Happy 4th of July

So it is a very weird feeling to not be in America on the 4th of July. This is actually my 3rd year to celebrate our Independence day in a different country. While it stinks missing the parades, cookouts, fireworks and time with family and friends, I actually think I'm even more thankful to be an American when I'm not living there. We easily take for granted the freedoms, opportunities and quality of life that we have. So this year, I'm very thankful. I'm also thankful for American friends that I have here to share these special days with.

Our family and 130 other Americans got together to celebrate the 4th. I was in charge of the food. Here is what 55 lbs. of beef looks like in refrigerator.
In order to share the fun of pounding out 150 hamburgers, we had a Patty Pounding Party the night before the event. The next day we headed out to Polonezkoy, a small Polish village outside the city.

The country club there has an amazing pool, a sports field, a full kitchen with outside dining area and even a petting zoo.
Here are pics from the day. It was awesome!
Thanks to Anne's friends for making the God Bless America sign and sending the little flags.
It wouldn't be the 4th without burgers (with bacon), baked beans, potato salad and chips.
I said it was a petting zoo, but don't worry, Owen didn't touch the Python.
Owen entered the pool at 9am and did not stop playing (except for the lunch break) until 5:30pm.
Oh, and a quick watermelon break. But he didn't have to leave the pool to do that.
Pool Games
Owen was asleep before we left the parking lot. A sign of a good day!
Happy 4th of July!

Out of town

Ok, I realize I haven't blogged in forever, so here is my attempt at catching up. The first week of July we took a trip out of town for a few days to visit some friends. We took a 4 hour train ride and spent 2 nights. It was nice to be in a smaller town, we loved seeing our friends and it's great seeing other parts of the country.

We spent most of the first day at this beautiful, huge park. It had the most realistic pirate ship I've ever seen and they are currently building a castle for the kids to play in. Very cool!

Here is Owen standing next to one of the most famous Turkish writers, Nasreddin Hoca. He is famous for his fables.
There is a river that runs through the city, so we took a boat ride. It's not Venice, but it was fun.
And the train ride home. I'm so thankful Owen can fall asleep anywhere.

My Little Sultan

Owen's last day of school was this past week. To celebrate, his school put on a show for the parents. We received an invitation instructing us to come to the theatre at 10:30am on Sunday. We had no idea what to expect since this was Owen's first year in a national preschool. But we dressed Owen according to the instructions and arrived on time to the venue. They took Owen to the back to get him dressed in his costume and we proceeded to the theatre full of proud parents with video cameras. When the curtains finally opened (20 minutes late), we saw Owen sitting on a chair front and center dressed like a Sultan! I realize that I'm biased, but he was the cutest kid on stage and did all of the motions and sang all of the words to the songs like a pro.



The video above is just a quick glimpse of the 3+ HOUR show. Yes, that's right, 3 HOURS later, the show was still going. We left early when Owen's part was done. We just couldn't handle anymore and neither could Owen. When he came out for his last performance at 2pm (which was 2 hours past lunch and 1 hour past naptime), I knew he had had enough. He started swaying and sucking his thumb and it looked like he was going to fall asleep in the middle of the song. But he was still adorable in his red outfit with boots.

It was overall a great experience and an enjoyable day. We are so proud of Owen for participating so well at a school where no one speaks English. He is learning and growing and making friends, and eating new foods and speaking a new language. And he's still the funny, sweet, full of life Owen that moved here with us 9 months ago. What to go, Buddy!

Summer Beach Fun

We spent Saturday at the beach with our friends. It was our first trip to the beach for the summer...the first of many. This beautiful Black Sea beach had soft silky sand and clear blue water. Amazing!
Ryan and Owen building in the sand. You can see Ryan is giving Owen an important lesson on water drainage.
Owen helped bury Sara Beth in the sand and then decided he wanted to get buried too.We are so blessed to have such great friends!

After playing in the sand and water all morning we took a lunch break
and then a well earned nap!

Cuddle time with Aunt Ta

We love having Aunt Ta here!

Costume Tea Party

Owen and I had a costume cay party yesterday. Everyone was invited and it was a lovely event. Owen made invitations and all of the guests wore costumes.

The Invitation and Guest List
The Guests (from left to right): George, Beft, Arf Arf,
Red Arf, Woody, BunnyAnd the host of the party, Owen, wearing his puppy dog mask.

Day with Friends

The other day we visited our friends Koray and Nurcan and their little boy Emir. They live on the other side of town, so it took us over an hour to get there via 2 buses and a boat. Their little boy is 6 months younger than Owen. So we visited, the boys played and we all ate way too much. It was really rainy outside, so it was a great day to spend inside with friends.

Popsicles

I made Popsicles for the first time the other night. They were a blend of apple juice, orange juice and fresh squeezed watermelon juice. They turned out great, but were a bit hard to eat because of the shape and size. Fortunately my girlfriends in Arlington are looking out for us because the next day we got a package in the mail with Popsicle holders along with a bunch of other great stuff. Thanks friends!

End of the Season

Strawberry season is drawing to a close here. So Tara and I went to the bazaar last week and bought 3 kilos to freeze for the rest of the year. You can't find frozen fruit everywhere here and it's pretty pricey, so this should allow us to enjoy strawberries a few times until next summer.

Here we are cutting up strawberries and sporting our LSU attire.