Back to Hong Kong

Grandma Gretch and I decided to take a girls trip to Hong Kong to see Kate and the sights.  Of course at the last minute I decided to bring this little guy with us.

Malcolm was great and slept the whole flight. He’s a pro traveler! We got in around 10.  Just enough time for some wine and yummy hoummous and snacks Kate had made before bed.

The next morning we woke up bright eyed and ready to see Hong Kong.  But first some baby cuddles and breakfast.

Here’s what breakfast looks like at Kate’s house.  Homemade scones, a perfectly arranged fruit plate, homemade juice.  Randy saw this picture and asked what fancy restaurant we were eating at.  Just Kate’s house!

Even George got some yummy homemade food.

These two are going to be best friends! George kept trying to crawl over to give Malcolm cuddles…ok, maybe he wanted to grab his face but it was with love.

After a full morning of cuddles we headed out to show Grandma some of Hong Kong.  Kate had planned a whole day out for us and of course because of rain we had to change our plans, but the changes included lunch at a yummy dim sum restaurant, Crystal Jade.

After lunch the rain had cleared up so we took the Star Ferry over to Kowloon and headed to the ladies market.

We headed back home after some successful shopping, put the boys to bed and left them with Kate’s wonderful nanny Flor. The adults headed out for a yummy Vietnamese dinner.

I really love Hong Kong more each time I visit.  Mostly because I get to see Kate and cutie pie George but also because it is such an amazing mix of old and new, green parks and tall buildings, culture and great restaurants.  But the real draw is for sure Kate.  How she manages to be so together, sweet, smart,  put together and beautiful while raising such an adorable little boy and finding time to help me at all times in all areas I’ll never know!

Grandma's here!

And she came bearing lots of gifts!  Grandma got in late at night so she had to wait until the morning to see the boys.  After a quick hug Eagle eye Ali spotted the goodies Grandma brought and she brought some good ones! 

Adam got Mickey toys, shark shoes that light up, a shark towel with his name on it and lots more.  But the creme de la creme was the Hess truck that Grandma brought.  It lights up and makes noises and as if that’s not enough it has a bulldozer that sits on the back and moves.  This is Adam’s dream right here.  Grandma, we have a winner!

We’re so excited to have Grandma here for a month.  With me back at work , it’s been really helpful having her around to pick up the slack and to take Adam out for walks, the pool and the toy store.  He is in heaven. Even Malcolm’s getting in on the fun.  When Adam is at school, Grandma has been taking Malcolm swimming and Malcolm loves it!

These two boys are pretty lucky to have a Grandma who comes all this way, brings loads of treats and spends all day playing.

First bites

Now that we’re all caught up on Greece I need to catch you up on everything that’s been going on this past month at home!  When we returned home Malcolm was just over 6 months and ready for some food! He had been giving me all the signs, starting longingly at Adam’s icecream, trying and succeeding to grab my spaghetti off my plate.  When my first day of work was cancelled because of a typhoon (don’t worry we were fine throughout) and Randy was home as well I decided it was the perfect time to start.  After all, when it looks like this outside you need to think of fun ways to entertain yourself indoors. 
First it was time to break out the high chair.  We had hidden it in our storage area so that Adam would forget it was his.  Adam of course did not forget and wanted his chair back, but after explaining (alot) that this chair was for babies and he had a big boy chair now he seemed to accept it.  Of course, every time Malcolm isn’t in his chair Adam is in it.  This is of course after a year of wanting to sit in real chairs.  But I guess you always want what you can’t have.  
This high chair was for sure a great purchase, since both boys seem to really like it. We plopped Malcolm in and let him get used to it. He loved it.  

Since Randy was home from work, I thought it would be nice for him to give Malcolm his first bite of food. On the menu- carrots.

The first couple of bites went like this.

 

 

 

But after a couple of bites Malcolm really got the hang of it and he gobbled those carrots down.

 

Since then we’ve added sweet potatoes, bananas, apples and prunes to the menu!  Hopefully Malcolm will be a great eater like Adam, whose current menu favorites are Greek yogurt and honey, cucumbers and salad and miso soup with tofu.  For clarification purposes these are all on the list below cookies, cupcakes, icecream, gummy bears and marshmallows, but isn’t that the case for everyone?  

Knowing your limits

Our last day in Greece was a good reminder of how when traveling with kids you need to have realistic expectations. But while you can’t do everything, you can still do lots and it’s important to just remember to enjoy what you can do and the chance you have to share these moments with your kids. 
So, our last day.  We had stayed out the night before way too late and poor Adam was wiped out.  We decided to let him sleep in.  But we also had an important date with the market and some olive oil, olives and feta to pick up to bring back.  So, Randy stayed behind with Adam and I loaded up Malcolm in the carrier and we hopped in a cab.  I had to hustle so there was no time to linger and take pictures.  But believe me when I tell you that this market is amazing.  There’s meat, fish, nuts, cheeses, olive oil and so much more. And when I say cheese I mean freshly made delicious feta in big barrels just waiting to be purchased, the freshest meat and fish, delicious olives.  The minute I got out of the cab I knew that this is Randy’s idea of heaven and he was missing it.  But that’s the kind of dad he is. And it’s one more reason to come back to Greece.  I spent an hour collecting all the goodies we wanted to bring home with us and then raced back in a cab and dropped off all of the stuff.  All four of use got right back into another cab to go to the new Acropolis museum. 
This was the whole reason we decided to stay in Athens for the night instead of just heading back home. This museum had gotten great reviews and I was excited to take the boys to the Parthenon at the top of the Acropolis and get some pictures of them in front of the Acropolis.  We had three hours before we had to head home back and get ready to leave for our long flight back.  Just enough time to see the museum and the Acropolis.  I thought the museum was up the hill and right next to the Parthenon, but it was actually was down at the bottom.  So, we headed to the museum first and told Adam when we were done we would go on up the mountain to see the old ruins.  
The museum was as great as they say.  It’s built right over ruins and has glass floors everywhere so you can see all the excavations and ruins right underneath.       

Adam, what caught your eye at the Acropolis museum? Oh yeah that’s right- the broom the janitor was pushing, the metal detector and the escalator!

I let Randy walk around for a bit, since he had been waiting for a long time to see this museum and cares more about that stuff than me.  I amused Adam but asking him to find the horses in all the friezes and kept him away from anything breakable. Thank you ancient Greece for loving horses as much as Adam.

And then things took a turn for the worse for our overtired toddler.  We went outside to the cafe to have a snack and take some pictures with the Acropolis behind us and Adam was not being cooperative.  He just did not want to sit and have something to eat and kept insisting we head up the mountain.  I really, really wanted to listen to Adam and take the boys up to the top of the mountain and see the Parthenon…but i knew if we headed up there in the hot August sun by the time we boarded that first plane in a couple of hours I would regret it. Ok, I didn’t know it but Randy did and he suggested we go sit someplace and eat instead of walking all the way up the mountain.  

Adam of course kept insisting we go up the mountain. So we did what any good parents do and lied.  We told him this was as close as we could go.  You can see from his face that this was not wholly believed. Sorry Adam,  I promise the next time we’re in Athens we’ll go up the mountain and take pictures from the top.

We definitely made the right move.  Before we knew it we turned those frowns upside down and enjoyed our last few hours in Greece. Traveling with kids is not always easy, but I wouldn’t change one minute of our month in Greece. It is the only time we’ll ever be in Greece with the boys at this age at this stage in their lives and it was worth every tantrum and sleepless night and sore back from lugging too much luggage (right Randy?) to get to experience this month with the boys and see their faces as they experienced so many new things.  They are both at an age where they are soaking in so much and changing and growing.

Athens

 The last time we were in Athens was four years ago and we got married.  The day after our wedding we headed to downtown Athens (after forcing ourselves to get up after our late night) and took some amazing pictures in an area called Monastiraki.

Here we are four years later on the same block!  Who would have ever thought we would be back here with our two wonderful boys Adam and Malcolm.  
Athens is such a wonderful city.  The minute our ferry got in we instantly wished we had more time to spend there.  We only had 24 hours to spend so we had to hustle, Ali style 🙂
We got off the ferry and were worried we would have to take two cabs with all of our stuff….but this is Greece so our amazing cab driver squeezed everything into one cab and bungeed up the trunk.  Gotta love Greece, who even knew they still sell bungees.  We headed to our friend Elianna’s house and unloaded our stuff.  I’ve known Elianna since I was a couple years old.  Our friends are old friends and every time I’m in Athens I get to see her.  This time was extra special because I got to introduce Adam and Malcolm to Elianna and her family. 
But first Elianna had to head back to work so we headed out to explore Athens with the boys.  

Then we met Elianna for a delicious dinner that went way too late but was too much fun to end.

We were even able to squeeze in a visit to Elianna’s parents, George and Despina, who cooked a delicious meal for us.  Elianna’s brother Spiro and his wife Maria were there as well with their two children who Adam loved!
 

Their house is beautiful and has the most amazing view! Adam was too busy with ‘his kids’ as he called them but I made Malcolm take some pictures with me before it was time to head to the airport and say goodbye to this wonderful country.

Goodbye Milos

For our last night in Milos and on the Greek Islands we went back to our favorite restaurant, Enalion.  We had a long slow dinner, facilitated by the fact that Malcolm sleeps the second he gets inside the baby carrier and there was a beach right there for Adam to explore.

We are in agreement that the Greek islands are without question the prettiest place we have ever visited. And not only are they beautiful, they are interesting, the food is amazing and the people are so friendly with babies and toddlers.  I am already counting the days until we can return and the more I think about the more excited I am to return.  Adam will be almost five! What are five year olds like? I can’t even imagine.  And Malcolm will be Adam’s age now. I can’t imagine my chubby, toothless baby talking and walking around the beach shooting water guns at strangers.

An amazing meal was the perfect sendoff.  I can only hope we make it back to this beach someday!

Worth the drive

During our last week in Milos we felt like we had so much to see, so every evening before dinner we would try to see something new.  How amazing that after a week and a half on a small island there was still so much to see.
I kept seeing Klima on postcards around Milos and I figured anywhere nice enough to end up on a postcard was good enough for the Alis.  But first we had to drive down a one lane road all the way down a hill.  When I say we I mean me.  I’m the only one out of the four of us that can drive stick so it was me who had to drive down a windy one lane road with cars coming the other way.  Aunt Das, you would not have been happy 🙂
But….look at what was at the bottom.  One hundred percent worth it. 

Saying Goodbye

The hardest part about our life without a single doubt is not being close to our family.  And the hardest moments of the hardest part are always hardest right after we’ve seen our family.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.  Let’s start at the beginning of the end.

Our last day with the Jordans was spent relaxing by the water with a walk, coffee and a long leisurely lunch at the best restaurant in Milos, which just happened to be down the block from our house.

First a walk along the port to look at all the boats.

 

 

 

 
After our walk we stopped for some coffee and a mango shake and some sunglass modeling.

 

For lunch we decided to go out with a bang and headed to Enalion, which had become our favorite restaurant in Milos.   We had gone to dinner here a couple nights before and it was so delicious we decided it would be a good way to send the Jordans off.

This is just a glimpse at the food at this place.  Everything we had here was so delicious!

Our week with the Jordans ended way too fast.  Before we knew it it was time for Aunt Das and Uncle Nooj to leave.  After just a couple of days together I quickly get so used to having my family around and it’s so much harder after they leave.  It always happens so fast I’m shocked every time when they leave and I have a big hole left that they had filled.  After the Jordans left I spent a couple of days wallowing like a girlfriend that’s been dumped.  Everything reminded me of the Jordans, every time I passed the restaurants we had eaten at, the beaches we had been to, the sign for their hotel, I would get mopey.

But then I remember how lucky we are to have such wonderful family in our lives and a chance to make such amazing memories.  I would give anything to be back here at this restaurant with these two amazing people who love my boys as much as I do, but in the meantime I’ll consider myself to be the luckiest mom in the world to have these two in Adam and Malcolm’s lives and cherish every moment of our trip.