Thoughts About Turkey

Throughout our trip we would jot down quick thoughts about Turkey, Turkish culture, food, drink, tourists, people watching, whatever.  Here are those thoughts:

- Selfie sticks are EVERYWHERE!  It's truly a menace to society
- The best clubs are hard to find.  They might be through unassuming doors and long hallways that open to amazing spaces
- The wine is just so-so
- Turkish women are beautiful (noted by Sara)
- Turkish men are hot as well (also noted by Sara)
- 80's music is alive and well in Turkey
- Beach clubs play reggae versions of pop hits...some are interesting some not so much
- The Algean Sea is clean, blue-green, salty, and doesn't smell.  The small fish liked to eat Anthony's feet.
- Less plastics and more glass
- You eat dinner at 9pm and the clubs don't "happen" until 11pm or later
- Lot's of smoking which was odd to see but they do have the cutest ash trays
- The Turkish "evil eye" (for good luck) is everywhere!
- No bugs, mosquitoes, nats, or anything
- The clubs in Alacati didn't have dancing. Weird, right?
- Alacati is the wedding photo capital of Turkey - big Cinderella dresses are super popular and flowers in the hair
- The Kuna (bachelorette party) is a lot of fun
- Kursad is a great translator!
- Kursad's cousin did Claire's makeup for the Kuna night.  It was funny seeing Kursad try to translate makeup related concepts
- Anthony was mistaken to be Syrian and Turkish a couple of times (including Kursad's brother).  I guess the beard really helped him to blend in even without knowing the language.
- Turks seem to really love their nation.  We sang the nationalistic song 10 Year March at the end of the Kuna night
- Nuts served as appetizers everywhere
- At the beach we were parked in by another car and the beach club manager did some creative car maneuvering to get Kursad's car out.  Pretty impressive
- There was huge debate on how long Sara should keep her henna on her hand.  The longer it stayed on her hand the longer the stain would last.
- Mint and lemon "miracle" water.  This was the water offered at the La Grenadine Hotel.  Tasted awesome.
- Kursad is excellent at reading Turkish coffee grounds
- A fresh fig is wonderful
- Stray cats and dogs are everywhere
- Lots of corn on the cob street vendors
- The Blue Hotel Restaurant has a good view but the food is just eh
- The Spice Bazaar is surprisingly better than the Grand Bazaar.  The Grand Bazaar is a tourist trap.
- The Tram system is easy to use and cheap
- Some roof top places are "safer" than others (according to Sara)
- Sara looks good in traditional mosque wear for women (see previous post for our Flickr photos)
- Having a guide (Murat) was awesome and saved time by getting to cut lines
- The Bosphorous tour was like the Beverly Hills tour (we imagined)...it was really nice and showed off the beautiful houses along the water
- The Blue Mosque is very impressive.  Women prayed separately from the men.\
- The Hippodrome is not a building, just an open area with a few columns
- The Spice bazaar is also known as the Egyptian Bazaar
- The Seven Hills Restaurant has amazing food and views.  The fish was awesome.  We highly recommend
- The ice cream stand show was pretty fun.  It was a like a magic show
- "Kevin at home" - We met a nice man on the Tram that talked our ears off.  One of the things he said is he loves American movies and one of them was "Kevin at home".  Anthony of course knew right away he meant Home Alone.  Of course.
- Interesting fact: The Silk Road and Orient Express both end in Turkey

Turkey!! (Claire and Kursad's Wedding Turkish Style)

We had such a great trip to Turkey. It is so beautiful, amazing, relaxing, and everyone is so nice. We will have more about our observations and thoughts later but for now some photos from our first week of the trip.

Alacati
The streets and night life of Alacati, our beautiful hotel La Grenadine, the beach near Cesme, the Kina Gecesi (Henna Night), Kursad and Claire's wedding, and some shots of cats (they are everywhere).

Ephesus
Our day trip to Ephesus along with Kursad reading our coffee grounds.

Istanbul Day 1
Sight seeing at Aya Sofia and the Palace Topkapi.

Istanbul Day 2
Bosphorus tour, the Grand Bazaar, the Blue Mosque, and the Cistern.

Istanbul Day 3
Walking around and Spice Bazaar.

Istanbul Day 4
Sara gets hurt, good drinks, and more walking around.

Kursad and Claire's Wedding Weekend

We were so excited to attend our good friends Kursad and Claire's wedding on July 3rd. Francisco flew in from Chicago and stayed with us which made Xavier very happy...

                 

Grammy and Papa Doudt also stopped in for the long weekend which of course delighted Bridget and Xavier.  Snuggle time!

                 

Just two dudes hanging out on the bench enjoying the day.

This is how we left for the wedding.  Nice and proper and looking pretty good, right? 

And this is how we look during the wedding, on the dance floor of course...

We had such a great time.  CONGRATS, Kursad and Claire!!!  See you in Turkey in a month!

There Goes Bridget!

Well this is a little over two weeks late (must be the second child thing...sorry Bridget!!).  On Thursday, June 25th, Bridget decided enough of this crawling thing and walked.  

Once Ms. B decided to walk it was all over.  She has not stopped and is getting more and more comfortable and confident. Matter of fact, she's already been caught climbing the stairs a couple times.  This second video is at the Marbles Children's Museum (she was playing with water and had on the waterproof vest).

Party Time!

We were invited to our neighbor Isaac's 3rd birthday party today.  Xavier had a blast on the mini-rollercoaster.  He raced anyone and everyone! 

The bounce house was a different story.  Xavier was not a fan.

 Xavier got seated right next to the birthday boy, Isaac, for cake time!!

Xavier enjoying some juice with his frosting 'stache.

Bridget was enjoying herself too.

All the photos of the party are posted on my flickr page if you want to see more.

I GO IOWA!

That is what Xavier would say when we told him we were going to go to the airport and fly to Iowa. We packed all our toys, snacks, and more snacks and headed back to Iowa to see Great Grandma Wally, family, extended family, and attend Sara's cousin's wedding.  It was a jam packed long weekend but we had a great time and the kids did really well on all the flights.

Xavier really really loved the airport with all the moving walkways, planes, people, friends (other kids), and wide open spaces to run away from mom and dad.  He was in his element.

On our first leg of the trip, Xavier enjoyed watching cars while Bridget took her morning nap on mommy.  Xavier also enjoyed sharing his toys with his "friend", a little girl his age, in the seat behind him.

Bridget was her usual smiley and playful self on the flights when she was awake.  Here she was standing between dad's legs looking out the plane window at the clouds.

One of the first things we did when we arrived in Davenport, besides napping, was to see Great Grandma Wally and Grandpa Marc.  While Xavier played with Great Grandma Wally's cool monster truck toys Bridget enjoyed an expert snuggle.

Near Grandma Annie's house is a huge water tower.  Water towers are one of Xavier's loves so we just had to take a walk to see it up close.  "Whooooooooooa, big water tower!"

The Doudt Family looking gooooooooooooood all dressed up for Brad and Stephanie's wedding.

It didn't take long for Xavier's shirt to become untucked...pretty easy to do when you run everywhere (holding an excavator).

Bridget and daddy hanging out before the wedding.

Xavier had a blast playing and dancing with all his cousins.  Here is a shot that is hard to capture in the wild...Mady and Xavier don't stay in one place too long.

Brad and Stephanie's wedding reception was at the Quad City's minor league ballpark.  How cool! Of course the Doudt's danced the night away in style...well, let's just say we danced since we're not sure how much style we have.

We even got to take a ferris wheel ride.  Unfortunately Xavier was already back at Grandma Annie's house sleeping so he didn't get to take a ride.  Maybe next time!

After a fun filled weekend, the only way to handle the flight home is to snooze...

12 Month Check-in for Ms Bridget

Bridget's 12 month Stats:
Weight: 21 lbs (71%)
Height: 30 in (74%)

Bridget is ahead of the curve already!!

This Is Way Too Late

We finally took Ms. Bridget to her 9 month check up...about 2 months late.  Given we were so late in taking her the percentages are a little higher than what they would have been.

The stats:
Weight: 20lbs (73%)
Height: 29in (73%)

Anyway you look at it, she's a healthy happy smiling beautiful almost-11-month old.

On the Xavier front, we got a metal print of a train photo for his room. This photo doesn't do it justice, as this print is HUGE.  It's really quite funny but X loves his "BIG choo-choo!"