March roundup

(ok, I am frankly publishing this a bit late seeing as it's aIready mid-April!!! (already!!! School is over in 2 months and then 3 months of no school!!!!! agh!!!! ) but well, um, better late than never, right?)

So what were we up to in March?
I attended 2 cooking classes: a beginners wholefoods/RAW cooking class were I discovered some new ingredients, learned about soaking nuts and quinoa, why probiotics found in Kombucha and kimchi are good for you (I hated kimchi when I tried it in Korea years ago), about using coconut water in smoothies and how to make the most delicious salads and raw chocolate...

It was really fun to meet some new people and do something outside of the school/usual mums context! And I am making a lot of raw cacao chocolates which we love!

I also attended a Greek cooking class were I learned how to make my favorite zucchini balls

and of course we made Greek Moussaka!

We enjoyed the visit of Tata-yéyé and Greg (her new honey) and so we actually went into the centre of Athens which we rarely do otherwise... 

Unfortunately, on the day we wanted to visit the Acropolis all cultural sites and museums were on strike

Spring arrived in Athens with blue skies and budding flowers...

 Soon we will be sneezing!

William began climbing the climbing frame really high

all by himself!

Emma was sick twice - which is VERY unusual - but she liked spending time alone with Mummy and enjoyed taking the syrup which, of late, has been Will's prerogative...

 

We of course had lots of fun during Carnival week.
(oh and I know I look horrid in the below pic -too much salt the previous night and not enough coffee before the pic was taken? nah, just a bad face day...)

 

  

Emma and Steph look great though don't ya think?


and visited Nafplio for the first time.

Welcome April!!!

New Greek resident

We have a new resident, and he is Greek.
No, not a pet...

 A beautiful oil painting by Christoforos Asimis of a Santorini traditional house.

Sigh.
I can't wait until we visit the island of Santorini in June.

Happy Easter Monday

Happy Easter!

And here is the latest of Emma's drawings.

William on the mend

On Thursday afternoon William started a sudden fever and so yesterday he stayed "home" with me. I mean, he was actually in good spirits comparing to the previous evening and so after playing inside for a while, we went to the dry cleaners (he loves watching the clothes move along the mechanical rail), the green grocers where he paid for the apples, bananas and avocados, and then to Marks and Spencers where we got him some shorts and t-shirts for the season as well as some new swimming trunks. We also had a fresh orange juice and chocolate croissant at the local café.
Yesterday he kept repeating "my like stay with my Mummy!"  I guess it's not very motivating for getting him back to school... but hey, being sick is miserable enough, don't you think?

Our weekend in Nafplion

We went to Nafplion for the weekend. While there, we road on a train, took a boat to the Bourtzi, pedalled a bike for four, walked up nearly a thousand steps, and really enjoyed the beauty of it.
Here are some pics.
 

 the colours were spectacular!

 buildings venetian

the beach deserted

the views breathtaking

beautiful sunsets and lots of boats which William loved!

the fortress of Bourtzi

lots of legwork!

prickly cacti

colourful walls,

ochre and olive

green and purple

and lots and lots of blue 

999 steps to get up to the top of Palamidi castle and 999 steps to get down. I can't tell you how wobbly our legs felt as we reached the bottom!

Nafplion is the warmest place on mainland Greece and barely 90 minutes from home!

Emma's olive tree

Another one of Emma's Friday art class paintings.

Carnival week fun

Last week was Carnival week and so as well as Carnival Sunday and all kinds of arts and crafts at school, the kids had :

Funny hat day on Monday (home-made hats using paper plates and baloons)

Rainbow day on Tuesday when they could dress in as many colours as they wished and were dispensed of wearing uniforms followed by Pajama day on Wednesday-  sorry no pic of those ones

Crazy hair day on Thursday - required a bit of preparation the night before...

Ta-da! Emma's hair was all frizzy for Crazy Hair day

and we sprayed it red, purple and green.
William had crazy polka-dot hair.

and Carnival dress up day again on Friday with Emma the princess and William the mouse.

The kids definitely had a fun week!

Happy Carnival!

Happy Carnival from Capitaine Crochet (Hook) & Wendy Fairy!

First apero alfresco of the year

After all that rain we are really enjoying a little sunshine! Cheers!

Jumping in muddy puddles!

So after all the rain, this afternoon when it finally stopped, I we decided we definitely needed to get out and indulge in some fresh air puddle jumping.

And the kids LOVED it of course!

 Until William fell head first into a muddy puddle.

Seriously, I know he looks very distraught, but it was REALLY hard not to laugh - even for Emma.

There were brown puddles at their feet as we took their boots and clothes off when we got home but after a warm bath they were happily playing lego in their pajamas, the cold and dirt completely forgotten.

Licking chocolate covered spoons

Licking chocolate covered spoons while my grandmother 
or mother baked a cake is one of my best childhood 
memories.

Now I am the one doing the baking...

and Emma and William do the licking. ;-)


Sent from Sandra's iPhone

Rainy days

It's been raining and raining and hailing and raining some more all week. And Steph has been ill - and held in quarantine in our guest room- with a nasty stomach bug since Friday midday. Today the kids and I decided to go ahead and use the weather as an excuse to decorated some umbrellas.

Is it raining where you are? Find umbrellas to decorate here

Happy Valentines' Day!

Nothing says it like home made chocolate cake. Mmmm...

Emma's penguins

Here is another one of Emma's paintings. I think the penguins are brilliant!

Emma the artist

Twice a month Emma takes art classes with a British painter who fell in love with Greece many years ago and has been living & painting & teaching here ever since.
I love Emma's most recent production; the classic teddy. Isn't he gorgeous?!

The things about William

When asked about his name he will answer you "Jingle bells" or "Imam" because he can't yet pronounce the sound "W"  and because he likes being funny.

That's an improvement because he used to call himself "Ama"  - as in what he calls his sister. Come to think of it,  Emma speaks of herself in the third person when talking to him so I guess that's what confused him.

He is the most independent little boy in the world always saying "my do!" and is always running to wherever he needs to go to do whatever he needs to do -except if he is sick and then's it's more like "mummy carry me".

He is super enthusiastic but lacks the words to say things he wants to say so he mimicks and exclaims and waves his arms about like a stressed out trader at the stock-exchange or an Italian politician.

He is super sensitive and caring, immediately giving you a kiss and saying sorry if he knocks you or hears you say "ouch" asking "mummy betta?" and is sorry to tears if he breaks something or if someone screams at him.

He is stubborn as can be and never forgets the toy you promised he could play with the next morning or the book you need to return to the library even if you have.

At around 6 am, he puts the blinds up in his room - at the risk of setting the alarm off - to check if it is daylight enough to get out of bed.

He tells you to "go away" if he wants to open something on his own or play with Emma or be alone in the bathroom and seconds later will call out "holp me!"

He often says "my like my mummy, my papa, my Ama" although sometimes it's "my like my mummy, my no like my papa/Ama"

When he  is sick he will tell you "My no beta." "Tomonno my beta" or "my mummy buy syrop" in a way that melts your heart.

He tells me his tooth is also wobbly (like Emma's) and  pretends to be reading the cereal box after Emma has told him what it says.

He can laugh and cry within minutes of the other and has the greatest sense of humor.
He likes to charm the ladies and gives out kisses quite happily.

He has mastered the rudimentary basics of household economics: telling  me when there is no more milk/cereal/crackers and say "mummy buy shop".

He loves "buberries" and "black-buberries" with his cereal.

Darling boy, we are so happy to have you!