Singapore with Cousins!

We just got back from Singapore. It was the first time we - as an extended family - traveled together and it was a great opportunity to get to know a new place in the company of cross-cultural family members. There were times, of course, when things weren't so easy, like the tears in the car waiting for Singapore customs to allow us into the country. Three hours later we were lost in the city with no other option than to hire a taxi just to drive in front of us and show us how to get to the hotel. There were also the moments of tears (all four children cried at some point during the trip, with the younger ones, of course, putting on most of the show) as we learned to work together, make decisions together and deal with different priorities and changes of plans, of course. :-)

But there were wonderful moments too! The Christmas presents opened at Leanne's house (where we met up with her and her mom but also our friends Jim and Jay and Jay's mother and step father) were a great opportunity for the children to open no less than four presents each, much to the surprise of the unprepared parents. Auntie Leanne sure knows how to pamper the children and the wrapping took probably no more than about six seconds to tear off. There was excitement and great food to boot! Of course one could not be in a hotel room and not enjoy the cuddle time with the children, nor the large screen TV that allowed us cartoon mornings and movie nights.

Other wonderful moments were the one day where we split up. Tia, Avi and TTmouz went to Universal Studios (a gift from us) and had a fantastic time there, returning just before midnight on the 27th. On the same day we decided to head to the Singapore Zoo (where Irini wanted to go all along). The day was perfect and Irini insisted on taking the train and bus instead of the car. Though longer it sure gave us a great idea of the Singaporean transport system. Once there Irini was intent to seeing everything, but avoiding the crocodiles and alligators, because she didn't want them to bite us. Happily we obliged and roamed around the entire zoo (and even took a tram ride for part of it!). Irini decided that the docile and friendly looking tapirs were the highlight of the zoo. Amalia decided that she liked the elephants. The colorful ones that stood happily all over the zoo and the city beyond. There's a picture of one of them above. :-) The girls spent the entire day with a huge grin on their faces until they could no longer stay awake. They slept almost the entire way back and, when they were awake, they giggled and laughed like... well, like little children!

The way back was faster (we got through both Singaporean and Malaysian customs and crossed the bridge in about 10 minutes) though we did get caught in KL Friday night traffic. Thankfully it was only about 15 minutes of desperation time as Amalia continued her pleas to be allowed out of her car seat. Upon arriving, Irini announced "Yeay, we did it!". She was happy to be home and it was obvious. On several occasions she mentioned, "I love my home" and she was beaming from ear to ear. On to the new year...

Oh, wait~Irini's 4th birthday is just a week away! She's already planning how many friends she wants to invite. Okay. So, now where were we? Oh, yes, on to the new year... :-)

Words of Wisdom

Amalia is growing. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work that one out. She's eating with a massive appetite. She runs all over the house, neighborhood, city. Her bigger lung capacity is obvious. :-) Oh, and she's starting to say stuff. It started with "this" a while back, then moved on to "no", where is sort of got stuck in second gear for a while, until about a week or two ago, when the linguistic floodgates opened and now them words are coming out faster than we can jot them down. Here's an 'off the top of our head' list of what she can say so far:

1. This
2. No
3. Lala (Tia, TTmouz and Avi's cat)
4. Coco (the other cat, whose name is Paco)
5. Barney
   
6. Mouz (short for TTmouz)
7. Nini (short for Irini)
8. Ka (short for Rebecca)
9. Sco' (short for Scott)
10. Ra (short for Ralph)
11. Go (with conviction)
12. Mine (with even more conviction)
13. Nana (short for banana, of course)
14. Boo (short for book)
15. Woof
16. Baa
17. More
18. Mas (Spanish for "more")
19. Pipi
20. Mama (either for mama or for any other adult in the house, in a picture, etc.)
    
21. Uh Oh
22. Yeay! (arms raised in the air included!)
23. Close

Each day there's another one, and sometimes the stick and others they are forgotten and replaced by other words. More to follow, no doubt.

The development of language has resulted in Laurence's longing for Amalia to stay just the way she is. He loves her right now. She's small enough, fun enough, animated enough, and babbled for minutes on end, with the addition of flailing arms and intonations to make a point. Laurence sits there - sometimes in person and sometimes on the phone - not wanting to hang up or listen the end. From here on things become more understood, though she doesn't seem to have any communication problems at all at the moment. Between pulling out fingers to get us to move where she wants us to, then pointing to what she wants and adding a couple high pitched sounds for effect, she gets her point across just fine. :-)

Take a look at a recent video of her:

It's Beginning to Look a Little Like Christmas

Is this the third time we've done this? Wouldn't doing it more than twice count as the beginning of a tradition? It is one we look forward to every year and today's was a morning to remember. We arrived just after 9:00 am - almost exactly on time - to the smell of freshly brewed coffee and the smiles and enthusiasm of Scott and Rebecca who wanted the girls to share in the beginning of the Christmas season and decorate the tree which stood on top of a small table, waiting to look beautiful. The boxes with decorations were stacked on the floor next to the piano and Irini wanted to know if we could decorate the tree right then and there. No, not yet. We had to eat breakfast first.

The breakfast was a delightful combination of french toast (with yummy maple syrup), freshly cut apples and kiwi, bacon, and an omelet for Laurence. Served with that coffee we were talking about and a glass of orange juice, it was a filling-to-the-point-of-explosion kind of breakfast. Perfect. Amalia was allowed to roam around with a small container of blueberry yogurt, making the customary mess of things on her face, hands, and anything she touched.

Once the food was downed it was time for the boxes to be opened and the contents taken out. Amalia practically tied herself up in a knot made of lights, and Irini helped to take out the more fragile items. Each decoration, of course, had a story and largely followed Scott, Rebecca and Lizzie (we missed you!) as they traveled around the world. "This one was from Bulgaria when we did..." "That one was when Lizzie was three and we...". Irini also found a couple of Christmas books (of which there are many) to open and take a look at. The girls were happily involved in most things, interspersed with a little bickering at times, as would only be appropriate with a one and a half and a nearly four year old. Scott and Laurence largely stayed in the background, washing dishes and discussing the significance of traditions as part of culture, religion, and society. Their banter when back and forth and every once in a while it focused on the women of the house and their preparations or the girls and their antics. It was the kind of morning that family comforts are all about.

By the end the tree stood tall, surrounded with streamers and balls and decorations of all sorts and sizes. Rebecca, in honor of Lizzie (who traditionally makes the final addition), placed the star at the very top, and we rushed over to take a few pictures with our handy-dandy timer camera functions. Irini didn't want to at first, but Rebecca persuaded her that one moment of smiling in front of a camera was certainly worth a little treat or two. Rush. Smile. Flash. Tears. No more pictures for her (at least for a while until she took one more for another little treat for home).

As we pulled away we were happy to have such wonderful friends (non-biological family is more like it, really). Scott and Rebecca waved as we turned left and drove up the street toward the main road. The perfect beginning to a three day weekend and the start of the festive Christmas season. Now on to our own tree.

Travelation

Irini walks into the living room and announces that she is doing "travelation". Natalia and Laurence look at each other quizzically. She walks over to one of the boxes with toys, does a fair share of rummaging and finds a small pink purse. She puts a couple toys inside and then turns abruptly to head to her little table with an adjoining 'library' area. There too she does some looking around and pulls out a small sketchbook. She puts that into her bag also.

She then happily moves back to the sofas, where Natalia is sitting, takes the sketchbook out of her bag and places it in Natalia's hands. And waits. We look at her. She looks at us with a smile and says "that's my passport!". Laurence is still confused, but Natalia understands immediately. She pretends to stamp the passport, hands it back to Irini who promptly places it back into her bag. She pulls the bag up to her shoulder and walks to the other side of the sofas. She turns back to face her parents and happily says "I'm going on an airplane. I'll be back in two days". By now Laurence is in on it as well.

Both Natalia and Laurence gasp, realizing that this is the first time ever their daughter has talked about leaving, even if it is for an imaginary trip. "Two days?!" they both exclaim. She looks back at them, contemplates for a moment and then responds, "five days". By now Natalia and Laurence are looking at each other with longing eyes, hoping the day never comes. Natalia tries to understand why, even in play, she might want to leave. "To see my friend" says Irini. So Natalia gives her an alternative. "Why don't you call your friend and tell her to come visit us for five days instead?" Irini smiles broadly and responds, "okay!".

Disaster has been averted, at least for the time being. The family is still together, with the addition of one imaginary friend. We can live with that... and hope that the real travelation won't happen for a while yet. Kisses and hugs are promptly shared for a decision well made. :-)

Any Random Weekend

Any random weekend might find us roaming the streets of Ampang (our neighborhood), or visiting Tia, TTmouz and Avi... or it might find us moseying our way over to Scott and Rebecca's house. A while back TTmouz had asked Rebecca, after Amalia (or was it Irini) had demanded a huge hug from her, if Rebecca was some sort of cousin of ours. She replied that no, not in blood-related terms, but certainly a member of the family none-the-less. So, one a Saturday (we think it was) we headed out to visit them. The visit began, as it always does, with a happy set of hugs and high pitched cries from Amalia, then settled into the customary roaming of the living room, then the dining room, then the wooden stairs leading to the upper floor. Once at the top we go through a small ritual of running in and out and back again through the hanging fabric the provides a partial cover to Lizzie's bedroom. We walk though for the final assault and a set of "no, don't touch that... put that down... no, no, then, led by hand, we go back through and down (usually with a wide wide smile) and out to the garden.

On this day the garden too was not enough, so down the street we went to see what the neighborhood had it store. Soon enough (was it just a few houses down?) there was a cat, somewhat calico in coloring, which garnered out attention. The girls sat there looking down to the open drain where the cat has scurried to when confronted with the two visiting toddlers. A while later they continued down the street to look for other things. Irini, noticing that her father had his hands free, decided that it might be a good time to get on his shoulders and be carried. Laurence, always happy to oblige, picked her up and in one big swoop had her sitting on his shoulders. They two of them hummed a spontaneous (and not particularly impressive) hum as they crossed the road to the playground on the other side.

Once there the swings were an immediate success (Irini insists on being pushed as high as possible - what we refer to as "boom"). It was followed by some climbing around, a visit to the see-saw and some playing house at a small slide and supporting structure. The adults worried about the mosquitos, as did Irini. Amalia paid no attention to that, but wanted to make sure that she was being entertained as much as possible. When the time was filled and the adults were ready to return home they had to be creatively persuasive to get the girls to follow, returning to the comfort of the living room again where, almost instantly, the girls (Amalia first, then Irini) decided that pretending to fall asleep on the pillows on the floor was a fun game to play. They did as the adults, sitting on various couches and steps surrounding them, giggled and took pictures.

How children make life so much more meaningful! Why even a walk down the street becomes news to write about. :-)

Ball Girl

Professionally Laurence has made a few subtle changes to his repertoire this year. Given that he is not coaching varsity athletics he has taken on some smaller roles at the school, one being that of the Middle League Basketball Coordinator. Essentially this is a Middle School intramural program which employs high school students to run warm-ups, coaching and refereeing while the younger students participate. This means that Laurence supervises the league on Wednesday nights at Saturday mornings. Wednesday are a little tricky with getting the kids to bed, which Natalia does. But Saturdays lend themselves to the girls coming to school sometimes and spending time with daddy. Irini is the observer of the family. She follows her father around, mostly wanting to be by his side. These days she participates in a Yoga for little kids program that has just begun at the same time. But little Amalia is smitten with the idea of any kind of ball. Not surprisingly, one of her first words (she's up to about 7 now) is "ball", which sounds a bit more like "boh". Anything resembling a ball is a source of excitement and creative inspiration for her.

So, when they arrive to the Panther Pit (the outdoor recreational area the back of the campus) and Laurence opens the storage room door, Amalia is in seventh heaven! All sorts of balls in there to discover and play with. The primary option, of course, are basketballs (in both girls and boys sizes), but there is also an array of other options: Tennis balls, whiffle balls. dodge balls. You name it. Heaven can be such a small space!

Letter to my daughters

Some of you might know that the arrival of Irini (and later Amalia) prompted us to create ways of recording our lives together, for information, for posterity, for fun. One such avenue was this very blog. The other, more personal, was the creation of an email for each of the girls, to which we write whenever we feel we have something worth saying (tidbits, love, whatever we want to impart). The post below is such an email, reprinted with permission of the author. :-)

Amalia and Irini,

Yesterday, October 1, 2011, was the first day that Amalia slept away from us. We moved her bed into your room, Irini, just before Tia arrived, with Avihurik and TTimouz for dinner. The house filled with noises and children everywhere and, as always, you both loved it.

But when it was time to go to bed, I took Amalia to bed with a sad heart, missing her already. I have been so used to having you, Amalia, in our room and it was hard to give that up, just like it was hard to give up having Irini with us two years or so ago. Amalia, you did a wonderful job! We were worried that with the new surroundings and the light that we kept on you'd have a hard time adjusting. Sometimes in the past you've been fussy when you've fallen asleep because you tend to sleep lighter than Irini does, but when the time came, and I lied on the the floor pillows next to you to make sure that you had my finger to hold on to (as you always do when you fall asleep) you tossed and turns a little bit, then said "mama" out loud several times, and then you held my finger with both hands, before finally falling asleep in your new room for the very first time. It was sad, but wonderfully warm at that same time. You slumbered as I left you behind and went off to find your sister. You seemed so comfortable and happy as I left, that I knew you belonged there, with your sister.

Irini, you were treated to a new routine because of Amalia's arrival into your room. Since she sleeps a bit before you do, it meant that we couldn't read with you in your bed like we usually do, so mom came up with the idea of going to our bed to read with both of us! You loved it! So did we. :-) Mom and I took turns reading you books that you chose (and there were six of them) and you read one to us too (which is a new thing for you these days). In the end, after the books and after brushing your teeth, I took you into your bedroom for sleep. When we quietly opened the door and you took your first step inside you remembered that you sister was there, and watching the amazement, the happiness in your eyes and movements brought me so much joy. You looked up at me and said "my sister is sleeping here!" and you gave me a massively big smile. You clenched your fists and moved your arms back and forth with excitement. It was the innocent enthusiasm of a sister happy to be with her sibling. In that instant I realized that no matter how sad I might be for having to give up time with Amalia in our room, that it was all worth the energy, the love, the power of togetherness that would give you. You are a good good sister, and I am so happy that, for a while at least, you will have the chance to share your room with your wonderful little sister. She loves you. You love her. Just the way it should be.

And we - your mom and I - love you both!!

Love and smiles,

Daddy :-)

Chiang Mai - Take 2

It wouldn't be fair to not include some of the pictures that Rebecca took in Chiang Mai. She often comes up with such nicer pictures than ours, and the two of Irini on her own above touched our hearts. She is growing up so fast!

By now, of course, Chiang Mai is a distant dream. Taking its place are the daily concerns about the Greek financial situation, the daily worries about school and the pressures of work. Adding to that, the humidity of the tropics practically guarantees an illness here and there. In the past week or so we've all gotten into 'sick' mode, starting with Natalia, spreading (happily only a bit) to the girls and then reaching Laurence just yesterday. Natalia and the girls are back to normal, but Laurence is sniffling away and coughing here and there. Nothing major, but just enough to be a nuisance.

Bedtime Hugs

Laurence is putting Irini to bed. She wants him to read "Too Young for Honey Cake". In the story Little Fox, the main character, gets upset with his father because he's not paying enough attention to him. In a fit of frustration he hides from him father in a broom closet under the steps, until he realizes that he's been over reactive and now he's lonely. Just then his father opens the door and announces that he's made Little Fox some honey cake. Little Fox runs out, apologetic and hugs his father very hard, asking him if he will love him forever and ever. Of course, his father says yes and they hug a long hug.

Just then, Irini sits up and moves over to daddy. She hugs him with all her might and stays there hugging him. No words are shared. None are necessary. Laurence melts. Soon Irini falls asleep and Laurence sits there, by her side, gazing at his daughter's beautiful face.... "I'll love you forever and ever" he whispers, gives her a kiss and turns off the light.

Chiang Mai

It was just two weeks ago, right? How long ago it seems, really. But we were there, walking around the 'old city', doin' the Sunday street market and the out of town trips to the 'ephants (as Irini calls them) and the tigers. It was the kind of trip we hoped for, although perhaps just a day too short. Nestled in the outskirts of Chiang Mai, the hotel (The Ayatana Hamlet and Spa, if you must know) was a wonderful, lush, small, friendly, relaxing place just beyond the university campus. Its charm outdone only in the careful attention of the staff. The place was a great starting point each and every day, and considering we were only there for three days we did a good deal of packing things into the itinerary.

The 'big' day was that of the animals. First was the visit to the Elephant sanctuary, about an hour from the city center. The last time we went to visit elephants Irini was only two, and she was 'cared or 'ephants. This time, however, she took things in stride. Despite being a little cautious at first, she slowly mustered the courage to pet a baby elephant by the time the day was over, nestled ever so carefully in Laurence's arms for good measure. She was delighted by the animals, and enjoyed watching others feeding them. Scott, Rebecca and Natalia did their share of taking care of these gentle giants' appetite! Amalia didn't seem to mind whether they were there or not. She took the whole thing in stride, looking in wonder and amazement at the oxen and elephants that walked on by. She took off after cats and dogs roaming the restaurant area and was happy to be carried when her parents become a little more concerned than she was for her safety. Smiles all the way!

There was also the visit to the Tiger Kingdom, where pictures were taken along side mostly sleeping tigers. Irini was allowed in with her mother and Scott and Rebecca, but Laurence stayed outside, doing his part to stand up to his view of unethical treatment of animals (though there was no actual evidence of maltreatment, he couldn't get over the fact that this was a largely 'twilight zone' experience and something was largely wrong with having such top-of-the-food-chain animals be so lackadaisical in their behavior. The doubt continues to this day.

Apart from that, though, there were also walks in night markets (crowded and lovely) and meals at Thai restaurants, visits to temples and the like. For two days we had a driver to drive us outside of the city, in hopes that we would make it to a natural area for which Chiang Mai in known. But somewhere between the taxi driver and the hotel staff, there was a disconnect in the 'idea' of what was wild. In each of our attempts at just getting into a natural area, we were taken time and time again to touristy temples standing to the side of roads. Needless to say it perhaps altered our originally thought experience, but none-the-less provided a great opportunity to see the cultural aspect of Thailand, of which there were many.

Along the way, small little daily learning appeared out of nowhere. Irini began to ring a bell (as she had done in KL earlier) and Amalia began to respond. Ms. Wu, Irini's teacher at ISKL, uses a bell to get the attention of her students. In growing and trying to put two and two together Irini emulates that behavior in the house, and on this trip. By playing teacher Irini rings the bell and asks us - her students - to put our hands on our shoulder and pay attention. Immediately Natalia, Scott, Rebecca and Laurence put their hands up, and their back straightens out. Their eyes slowly fixed on Irini they await further instruction. It's all fine and dandy, until Amalia, often with a few seconds delay, slowly moves her hands to her shoulders and smiles. She too awaits further instruction, it seems. But it never gets to that. The adults in the group begin to "oooh" and "aaah" all the way to a new dent in the conversation, usually with the added benefit of hugs and a kiss or two. Needless to say both the teach and the student daughters of ours are loving the attention. :-)

Snipets

Irini walks up to Natalia. "Do you have a baby in there?" she asks Natalia, pointing at her tummy. Natalia replies "no" with a smile. Irini looks back up at her and says "I want another baby". Natalia asks what she would like (meaning a little brother or a sister), to which Irini replies, without hesitation, "I want a bah bah black sheep".

Amalia is being put to bed. She knows that daddy won't take her out of the cot, so she's given up trying to get out. But as she sits there, working on her vocals, she realizes that the kissing sound is gettin a smiley response. She sends kisses. She gets some back. Slowly she stands up, pulling herself up using the side railings. She lifts her head ever so slowly above the level of the top, as if revealing her face for the first time, she sends daddy a kiss. He responds with a barrage of kisses. She falls back to the bed, head on pillow, body stretched out, a broad smile on her face.

Irini now runs to see us when we get home, and sings new songs and plays 'Duck, Duck, Goose' with everyone in the house. It doesn't matter where you are, in what position (standing, sitting, crawling) or where (bathroom, living room, swimming pool) you are bound to, at some point, feel that pat on your head and a beautiful little voice announcing "duck", or "goose". Adorable.

Amalia wants to dance. She wakes up and gets on daddy's chest. He holds her hands so as not to fall. She balances as she stands up, and then rocks back and forth, and finally picks up her feet in quick succession. Is it sprinting? Is it dancing? No matter. It brings giggles to her face.

Irini comes home with artwork that resembles things now. The faces are clear. The smiles are obvious. The nose, artistic.

Amalia has learned to say things. She says "mama" with gusto when she wakes up and no one is there to greet her to a new day. She says "this" when she shows us something. And she says "no". Oh, boy, does she ever say "no". With conviction. No questions asked. We know what she means.

First Day at ISKL!

On Monday, August 8th Irini woke up with the rest of us (at around 6:20 am). She walked around, realizing that this day was 'different'. Everyone was busily showering, brushing teeth, dressing and finally, out the door. Natalia was taking the family (Laurence, Emilia Patricia, Avi and TTimouz) to school and then coming back for Irini. Idah gave Irini a bath and put her into her new uniform which proudly announced "ISKL" on the breast. It was Irini's orientation to what ISKL refers as Prep Reception. It only lasted an hour (from 9 to 10 am) and Irini was taken and brought back by Natalia, but she was comfortable and happy there, especially since Carter (a good friend of hers) is in the same class. As of Tuesday she began her new task of going to the Elementary campus with TTmouz on the bus. It has been mostly fun, she thinks. After all, she loves buses!

And speaking of new beginnings, last week also marked the first day of the extended family at ISKL. Emilia Patricia had her first day of classes (noting how well behaved ISKL students are) and Avihurik and TTmouz went to their first day at ISKL. Though we didn't see them all day, we made a point of having dinner together to wind down and get 'the scoop'. All first reports were positive. Avihurik did note, however, that Mr. Fisher (her humanities teacher who lives across the hall from them) was more strict than she expected. But she did an experiment in science which was really cool. They filled a cup with water and put paper clips in it until it spilled. They were studying how the molecules stick together. It turns out, it took 331 paper clips to make it overflow. Can you believe it? TTmouz had his first Mandarin class, and found three friends who he likes very much. He seems to be looking forward to PE this year where they had a 'mission impossible' obstacle course set up.

Tomorrow is a new day. Slowly these days will blend into a routine, and the final vestiges of summer will become seemingly distant memories. 2011-2012 has officially begun.

Amalia's Day

For some, it's birth. For some it's sweet sixteen. For them Greeks it's the baptism. Two years ago Irini had been baptised in the small church of Panagia ("Virgin Mary") in Kifissia. She was just six months old and spent the entire process watching and being handed from one person to another.

On July 23rd, 2011 it was Amalia's turn to be baptised in the same church. She was 14 months, mobile and knew what she wanted (and what she didn't want). She sat in Aleko and Anna's (the godparents) arms for roughly 5 minutes watching the ceremony with interest but, once it became obvious to her that the priest was just going to keep talking, she decided that perhaps it would be best to try to get down... and therein began the 'tricky' part. She swung from one side the next in a futile attempt to get down. With each passing movement - since it didn't work - she got more and more frustrated. By the time the clothing was taken off for the 'plunge' she was crying wildly. The Greeks in the crowd, seeing this as a right of passage (of sorts) smiled. Laurence was close to calling it quits, seeing Amalia in such dire straights.

Aleko and Anna were rushed through the reading of their script and finally Amalia was allowed to be removed and dressed in her new white clothing. Irini sat in wonder, perhaps asking herself what was happening. How nice that Amalia too will have no recollection of this soon enough.

Adri and her fiance Luca had flown in from Milano. Patty had flown in from Madrid (as she had for Irini's baptism). Monica and Walter had flown down from Sweden. Vincent had flown in for the weekend, also from Sweden (thank you Vince!!). Sammy had flown in from London. Aleko and Anna had flown in with him from London where they had attended his graduation from the London School of Economics. They were celebration hopping! The rest of the group was made up of Athens-based friends, young and old.

Later on, with the tears dried up and the food being consumed with gusto, Amalia would sleep soundly in her stroller. For the rest of the group of 25 or so it was a perfect chance to re-unite, to share stories and chat about life. Irini and Mikaela (Stelio and Maria's daughter) played for hours on end in the space in front of two adjoining shops, now closed, oblivious to the signs of economic difficulties.

Amalia is now, formally, Amalia Sienna. We are all happy. The tears have dried.

Island Life

It was quite a while since we'd been to a Greek island. In fact, Amalia had never been, so Natalia decided that it was time to put the budget aside and head for the Cyclades... Andros to be more precise. After some logistical workings (Papou and Moca were coming too, and we only had one car) and some waiting around for the boat (sipping on frape, of course) we boarded what would turn out to be a very exciting experience for the girls. With wind blowing our hair to and fro, and with no less than 10 dogs around the deck, the girls essentially spent the two hour ride giggling, asking if dogs bit, and were offered goodies by the people close by. Everyone smiled watching them running back and forth.

Once on the island it was more of the same, but with a new beach-based location. On the small strip of Agios Petros, nestled 2.5 kilometers from Gavrio and 5 km from Batsi, we found a spectacularly clean sea and lots of Greek families sharing the sand, the small (for the most part) waves and the wind that came in gusts. Add to that the 150 meter walk to/from the apartments where we stayed, the tree-shaded back yard and a friendly couple who ran the place and you've got yourself one relaxed experience. Pappou and Moca chose to visit the beach twice a day. We went only in the mornings and spent the post-nap afternoons in the back yard playing on the kiddie swings and slides. All of us were happy.

But we couldn't get to Andros and not visit one of it's villages, so the final evening we loaded everyone into Bessie (the car) Malaysian style and drove gently across the five kilometer windy road to find a place to eat, a place to roam about and a place to have some ice cream. In the meantime, we watched the sun go down, dusk arrive and the stars shine down on our return.

It was a wonderful three days. Can't wait for next year!