celebrating in bodrum

on thursday morning we jetted off to bodrum for a long weekend in celebration of our 3rd wedding anniversary & the fourth of july.

i'm leavin' on a jet plane...

by noon we were in parardise!

the view from our room at casa dell'arte

ready to hit the beach

it was truly the perfect getaway - we so enjoyed the family friendliness of the resort.  each day was all about play, relaxation & loooong naps.  and plenty of delicious seafood, of course!

napping with daddy

emre got his first taste of the ocean - he loved it!

dipping his toes for the first time

i love it!

we also spent lots of time in the pool

water baby

the grounds were the perfect place for emre to run free (sort of)

exploring with daddy

running... everywhere

my lil' monkey

chillin' at the beach bar.

the grounds were immaculate.  the hotel is located in our favorite bodrum bay, torba, a yet-undeveloped (though not for long, we fear) bay.  it does host a number of gorgeous villas, which were fun to look at and daydream about on our walks.

wouldn't you like to live here?

walking on the beach to dinner

the best part of the location was that it was a short walk to our favorite restaurant, gonca balik.  we went last year with the mentz family & fell in love, so it was great to be able to return and again enjoy the amazing food with an even more amazing view!

balkayas on the beach

grilled octopus... yum.

emre enjoys a bite

sunset view from the deck

each morning we were the first to rise at the hotel, which was great because we had the whole place to ourselves for a few hours.  it's amazing what late risers turks are!

first time playing in the sand

king of the beach!

swimming in the aegean

this kid loved the sand

beach baby

relaxing with daddy at the end of the day

emre could not have been happier with all of the activity and fun.  each day he took a 3 hour nap and was exhausted by bedtime - from all that fun!

running back to the beach... again.

he was serious about the sand play & demanded that i refill his bucket with water about every 2 minutes

soooo busy

there were several other children & babies staying at the hotel, which was great fun for emre.

loungin' with his new friend who was happy to share her toys

ben's favorite part was definitely swimming with emre in the sea.  a dream come true for him!

back in the sea with daddy

this friendly dog decided we were his family for the weekend & barely left our side.  but he barked at everyone else!

the kiddie pool was fantastic because it was large & shaded in the afternoons, and emre could stand in it, which gave him quite the thrill.

chillin' with mom in the kiddie pool

emre also enjoyed alllllll of the food. 

 trying to bite through the banana peel.  this kid must be having a growth spurt.

rice cakes ...lounging with more snacks after a swim.

dried apple... he loved reaching into the beach bag to pick out his own snacks.

naked baby! the bar tender was nice enough to provide him with an unlimited supply of straws.

still loving the calamari!

casa dell'arte is just that - a house of art - which contains the collection of a (very wealthy) turkish family.  this one was my favorite installation - it reads 'the people you love become ghosts inside of you and like this you keep them alive'.

all in all it was an awesome (and much needed) get away.  today begins ramazan, so we'll be lying low for the month as we prep for our trip to the states.  counting the days!