Day 2 - 1-11-11

As Clay is taking 2 online classes I have been trying to get the kids out of the house to give him some "quiet" time.  I took the kids to the beach yesterday.  The town of Sitia has started the clean up of the beach.  yaaa.  The beach got hit really hard with garbage, bamboo, wood, etc.  So it is much better now.  We ended up spending 5 hours at the beach.  We had a nice picnic there.  Wyatt has been asking to have a picnic here as they don't have any of those black birds that takes your food!  Crows. :)
We got in the car and drove to a town up the mountain called Roussa Ekklisia.  It was small and cute.  It took us 30 seconds to drive through it.  So we kept going up and around the mountain.  We ended up at a church, that I am not too sure of the name.  It was nice and peaceful up there.  We hung out there and hiked around for a bit.  The key was left in the door, so we were able to go in the tiny church.  The church was surrounded by beautiful trees, clovers, mountains, etc.  The road was a little interesting on getting there, along with our car being a little low.  On our way home we pulled over and saw a man riding his donkey down the mountain.  You don't really see that unless you are in the mountains.
When we got home we had a nice barbecued steak, roasted potatos, carrots and broccoli.  A little taste of home.
The kids had a good day on our adventure.

Day 1 of Car Rental

Yesterday, Monday, January 10 we rented a car.  We will have the car for the rest of our stay.  So now we are going to go on small adventures within an hour of Sitia.
Yesterday we went looking for a frog pond.  However, I don't think it is frog season, so we didn't see any.  We did stop at a monastery along the way - Toplou Monastery.  The grounds were pretty neat.  I started taking photos to realize there were signs up everywhere stating no photos.  So I didn't actually get any of the insides.  Apparently, there are only 2 monks that live there now.  We had this one older gentleman follow us around,  and then open the church portion for us so we could see inside.  The kids were a little scared of this man and kept hiding behind me.

I will try to  post short blubs of our daily adventures for the next 20 days.

Take care everyone, see you soon

Happy New Year

2011 is going to be a good year.  We ended 2010 in a way that not everyone gets to do, living a dream.  And we get to carry that dream over in the new year for 9 months.  We are very fortunate to be able to do what we are doing.  Lots of people dream of it, but don't try to figure out a way to do it.
We had a great holiday.  Mary and Al made over here Dec. 21.  They arrived in another town that is about 2.5 hours drive away.  Clay went and them up.  I have to say, it was torcher waiting for them to arrive back at our place.  Every time the kids heard a noise outside they thought they were here.  The following day Tanya and Todd arrived, with a miracle of course.  They were in London at the Heathrow Airport during the big snow storm and were lucky enough to have their plane be one of the ones to fly out.  We did a lot of hanging out, eating, drinking and walking.  It was nice to have family here with us over the holidays.  Tanya and Todd left Dec. 27 to carry on their travels.  Mary and Al left on Jan. 2 to carry on their travels.
On Dec. 28 we left in the morning and went on a road trip with Mary and Al.  We spent one night in Heraklion, then drove right to Chania and spent 2 nights there.  We came back home on the 31st and had a very quiet New Years.
Now we are on our last leg of our adventure in Greece.  We are returning to Vancouver February 2, 2011.  From there we will be residing at Mary and Als place in the suite until the end of the summer.  We are excited to carry on with our adventure on our turf.  We plan to do some skiing in Whistler, hang out around town, and do a trip to California with lots of camping.  We will be around town til May, then off camping.
The kids are excited to see family and of course their friends.  We have a "bucket list" started on things we want to do in and around town.  We plan to do lots of hikes and bike riding with the kids.  I think they have been lost without their bikes for the last 5 months.
I think we plan on renting a car for the last weeks of our stay here and do some short trips in our areas for hikes, etc.  We promised Wyatt on our last trip that that was our last one.  The pour kid gets car sick every time we go on the windy roads, even with car sickness meds.
The weather has been sunny, cloudy a  bit of rain and wind.  The temp has dropped down to an avg of 14 degrees.  We have lucked out with the weather as this winter has been the warmest they have had.  Up until a couple of weeks ago we were still in the low 20's.  We also went swimming on boxing day.  I have to say it was pretty cold.  Wyatt went in a couple of times with Mary and Al, Lydia dipped her feet in and decided it was too cold for her.  I went in to my waist and stood there.  That was all I was going to do, but then I thought when am I going to get this chance again, so I jumped in!  :)
All of our activities start up on Monday again.  They stopped for a couple of weeks during the holidays.
It is hard to believe that we leave Crete in 23 days, then we are off to Athens for 2 nights.  Then our journey home begins.  Wyatt says he doesn't want to fly home as the plane ride is too long!  We agreed with him, but told him that was the quickest way to get home.
Anyways, I am off now.
Take care everyone, we miss you guys lots.

See you soon

December 4, 2010

I can't believe it is December.  It does not feel like Christmas is a couple weeks away.  We have been very fortunate that Greece is having an unusually warm winter.  We are still getting on average 23 degrees during the day.  Some days hotter.
Last Sunday our friend, Sophia, called us and asked us if we wanted to come by the farm where they are making their raki.  It turned out to be about a 10 minute walk away, so we went.  The whole process is interesting.  Raki is an alcohol that Cretan people drink.  They make it from their olives, and it is about 18% alcohol.   I don't find it very pleasant to drink, unless it is watered down a bit.  Along with the making of raki, comes a lot of food.  Food being prepared by two different women and food being prepared on the barbecue.  It was nice.  The kids played around on the land and had fun.

 
That Tuesday we left on a trip to Iraklion.  We spent 2 nights there and stayed in a  hotel right in the downtown area.  We could walk out of our hotel and be right at the pedestrian walking streets.  It was nice and convenient. We took the kids to the aquarium in Iraklion, they loved it.  We also took them down to the port where they have an old fortress.  Wyatt loves looking at them.  He likes to stay and play swords and dragons.
Clay and I were able to take off separately to get our Christmas shopping done for the kids.  Not sure how we are going to get everything home!  :)  Extra luggage I guess.  We got home on Thursday, and did some grocery shopping while we had a  car.  Actually Clay did the shopping, I stayed home with the kids.
On Friday night Wyatt had swimming as usual.  Clay went with him and got to swim as well.  Wyatt told Clay that if he went in the pool as well, he would teach him how to swim.  Gotta love it!
Well, today is Saturday and Wyatt and Clay went to Wyatts soccer, while Lydia and I went into town.
Now Lydia and I are back at home relaxing during siesta time.  Today is pretty windy.  A warm wind which is nice.  It helps dry the laundry a lot faster.
Last week Wyatt's teacher gave him 4 certificates state he has completed the first 4 levels of swimming.  He was so excited.  He is becoming a really good swimmer.
All Lydia talks about these days is ballet. She really wants to do ballet when we get back home.  She likes to wear her dresses and twirl around.  So she will be happy when she gets her pink tutu Christmas morning.  It is hard to believe Christmas is just around the corner.  We are looking forward to it and to be able to share it with some of our family members.
yes, the photo below of the shark was from the aquarium.  I there were about 5 of them.
Anyways, that is about it for now.

November 26 - Count down 'til Family Arrives

Here we are at the end of November.  I can't believe December is next week.  How crazy is that.  As we don't have the cold temps and snow as back home, it is harder to get into the Christmas spirit.  However, the kids keep reminding us that Santa is coming soon.
Things are going smoothly here, same daily routine.  Wyatt is doing really well in his swim lessons.  He received 4 certificates stating he has passed the first 4 levels of swimming lessons.  He was pretty excited about it.  So he can swim 50m with a kickboard, and 25m unassisted.  Yaahh  Wyatt.
Lydia really wants a pink dress so she can do ballet when we get back home.  I have pulled up YouTube and watched little kids doing ballet.  She loves it.
Clay has tweaked his calf at soccer, so he has been laying low.  He is out swimming while Wyatt has his swim lesson tonight.
We are alternating swimming.  I have also started pilates.  I will do that 3 times a week.  At this point all I can say is I love it and ouch!  :)  I am still running as well.  At this point I am pretty excited to train for a triathalon to do when we get home.  I might think differently next month, or next week!  :)
Today was a beautiful day, we spent a few hours lounging on lawnchairs on the beach while the kids played in the sand.  I think it was about 23 degrees today.  We are suppose to get up to 25 degrees in the next few days.
Clay has been doing some Greek meals a few times a week.  It has been a real treat for me, and they have been very delicious.
We have the countdown on til family comes to see us for Christmas.  We are very excited.  Every time a plane goes by, Wyatt always asks if Nana and Papa are on it.
That is about it from us at this point.  We may take off in a few days to travel to another town for a couple of days.
Take care everyone, we miss you guys lots.

Lisa and Clay

November 9, 2010

Clay and Wyatt came home from Wyatt's swimming lesson with a car on Monday night.  So Tuesday morning we got up and were on the road by 8am.  Sorry Mary and Barb, we missed calling you guys.  We headed to the "main big " town, Iraklion.  It is a 2.5 hour drive from our place.  The first hour of the drive is twisty and windy roads.  Not fun for ones who get car sick.  Poor Wyatt was the chosen one again this time.  So we stopped for a bit of a breather and then carried on.  He was good after that.  We drove around Iraklion looking for a store called Jumbo.  It is kind of like a Toys R Us mixed Walmart.  We ended up finding a different store that was a big one and recommended to us.  So we went there, but got stopped as I was walking in the door.  Apparently, this store does not allow kids under the age of 12.  So I took the kids outside and Clay went in and looked around.  It was basically a Costco without a membership.  So he picked up 2 nice pillows(ours currently feel like cement), and a warm blanket.
So we left and found the Jumbo store.  The kids went crazy on the toy floor.  I have to say, some of the name brand toys, Barbie, Imaginex, matchbox cars, princess stuff, polly pocket are super cheap.  Barbies are around $3-6 euros.  And the $5 euro barbies come with a wardrobe of clothes!  We let them look around so we could get some xmas ideas for them.  Wyatt got to pick out a new toy, and of course he picked out  a new playmobil deserted island with a boat, treasure and 2 guys.  It goes with his small castle he already has.  We thought Lydia would want to add to her princess playmobil stuff, but she picked out a polly pocket with a car and wardrobe along with a princess dora.  We thought they would be good for the ride home.  All we heard was "how long til we get home, I want to set up my new toys and play"!
After the Jumbo store, we did the Canadian/American fast food lunch - McDonalds.  It is the only  we have seen and the first time going there.  The kids enjoyed their happy meals.  Then we drove around downtown Iraklion, and took the kids to a cool park.  The playground was a big pirate ship that was right at the beach.  It was pretty cool.  And it happened to be across the street from Starbucks.  Again, the first one we have seen, so we got a coffee and hung out at the playground.
Yesterday was kind of a day at home.
After the playground we started our drive home.  Both kids sound asleep by the time we got home 7:45pm.
Before we left the house yesterday morning, Lydia work up and crawled into our bed with me and I asked her what she wanted to do and where she wanted to go as we had the car.  Her reply "Bantouver (vancouver), because I miss it....... pause pause pause...... a lot.  It nearly broker my heart.  Kids really know how to tug at your heart!  Then I told her we were going to a really big toys store, so she was ok after that!  :)
We got some ideas for the kids for xmas, so that is good.   Next time we go in, I think we will spend the night and walk around the town and take the kids to the old part of town.  Wyatt will love that.
Off for now

Lisa

November 8, 2010

Hello Everyone,
This morning I got up with the kids (my morning), and we were out on the beach by 9am.  Today we found  a lot of seaglass, shells and sea erchants.  Wyatt and Lydia both had fun making a chocolate sand cake.  We were out there for a couple of hours.  When we got back home we woke Clay up and we made pancakes.  mmmm, we haven`t had any since we left home.  And I have to say, pancakes without syrup of any kind is not the same. We have to make a xmas request for some maple syrup.  but they were good with jam!  We hung out for a while, then I went for a run.  It is so nice and peaceful running through the farm land and then out on the main road across from the ocean.  After my run, Clay went for one as well.
Clay took the kids outside in search for small sticks, as Wyatt wants to build a birds nest.  Not sure where that came from, but  I think it might have something to do with Dora and Diego! :)
Clay took Wyatt to swimming tonight at 6pm.  Along their way there they were going to rent a car.  Tomorrow we were going to head out for the day and take the kids to a large pond that apparently as huge amounts of frogs.  Then off to the `big city`, Iraklion.  Other than that, not much else has been going on.
On Saturday, Wyatt`s soccer team had their team photos taken.  Can`t wait to see them.
Thought I would give a small update.
Will have more after tomorrow.
Lisa