In Transit

Ella practiced her "fancies" in between ferries.

With a toddler in tow, we had a lot of extra stuff to carry, like a carseat. Fortunately, Tiff and Diana packed light, so they were able to help out. We started to re-think our strategy of packing six different flights into one trip though.

Ella really liked riding on all the boats and busses and taxis and airplanes. She especially liked it when she got to sit by Tiff.

Our ferry to Santorini.

Ella was looking for dolphins, but finally concluded that they were all "unda da water."

Mykonos

Tiffany impressed us all with her willingness to try new food, like hummus. We were worried she might starve on the trip.

She even tried a little of my fish, though the presentation left something to be desired.

The beaches were beautiful, even if it was too cold for swimming.

We toured the island on rented quad bikes.

We met this really big pelican. Ella kept talking about his beak all night.

We enjoyed the seaside cafes.

Scenic windmills.

Andrew auditioning to be the sixth windmill.

Lovely evening strolls before dinner.

Not exactly ideal beach weather.

Greece

We took our last (for a while, probably) European vacation last week to Greece and Istanbul. We went with Andrew's little sister, Tiffany, and her friend Diana. It was a lot of fun.

After an unforeseen airstrike stranded us in Athens for a day, Ella was glad to finally arrive at our hotel in Mykonos. She also was glad that Diana brought a little stuffed bear, which she preferred to any of the toys or games that her own parents had provided her with.
Mom is ready for a nap, but Ella is ready for the beach.

Tiff and Diana killing time in Athens.

Just some of the men who expressed admiration for Tiff on this trip.

We had six flights on this trip; probably not an itinerary we'll do again. But Ella really enjoys flying. She especially likes the "igrushki" that she usually gets from the flight attendants. Here she is modelling the lovely Aeroflot official orange hat and fingering the lovely official orange socks. It's a pretty ugly hat, but she still looks cute in it.

Bumped to Business

We were surprised when we got to the airport almost 1 1/2 hours before our Aeroflot flight departed to learn that all the other passengers had already checked in (it turns out most of them were part of some touring school music group) and that there were no more seats left together. Since we were traveling with our little VIP, Ella, she who always manages to get us to the front of any line in an airport, I wasn't worried. They would never let an infant sit alone, not even on a Russian airline. And they didn't. Instead they bumped us to business class (those musicians must have really wanted to stay together). After two years of traveling quite a bit with a infant/toddler, I have to say that there really is no such thing as "business class" when you're a mom, but the food is usually better. This lunch came with some questionable appetizers though, salmon/sour cream blini sandwiches and red caviar. Before I realized it, Ella had popped three of the little red balls into her mouth. She made a funny puckering face, but ate a few more; then stopped. I guess it's okay for kids to eat caviar, if they want to, right? She probably won't get a chance for another twenty years or so. And she wasn't so keen on the rest of her lunch after that.

Another Shopping Miracle

Yesterday I visited the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. I went with my sister-in-law and her friend while Andrew napped a tired Ella at our hotel. Even a die-hard shopper like myself was overwhelmed by the over 4,000 stalls and the mazes of similar-looking alleyways. After buying a few trinkets, we found a restaurant that looked promising and sat down for a late lunch. After lunch our waiter recommended a carpet shop. It was too hard to explain the location, so he had someone lead us to the stall. We looked at a few turkish carpets. Andrew and I had thought about buying one here, but we hadn't really settled on a size or price. I found some carpets that I really liked, but decided that I shouldn't make a decision without Andrew. The salesman was really pushing and kept lowering his price until it was very tempting. I almost bought it when he followed us out the door and made his final offer. I told him I'd be back with my husband. He told me that husbands aren't the bosses at home, wives are, and that since I was there with my friends I should just make the purchase. We finally disentangled ourselves and wended our ways home.

When we got home I convinced Andrew to come back with me to the Bazaar for his dinner and to look at the rug with me. When we were halfway there, I realized that I forgot to bring the store's card with me. I had no idea what the name of the store was or how to find it in the Bazaar. I thought maybe we could find the restaurant and then find the waiter and then find the store. It was a longshot, especially since I couldn't remember the name of the restaurant either. I got lost immediately and started asking all the vendors for the big restaurant that started with an "H". They all said it was closed. Finally I found someone who actually took me to the restaurant, which was in fact closed. But inside was our waiter, who was nice enough to accompany us to the rug store again. The very surprised salesman pulled the rug out, tried to haggle his way up from the previous price, but eventually sold us the rug. I told Andrew afterwards that considering all the stars that had to align for us to get the rug, it must have been the rug we had in the pre-existence.

A Rose by any other Name

This week Ellla decided she didn't like the name we picked for her. She has picked a new one, "Angel." At first she just told us that she was an angel "Ella da Angel" but now she's telling everyone that her name is "Angel" and referring to herself as "Angel" or sometimes "Ella Angel." So I hear sentences like this all the time, "Ella Angel open door." "Angel hungwry" "Ella da Angel new diaper"

Generation Gap?

Sometimes I wonder if Ella is taking after her grandparents more than her parents. Her tidiness, for one, seems unlikely to have been inherited (or even learned) from either of her parents, but my dad and Andrew's mom do have that trait. This morning I saw her do something that was 100% Milt. She asked me to turn on some cartoons for her. I did then returned to whatever I was doing in the bathroom at the end of the hall. Ella stood in the doorway of the living room and watched the tv for about twenty minutes in that pose. This just happens to be the pose my dad (who could never commit to wasting so much time sitting down to watch tv) watched about 75% of his tv intake while I was growing up. His M.O. was to stop in mid-stride between the hallway and the outside door, arrested by whatever we had on; suspended in mid-animation for long stretches while trying to supress the internal conflict pulling him at once towards his to-do list and likewise keeping his feet firmly in place. All Ella needs is to perfect the weight-shifting rock and her transformation will be complete.