Papaw and Anne

We had the best time the past 2 weeks with Ryan's parents in town. We showed them all around the city, they met our friends and we even took a 2 day road trip. They left a couple of days ago and we miss them already. Thanks for coming to see us! We love you!

As soon as Anne and Papaw got here we got down to business by making a Toy Story Birthday Cake and finishing celebrating Owen's birthday. I'm so glad Vallie and Tara were here to help me pull off the cake. It took team work but I think it turned out pretty cute and Owen LOVED it.
Instead of wrapping presents we did a treasure hunt by hiding all of his gifts and giving him clues to find them.
Where does Aunt Ta sleep?
Papaw hooked him up with a very authentic cowboy outfit.
Here he is wearing his outfit a few days later.
Where does Owen sit to put on his shoes?
Where does Owen sit to eat?
Uncle B and Aunt Sassy skyped in for the party.
Where do Mommy and Daddy sleep?
Where does Anne sit to drink her coffee in the morning?
Once we got the birthday celebrated and done, we took time to see the city.
Here we are standing outside of Dolmabahce Palace. Owen try his hardest to get the soldier to move with no success.
Inside the palace walls
After the palace, we had a picnic at the water in front of Rumeli Castle. After lunch we climbed the castle walls.
We took a road trip to Assos for a few days. On the way, we stopped in the ancient city of Troy (think Homer's Iliad) and the Gallipoli World War I battle grounds. On the way home, we drove to the Western Most Tip of Asia (aka the end of the earth).

The view on the way- endless fields of sunflowers

Woody got to see all of the sights as well.
There wasn't much to see at the tip of Asia besides this sign and a little castle. But Ryan did find this knife maker that a friend told him about. This guy and his family have been making handmade knifes for hundreds of years, so that was pretty cool. Hopefully in September, Ryan will be getting his own handmade knife in the mail.
We got to spend a full afternoon and morning at the beach in Assos. Gorgeous doesn't quite describe the setting.
It was a great trip and Owen did an amazing job considering the number of hours we spent in the car. He may have felt like this about getting in the car again...
But he didn't complain and really enjoyed the vacation.
Another day we went to the new Aquarium in town. It's part of this new mega mall and shopping area, so we had a good time exploring the aquarium and shops.
Hanging out around the house
We visited the Grand Bazaar one day and visited our carpet salesmen friends there. Owen loved making snow angels on the silk carpet.
We also ventured over to the Tuesday Neighborhood Bazaar for some bargain shopping. I think Tara bought an entire new wardrobe during her 2 months here. It's hard to pass up a $3 dress.
We spent our last night at one of our favorite old restaurants, Biber. We loved having our family here to visit.