Owen's 4th Birthday

For the past several months, Owen has been very into pirates. He loves to watch Peter Pan and Disney's new Jake and the Neverland Pirates. So it was only proper to have a Pirate Party for his 4th birthday.

We started the day with some presents from Mom and Dad... Automobox cars, a ball and bat, and a puzzle.

After presents we went to the park for Owen's Pirate Birthday Party.

The Pirate Map Birthday Cake

The Crew
The Treasure Hunt
They were given clues that led them throughout the park and finally to the hidden treasure.

Clue #1- This is where the captain stands when steering his ship through the raging sea.
Clue #2- I have super strength and agility, the ability to climb walls, shoot spider-webs from my hands, and react to danger quickly, enabling me to fight my enemies.
Clue #3- The traffic lights we see ahead, Are sometimes green, And sometimes red. Red on top, and green below; The red means STOP, The green means GO!
Clue #4- I wave to everyone who visits the park and remind people to be kind to nature.
Clue #5- Walk through the Tree Tunnel to find your next clue. Clue #6- People come here to have a picnic and eat Owen’s birthday cake. X marks the spot where you will find your hidden treasure!
4 Candles
Presents- Cars and Star Wars
We skyped with our families in the afternoon and opened the presents that they had sent. All in all, a great day! Happy 4th Birthday to an amazing little boy! We love you, Owen!

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

One of my favorite memories growing up is when my mom read books aloud to us. We read books about the little Russian boy Ivan and Little House on the Prairie. This summer we have officially started this tradition at our house. We started it all off with Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory! We read one chapter a day (sometimes 2 when Owen really begged for another). When we finished the book, we got to watch the movie (we're teaching him early that you should always read the book first!) We made Willy Wonka Chocolate Pie and ate it while watching the movie. It was a great first read aloud chapter book and Owen is definitely hooked! He couldn't wait to choose the next book... James and the Giant Peach. Ryan and I both love to read and we hope that our children will love it just as much!

Happy 4th of July!

We spent the 4th at the beach with 75 American friends. We grilled burgers, hotdogs, and ate potato salad and watermelon. We sang patriotic songs and even had a sand castle/sand art contest. It was a fun day to appreciate our culture, speak English and celebrate America.

Summer School Days

Owen's regular preschool year ended with a big end of the year show. We are so proud of our little boy! It's not easy to be different from all of the other kids and to learn and play in a language that is not your own. But Owen goes to school most days with a smile on his face and happy attitude. This year he has made a good friend named Ata, has gotten used to drinking Ayran at lunchtime (a salty yogurt drink), and is communicating more and more in Turkish. What a brave little boy!
This is a picture of his class singing and dancing to Turkish and English songs. Owen is in the back row, third from the right (the only fair skinned child). They also showed a video of Owen saying basic greetings, counting and naming animals in Turkish.
Immediately following Owen's last week of school, we launched into organizing a week of English Club for some local preschoolers associated with a fellowship here in our city. We had club every morning from 9:30-12:30. It was a great week and we really enjoyed getting to know and love on these kids.
We have had the privilege of having some college students from Iowa State here to hang out with us this summer. They have made a ton of friends quickly. But we were able to steal them away from their friends to help us with the English Club for the week and they even brought along a few other recruits.
The is a face of a child who thought he was free from Turkish school lunches and yogurt for the summer. Just one more week, buddy!
This week Owen started summer school which includes a month full of swimming and sports. He is going 3 afternoons a week and so far has come home tired and sweaty everyday... fun times!

Happy Father's Day

We love our Daddy!

Summer Fun- June

I can't believe how fast June went. Here are all of the fun things that we've been doing this month!

We started the summer with a short weekend getaway to the mountains.
Riding the chair-lift up the mountain
This month has been filled with...
ice cream sundaes
puppet shows
watermelon
tricycle riding
stopping to smell the flowers
tree climbing
playing at the park
Black Sea beach fun
and corn on the cob. You know you've become a Turk when you stop on the side of the road after a long day at the beach for some fresh corn on the cob! Should we be worried?
We even fit in a Bosporus Boat trip
Proof of a fun summer= dirty scraped up knees, shins and elbows

Birthday Breakfast with Friends

I celebrated my birthday this year with some of our best friends. We went to brunch near the marina in Maltepe. The weather was truly the first warm and sunny day of spring and it was a perfect day spent with good friends. Here are some pictures.