Ohio: Part 5 (Actually From Ohio)

the grandparents threw eleftheria a wonderful baby shower with all the fixings.  mom was so proud of her cut flower centre pieces, i just had to post a couple.  they really were wonderful.

these are probably my favourites.

we really had a wonderful time.  the party was great and the hostesses were simply wonderful.  picture here are four generations (if you include the unborn).

eleftheria took up residence in dad's shop as she worked on her glass piece (pictures to come).  the drawing aspect was wonderful, but the intricate cutting proved to be maddeningly frustrating.  No worries though, with dad on her side the piece was completed.

it was really cool to see her back in a bit of her own environment, drawing and creating.

despite my yearly wish i continue to get older and older, this year was number 28.  crazy.  it was a cool party though, very low key.

the highlights were that eleftheria made a super tasty berry cake, and i didn't burn my beard off as i blew out the candles.

so we are beginning to pack to head for home.  this bag is filled with baby stuff alone.  CRAZY.  so we have three check bags (yes that is one more than we are allowed) weighing in at 22, 24 (yes 1 kg over), and a stroller that clocks in at around 20 kilos.  then we have two carry ons that are closing in on checked bag weight and eleftheria's new purse looks like she is going to need a new one as soon as we get to greece.

all these guys waited very patiently as we tried to find space for them.  sadly some will have to wait for my parents to arrive in december.

so . . . this is about as good as it gets these days.  as if i needed more to do, i am going back to school for my master's this year.  this is a photo that eleftheria took so that I could submit something for my student id card.  my beard appears to favour the right side of my face, my teenage acne is still problematic, and my hair is at a weird stage theses days . . . eh, whatever.

in the closing days i have been seeing important people one last time.  steven came over and we spent a solid 4 or 5 hours around a fire chatting and telling stories.

it has been such a wonderful trip.  it was so great to see so many people and to actually spend enough time at home to relax.  school will start soon so the amount of posting is going to take a dive, but i will do my best to stay in touch and up to date.  

Love Luck and Lollipops

Ohio: Part 4 (Mostly Set In Ocracoke NC)

thessaloniki tomatoes (the big ones) from a medina ohio garden.

one of my favorite past-times, and i have still avoided getting pooped on.

i really like this pick

walking around ocracoke is a wonderful activity.  the island was especially green this year due to the large amount of rain this season; really makes the red and yellow pop.

a gorgeous sunset over the sound.  the colors aren't perfect but they are pretty close.  it was so pretty.

this might be my forvorite picture taken.  eleftheria grabbed this one.  the clouds are just amazing.

beach bocci is the best bocci

the rain made for a great playground of puddles for the ducks and ducklings on the island.

eleftheria and i spotted this guy (girl?) underneath the car as we were coming of the beach.  i subsequently chased it around for twenty minutes or so in my speedo and took a full sd card of pictures. if only someone had had a video camera.

the beach professionals.  thank you both so much for another great bunch of memories.

baby room colors? or just our favorite flavors?

this is for sure the best hang-out (after the beach itself) on the island.  good people, lots of seating, great service, tantalizing selections of bagels, coffees, smoothies, and muffins.  AMAZING!!!

what else do you do with a smoothy and coffee?

what a wonderful trip. a solid set of surprises from keith, sarah, and jill.  Though the traffic and travel were at times problematic, the islands proved once again why we go there over and over.  

Ohio: Part 3 (All From NY)

 so, eleftheria and i set off for another busy weekend.  we started on thursday driving to ithaca to see keith and sarah, then headed into ny city for a quick visit with artemis and returned to ithaca before driving home tuesday.

 we met keith and sarah on thursday at ithaca brewery for dinner.  they have a wonderful outdoor patio with a pretty cool bottle display that creates a privacy screen.

 the patio is surrounded by farm land and trees, it was a beautiful evening and really great food.

 our first night in ny city took us to brooklyn for the first time.  we partied with some of artemis' friends on a hotel rooftop.  it was a rainy evening so the view was not as impressive as it could have been, but manhattan, behind us, was still pretty impressive.

 we ate a bunch (in my opinion, and not a complaint).  this is one of the spots that we hit.  a little vietnamese place.  the service was a bit rough, but the loud gangsta rap and good food completely made up for it.

 we went to the met (don't believe the website, tickets are on a name-your-own-donation basis).  it is a crazy huge museum.  the roof has a really cool exhibit right now.

 the beard is getting big.  it almost pushes eleftheria out of the pick.

 artemis is a great tour guide.  here we are in china town, she was explaining the history of the gangs of ny situation.  super cool

we found free day and night parking in the city.  AWESOME!!!  the down-side, it took us 1.5 hours to cover 5 blocks to get off the island.  wow . . . 

 back in ithaca.  this is one of the many waterfalls in the area, very nice.  absolutely beautiful.

 we ate at agava.  really nice restaurant.  pretty cool art on the wall.

keith and sarah are some of the best people ever.  it was such a wonderful trip.  we have been to the east a lot this trip.  it is our plan to go west next time around, hope it will all work out.  

Ohio: Part 2

 i love a well timed fireworks pic.  4th of july at medina high school.  i was the best show i have seen in medina since i was a little kid.

 a rare family trip to the new.  this is a picture of the stained glass inside the cathedral cafe.  we had a great trip.

 lots and lots of fungus.  check out mom and dad's site, i think that my mom will do a post with a whole bunch.

 the beard is getting long.  it was a beautiful weekend.  temps were good and it didn't rain, too much.

 mackenzie and eleftheria were bothering tadpoles that had hatched in little pools of water at the end of our long point hike.  

so, again. not too many pics from ohio, but we are still here.  things are going fast, but real fun.  hope all is well with everyone else.