Antiparos Greece - take 4!

We have come to love our Greek island time over the past 7 years, and when we realized we weren't getting out of here this year, our consolation prize was to book a week vacation in Antiparos again.  I know there are so many other islands to explore and see, or for that matter, entirely different countries to take on, but when you have such a good thing, it's hard not to go back for more!  And this time we got to bring Anna with us, who was so excited to be in Europe for the first time, AND to get to see the Greek islands after working with her partner who is Greek for the past how many years!

So we did the usual - Easyjet from MXP to Mykonos.  Due to ferry time issues we knew we had to stay one night on Mykonos, so we booked a hotel and decided to make the most of it and show Anna what a crazier island can be like.  Travel was smooth sailing and we made it safely with luggage to Mykonos.  The Petinos Hotel ended up being a good choice - recently renovated, the rooms were nice, the airport pickup/ port drop off was included, as was breakfast, and the hotel is right be platis Ylios beach and has a bus right outside to go to town and back.  Super easy.  We got a quick nap in and headed to town for dinner and a good wander around town.  We didn't get home till after 11pm though, so the kids were pretty exhausted.

Dinner in Mykonos Town

Cheeky kids

So nice to have a good camera!

We took the ferry to Paros in the morning - thankfully I wasn't ill on it! - and arrived in Paros around 11am.  For some strange reason I decided to pick up our return ferry tickets then, and good thing I did, because we were informed of a time change that would have meant missing our flights back the following Saturday!  Needless to say we were required to leave Antiparos on Friday evening instead of Sat morning, but it all worked out because the ferry company had to pay for our hotel in Mykonos the second time around!  

Antiparos is as it always has been for us - a great place to be with the kids.  We love staying in Lefteri's house as they are always so helpful and make our lives comfortable with extra toys and things for the kids.  We also just went ahead and rented a car for the whole week so we could nip around easily without the long walks with the kids in the sun.  It worked out great (20 Euros a day!) as we spent most of our time on beaches that aren't walking distance!  The only bit that was challenging was getting the kids used to sharing a room.  The first afternoon we tried to have them take a nap so we could go to the beach after, and they just goofed around for 2 hours!  Laughing, chatting, and Eowyn even figured out how to climb out of her crib! EEK! And of course we were out later for dinner too, so they were definitely short changed on sleep and a bit crabby.  Our second afternoon went the same way except this time James had to forego the beach and stay with them at the house as their consequence for not napping.  Thankfully that was the last of it, and after that we set into a rythmn of beaching it in the morning (mostly to the quiet cove beach) and back after lunch or town for lunch for naps, and off to Soros beach in the afternoon.  Then home for showers and off to town for dinner and walking around. The kids did great being out late for dinner.  No meltdowns or tears!  We were out till 10 or 11pm every night!  Thankfully they also came right home and slept till 7:30 or 8am!  

First night dinner at Sunset bar - James with Eowyn, Liam and Lefteri's son Theo

 We also got to have dinner with Kerry and Tim who were staying on Paros for some of the same time.  They came over on Sunday evening and had dinner with us at one of our favorite spots - Klimateria.  We tried to get lokomades at Stones afterwards but they had none!  Shock horror!  Not to fear - we managed to have the 2 times during the rest of the week.

Dinner in the garden with Kerry and Tim

Beautiful Anna shot with our 50mm lens

Goofing around! 

Look at this face!

And this one! - Praise the Lord!

 There's nothing like the water around the islands.  Soros remains my favorite, but we had such calm water for the most part and very little wind, so the cove beach with almost always no one else around, was also spectacular.  Bizarre happenings - it RAINED one morning and late in one afternoon!  How crazy is that?!  Never seen rain on all my time in the islands!  It didn't affect us much though.  We missed one afternoon at the beach but drove Anna to see St Georges and where the cave (closed) was.  And the morning rain cleared into a beautiful day by 10am!  We were glad to have our best meal at La Louche - which is still open and still delicious!  The chef is really interested in making outstanding food and it shows!

By day three the kids were so comfortable in the water it was awesome to see.  We never used floaties or anything, and they just went in - often on their own up to their chests!  We also took them out onto the sand bar so they could stand way out and see how calm the sea is.  Mostly there were no waves, except for a couple of bizarre moments on cove beach when suddenly they would come out of no-where for 10 mins and then be done again. Must have been a passing ship.  The waves frightened Liam though, so clearly he's still got his cautiousness around water.  But I loved watching them throw rocks (Liam is learning to skip stones like James) and romp and roll around in the water.

At the cove beach - we loved the sand bar that kept it shallow for ages going out and so did the kids!

Love! Excellent dinner at La Louche

Eowyn agrees - she loved her dinner too!  What's up with this face she makes?!

Post dinner (while we ate!) Liam watching the world cup and Eowyn hanging out

Daddy and Baby

Eowyn was so eager to go in the water she even let Anna take her in a couple of times!

Ten minutes of waves at cove beach 

Happy to play in the water at Soros beach in the late afternoon

Doing water yoga - side plank!

Eowyn is a total water baby!

The almost undiscovered cove! 

Liam writing his name in the sand 

Playing witches with their shared "broom"!

Anna in the totally clear water with Eowyn again!

The very odd afternoon where it almost rained - up at the cave

Last night dinner

Taking the ferry back to Paros - thank goodness it's open air!

Back in Mykonos we found out Theo was in town and he picked us up and took us into town for the evening.  We enjoyed getting the "tourist walking tour" from him which included a visit to the famous windmills which I had never done before! and also seeing "Little Venice".  The shopping is definitely insane in Mykonos.  It's always fun to see the jewelry and stuff, and of course have a bit of ice cream along the way!

The windmills

View of Little Venice - family picture

Cruise liner in the bay

Theo with us!

Walking the streets - photo courtesy of Theo

11pm delirium - sibling hugs as the hour grows late!

All went well with our trip back, so we are back safely and grateful for another fantastic family vacation! And Canada is next!

June Fun

 Like always, the end of the school year was a bit of a mad dash and a blur activity.  We seemed to have people coming and going for most of May and June this year, so there has been the added excitement of someone else in the house with us for quite some time.  And of course there were good byes to be said, accompanied by social events to spend time with people.

The good byes at TASIS this year were a bit tough.  I still haven't processed that the Millers are gone, and of course saying good bye to my friend Arrington was rough to say the least.  We also said good bye to Lauren and her family, which is a shame as they were only here a year, but were great to hang out with.  And then there was Josh Keith (though we will see him in NYC when we go!), the Bendels, and not TASIS related, but our dear babysitter for 4 years - Callie.  We will really miss having her here and helping out with the kids.  As it turned out, she ended up staying with us for a week after all her graduation stuff, which worked out to help us after Mims left and when there were some of the end of year things for us.  It was also when our cherry tree finally ripened and what a great loot we got from that tree this year!

Last hang out at Lauren's place - Eowyn, Lauren and Lilly, Cassidy and Jamison

Cherry picking off the patio 

Our last day with Callie before she left for her African adventure

Cherry loot

 Liam got this awesome puzzle (with 200 pieces I think), of the map of Europe for his birthday.  We had kept it in a cupboard for a few months because we thought it was a bit advanced for him - it says 7+ on it. But he wanted to try and do it, and after the first few times when mims was here, he is getting really good at doing more and more of it on his own.  It's quite impressive to watch!

Liam and his puzzle!

 As Liam's school year started to wind down they had another little spectacolo to highlight the "grandi's" who are moving up to the elementary school.  Liam's roll, because he's just a medio, was small, but still fun to see him in his school again.  He was a farfalle - a butterfly!  They also had a potluck lunch outside afterwards, so it was nice to see some of the other families and see the kids playing together.  Unfortunately James didn't make it, but Eowyn and I took photos and videos to show him afterwards!

Our little Farfalle!

Eowyn in her BAPRIBAP senegalese dress!

The Miller boys sharing a swing

More sibling care

 June 6th was also our end of year faculty event.  This year it was held in the Skipper's garden and there were a huge number of kids roving around.  Some of them were decidedly rough and tumble and we spent much of the time fielding Eowyn and Liam away from the brawls and towards other stuff.  The event itself was underwhelming with no dinner served and very dull farewell acknowledgements for those leaving, but it was nice to see some people one last time.  Anna also arrived from NYC that morning, so we dragged her along to keep her awake!

Kiddo madness

Helping Liam climb a tree seemed less dangerous than letting him run with the bigger kids

Trying to get a photo of a lot of the littles at TASIS this year!
Lilly, Delaney with Evalyn, Greer with Holly's baby, Nathaniel, Eowyn, Jamison, and Iona with Maddux (and Alexi)

 So basically 3 days after Callie left Anna arrived for a 2 and a half week visit.  Her first time in Europe!  We were glad to have her and only wished we could have showed her a bit more.  Unfortunately, even though school had ended James was still caught up in meetings for the week after, so she was stuck hanging out with me and the kids for much of that time.  We did manage to do a day trip into Milan on Saturday though, so after much traffic and 2 hours drive we made it in and had quite a lovely day around the Duomo.  The plan had been to go early and be back around naps or late naps, but because of the traffic we ended up getting there later and just staying till dinner.  Thankfully both kids took a nap in the strollers so we didn't have meltdowns!

Anna and James and the duomo

Eowyn pushing Liam!

Asleep!

More nap time!

James took Anna on the percorsa vita walk with the kids to show her some swiss nature.  The kids had a blast doing various obstacles and finding wild strawberries to eat!

Cheese!

Liam leaping over logs

Wild Strawberry Picking!

Goofy time - Anna with the kiddos

Taking a drink from the fountain on the way out

We also had one last BBQ with the Millers before they left.  We're so happy for them to be moving on to things that they are excited about, but sad to see them go for our own sake.  The kids were really funny - trying to play Uno (which was Liam's first time and Eowyn had no clue what was going on!)

A riveting game of uno

Sad face Josh

 Other random things we did with Anna before we left for our week in Greece (with her!):  a trip downtown to see the park, lake and the walking area

 A work dinner for the administration with family invited along - Birrificio pizzo and melting down children!

A visit to the lugano lido and the UBS pool on some hot days!

UBS pool - Eowyn snagged someone's toy!

 Playing at the square one last time with Cassidy and Jamison.

The "bus" game

I will post a separate one for our trip to Greece, but just to finish off Anna's visit, when we got back James took her to walk from Corona up San Salvatore.  The kids went too, but Eowyn ended up in the pouch (or as she says "the couch") for most of the time.  The views weren't so clear at the top, but it's a pretty good walk!

Anna and Liam

Sibling love - holding hands! 

At the top with daddy 

Cheeky chimps!