Life Lately

I haven't blogged in awhile. Twelve days to be exact. That's because, starting twelve days ago, things weren't looking so pretty around here. Zach left on a business trip outside of the city/country, and the boys and I went into survival mode. Survive, we did, but this is what most of the week and a half looked like:

But, Zach has returned now and things have gone back to normal.

 Well, normal for us, that is.

Since personal grass, trees, and play areas are scarce in our capitol-city-apartment-living we try to head out to a park as often as possible. And, if there is one thing that Ankara does well, it's parks. There are small playgrounds to be found every few blocks. In fact, the vacant lot that sits diagonal from our building (that was once the unofficial collection site for the neighborhood garbage) was just transformed into a small playground. It is perfect for a short stop during a walk to and from the grocery store.

Anyway, today (a.k.a. "Family Day") we headed out to one of our favorite large parks. It's a perfect place for toddlers to pelt themselves with rocks.  

And to meet new friends. We exchanged numbers with a family that we met at the park. How 2011 is that!?

 We rode unidentifiable plastic animals, 

 and watched kids participate in death-defying play.

 But more importantly, we frolicked on the very large patch of lush, green grass.

 And climbed the huge pile of rocks that was surely sheltering a handful of snakes. 

 Eli watched with envy as children, who obviously had nicer parents that him, jumped on the pay-by-the-minute trampolines.

 And, for just a mere 5 lira, he could have walked on the water like Jesus. Does anyone else think that sticking a child in a large plastic bubble seems like a safety hazard??

 After I tore Eli away from the "bells and whistles" part of the park, he spotted one of his classmates flying a kite with her parents. 

Noah never ventured away from the organic (rocks-and-stumps) part of the park.

 Don't we look like one big happy family? Daddy's home. We are.