Robb went away for a week in the middle of March on a school snowboarding trip to the Austrian Alps. It is a tough job, but someone has to do it. This is the longest Robb has been gone and I was dreading it, but it turned out to go very smoothly. So many friends came by or invited us over for dinners or visits. I really felt like the community we have built here is really special. I honestly think we were busier that week than we ever have been. It is nice to have wonderful friends that care about us. Robb enjoyed his week snowboarding. He had a nasty fall and hurt his ribs the last day... A quick trip to the ER, but is better now. We are still waiting for the bill...
So, Robb was back for a week and then it was the start of the two week spring break. We booked flights to Greece and were super excited. Both girls love flying, and all the flights were surprisingly smooth. We can't go out for dinner without a melt down, but we can do flights (unsure if our ten hour flight home will be the same)! We flew to Thessaloniki where we spent three days. The game plan for this vacation was to be able to relax and not have to run around and see things. Thessaloniki was nice the weather was in the 20s which is amazing after coming from cooler temperatures. There was a huge boardwalk on the ocean and we would just get a coffee, take a walk, look around, and of course eat. Robb's favourite cafe was a boat cafe that randomly departed from the harbour for 30 minutes tours. We have always loved Greek food, but being in Greece it was ten times better. We ate a lot. Every night the clubs would be pumping out loud music. Actually when we arrived in Greece our taxi driver was telling us about Thessaloniki and the location of our hotel. He would go on about the clubs and that they were open until like 10am. I guess we look like the ideal club family, you know children passed out, teddy bears, blankets, strollers, the glazed look over both Robb and my faces after getting off the flight. Anyways, our cab driver was not wrong, turns out we were in the middle of it all. The night life was pounding out music until at least 9am. We all fell asleep to the sweet, sweet lullaby of club music and maybe we all slept danced;-) Anyways we throughly enjoyed the Greek culture, everyone would grab an iced coffee (Freddo) and walk the board walk or sit in the sun by the ocean, the ideal life. English was especially good in Greece and people were very friendly. Maybe not Canadian friendly, but definitely more than German friendly;-) There is quite a bit of poverty and really sad to see kids selling kleenx packages, or squeegeeing cars on school days. Everyone we talked to said people were very lucky if they had work of any kind since the crisis started.
After Thessaloniki we flew to the island of Crete and stayed in Chania. We fell in love with Crete. I am definitely ready for the island life. We ended up staying at a hotel/resort and it opened April 1. We flew in March 31st and they let us stay in the hotel before they officially opened. It was a beautiful hotel about 7km from the city. We had a sea front suite with a balcony over the water, it was absolutely gorgeous. We would wake up and have coffee on the balcony or go down to the ocean and lounge while the girls played with sand toys and threw rocks into the water. We were honestly treated so well there. Hotel staff said we were the honored guests because we were the first. When we arrived the restaurant had sent us up fresh fruit and a bottle of wine. A local family ran the hotel restaurant and had amazing food, a lot of it came directly from their own farm a few kms away. The owner would often give us free food, iced coffees and drinks for the girls. Many nights we fed the girls at the restaurant and then we would have our dinner on the balcony when they were in bed. Every time the girls ate there the restaurant staff would make them a little special dessert or something. We were spoiled. The family sent us up wine twice and tried a third time, but Robb had to refuse saying we wouldn't be able to drink it all before we left. The weather was really good, hot enough that we even got a little burnt and went in the outdoor pools that were not heated. We walked on the beaches, toured the city, bought knock off clothing items, and ate. I think this was the first time I wished we were staying way longer. Normally, we have lots of fun, but we are always on the go, so after travelling everywhere with the girls, it is nice to come home. This time we wanted to stay longer. Peyton and Micah liked to run around after all the stray cats that the hotel fed, or look for snails to pet and say goodnight to. There was a little park there they played at. We took the city bus around enjoyed seeing more of the Greek way of life. Tourist season was just beginning, so it wasn't very busy and lots of shops still were not open for the season. I think this off season travel was perfect. We stayed in Crete for 5 days and then flew home reluctantly.
The last week of Robb's spring break was fairly uneventful. We hung out with friends, played in parks, and went to Frankfurt Zoo on the weekend. Robb is back in school again and we are enjoying life and planning all of our last adventures before we head home in August. We are looking forward to being back in our home with Samson and our own things. Micah is talking a lot more lately, so we are trying to FaceTime as much as possible and look at pictures, so she remembers everyones names. Peyton doesn't forget anything. She will remember some obscure memory and start by saying, remember back in Canada this or that. She's looking forward to playing with her cousins. I am sure the next four months will fly by. We have a few countries we are yet to travel to and are looking forward to those adventures. We will miss our friends here so much and hope they all really feel inclined to travel to Canada. I will have to talk it up, so we can get some visitors;-) Miss you all and we will see you very soon.
Feeding the ducks with Ethan.
On our way to church with our Disney friends. I will miss being able to walk to everything.
Mateo, Senta, Peyton and Micah hanging out, this was the best we could get of all four of them.
This is part of the Canta family. Laura and Sarah gave Peyton and Micah 'Elsa' sprinkles with their ice cream. Robb missed out on the fun.
Robb's snowboarding trip in Austria.
FaceTime session with our beloved Samson.
Peyton was so excited for her date to arrive she literally was waiting like this for Robb to arrive.
Micah also got flowers and chocolate from Robb. She promptly passed him back the flowers and ran away with the chocolate. My kind of girl.
White Tower of Thessaloniki
The princesses helped us when were out for dinners.
The boardwalk
Twinning.
One of my favourites from our trip.
Being very touristy. The girls loved ringing the bell and therefore drawing more attention to ourselves.
Looking very cool.
This boat would tour around the harbour and it was like a moving coffee shop a perfect afternoon stop.
Feeling very tropical with our fresh fruit, sipping ice coffee, staring at the blue/green ocean.
Micah keeps trying to steal our coffees, you can't leave them unarmed around her. You would think she wouldn't like the taste, but she prefers it to her own food or drink 100% of the time.
Thessaloniki from the water.
A little horse carriage ride on the ocean. Micah and Peyton kept seeing people do this and would scream when they saw the horses coming, so we thought we would give it a try.
An orange tree in Crete.
Love this picture of Micah being blown away.
Our first time swimming, Micah doesn't last long in the cold pools and needs more meat on her bones.
Being pretty cool.
So good.
This is from the dock at our hotel.
My view for 5 days! Well usually getting up a few times to stop fights over sand toys or to stop them from jumping in the ocean:)
Streets of Chania.
The Old Harbour of Chania.
Ice cream stops always help the smiles to come out.
Shopping for some good knock offs.
Little adult.
Having dinner at the hotel, not so shabby. Micah basically claimed this high chair for our five day stay. It has a tray and a seatbelt to keep this escape artist from getting out.
Ah the good life.
Lounging.
Warming up from her dip in the pool.
Love these girls.
Beautiful walk on the beaches.
Finding shells.
Pretty nice place to enjoy a coffee.
Robb trying to do really cool photos.
Some sunset rock throwing.
Serious talks.
There were really cool sights to see wandering through the streets of Chania.
Killing some time during Micah's nap in the stroller, incase you are wondering where our missing family member is.
One of her special ice creams.
A little oatmeal at sunset.
Lunch in the city.
Another one of my favorite pictures.
Back at home having a little easter egg hunt. Micah didn't really want to hunt when you can just open the few you got and eat them.
A lunch out with friends after play group. Trying to get four kids to look at the camera while having the sun in their faces is a challenge.
Peyton, Jack, and Rylee.
Rylee and Peyton
Chilling with Josiah and Eliana.
Peyton and Vivian were really holding traffic up here.
Giving the tiger a little pet.
The dad life.
So adorable Caleb, Peyton, and Micah at Frankfurt Zoo.
