moo!

I stayed up too late last night looking at pictures in my May 2013 iphoto file, and there are some real gems in there. Isn't it amazing how quickly these kiddies (these, yours, all of them) change?

may 2013

But really, I should get to news of the surgery; it all went well and Hendrik was back to his normal self by Friday evening (upside down, diving headfirst into things - with the two parents, "noooo slow down!"). Three popsicles and two hours of Franklin proved to more effective than the eye drops and Tylenol that we offered (they were denied), and with less swelling and zero bruising or discoloration, the procedure would be easily missed at a glance. I was thinking he'd be away from preschool for a week at least, but save for his somewhat bloodshot eyes, he's looking and acting completely normal. So, we have a follow-up appointment in a week or so, and we'll talk about next steps and how things are looking - but more importantly we're happy that the procedure #3 is history and that Hendrik is feeling good. Hopefully this is the last surgical operation his eyeballs will see for some while.

before and after surgery #3

We've been big into the Greek food thing since we've been home: feta is part of my daily diet, mixed grill and souvlaki are weekly meals, and there are pitas and tsatziki in the fridge. We still have no confirmation on plans for the fall (like I said in my last post, it'll be back to school or back to Europe), but one thing is sure: there will be Greek yogurt in the fridge (and plans in the works to visit).

saturday swings, saturday souvlaki, and today; construction worker and waving at cars :)

MOOOOO to you

short and sweetifwewereingreecerightnow

ohhhhh yeah, i make my children clean before i feed or clothe them

Le grand sigh! Grown-up things have been running around in our lives and it's too bad we don't have some magical genie to take care of it all. We want to sell our apartment here and the one we own in Winnipeg, taxes are due, big decisions are coming re: this fall (back to Europe or back to school?), and we're both feeling over and done with Gatineau. We've been here for four or five summers, but I felt more at home in Patra - the people were more open and friendly (to generalize), the culture was vibrant and happening, and the food, the food... maybe we should just go back there... tomorrow. The kids were bananas all day, and they just about sucked it all out of me. So, I'll tackle the dishes with one hand and down a glass of red with the other, ignore my to-do list and read my book instead... and get to bed before 10:30. Possible? Le glass is half-full... so yes!

surgery #3 coming up on friday morning for this guy... i sure do hope it's the last one! xox

List-Post (in no particular order):

1. Hendrik, our guy, is scheduled to have surgery #3 next Friday, and hopefully the it'll be a third time's a charge type o' thing. He had his pre-op appointment on Thursday and it went well - though the doc did surprise Steve (who surprised me) with a prescription for glasses (!) for our not-yet four-year old. I don't totally get this but apparently - even though Hendrik's vision is very good - because he has a tendency to use one eye more and/or because his eyes aren't working together all of the time, a very mild prescription might encourage his eyes to work in synch. We have a few questions about all of this and will fire away either on Friday or at his post-op appointment a few weeks later.

2. It was Christmas in May when we returned to our Gatineau-home last week, and the kids are still rediscovering their long, lost-for-two-months toys. We put a box of things away downstairs with the intention of swapping toys out every month or two, but I'm kind of wondering if we couldn't just take it all to the Salvation Army and forget about it. Less is more... right? Right Hendrik?

3. Bob and Marg forwarded me a few pictures from our visit with them upon our return from beautiful Greece, and here they are:

bubbles, Gramps partaking in Hendrik's favourite thing (being upside down), our girl, and in-a-tree

cousins: Alana, Lennon and Hendrik

4. Mother's Day: The best moment of my Sunday was seeing Alana, and having her run up to me and give me a huuuuuge hug, after having pulled into the driveway from our weekend away. The kids (with much help from Grandma) also made me some very cute crafts... how I love them!

5. Hendrik was back to preschool on Tuesday, and was a bit tentative... but slowly warmed up and moved away from me. Both Alana and I stayed - and she loved it. My favourite part of the morning was reading to a small pod of kiddies; I was surrounded and smothered by six of them, and they were all transfixed and happy to make requests and pay attention to stories and more stories. And then it was cleanup time and we had to disband... otherwise I would have stayed there until the bookshelf ran dry.

6. Speaking of children's books, last week was National Children's Book Week, and I've been meaning to check out the website. We still haven't been to our local branch, and I'm not sure if there was anything going on there. I've been spoiled by a few fabulous local libraries, and I have to say that while I'm very thankful for the Bowater branch, it doesn't have the best selection of tomes in town. (I would say otherwise if I was a francophone I'm sure.) Wherever it is that we settle, I'm hoping we have a fabulous public library...

7. Regular radio stinks. With the purchase of our vehicle some four years ago, came a free one-year subscription to Sirius XM - that ended up lasting until last week... but now it's gone! Gone gone gone. I have no idea how much it costs to pay for radio, but it's something I'll definitely consider, seeing as how commercials and bad music infiltrate each and every station we dial in to... boo!

8. Alana had her 15-month/18-https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=776151006586619354#editor/target=post;postID=1346284789371301389month check-up the other day, and it came as no surprise that she's over the 99th percentile in weight and over the 100th in height. What can I say? Big people make big kids.

9. The latest funny with our children is hilarious for all... even though we (try to) laugh in secret; they say garbage and poop and then go into hysterics. I mean, how can you not laugh?

a quicksy-roo

After a busy week, we are back in Gatineau, swallowed up by our life-before-Greece once again. In a way it feels like we never left... but we did, and I'm trying not to think about how much I wanted to stay in Patra and continue with the list-free, minimalist (of sorts) life we had going on there. We stayed in Bowmanville for a few days and had a weekend in Toronto (Steve and I went to a wedding in Oakville and enjoyed the following: seeing friends, having space from the kids, spending time with each other, shopping), and it was great, but here's what I miss about Patra as of right this second: the size of the city (even Ottawa, with the highways and sprawl, seems too-too-big), having an outdoor space, the coffee, the friends we had there, and the food (bougatsa, the fruit veggies, souvlaki). I love being close to family and friends here again, and it is nice to be home with our own stuff and in our own space. Steve was back to work this morning, and I'm dreaming about the beach we visited last Friday near Constantina's summer home. We had a great three-day getaway there before we began the trek home, and since I'm tired and pressed for time I'll let the pictures do the talking. Hopefully the kids will get back on a regular routine here - and I'm talking bedtime closer to 8:00 - and I can get some more blogging (and reading and planning) done in that time in between kid bedtime and adult bedtime. AND I want to watch Frozen; Hendrik was not into it (scared I think), so we had to press pause in Greece and save it for Gatineau, where there's space for Mom and Dad when the kids go down for the night. I could ramble and talk about jet lag (almost over it), traveling with kids, beauty products, unpacking or our empty refrigerator, but I won't. Those beach pictures? Here they are:

And a few more from last weekend, before they get lost in time....

Nik and 'Tina, late dinner (apres 10:00), the cot
kiddie nightcap, looking down on the village, above Parga
a la parc, walking, underground at an ancient necropolis

(Missing Greece!!!)

canada!

not a goodbye - more of a see you soon (I hope!)... on Monday

with our new friends, that we made just before we left. better late than never!!

We're here, we're home! Well, we're not at our home, but we are home in Canada. The trip back was lengthy: we said goodbye to our Patra home on Monday afternoon, drove to Athens and checked into the hotel at the airport - where we had a rough night's sleep (unfortunately). We were both awake when the alarm sounded at 6:00, and made it over to the terminal with one sleepy babe and one eager-to-walk (in jammies, as slow as mud) babe: Steve and I checked in (at separate counters), said our goodbyes ("see you in Bowmanville!") and went our separate ways - Steve to British Airways and the three of us on to Aegean Air (very poor customer service BUT, at least we had the only spare seat on the plane - quel chance!). The three hour flight to Munich was no problem, but the 10+ hours we spent on the next aircraft.... ugggggggh. We were delayed on the plane after taxi to the runway due to a malfunction with a fuel pump (I heard: "there's something wrong with the left fallanji") and had to stay on board while it was all sorted. We watched TV and Dino Dan, played cards (sort of), drew pictures, played with stickers, ate, slept (the kids did, no zzzs for me), did paint-with-water and ? The kids were very well-behaved, aside from a 25 minute pre-sleep meltdown from Hendrik, after which I downed a drink and closed my eyes for all of 10 minutes... best part of the flight right there! (We also had a set of three seats on this flight; I'm not sure how it'd work if we didn't. No wait, I do: it wouldn't.) And then and then and then it was finally over and we cleared customs in record time, found our bags and found Gramps and spent some time in rush hour traffic on our way back to B-ville. The reunion with Gramps was cute: we spotted him before he did us, and Hendrik pitter-patter-pitter-patter ran to him with a huge smile on his face and gave him a huge huge hug. Alana hid behind a pillar (which was originally Hendrik's idea) and Gramps had to come and find her. And now? We've sort of settled in: there's laundry and to-do lists, and time with family aplenty. Erin and Lennon are here and it's adorable seeing all of the kids together, and watching the two biggers taking care and occupying themselves with the little. The weather is chilly and I'm missing Greece a little bit, but it feels good to be in Canada; this country will always be my home, regardless of where the ground beneath our feet may be.

cousins!

me, Alana and Lennon :)

by the creek for a walk, cycle and play

nice ride gramps!

late + list

It's 10:40pm, and here I am just getting started here with a blog... boohoohohum. The last few days have been busy (good busy), and Hendrik hit the wall pretty hard this afternoon at a BBQ; there's no denying that a lengthy afternoon nap for an almost three and a half year old will kill all chances of a decent bedtime, which means that the ideal sitchy-ation of the kids in bed early + blog done early + me in bed and sleeping early enough to get a good night's sleep just ain't gonna happen. I think I mentioned this in my last post: we went to our new friend's house for lunch on Sunday (chez the people who own the bakery down the street), and had such a good time with them and their family that we exchanged numbers and met again. And again! This afternoon we went to Elly and Aris's house for a BBQ, and it was as Greek as it gets: eat eat eat! and meat meat meat! + happy people, much much food, busy kids, ice cream, and beer, wine, sunshine and amazing views... oh man, it was great. Here's a question: why is it that you (you, me, everyone) seem to meet people just when it's time to say goodbye? These are friendships that I don't want to say goodbye to... so I won't. I'm sure we'll be back here at some point, and if these new friends don't come visiting our chilly northern climes, we'll come and visit their southern ones.

With that said, our time here is in short supply: we leave in FIVE DAYS! Eek. But, there is much to do and see before then: we are heading north tomorrow to a small town somewhere close to Parga (I believe), to spend a few days with Nik and Constantina at her family's summer place. If we had more time I would spend a week (or two?) here, and then another week in Ioannina, and another few days south of Pyrgos (can we stay can we stay can we stay?!) - and really, couldn't the list just go on and on and on? Elafonisos, Halkidiki, Mani, and more more more..... so yes, yes it could. So, we are packing for our two day trip (we leave tomorrow, Friday, and come back Sunday) and thinking about packing for our big big trip back home - all to be done on Sunday evening and/or Monday morning. We fly out quite early on Tuesday so will make the trip to Athens on Monday afternoon/evening with fingers all limbs crossed for a decent sleep before a long trip home (did I mention that I'm flying solo with the kids again?). I have more to write about, but this list must get out before it gets lost in that I'll-blog-about-it later pile... so, here it is:

5 THINGS I'LL MISS ABOUT GREECE

1. The FOOD. I will miss the produce, the fresh eggs, the phyllo, the bougatsa and spanikopita, the sokolatopita, the portokalopita, the yogurt, the meat, the greek salads, the cheese... and I will miss the quality of all of these things. I will miss the markets, I will miss the bakeries, I will miss this food!

2. The PEOPLE. (Big sigh.) How to say? That whole Greek hospitality thing that the Hellenic people are famous for? It's real. It is the real deal: people are friendly and welcoming and giving. Is this a Patra or a just-my-neighborhood thing? (or a your kids are blond and adorable thing?) I don't know, but people say hello and smile on a very regular basis, and I love it. I will miss this very, very much.

3. The Pace of Life. What's important here? Family. Food and quality of food. Stores are closed on Sundays. Kids go to bed late, and parents go out with their kids at night (and during the day) to cafes and restaurants. Hustle and bustle and must-do-this/that/now business? Haven't felt that vibe (though I know it's there for some people... definitely not for most!).

4. Less Is More. I might look back on this entry with question marks all over my eyeballs, but I think I'll miss making due without: chez nous there is no dryer, no dishwasher, three pots, one frying pan, one pan for the oven, zero small appliances and minimal belongings, and it all works. And it makes me wonder whether or not I want all of the things we have at home... because here, we sure don't need them.

5. The Weather. This is a no-brainer, self-explanatory entry... I choose warmth over endless winter!

5 THINGS I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO: CANADA

1. Seeing Friends and Family. It will be so so good to see the Brinkmans and to see my family in June (the whole family together!!), and we get to meet baby Lennon - on Tuesday!! I miss being close to family and friends, and even though we'll still be pretty far from many, at least we'll be in the same country (or continent).
3. Using the Library. No explanation needed.
4. Towels from the dryer. No explanation needed.
5. Space for me and Steve. Le sigh. Our kids go to bed late here, and we usually hit the sack when they do: I'm out here with Alana a few feet away (for a few hours at least), and Steve is in the room with Hendrik strewn across blankets and bed. We usually get a 5-10 minute chat in in our tiny bathroom, which isn't the most ideal space (did I mention that there is no space in there)? It will be nice to be able to sit down on the couch and chat (or watch tv - says Steve) without disturbing any little people, with lights on or off, talking or whispering. And it will be nice to not have to share a single bed with Alana (me) or a double bed with Hendrik (Steve), but a king-sized bed with each other.

Blog=finished. Please note that I could write multiple posts on most of these things AND that they are not listed in order of importance (ie fresh, warm towels from the dryer are not more important than spending time with my husband). Greece, I will miss you!