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Adventures in Europe, Days 14-17 (8/11-14/18) (Part 3): Every day, after taking a nap, we have been sitting on the balcony, enjoying the late afternoon breezes and eventually getting ready to go out for the evening. Usually we find some place to have a light dinner and then walk around town. One night, Yiayia and the kids took a little ride up the coast on the “trenaki” (little train) while eating crepes. That same night, we also had fun watching the impressive acrobatics of the street performers. They inspired Marko to do a bunch of tricks himself. 😂 Another night, Ellie played on the playground while we listened to live music. We usually don’t get home until around 10:30 or later. It is a very different life than the one we live at home! I’ve been taking a bunch of movies because it’s really hard to capture the feeling of this place in still shots. #salmonandsouvlakitravelsAdventures in Europe, Days 14-17 (8/11-14/18) (part 2): Our daily routine has been to wake up, go to the bakery to get breakfast, eat on the balcony, eventually get ready for the beach, walk down to the beach to swim for hours and get completely worn out 😀, come home to eat a delicious big lunch, and take a nap. Here are a few pictures from our days at the beach. We are so blessed to have Yiayia here with us because that allows Nik and I to go snorkeling together every day. There are a good amount of rocks and sea grass near the end of the beach where we can see a lot of fish! The water is so beautifully clear! Also, because this is the Aegean, not the big ocean, the water is quite warm and very calm, especially in the morning. The kids are really enjoying swimming in the sea. . . . We are in the town of Nea Kallikratia, on the peninsula of Halkidiki, south of Thessaloniki in northern Greece. So far, we have only heard one other person speaking English as his first language. So naturally I talked to him! 😉 They were from Toronto, Canada. Primarily, the tourists in this town come from eastern Europe and it’s been really fun spotting so many different EU license plates! #itsgoodtobegreek #salmonandsouvlakitravelsAdventures in Europe, Days 14-17 (8/11-14/18) (part 1): While our time in Northern Ireland was both about seeing family and exploring all it had to offer us, our time in Greece has been devoted primarily to hanging out with family and relaxing on the same beach every day. 😀 We are staying in Nik’s mom’s hometown, and scroll through to the last picture to see the kids with Yiayia and Yiayia Salome (Tina’s SIL). I haven’t managed to take any pictures with the rest of Tina‘s family because we are living a more normal every day life with them. 😀 So the rest of these pictures are from the two visits that we have had with Nik’s dad’s brother and family. Marko immediately decided that Pappou Kosta was his favorite person and they walked a lot hand in hand. 😍 We are so blessed to be here, surrounded by and showered with so much love! . . P.S. My new skirt is great! #salmonandsouvlakisews #salmonandsouvlakisews #itsgoodtobegreekAdventures in Europe, 2018: We needed another country to make it adventures in Europe, not just NI, right? So now we’re in Greece! 😍🇬🇷 Here are the kids listening to @sparkle_stories on Yiayia’s balcony, having already gone to the beach, eaten a big lunch (really dinner at mid-afternoon), and taken a long nap - basically living the Mediterranean weekend lifestyle! More pictures to come! #salmonandsouvlakitravels #itsgoodtobegreekThis is my last post for the day, I promise! You know I couldn’t totally leave sewing behind while I was on vacation! 😉 Over the past almost 2 weeks, I have been working on a set of ornaments to help us celebrate Lent. There are 41 total. I managed to cut out all the templates and then cut the felt for 25 of the ornaments. These are a few of my favorites. 😍 #salmonandsouvlakisews #benziefelt . . . I purchased the templates from www.dosmallthingswithlove.com. And I bought the gorgeous wool felt from @benziedesign.Adventures in Europe, 2018, Day 12 (our last day! sniff! sniff!): For our last day in Belfast, we really needed to pack and get ready to leave but we couldn’t leave without sampling just about every delicacy the bakery could offer us. 😂. We walked there in the very chilly early morning so that we could eat scones (with clotted cream!), 2 kinds of soda bread, and wheaten for breakfast and fruit cake, custard tart and shortbread biscuits for dessert! Jon and Leah also treated us to homemade raclette for dinner (i.e. Americans eating a Swiss speciality in Ireland)! In between all the eating, the kids had fun playing together for one last day, including at a play park in the most gorgeous weather of our entire trip. We had an amazing time and can’t wait to visit again! #judgefest18 #salmonandsouvlakitravelsAdventures in Europe 2018: The silly faces edition (otherwise known as Laura needed to occupy the children while they waited for the bus 😉). #judgefest18 #salmonandsouvlakitravelsAdventures in Europe 2018, Day 11 (8/8/18): On Wednesday, Nik and Leah were busy so again Jon and I were in charge of being the super fun parents to occupy the children. 😉 So we went to the Ulster Museum (look at that gigantic dog, @rachel.mickler!) and then to the botanic gardens. I have a picture of me standing in the same rose garden from 1999 so we figured we should re-create it. In the 2018 version, I am 19 years older (and almost double my age at the time) and a mother. 😍 Also, what child can resist a silly picture? 😂 Finally, there are gorgeous flowers all over the city and I couldn’t help sharing a few of the many pictures that I took. #belfast #ulstermuseum #northernireland #judgefest18 #salmonandsouvlakitravelsAdventures in Europe, Day 10 (8/7/18) (part 3): Finally, we all loved learning about how to bake traditional soda bread over a peat fire (and check out that chimney!). The baker was lovely and answered all our questions. And then we sampled the freshly baked result! Yum! Ellie even got to play doctor and make pills the old-fashioned way. We only scratched the surface of what we could learn there - meaning we’ll just have to visit again! #judgefest18 #salmonandsouvlakitravels #ulsterfolkandtransportmuseumAdventures in Europe, Day 10 (8/7/18) (part 2): My textile loving heart had so much fun finding all the old quilts (with @nikzb7e’s help). All those old designs are so hip right now! 😉 The dressmaker’s shop was tiny and the weaving studio was incredible. Maybe I’ll take up traditional weaving next? 😂 #salmonandsouvlakisews #judgefest18 #salmonandsouvlakitravels #ulsterfolkandtransportmuseum #baltimoremqg #charmcitysewcialAdventures in Europe, Day 10 (8/7/18) (part 1): On Tuesday, we went to the Ulster Folk Museum, and it was definitely a highlight of my trip (so please excuse all the pictures coming at you!). The mission of the museum is to preserve the physical history of Ulster (i.e NI) and also to preserve the traditional arts and crafts. So most of the buildings are original and were taken apart brick by brick and then moved to the museum grounds. This batch of pictures has a Presbyterian church (and listen to that gorgeous singing!), a Church of Ireland church, a bank manager’s house, basket weaving, a library (with a super old ceiling) and a school (plus some cute kids 😉). Ellie also really loved this place. It was one of the coolest ways to learn history that I could hope for her to experience. #ulsterfolkandtransportmuseum #salmonandsouvlakitravels #judgefest18 #northernirelandAdventures in Europe, Day 9 (8/6/18): We were introduced to the delights of fresh creams (plus a flapjack) on Monday morning (yum!), to the W5 kids’ museum in the afternoon (probably the best of its kind I’ve been to), and to pavlova in the evening (as masterfully made by Leah). It was a fun, delicious way to start our second week in Northern Ireland! #judgefest18 #salmonandsouvlakitravelsCategories
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Monthly Archives: December 2014
Handmade Christmas 2014: A Baby Bird For A Brand New Baby
As is my custom with my nieces and nephews, I sewed a little baby bird (using this tutorial) for my newest niece, Annika, who was born the middle of November. This is the first time I’ve had the chance to … Continue reading
Posted in family, sewing
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October/November Sewing: Hooray for Katie and Baby Annika!
Ellie and Mark gained a new cousin when Baby Annika joined my brother’s family in November. I have four siblings and I’ve now made five diaper bags, one for each family! (Here’s ours, Eric and Meggan’s, Jon and Leah’s, and … Continue reading
Posted in family, love, sewing
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Handmade Christmas 2014: Hot Pads of Apology
Last summer, while visiting my family in Alaska, I was taking something out of my mom’s oven and somehow managed to drop one of her hot pads on the electric heating element on the bottom of the oven. Soon, there … Continue reading
Posted in family, sewing
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Handmade Christmas 2014: Mark’s Color Book
I don’t know if anyone has actually ever used the color book tutorial that I wrote about 18 months ago. I however, was really grateful that I’d done it because I used it myself when sewing this for Mark! I … Continue reading
Posted in Mark, sewing
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Handmade Christmas 2014: Retro Christmas Tree Lights For My Siblings
Continuing my “Christmas ornament” theme from the past couple years of presents for my siblings, this year I sewed everyone a string of retro Christmas tree lights. I even managed to sew a string for our tree too! Thanks to … Continue reading
Posted in family, sewing
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Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you! He is the Messiah, the Lord!
Merry Christmas!! We love you all! Love, Nik, Laura, Ellie and Mark “Hurry! Hurry! Have you heard? A child was born tonight, And every creature large or small Is precious in his sight.” from Hurry! Hurry! Have You Heard by … Continue reading
Posted in Ellie, family, love, Mark
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Handmade Christmas 2014: Look! Two Presents for Ellie!
Thanks to all for your kind thoughts and prayers for me about my recent sorrow-filled post. I probably shouldn’t allow myself to press publish when I’m tired and sad. I’m feeling much better now and the past couple days have … Continue reading
Posted in Ellie, sewing
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