Our little girl started preschool and to say she LOVES it is an understatement! She attends Minik Devler (that means little giants in Turkish). It’s a little Turkish preschool and she is in the international program with 8 other kids in her class. About half are Turkish, a couple from Europe and, and Eliza is the only American. The school is a couple kilometers from the house, and she rides the bus both ways to school. The first couple days she went for a shorter day for acclimation and by day 3 they told her to come normal time. She did a half day this week and next week starts full-day! Here she is ready to go on the first morning!
Waiting for the taxi to go to school :)
The first day she met one-on-one with the teacher, and the second day they introduced her to the class. She came home saying she has so many friends. This girl loves making friends, she is such a friendly little girl. The school sent me some videos and photos during the week. Here are some videos from her first day with her friends in science.
Doing arts and crafts
The facility is a villa that used to be a children’s recreation center. The bottom level has a pool, there is also a small basket ball court, running track, and gymnastics area on the lower levels. The upper levels are the eating area and kitchen (they give them breakfast, lunch, and snack)!, and lots of little rooms for learning science, math, language, arts and crafts, dress up/drama, and a little playground outside. Each week she has swimming lessons and gymnastics lessons twice a week. Here are a couple videos from the school.
Outdoors painting.
Eliza has had a fun and exhausting first week of preschool, and we she can’t wait to see her friends on Monday! We are thankful she loves school and are excited for how she will learn and grow this year.
Before blogging about our summer vacation we took in June, I wanted to pause to blog about Caleb turning 11! Caleb is growing up before our eyes and turning into quite the young man. Caleb has turned into a lover of all things Japan, especially manga, which are Japanese comic books, and animae, which are the Japanese animated comic book shows. He has many Japanese friends in Turkey, loves Japanese food, and learning about their culture. Caleb still loves to read and he is a big fan of science fiction and fantasy books and movies.
Caleb loves to be outdoors and is always up for a new adventure. He has incredible amounts of stamina and energy and will go all day until he crashes at night (this has been the case since he was a baby)!
Caleb is also an adventurous eater, and he especially loves spicy foods. Some of his favorites are Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Indian, and if his food is not spicy enough, he will almost always add hot sauce, just like his dad.
On Caleb’s birthday, he wanted to stay home from camp and play with friends in the neighborhood and spend time with us. Benjamin unfortunately was sick in bed for a couple days with a throat infection, so we modified our plans a little, but he still had a great day. We started the day with his favorite breakfast, cinnamon rolls and bacon.
Caleb enjoys marking up photos…glad he thought this was delicious :).
We ordered chicken fingers and fries for him and his friends to have a picnic outside, and in the afternoon his cupcakes arrived. Caleb’s favorite colors are pink and purple and he requested pink and purple cupcakes.
A couple friends came to the door and snuck in briefly for cupcakes, then Caleb delivered some to a couple more friends. Hopefully we didn’t infect anyone.
We ordered from his favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner, then he opened gifts from family. He received birthday money, a book, a video game, a magnetic puzzle cube, legos, a rubix race and card game, tennis racquets, and bey blades.
Caleb is a great big brother to both his siblings. Caleb and Benjamin, while very different, are very good friends and we love watching their brotherly bond grow. Caleb is so attentive to Eliza and her needs, and she often goes to him first when she needs help. We love these three and how they had fun celebrating Caleb.
On Saturday, we had a birthday party for him at a nearby arcade with about 12 other friends. They did bowling, laser tags, and soft play, and had pizza and cake. This was the first day Benjamin felt well, thankfully. Benjamin, Eliza, and I went over early to bring the cake. It was an animae-themed party, perfect for Caleb.
First everyone did soft play.
Then they split into two groups, one for bowling and another group for laser tag.
After pizza, we sang happy birthday and had cake. Fortunately we are able to find the firework candles in Turkey too.
Caleb has made some nice friends around the neighborhood and at school this past year. Pictured here are kids from Israel, Azerbaijan, and South Korea!
Enjoying the pure sugar fondant….it was a good but very sweet cake.
Kadem, her husband Mustafa, and daughters Ebru and Ezgi came to the party too. They are like family to us and love the children.
Later that afternoon, Nathan took Caleb to a nearby sushi restaurant he has been wanting to try, and to his favorite bookstore.
It was a great few days celebrating Caleb turning 11 years old! We love you big boy and are so proud of the young man you are becoming.
Here is a wrap up for the rest of May. Towards the end of the year, 4th grade had a science fair. Caleb and a couple friends did a science fair project at school about what kinds of liquids can remove sharpie ink. According to their results, hand sanitizer does the best job, vinegar next, then water does nothing. Good thing to keep in mind!
He and a friend also did a social studies project about Lebanon. This year they studied world history and he learned about many interesting places and civilizations.
The kids have lot of neighborhood friends and during the weekend, kids come and go from our house to take breaks from playing outside. This evening a few stayed for dinner.
Benjamin has been working on his six pack abs and he and his friends were doing a plank contest, haha.
We had a lot of turnover in our office this summer with 3 people departing, so we had a team lunch at a nearby Turkish restaurant. We enjoyed great food, conversation, and watching cars get towed on the road.
Another day we went to the camp that kids are going to this summer to get them registered and check out the new preschool they are opening, for Eliza. We didn’t end up going with the school for her, but we all enjoyed seeing pictures of the kids from camp last summer.
We were off to the doctor one day when Benjamin had a fever and could barely get off the couch…if you know Benjamin, that is not him at all. Eliza brought her doctor’s kit, she is so sweet:)
Poor kid had strep throat, but after a couple days of antibiotics he was feeling much better and was happy to go back to school.
On Memorial Day, Nathan and I had the day off and the kids had school. Kadem watched Eliza for a few hours so we could take a hike in the forrest across the street from our home. Nathan walks out there often, and it’s a treat when we can go together.
In early June the boys had their last day of 3rd and 4th grade! It has been so great to have them in school this past year, after not going for 1.5 years. They had such a great year, learned a lot, had wonderful teachers, made sweet friends, and these kids are ready for 4th and 5th grade!
We pulled the kids out a few days early because we were leaving for vacation to Georgia and Greece, more to come on that soon.
I have fallen way behind on blogging again, and will try to catch up over the next month. The beginning of May, the boys, Nathan, and I stayed on a wooden gullet boat on the Mediterranean Sea, with our good friends Victoria and Brett, who live in Istanbul. We would have loved Eliza to join us, but we knew that being on a small boat and in the water for 4 days would have been challenging for both her and us, so she stayed with our nanny, Kadem, and her family and she had a great time with them. We met our friends in Istanbul and flew to the coastal city of Dalaman together, then took at 3 hour drive to Kekova, where we got onto the boat for the next 4 days. The kids are great travelers and were excited to get on a plane, even for a 4am flight :).
Getting on the boat after early morning travels.
The hallway of the boat. Kitchen to the left, our room to the left, the boys room to the right, and Victoria and Brett’s room straight ahead.
The kitchen where all the magic happened. We had a captain and a chef on board, and we were very spoiled by the delicious Turkish food that the chef cook for us for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Nathan and my room and boys looked the same. We had a small bathroom and enough room to walk on the side of our bed. It was small but comfortable quarters.
Setting sail! Each day we visited 2-3 harbors and would stop at each one for a few hours to swim. The temperature was perfect to be outside. The water was a bit chilly, but we all got in to enjoy it. The boys practically lived in the water for 4 days.
Brett and Victoria. They are special friends from Jordan and we are thankful they are in Turkey with us.
They brought adult floaties, which was a great idea to easily relax in the water.
In their happy places. On a boat in jumping distance of the water.
We also got floaties for the boys, but they swam around most the time.
The food was so good. I don’t remember everything we ate, but it was all amazing.
Can you see the boys on the rock?
On board, there was a paddle board, kayak, and a dinghy boat. To get to shore, we would use them (the captain took us in the dinghy).
The boys loved taking out the kayak and the paddle board themselves. Many harbors had small islands and rock formations and the boys would paddle over to explore. It was a really neat to watch them enjoy this freedom.
This was one of the most scenic harbors and was such a pretty sunset. We stayed here the first night.
The next day we went were off to see more harbors.
This harbour had a bat cave nearby, and the captain took a few of us at a time inside the cave to see...lots of bats.
Then we paddled to shore and took a hike to see some Lycian ruins. We would sometimes put the 4 of us on the paddle board, and Brett and Victoria on the kayak if we all wanted to go to shore. It was a convenient mode of transportation.
After getting back from the hike, we moved to another harbor and passed a sunken city of Dolchiste, an old Lycian settlement, along the way. The city was destroyed by an earthquake in the 2nd century.
You can see some of the sunken homes above the surface. It was an interesting site.
The evenings got a bit chilly and we enjoyed wrapping up in big blankets.
More good food!
Our boat was called the Kekova II.
The next day was a bit rainy, so it was a perfect day for a hike. The dinghy took us to shore and we got to explore some old Roman tombs and ruins.
There was very few people there, it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves.
Roman tombs.
And great stones for rock skipping.
History of the area...
We went to the next harbor where we stayed for the evening and enjoyed more delicious food and playing some card games after dinner.
Early morning kayak and swim.
Next we went to a beautiful harbor called Aquarium Bay. It was a very popular bay and was visited by several day-trip boats with. This bay wasn’t quite as relaxing in comparison because there were so many people there, but it was still beautiful.
Then we explored the cute village of Kalekoy, only accessible by boat, for a few hours that day. We visited the castle at the top of the island, walked the narrow streets, and enjoyed some home made ice cream.
Prom pictures:)
The Turkish Evil Eye (Nazar Boncuğu) in Turkish, is everywhere, in order to keep the bad energy away. People have them hanging in their homes, cars, in restaurants, pretty much everywhere you go. This wall seemed pretty well protected!
Back to the boat.
Sometimes you just need to a nap.
Dear friends ;)
The next morning our family had to leave around 5am to make the 3 hour drive before our 10am flight. It was such a fun and unique trip to take with Brett and Victoria, we greatly enjoyed the experience and time with them. They continued on for a few more days to Bodrum, and we headed back to Ankara to get Eliza.
Eliza had a fun time while we were away. She was a little sad the first day, but after that she had a great time. She was with Kadem and her family during the Bayram (Eid) holiday, so they did lots of traditional things such as visiting family, going to parks, and seeing friends. They kept busy and had fun. Here are some pictures from their time together. Enjoying Turkish breakfast and tea each morning.
Eliza loves to help in the kitchen.
It rained quite a bit while we were away, but they got out to enjoy some parks and sites around Ankara when the weather permitted. Eliza with Kadem, her husband Mustafa, and their younger daughter Ebru, at Atakule, a famous landmark in Ankara.
Atakule tower. Eliza calls Mustafa ‘baba’, which means dad in Turkish. It’s really cute.
Their eldest daughter, Ezgi, came to town for the week as well. Eliza enjoys spending time with her when she is in town.
Kadem had a birthday while we were away. Here is Eliza singing the happy birthday song in Turkish. Eliza was only exposed to Turkish while we are away, since Kadem’s family doesn’t speak much English. Of all the kids, Eliza knows the most Turkish and understands quite a bit, from being with Kadem and Ebru the past year and half.
One day they went to a farm and Eliza picked a couple eggs and flowers for Bayram (Eid).
Another traditional thing Turks do during Bayram is visit their families. Kadem has a large family in Ankara, and they have been excited to meet Eliza. Apparently Eliza wasn’t into the crowd of unfamiliar people, but they did get to meet her briefly.
Ebru and Eliza had sleepovers in Ebru’s room or the living room each night.
We are thankful that Eliza had a fun few days with their family. It was a special time for Eliza and Kadem’s family, they adore our children and treat them like their own.
