Kusadasi

We left Istanbul and flew to Izmir where we rented a car and drove to a place on the Agean Sea called Kusadasi.  When we arrived at our hotel we were shown to the room at the top (4th floor) right corner of the hotel. We weren't really shocked as we call it the "Bruce factor" where every hotel we stay in he always gets the room furthest from the elevator. However, this hotel gave us this room thinking that it would be the quietest for Neva (so sweet) and it had a stunning view. We were lucky to catch quite a few amazing sunsets. 

The rental car. We got a great deal on this thing...seriously. Not sure why no one else wanted it.

Shots around the hotel during one of our many epic sunsets.

Views from our hotel room. Looking left. 

Looking right.

Istanbul

These picutres are not in any particular order. Blogspot doesn't seem to want to make it easy for me to edit. Anyone have any tips? Please email if you do. 

Turkey was amazing. Totally amazing. It was the perfect holiday to do with a child. They LOVE children. We were given the royal treatment wherever we went. It is a really, really neat place with lots to see and do. I would go back in a second. 

The weather was perfect. Lowest was 8 and highest was 20. Lots of green and flowers and trees. Perfect. 

Grand Bazaar
Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia)

Our little traveller in her cozies

Blue Mosque

Bosphorous Tour with the Wrigs Clan

Playing on the fun equipment they have in the parks

Neva was loved. This man wanted to give her some cheese. 

Spice Market

View from our apartment. Thanks for giving us the info and showing us around Mellie!

8 Months

Having a wonderful time in Turkey. So great to catch up with the Wrigs, even if it was too brief. Will post more about our tour later. 

For now some shots of our 8 month old. 

Cheers. 

Mover and a Shaker

This is how I place Neva down for her naps. Note the white bed-rolls at the end of the crib. We used to use these to prevent her from rolling on to her belly until we came in one afternoon and found her whipping them around her head...silly mum thought they were okay there for this nap. 

BEFORE

AFTER!

After another restful sleep. Not too sure how much sleep she is getting during these "naps."

Spoiling Ourselves

We spent an amazing weekend in Muscat. We stayed in a gorgeous spot and did a whole lot of nothing in particular. Perfect. So nice to get out of the dust bowl for a few days.

playing by the pool.

Playing "peek around daddy" in the hotel room. 

Our gorgeous spot. 

Shopping in the souk. 
Muscat at night

New Favs & Egypt

So, so happy to have the internet. It took 15 or so visits to E****lat but Bruce, the champion, succeeded. Ask him about it sometime if you want to see the look of complete frustration.

New favorite toys. 

A couple of weeks ago Bruce had to go to Egypt for business. The guys there said that he had to see the pyramids and it would be insulting if he didn't - so they arranged a night visit so that he would get to see the pyramids AND a laser light show complete with narration. He said the pyramids were amazing and the laser light show was "really something." :)

Camping

4 adults, 2 babies, one tent, middle of nowhere. Sound interesting? 

We attempted our first camping trip in the U.A.E. We decided to go to Hatta with our friends Anna and Brian. They were gracious enough to show us the way and donate pretty much everything that we needed. We had a great time and surprisingly got a bit of sleep. It was so wonderful to get outside, explore, and have a big fire. I think Bruce really enjoyed the 4x4 driving. It was quite the experience. 

The camping spot 

The photographer (B)
The scenery

yay camping!

This little one is such a cutie. 2 weeks older than Neva and outweighs her by quite a bit. I think she is made of lead. 

Morning sun
morning stretches

The Laughlin ladies