We forgot to take a picture before we ate these, oops! Trust me when I say there is no better lamb than lamb chops grilled in Greece.  The lamb just tastes different.

First we picked up our fish.  The fisherman had just brought them in and we were super excited.

Our wonderful nanny, Maria, who is always full of such fun Filipino old wives tales (even though she’s only 25 🙂 told me that when kids have two cow licks they’re said to be VERY naughty….see picture below of Adam’s two cowlicks.

I don’t know who was more excited to get the fresh fish, Adam or me. I love that Adam loves all things fish, Nemo and shark related but also loves to eat fish.  I was worried he would feel bad eating fish but it’s still his favorite thing to eat.  We never have enough fish because I always underestimate that Adam can eat almost a whole small fish by himself.

After we picked our fish and the fisherman cleaned it for us, we headed out for breakfast.  Adam is obsessed with pancakes and Greece is obsessed with crepes, a match made in heaven.  Adam got a yummy chocolate crepe and juice and we got eggs…and I may have had a crepe as well.  When in Greece.  Oh and coffee, did I mention coffee.  Oh Greece, I really love you and I love frappes so we are also a match made in heaven.  And Randy loves strong Greek coffee, ok you get the point.

After having Greek yogurt and honey for breakfast every day since we arrived it was a nice change (don’t get me wrong, we could all have Greek yogurt and honey every day and be happy) but it was nice to have breakfast out by the port. We liked it so much we lingered for a while.

After breakfast it was beach time then nap time and then bath time followed by a yummy fish dinner that Randy cooked for us.  

We brought along a Greek cookbook to test out and we used one of the recipes for the fish. It was delicious.

After dinner we headed into town for an ice-cream and some World Cup watching.  A pretty great day.

After two days in Greece we were feeling like pros. So for our third day we wised up.  We drove to the beach, yes I know it’s only thirty feet away but with two kids and their gear I would rather save that energy for the beach.  We also decided to just hang out under a tree and save time putting up the tent.  By the way, you are about to see a whole lot of Iphone pictures since that’s the only camera we bring to the beach.

Oh wait, before we headed down there Adam asked to hold Malcolm and this cuteness happened.  I so often get Malcolm smiling or Adam smiling but rarely do I get both of them.  Here we are.

Then it was off to the beach.  It was heaven not having to put up that tent.  But on the downside it wasn’t fully shaded for Malcolm, the sand under the tree was black which led to lots of mess and the tree was leaking sap. Trust me, I realize how ridiculous it is that I’m complaining about anything while on a beautiful Mediterranean beach.

And even with all that it was a fun time. Without the long tent building exercise we had more time to play and help Adam build some sand castles and dump some sand with his truck.  Every day he gets more used to the beach and more comfortable.  He still has zero interest in swimming but that’s ok. The water is on the cold side so the only one who’s gone it so far is Randy.

Then it was home for this delicious lunch.  Why yes, that is yet another greek salad.  Our plan is to have one meal out a day and cook the other two.  So far, the meals at home have been as good if not better than the ones out.

Then it was into town for a walk, souvlakia and icecream.  A great day.  Malcolm wore his fish shirt in honor of our beach time.

The next day, Tuesday, we decided to try another beach.  It’s a two minute drive from our beach so we figured if it didn’t go well, we could always go back to ours.  Well, who would have thought it possible but this beach was even more beautiful! It was smaller, but emptier and had pebbles instead of sand.  No trees, so the tent had to go up.  It was a bit quicker since we’ve had some practice, but since we’re still not getting out of the house until close to 11 (where do those three hours go??) by the time the tents up it’s almost time to head home for naps.  It was still worth every second of that time on this beach.  Adam spent the whole time sitting by the water throwing rocks, he was so happy to finally be allowed to throw rocks.  He kept his swimmies on the whole time but still didn’t venture into the ocean.

Here we are in the tent.  Which Adam loves, so maybe it is worth the effort. Not the most flattering picture of Malcolm, but Adam’s face is so cute, even though he’s eating a cracker. Anyway, it’s the only picture I have of tent that you all are I’m sure sick of hearing about.

We loved this beach so much we came back the next day.  But…we were able to use some comfy shaded beach pillows that the hotel up the hill has there.  I asked permission first of course and the reply I got was, No one is there, just go use them but if anyone asks I didn’t tell you that.  Ok, buddy, you got it!  Noone bothered us and we didn’t have to build a tent.  But, you all now me and I was nervous the whole time that someone would come ask us who told us we could use these comfy pillows and I was going to accidentally rat out my friend.

Another beach day, another sea animal for Malcolm.  A whale this time. Thanks Grandma Gertch for getting Adam this cute whale shirt back by the beach when Adam was this size.  And thanks Aunt Sandra for the cute sun hat! We’ve put it to good use!

And then, just when we didn’t think it could get any better.  We decided to try another beach on Wednesday and we came upon Psili Amos.  This means High Sand in Greek and it was beautiful. Not only that, but it was entirely functional.  There are tons of trees right by the water for shade. There are two tavernas nearby if we get hungry, thirsty and you can walk out forever and still the water will only be at your knees.  This last one was key in getting Adam to finally get in the water. There are also just enough kids to be fun for Adam but not crowded.

So this is where we’ve spent the last three days and will spend tomorrow, our last day in Serifos before we sadly leave but happily continue on to Naxos.

More on what we’ve been doing this week coming up. But thankfully, most of what we’ve been doing is searching for the perfect beach.  We can check that one off our list!

After our photo shoot there were a couple hours in there that we probably shouldn’t rehash.  Let’s just say two days back in diapers for our trip over here did not help our potty training and we had a bit of standoff. Randy went off to the beach to set up the tent (oh that tent) while I stayed behind to deal with this.

We’ve been in Serifos for a whole week already and I’ve been meaning to post pictures and our activities daily…but having two kids seems to take up the whole entire day in a great way of course.  I’m used to having some down time when they’re both napping but here I don’t have my amazing help- Maria and Michelle so I’m usually washing dishes or hanging laundry to dry.  I know, I really can’t complain since it’s the first time in over a year I’ve had to do either 🙂

Ok, on to the fun parts.  We arrived Friday night and headed right to bed.  We were EXHAUSTED!  We woke up the next day, Saturday and were ready to head to our beach.  We can see it from our veranda so Adam spent all morning staring longingly at it, ready to go.  I’m not sure where out mornings go, but with the boys thankfully waking up later here (this means 8 am instead of 5:30 am) we haven’t managed to get out of the house before 10:30.

The beach is so close to our house you can reach out and touch it.  So we decided to walk.  We packed up our towels, snacks, water, swimmies, toys, tent and babies and headed down for a relaxing time.

The beach was beautiful.  One of the prettiest we’ve ever seen.  There was hardly anyone on it.  But there was very little shade so we set about building our tent we brought for exactly this.  After about 45 minutes we had broken one of the pieces and were no closer to building the tent.  I was still carrying Malcolm in the carrier, making it hard for me to help build our tents.  Adam wanted to play and go to the water but we were too involved in our tent building and both parents were getting tired and thirsty.  We finally gave up, I went and found a tree way off towards the back and Randy took Adam to the water.  Adam was a little scared but he was content to play in the water and build sand castles.  There was a father nearby with two older kids, they had come to the beach with no towels, no snacks and no tent.  In typical Greek fashion, they had brought only their rackets to play.  Lesson to be learned, perhaps less is more in Greece.

After getting some sand and sun in we headed back.  The little ones took a nap and we made a yummy lunch of Greek salad.  I plan to eat all the Greek salad I can possible fit in my mouth.  While a huge bag of kalamatas cost 3 euros here, it would cost 30 dollars in Manila and while a box of delicious tomatoes cost 2 euros here it would cost 20 dollars in Manila and not be nearly as tasty.  And we get to eat with this view.

After naps we all showered and headed into town for a yummy dinner.   We had a salad with the local cheese instead of feta and some yummy cheese and honey balls.  Then some fresh fish.  Delicious.  Day one and I’ve already had three amazing meals.

Then it was home for some ice cream for this little guy.   A pretty amazing first day, jet lag and all!

10 pm – Manila time. Head to the airport.  Both boys have been asleep since 7.  Both immediately wake up when we get them from their beds, but both are in good moods despite this.   We’ve taken a red eye with Adam before to Bali which did not go well, so we had pretty low expectations.  But this was the only flight that worked for us. So off we went.

10:45 pm- Arrive at Manila airport.  After a small argument at the check-in where were told to check Malcolm’s car seat (despite their helpful suggestion that he sit in the regular chair and our explaining that at 5 months he’s not quite able to do that) we’re able to successfully board with the car seat.

1 am- Flight takes off.  Bit jumbled but this consisted of eight hours of amazingly well behaved babies. Malcolm slept and ate, Adam slept and ate and watched cartoons and miraculously both boys slept for three hours at the same time so we got to sleep too. I was amazed at how well both boys handled being up for most of the night.

1 pm Manila time – We headed off on our second flight from Abu Dhabi Athens.  Full disclosure, this flight was not as easy as the last one.  It was only 4 and a half hours long but it felt like an eternity.  Malcolm was a little fussy, mostly tired but settled down eventually but Adam, oh Adam.  He fell asleep after two hours and slept for an hour and it was delightful. I watched some of Monument Men.  But then, he woke up.  I know what the poor guy was feeling, that feeling when you’re soooo tired and you wake up way too soon and feel terrible. And he let everyone know it.  After walking around, a nice stewardess giving us some juice, cookies and a toy, which didn’t work, we finally calmed down when Randy broke out the Cars pez dispenser I had bought for just this moment.  It worked like a charm.  But then, we ran out of Pez. Thankfully we were about to land so the passengers on the plane were only subjected to a short amount of screams. It was for sure the ONLY moment of the trip where Adam was anything but great, so I think that’s pretty great for a two and a half year old.  The minute we landed tides turned and Adam was in a great mood.  These moments are always the hardest when traveling with kids. Special candies, treats and new apps on the Ipad help, but inevitably there is a time when nothing works.  In these moments, you just have to give in and realize soon enough you’ll land and there will be a glass of wine waiting for you.

6:30 pm – Our next leg was a 45 minute taxi ride from the airport to the Port.  Remember our luggage picture at the start of this…I was sure we would need two taxis, but we managed to find an amazing taxi driver that squeezed all our stuff in one and took us, even though this meant the stroller wheel blocked his fifth gear and if there is anything a Greek taxi driver loves, it’s fifth gear.  Adam was in a great mood, he loves taxis and he was excited to get to the boat.

9:30 pm Manila time – Last step of our journey.  A four and a half ferry ride to Serifos, the first island we’re staying.  We debated staying a night in Athens, but the only direct ferry to Serifos left at this time so we decided to just go for it.  The ferry thankfully went well.  I think Adam was just happy to have some room to move around.  Or he was just too tired to complain.  Poor guy, but he kept going.  He watched Nemo, he walked around the deck and was still in a pretty good mood.

It’s pretty amazing in this very room below where Adam was running around (and I was silently praying he didn’t have any accidents since we’re very very new at this potty training) was where the Japanese unconditionally surrendered to the Americans after World War II.  This will for sure interest the two history buff reading (this means you Dad and Henry).

Malcolm is clearly going to be joining this list, see how intrigued he is by the painting rendition.  I love that Adam and Malcolm will be learning about World War II one day in school and we can talk about how they were in the room where history took place.

It was foggy and post a torrential downpour which made our walk after fun and full of puddle jumping.

Full disclosure, it took all my willpower to let Adam stomp away.  I kept thinking about how when I was a kid someone told me that walking in puddles barefoot is how you get tapeworms….he wasn’t barefoot but hs shoes had holes.  But I’m glad I let him stomp. He loved it and so far all ok 🙂

Then it was back to the cottage for dinner and a warm fire.  After a year of hot tropical living it was so nice to be able to cuddle in front of a fire. And even nicer is they completely set up the fire for you so all you have to do is light a match.

Eventually we put the two boys to bed (by eventually I mean 7) and got to enjoy some champagne and chocolates to celebrate our anniversary.  We exchanged gifts and talked about all that had happened in the past year and our plans  for next year and how wonderful our wedding was.

The next morning was my idea of a perfect morning.  We got to sit outside in sweaters(!) and have a yummy breakfast of yogurt, granola and fruit with a beautiful view.

The day just kept getting better.  There are horses super close that you can ride.   Second full disclosure- the whole time we were on the horse I was gripping Adam for dear life.  I kept thinking of how Scarlett’s daughter in Gone with the Wind was thrown from a horse, and Pollyanna and the list goes on.  Randy pointed out that these horses are super tame, we were walking as slow as can be and there was a guy leading him the whole time. But you never know people!  Adam insisted on a white horse, his name was Bingo.

Malcolm watched for about five minutes and then fell asleep.  Just you wait buddy, you’ll be begging for a horse ride soon enough.

We headed back and went for a long walk.