istanbul with a keating

this weekend we left town once more, for our last trip as a family of three.  from now until july (or late june, i foolishly hope??), we'll be home-bound, waiting for baby brudder to make his entrance.  maybe it's that we have an excessively cute and loving two year old, or maybe it's that ben and i both realize these days with just one little man in our life are numbered, but we are soaking up every minute with him that we can.  and he is so much fun - so that helps too, i suppose.  

a shot from two weeks ago at rubi platinum to remind you of his adorableness, even with food on his face

so on thursday we packed up the car and hit the highway for bolu, where we would spend the night before continuing onto istanbul the next morning.  ben had the idea to break up the drive, and between my ever shrinking bladder (thanks, pregnancy), general discomfort and dirty house (thanks, renovations), i happily agreed.  

emre naps before we hit the road

bolu is a tiny town in the mountains about midway between ankara and istanbul.  once a tourist destination, it doesn't have much going on anymore since a tunnel was built, eliminating the need for travelers enroute to ankara or istanbul to stop for a rest or to wait out bad weather or an accident (the road used to travel up and over a mountain).  it's sad, because the place is beautifully green & peaceful.  we enjoyed an overnight stay at the one hotel there, where the decor dates back to the 90s and the staff are incredibly friendly.

there was a group of filipino tourists, several of whom wanted their picture taken with emre, and a college reunion taking place

a buffet dinner was included with the room charge.  the chef - upon seeing i was pregnant, i suppose?  - grabbed my plate and filled it up for me, sprinkled on fresh oregano, and then insisted i take some yogurt as well.  it was delicious!

the waiter gave emre a balloon & it was, as of yet, the best thing that's ever happened to him...

...well, that and watermelon

the room had some interesting messages for us, including this one under the toilet seat, and glow in the dark paint above the bed which spelled out 'angels on your pillow!' and kind of freaked us out when we turned out the lights (ben got up to make sure he'd locked the door).

emre took a bag of hazelnuts from the minibar for the road - and within 30 minutes had eaten the entire thing.

we arrived in istanbul around 1pm on friday.  we were meeting matt keating, who was in town for an mba-related trip.  ben and emre settled into the room for a nap while matt and i took off for a walk & lunch in the neighborhood.  it was great to get some 'cousin' time together, catching up.

meanwhile, back at the hotel... this

we had a wonderful weekend (with amazing weather!) that somehow did not inspire many photographs. on saturday we all ventured to ortakoy and besiktas, where emre napped and we felt an earthquake and took a ferry across the bosphorus & back.  on sunday matt and i did some more walking around the city before meeting up with emre and ben for a stroll down istiklal boulevard & dinner at our favorite thai place, cok cok (choke-choke).  

how emre spent sunday (not being spoiled - at all)

ben's cousins let emre pick some of their old toys to take with him, and that is how we ended up with a barbie corvette and several barbie hairbrushes, one small plastic hairdryer plus a freaky plastic baby and one tiny green shoe, which must be referred to as 'baby shoe.'

uncle matt!

everyone at the hotel just got used to the kid toting the blue convertible.

on monday it was time for us to head home, and matt to begin his busy week with his mba group.  we said our goodbyes and headed for the ferry, which we took out of istanbul, avoiding some traffic.

emre's first ferry ride

not letting go of that hairdryer

we had a pleasant enough drive home and have quickly settled back in to life in ankara.  the end!

our weekend on the med

we spent last weekend on the mediterranean, visiting our friend serhat's new hotel, the rubi platinum.  we've been watching the progress as they've built this hotel, so seeing the finished product in person was really cool.  it was a much needed get away that also provided the opportunity to catch up with friends - since we were all there together for the grand opening.  emre, of course, enjoyed it most of all!

view from our room - on the right at the end of the pool is where serhat's house was (and the structure still stands, a restaurant & bar now).  we were impressed with how they maintained some of the original landscaping, including the incredible tree lined drive that originally led to the house.

we arrived thursday evening - after driving from the airport in our 'holiday car,' as emre named it.  serhat greeted us and joined us for dinner, which was delicious! 

emre & his serhat abi, whom he adores

my cheeky baby, all cleaned up & ready for bed

ben was able to spend time with his friends in the evenings when emre & i went to bed (since we both go to bed at the same time these days).  we slept well each night & played hard all day, perfect vacation!

they imported some 1000 bonzai trees which decorate the grounds

the first day we spent mostly at the pool, which we all enjoyed.  

enjoying the huuuuge pool

post-swim, pool-side ice cream -this kid knows how to relax!

one last evening swim

they had an awesome playground that we visited each morning

but on the second day we introduced emre to the beach, which he LOVED.  he played for hours in the sand, which provided us the rare opportunity to just sit back and relax.

'emre working hard, mommy!'

our friends asli & mehmet joined us on friday, much to emre's delight- he adores them!

playing with asli & mehmet - demir joined as well

in the ocean with daddy, mehmet & asli

he was so worn out he fell asleep eating lunch

the pool was perfect in the evening - they had a really nice kiddie pool that emre couldn't get enough of.

it was fun, until this russian kid started spraying everyone

evening view of the rubi platinum

on saturday i snuck off for a foot message at the spa while these two took a good, long nap

back at the pool with daddy

chillin'

dudes in shades

he insisted he would eat grapes at the hotel the entire way there, and boy, did he.

patiently waiting for dinner while watching a turkish soap opera.  this kid.

on our last full day, ben and his friends decided to try out the water slide park.  a LOT of fun was had - and emre and i had some good laughs watching!

yes, that's ben shooting out of the slide on the right

our friends mert & figen were there as well, with their son demir.  he and emre are not only the same age - they were born on the same day!  by the last day he & emre had become good friends.  it was so great for emre to have a playmate.

demir wanted to do anything that emre was doing...

...he followed him around & did exactly what emre did!  pretty cute.

we spent our last morning on the beach before having lunch & hitting the road for the airport.  thank you rubi platinum for a fantastic weekend!

trying to figure out what to do next

collecting rocks & sand, filling up the pot & then dumping it out.

he discovered the magic of the juicebox - too bad they only exist at the beach

working hard with demir

looking tough with his super soaker

back home & still working hard

a follow-up mother's day post on why i love being a mom

watching ben and emre play in the pool on mother's day, i felt completely overwhelmed with love and gratitude.  they were so eager to celebrate me on my special day, but it's really them that i was celebrating.  ben, for letting me be a mom, and being such a sweet, loving & devoted dad and husband.  he is the best partner i could have chosen for this journey.  and emre, for being mine.  he didn't choose that, of course, but i'm so incredibly grateful that he is.

there are certain times when it really hits me - he's hurt and immediately looks for me, arms reaching for me to scoop him up; he is tired and crawls into my lap to snuggle and play with my hair- that i am his place for comfort and peace.  he has this game where he 'cuts my hair' - but first, he has to cover me with the newspaper, unfolding one page at a time and laying it on me sheet by sheet (his version of the barber's cape) while pointing out pictures and asking what they are - and sometimes he forgets to even cut my hair, the process takes so long.  this week we got him some new mickey mouse underwear, which he loves.  this morning when he was going potty he looked down at them and said to me, the excitement almost tangible in his voice: 'ahhh! mommy.... mickey!!!'  i love his little mind.

at night when i put him to bed, i turn off the light and sit in his chair in his room, he wraps his legs around my waist, rests his head on my shoulder and relaxes his arms at his sides, and we sway back and forth while i sing to him and rub his back.  when he's ready, he points to his crib, and i lay him down so he can drift off to sleep, totally at peace.  this is our unspoken, a code between mother and son.  i will continue to do it for as long as he will let me - and then i'll probably do it secretly, after he falls asleep.  it is the best moment of my day.

i look at him and i'm not sure how i got so lucky, having such a beautiful, sweet, smart, funny little boy to call my own (yes, even when he's doing his pterodactyl scream and wreaking havoc around the house).  i feel his little brother kicking away inside of me, and i already know: i've hit the jackpot, twice.

my mother's day weekend

emre & his preschool gang (photo from the school)

we had a fun/exhausting/relaxing/grueling mother's day weekend.  we worked, we rested.  we spent it at  home... until we didn't.  let's start from the beginning, shall we?

mother's day tea decorations

it started with a mother's day tea at emre's preschool.  the teachers worked hard to get the kids to learn special songs for the day (they began learning them in february), baked treats and dressed up to make it a festive occasion.  i dressed emre up too, but unfortunately he 'spilled' while going potty right before the party began, so he wore sweatpants instead.  what are you going to do?

this time he didn't cry upon entering the room/seeing me, which i felt was a big improvement.

he ran over to me at first, but when i put him back in his seat, he stayed.

emre & thibault, being two years olds with fingers in their mouths

i'd love to say that emre sang all of the mother's day songs to me during the performance, but unfortunately he refused to sing even one word.  he just sat like this the whole time (i had to join him in his seat in the middle when he started to freak out).  they went around with a microphone, giving the children the chance to say 'happy mother's day, i love you mommy.'  emre refused to do that too.  oh well, maybe next time?  the teachers were all baffled, claiming that during rehearsals he was THE loudest and most animated of the bunch.  they will try to do it in class & record it so i can see, they say.  that's my kid!

proudly presenting me with my flowers & card...

...except that he didn't want to give up the flowers, and the card was tossed onto the floor.  my kid!

i did get to watch him eat the goodies (meant for the moms), so that was fun.

afterward we took a walk through the park before having lunch.  it was really fun to spend some time with my little guy - best mother's day gift i could have asked for!

poof, mommy!

blow, mommy, blow.

patiently awaiting his chicken tenders, a special treat, while telling me 'no sing, mommy.'  yeah, i get it!

back at home, remodeling had begun.  we had the brilliant idea to remodel our bathroom 'since we were working on the baby's room anyway.'  turns out this is a WAY bigger project/headache/MESS than we had anticipated.  earlier in the week they had removed the tub and created a terrific mess of what used to be our bathroom (as well as the rest of the dust & debris filled house).  on saturday they came to install the new tiles and flooring - easy, right?  no mess, right?  wrong.  it took them all day and the house was completely covered in dust, again.  bits of dried up cement were all throughout the hallway & what will, hopefully, be the baby's room.  it was almost too much.  emre and i stuck it out through the day, keeping busy with toys and trying to clean - dust, sweep, etc. - from time to time to 'keep ahead of it,' but there was no keeping ahead of it.  

by 6pm we were exhausted, starving, and breathing in way too much dust.  ben booked us a room at the hilton and off we went.  we were both so glad to be out of there, in a clean space with a working bath & room service!

happy!

poor ben had to stay back while they finished - and then he cleaned the house from top to bottom, not leaving until 12:30am.  then he had to return home in the morning after breakfast, to let them back in to continue their work.  by the morning, after all of his efforts to clean the place, dust had once again covered every surface in the house.  completely frustrating.

emre and i spent the morning at a park downtown - with swans and geese, much to emre's delight.  then we headed back to the hotel to get ready for mother's day brunch with ben's folks.  it was a fun, if exhausting morning.  we headed back to the room for nap time after brunch - while ben headed back to the house, yet again, to supervise the workers.

excited to explore!

such a big boy

after emre's nap we visited the executive lounge, where he had a snack while we had a nice facetime chat with sarah, jeff and mom & dad.  

happily munching on chips, nuts & juice - what a treat

by the time we finished, ben was finally done at the house and able to join us for an evening swim in the pool (they swam, i sat by and took lots of pictures).

the hotel made them purchase & wear these swim caps, which i thought made them look like one mean synchronized swimming duo!

getting ready to swim

once emre finally gave in to wearing his floating device, they were off.  and what a blast they had!  just that time in the pool made the whole day, for all of us.  so much fun - and so much to look forward to next week when we hit the med!  we knew from last year that he enjoyed the water, but wow, he's REALLY loving it now.  time for some swim lessons!

my loves

all in all, i have to say it was a very nice mother's day, despite being in the midst of chaos back at home.  here's hoping they can finish things up in a hurry, because our two year old can't really take any more disruptions from his routine (and we'd ALL like to take a bath).