflatable sea kayaks. after much searching he bought one. it seats two people, is coast guard approved and only weighs 26 pounds. it will fit in our suitcase. ph was like a kid on xmas morning yesterday when it arrived at our front door. so last night he and bean blew it up. he is hoping to get in it the water next weekend. 

i am excited to explore some new parts of kea with our new boat. and i am sure my dad is happy that he doesn't have to buy or rent a boat with a motor anytime soon.

a gift from greece

yesterday the bean received his first piece of mail and it came all the way from greece. our dear friends and the bean's greek godparents, costas and aglaia, had this quilt made for the bean. i think it is just fabulous. i love all the little modern houses, to me they represent family. and with the bean's arrival our family is now complete the colors are just perfect for his room, and i know exactly where we are going to hang it.

thank you costas and agalia, we cant wait for you to meet the bean this summer!

greece

in her newest cookbook, falling cloudberries, tessa kiros says this about greece.

"greece is magnetic, they say. once you have stepped on greek ground it's hard to shake yourself free. myth has it that it's because your feet become stuck in the rich honey coating of this country."

i couldnt agree more. there is something about this country that gets into your soul, the very core of your being, and leaves you yearning to return. i dont know if its the people, the immense history, the sheer beauty of the place, the food or the way they enjoy life. whatever it is, it has become a part of who i am and always look forward to my return.

i am in the process of uploading all of my photos to my flickr account, if you are interested in seeing more.

two facts

fact one: i am clumsy. seriously clumsy. cant walk and chew gum at the same time clumsy. trip over air clumsy.

fact two: greeks are nosey and dramatic. they have a tendency to turn ordinary occurrences into oscar worthy dramatic performances. even when those occurrences have nothing to do with them.

add these two facts together and you have a recipe for disaster on your hands.

it was our second night in kea and we went to the hora (the main square in the village) for a dinner at rolando's. rolando's is one of our favorite places to eat, not just because of the food but because of the owner and his wife, rolando and sula. we had finished dinner and were walking back down the hill to our car. when all of a sudden i collide, no i walked right into a metal car guard. what is a car guard you might ask? it is a metal gate that comes up at night to prevent cars from driving into the square. i must add that this gate was not up when we walked up the hill to dinner. thankfully, my dad was right in front of me, he saw the guard and stepped over it, but he broke my fall when i lunged forward. the bad news was that there were a ton of people around who witnessed the incident, and were kind enough to lend music to the crashing sound of bone and metal with their collective gasp. better yet, the 5 women who were attending algaia's cooking class were also there to see my latest graceful move.

true to greek form, within minutes of my incident the entire village was alerted that the american doctor's daughter walked into the car gate and hurt her leg.

my mom kept asking me if i was okay, aside from the huge bruise and goose egg i was fine ( they are still there by the way). i did tell her that my ego hurt much worse than my leg did.

and just for the record, that gate remained down the remainder of the time we were there. i like to think that my clumsiness had something to do with it.

in flight

we are on our way..... to greece. i wont be posting much while we are away, much to busy soaking up the sun, swimming in the sea, eating fabulous food and seeing friends. i will be back on september 14th with lots to share.

i thought i would leave you with some images of where we are headed.....

see you on the flip side....

friday knitting

what happens when cotton yarn, printed fabric, colorful embroidery thread and summer meals outside come together? aglaia's placemat is created.

my family has a house on a small island about an hour ferry ride from athens. and from the months of may to october this wonderful island in the mediterranean is where you will find my parents. my precious husband and i are fortunate to go over every summer for two weeks and we look forward to that trip all year (more on that as our trip approaches). aglaia also lives on the island of kea. aglaia is part cookbook author, part chef, part writer, part restaurant consultant, my mom's best friend and the most wonderful person i have ever met. she and her husband run a cooking school ,unlike any other, during the summer months. we spend many a summer days gathered around her table under the grape vines eating her fabulous food. seriously, it is as romantic as it sounds. and because it is the greek way to always bring a gift when you arrive at someones' house, i am always knitting for her.

enter aglaia's placemats. i had this idea for a placemat that was knit, but then had fabric holders for silverware and was backed with the same fabric. you may remember the design concept was on my list of knitting projects not to long ago. i knew they would be a fabulous addition to aglaia's table. i think they turned out just perfect and were pretty easy to make. now, i need to make some for our backyard summer eating.

i am working on making the pattern available. so stay tuned for the launch of the lucends etsy shop.

please enjoy....