7 Months of 2020 In The Books

i found that i have not posted since last November, so i thought that i would do my usual dump. this time though, i put the pictures in order, as much as i could. 

this is from back at the New Year, all together before Georgia left for England.

Emily's all time favorite meal is fish soup. she orders it whenever she can, and asks for it no matter the location

hair cuts are a big deal, this one came with a busted lip (not the fault of the hair dresser)

winter ice climbing with Iordanis. i don't do very much, but it is a fun diversion

winter weather in Sofia

staying warm and happy

drying off by the fire

Christopher is a friend from Thessaloniki. he and his family came up to Sofia for a visit 

 Emily cranking at the climbing gym

beautiful frozen waterfall on Vitosha

ice skating for the first time, that was pretty fun

getting creative teaching stroke technique

my HOGS class built and maintained a pretty successful hydroponics system

family in the spring

and so it began

we were trying to figure out how to socially distance and have bday parties.

friends

Artemis at her desk for school work during quarantine. She did so well

a fun picture that Artemis used for one of her assignments. 

not even quarantine can stop our annual Easter Egg Hunt. thank you uncle Adam and aunt Leanna for sponsoring

 Emily turned 4 this year

the girls put together a wonderful date night for Eleftheria and i during quarantine. we had a wonderful day. 

our friends Rob and Carmen left for South Korea at the end of the school. Not before we got in a bunch of hike and time to hang out.  

 Both of these shots are from the meadows on top of Vitosha.

now we are in Greece enjoying a quiet summer trying to avoid too many people and too much running around

A Little Car Trip Through Hills and Valleys

it has been a while since we have been on a road trip with Eleftheria's parents, so a quiet trip through calm villages and empty hill tops seemed like the perfect opportunity to stay away from the fray of the world and have some tranquil time as a family. Simos didn't make it, but Georgia was around to hang out.

we make the trip into a few days, two long travel days with lots of stops and sites, with a day in Vlasti (the village where Aristidis and Evangelia spent a large chunk of their childhood) sandwiched in between.

Normally bustling villages and busy parks were pretty empty this year. Greece is experiencing about 20 new cases a day in the whole country, but that does not change the fact that people are concerned and tourism from the outside is at an all time low. It made for a wonderful trip of us, but there is no doubt that the country that is run on tourism is going to have quite the reckoning come winter.

we started by driving to a rather large park with beautiful trees and gorgeous weather.

we stopped alongside Lake Vegoritida for a coffee.

Along the way we stopped at a roadside picnic area to have some lunch.

Emily spent much of the time in her hammock.

the village of Vlasti is an old one and has seen its share of hardship, but it is beautiful and these mini roses were in many of the yards.

this is an uninteresting picture, but we were at the top of a hill outside of the village. We took up some coffee and some fruits, it was followed by a sleep, some frisbee and exploration.

we drove slow on some backroads on the way home and the girls got to ride in the bed of the truck for a little while. 

i posted this one just because it is a hilarious design feature. This guard rail, presumably guarding cars from falling off the side of a steep, windy hillside, surprisingly turn into a series of benches, still on the side of the same steep hillside.

Among the stops of the way back to Silata, we stopped at the waterfalls in Edessa. My first time in the area. They are pretty impressive.

this is that super cool bug that I found in the woods.

it was a wonderful trip. i posted about the last trip that we took together to Vlasti, you can see the post here

i found loads of undocumented pictures (i don't know if that makes sense, i simply have never posted them). i will attempt to put up another post of random photos soon. 

More Pictures and memories: Unfortunately out of order, but with quick stories.

 after we came back from astypalaia in july, we spent a few days in athens. here we were sitting in a little taverna after a day at the beach. Georgia was there.

 some decor above the streets of sofia.

 i know that i have already posted about astypalaia, but i couldn't resist.

 crawling through the woods, we really enjoy having access to the mountains.

after the frozen 2 openning

 in october, we went back to greece for a visit. still warm enough to get in the water.

 not as many visitors this fall, but visitors none the less.

 from when g'ma and g'pa were here in the summer. jewellery making was a huge success.

 artemis' self portrait.

 the jewellery sale from the summer.

 my rhubarb harvest. it made a pretty good pie.

constructing the jewellery shop on day 1 of 2.

 artemis cranking at the climbing gym.

 adventured into another new climbing gym.

 threw-out my back, it was pretty awful.

 before the frozen 2 viewing.

 some good friends moved away at the beginning of the school year. It sad and difficult, but hopefully a good move for them.

 olive season was interesting as always. a highlight is definitely this series of pics.

 made it out for some granite bouldering on the mountain.

 seriously, the weather in october was awesome. we definitely miss the seafood in bulgaria, but it is nice to make it back to greece to get back to some wonderful fare.

 we hosted again this year, this time for the AAS hosted CEESA football tournament. not quite as successful as last year, teenagers are weird (i think parenting plays a role as well).

 greek decor

 if only it will stay this way.

 the halloween crew.

 more mountains

 jr. monopoly is a new favorite.

 A promising future.