Here We Go Again!

Much to our surprise (after the fatefull, non dancing recital), Sophia decided she wanted to take ballet again this year. Thus far, she is WAY more into it this year and enjoying every second. We passed all of her old leotards on to Kelsey and she is sporting a whole new "line". Perhaps she's more excited about the dancewear then the actual dancing...hmmmm....

Preschool

1st day of 4 year old preschool....sniff, sniff

Our 4 Year Old

Well technically Sophia has been 4 for nearly 2 months and while I know I'm way behind, I'm actually happy that I'm doing this post late as we've had a couple months to soak it all in. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't experienced it firsthand but our little big girl seems to have grown leaps and bounds overnight. A virtual switch went off on her birthday and let me say, thus far, age 4 might be my favorite! She truly is my mommy helper (most of the time!) and SUCH a great big sister. She is trying new things every day. She's still sweet as ever, but has lost a little of that 3 year old need to test us. She's so eager to learn new things and loves telling everyone about it. Yes, this includes the check-out person at each and every store we go to, random people in elevators, fellow patrons in public bathrooms...indeed it can be a bit awkward at times, but I just love her zest for life and have a tough time discouraging it. That said, we do need to keep on her about when it is and is not okay to speak to strangers (yikes). Gosh, there are no words to express my love for this little girl!

Stats:

Height- 40"

Weight- 351/2 lbs.

Current favorites:

Favorite Color- Blue ("because it's daddy's favorite")

Favorite Activities- anything crafty, swimming, dancing, swinging, reading books

Favorite Book- Mouse and the Motorcycle

Favorite Toy/thing- Fisher Price iXL, anything mermaid, barbies

Favorite Food-Cupcakes, Cake, Ice Cream, Pizza, Mac & Cheese...you know, good-for-you stuff

New try & likes- Chicken noodle soup, bacon, white fish, hamburger

Wacky Evi

This girl is SO wacky. She makes us laugh every day with her bizarre acts and faces...

"O" on the ends and "HI" in the middle

O HI O

Shortly after returning from our trip to Greece, we headed down to Dayton & Cincinnati for a couple weeks. Sadly, the first leg of our trip was to Dayton for our dear friends' father's funeral. Though bittersweet, it was wonderful to spend some time with friends we rarely see.

Cincinnati was full of fun and family as we picked veggies at uncle Tom & aunt Kathy's Harvest party...

Took a trip to Parky's farm complete with a pony ride...

And celebrated cousin Janna & Josh's wedding...

Best of all, we love spending time with family. It's such a treat and we are SO blessed to have not just one, but two places we can call home!

Oops! One more

Forgot the "going home" post.

This is what happens when one runs out of clothes on a trip and fails to pack a back-up outfit for the million hour plane ride home...

Turns out a blanket works in a pinch as a sarong and you only get a few weird looks using the plane window to dry the dress you handwashed in that thing they refer to as the "sink" in the aircraft bathroom. Unfortunately we simply could not get daddy's pants to hang well enough in the window so he had to endure the additional 12 hours of travel time in a state of soil-ment. Someone get that man an award already!

Greece! - Athens

Last leg of the trip! We enjoyed the last 4 days of vacation in Athens seeing all of the famous sites and spending some more time with cousin Blake. We drove to Sounio to see Poseidon's Temple, shopped at Manastiraki, spent a day in Vouliagmeni at the beach and explored the Acropolis. We also had some wonderful food, great laughs (was it a broach or a roach!? Feathers!?) and most importantly....tons of pagoto at the pereptero (I've no idea how to spell these in english and don't have a greek font!).

Greece! - Potamia

While in Gythio we drove down to the village where Yia Yia grew up. We spent the day with thea Rena, theo Costa & theo Taki. We walked around while Yia Yia pointed out places and things from when she was a kid. Theo Taki lives in the house that Taki's Yia Yia once lived in (with a few recent changes to the 3 room/1bath home). Off to the side was where the home that Yia Yia lived in with the whole family before she came to America. The area she mapped out is tiny. Most of us have kitchens or even bathrooms the size of the home that she shared with her parents and 3 siblings. It was very eye-opening!

Just about every tree in Potamia is fruit/nut/olive bearing. It was incredible to just walk up to a tree, pull off a pear and take a bite! Pomegranates, oranges, peaches, pears...to name a few. It was amazing to see olive trees on their property that are 300 years old with their beautifully twisted trunks and silver leaves. Thank you Yia Yia for sharing all of your memories and home with us and thank you thea Rena for the lovely lunch, theo Costa for the beautiful singing and theo Taki for all of the wonderful fruits and vegetables!