Greece

I am really into blogging right now, so I wanted to get as much posted as possible. Mom, the children, and I traveled to Greece this summer to visit family. George joined us after the first 2 weeks for a total stay of a month. It was a great trip. I am posting a slide show, because I took over 800 photos while we were there, and ended up with a little over 200 that were good. (Don't worry, I didn't blog all of the photos.) Our family in Greece will get to see the pics I took, and my American friends will get to see how beautiful it is over there. If any of you ever get a chance to travel abroad, I HIGHLY recommend Greece. The people there are so warm and hospitable to even complete strangers. They are allot like Southerners in that respect. There is always something going on. They are nightlife people. When Mom and I first arrived, my Father in Law's side of the family invited us to go out for dinner. We accepted the invite, and they said they would be at our house to meet us at 9:30pm. We ended up not getting home until 2:00am . Steven feel asleep in my lap at the restaurant. Amanda Lily was like the energizer bunny playing with her little cousin who had also come along. Keep in mind that this was just a restaurant we went to, not a bar. Most family places here are getting ready to close at the time we arrived for dinner. The entire sitting area was outside underneath huge trees with lights strung in rows. You guys can see it right? The kids were just running around, and no one looked at us like "control your kids lady" because their kids were running around too! George says the kids have allot more "freedom to be kids" over in Greece , and I really saw that on this year's trip. We adapted to all of the social norms easily. There is a 7 hour time difference, so we were already used to sleeping in the afternoon and staying up late into the night. On George's Moms side, there is allot to be said. Amanda has 5 brothers and sisters, and they each have kids for a total of 18 cousins. They all live within walking distance in Mystras. We were never bored, that's for sure! They all made sure we were taken care of. Uncle Yanni has a sheep farm. Steven has such a heart for animals, so we were at their house alot. Amanda Lily spent the night at each house. Allot of the girls are in their early 20's, so they all doted on the kids in a BIG way. Once George arrived, we took Mom to visit the Parthenon and Acropolis in Athens. She hadn't gotten a chance to go the previous two times she visited, so I promised her that we would do it. Well, she ended up almost having a heat stroke. Seriously, it is like hiking up a mountain to get to the thing. I have no idea how the ancient Greeks got all that heavy marble to the top of that mountain. It is really amazing. George's bloodline is from Sparta, and his parents house is sitting in the valley of the ancient village "Mystras" The Byzantine Castle you see in some of the photos is literally the view from my In Laws veranda. There are also photos of the ancient city that comes sprawling down the mountainside. Also, there is a Monastery that is still used today by Monks. I think it is the only "working" part of the ancient city. I could go on and on. When it was time to leave, we all got up and went over to YaYa's (Grandma's) to say goodbye. It was 5:30 in the morning, and they were all there. All the uncles, aunts, cousins, drinking coffee and crying that we were leaving. I had told George that I was going to try my best not to get emotional, because I didn't want to upset the kids before that big 24 hour trip. Well, when his Uncle Yanni picked up Steven, put him in a big bear hug, and started crying, I was like, OK forget it. Steven started crying too, and I couldn't bear to see the little sweet in his heartbreak. He had really made a connection with his family this summer. Waterworks all around. We were all so sad to leave. But, we know there is always next summer when we go to visit again, and have a Christening for our newest addition, Sophia. Who's coming with me???? (: