Our trip to Greece was wonderful. Every day we had fresh squeezed orange juice from our uncle's trees, fresh eggs from Yiayia Olga and fresh figs from the neighbor down the street. The weather was hot, but with a cool afternoon breeze perfect for our naps!
Katerina loved her trip as well. She loved "swimming" in the ocean, and towards the end got very good at kicking her feet. She enjoyed taking walks on the beach as well. Our last day, she found a shell that she particulary liked and held onto it for a good hour. Finally, I convinced her to give it to me for safe keeping-we brought it home.
She became particulary fond of all of the animals in Greece: the horse next door, the donkey down the street, the goats across the street and the chickens and cats at Yiayia Olga's house. It was as if we had our own petting zoo in our backyard.
She has started to understand some Greek too. In fact, the other day at home, Mike had to say "come here" in Greek in order to get her to come in from playing outside.
Katerina's affinity for singing, dancing and listening to music grew while we were away as well. Papou and Yiayia would often sing to her...this video is of her dancing!
Now about the traveling--it was not as bad as it could have been. Katerina was well tempered. We had lots of toys she had never seen before, and also used the portable dvd player. She took some walks up and down the plane and played with random objects: my water bottle, a plastic cup, the magazine in the seat pocket..etc. The only "negative" was that she barely slept, which meant Mike and I were up for about 24 hours on both trips, with a few 10 minute naps. We were pretty tired.
Katerina adjusted well to the 7 hour time change. The fact that she didn't sleep much on the plane really helped I think. She woke up in the middle of the night the first few nights. The first night she got a small snack and some milk, the second night just milk, and the third night she had water. After that, she was back on the new schedule. Kids bounce back better than the adults I think.
All-in all it was a great trip! We are looking forward to the next trip to Greece.
All-in all it was a great trip! We are looking forward to the next trip to Greece.
