Sunday, December 13, 2015

BDay: The End of Year 2

gotta get it clean.
 a living room set to seat 20 adults.

an early bday gift
once again eleftheria killed it. my mother in law added meat balls, her signature homemade pizza and mini cheese pies.
the kids room ready for 10 kids
the bday girl herself
the spread
blowing out the cake. greek and english versions were entertained.

we had a pinata which was brought down by a light saber
and eleftheria made this amazing thing called a "punch box". it is full of holes, each filled with a plastic cup holding a little stuffed animal. the top of each cup was covered with tissue paper. as the kids left the house, each punched through a cover to grab a surprise toy. super awesome.
we saw a new cartoon with penguins, rubber ducks and a boat. sounds random, but it does cover 3 of her to 10 favorite things in the world.

it was a wonderful bday party, and while we were stressed in the run up, and are a bit tired now, it was well worth the energy spent.

we are so looking forward to being in the states for christmas, and can't wait to see everyone. have a great week.

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Photo Dump

finally. . . . so, we have had a wonderful fall. amazing weather; very warm, lots of sun. artemis is killing it and we have had a lot of time to enjoy each others company. 
we have enjoyed being able to get out for some walks around town. on this one we made it down to the new port in order to hang-hang out and play.
really warm, seriously.
like father like daughter. i need to collect some more rocks for her to use, but she can spend a considerable amount of time 'painting'.
the next generation of olive picker arrives
she does not drink much milk, but cheese? yes please.
the olive harvest was plentiful, and the weather held up long into the harvest period, so the work was bearable. eleftheria is right, and that is actually why i had added this photo in the first place. this pic was taken by artemis from her perspective
 cheese and a multi-tool
so this happened. trunk or treat at the school. I went as a pirate, and artemis was supposed to be a bunny being skinned; she wore her fleece onesie over top of her skeleton pjay's, but her pirate father forgot her bunny ears. as always eleftheria cleaned up my mess and made our trunk three shot basketball game and my costume look awesome. i feel like it was one of the best events that pinewood organizes. absolutely wonderful.

eleftheria made her first pie (apple). beautiful and tasty, she is already a master

mmmmmm . .  .
artemis is so personable. not much of a snuggler, here she give simo a minute of warmth and love.
THANKSGIVING!!! so eleftheria got this great idea to do thanksgiving for artemis and i. she is so wonderful and the meal was better than fantastic.
my first turkey. we brined it overnight, did a simple marinade, and a honey glaze
artemis took pictures with her cell phone.
two more apple pies
we found these great little squashes and they made a great little addition to the table
beautiful table settings.
we also had 4 little ones with us for the evening so a kiddy table was set. their little pupkins were made of a candy corn style sweet.
a second table?
oh yeah! cause we had a total of 18 adults and 4 kids for our first thanksgiving.
we also had a birthday to attend to so a thanksgiving themed birthday cake was supplied.

the menu (we'll see if I get everything): tukey (whole), 2x turkey fillet, stuffing, mashed potatos, cranberry chutney, bourbon sweet potatoes, green bean and potato salad, carrot and quinoa salad, a crazy fruit based salad that elfetheria loves from panera, sauteed brussel sprouts, baked brussel sprouts rapped in bacon, baked tortellini, a home-made pizza (for those unsure of the food), a spinach and sweet potato quiche, and from scratch mac and cheese for the kids. 2x apple pie, ice cream, a malteser chocolate pie and the thanksgiving b-day cake for dessert. I will edit the list if i missed anything.
it was a wonderful night. lots of friends, family and fun. thank you eleftheria for a wonderful first family thanksgiving.

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Not A Lot Of Time

watermelon fresh from the garden
baking with grandma
the hairnet just puts it over the top
last warm trip to the beach (until now at least)
all i can think of is papa bob when i see riding mowers. it took me forever to get her down.
possible travel arrangements for christmas
 looking especially cute
 new panda hat
nona is in town for a stint in the city. she and artemis have been reconnecting.

it is an old story, but a true one. there are three things at the moment. work, my daughter, and my wife, that is all.  

love you all.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

The End of August

during our last few days in medina, we spent some time in the fun, and artemis finally figured out that the splash park was a pretty cool place.


i celebrated my 30th bday with my family and a couple of old friends.
artemis helped me light a kick butt fire.
papou and artemis preformed their evening ritual of trying to not overfeed the fish.
we spent a lot of time in airports on the flight home, and i spent a lot of time at the service desk. . . Fun!
artemis figured out how the head phones worked.
made it back in time for the august heat.
both eleftheria and i were feeling like we had not had our due time at the beach so we have begun to try to catch up.
we went to a huge "fair" her they are called panagiri, and they celebrate a saint/church. it was massive and artemis road on her first "roller coaster". by herself no less.

more beach.
she has grown so much, but i am constantly reminded of how small she still is, such a long and wonderful way to go.

the fam. all is well.