American in Cyprus: Around the house

We have stayed close to home this week but have kept busy doing errands and going to parks when we can. During the week there is anywhere from just one to all four of our nieces here for the afternoon. They come after school (which ends at 1:00) and stay until their parents are done with work. The older girls often do homework while here and now Alex and Sofia have started this as well. They have their backpacks with notebooks and pencils/crayons and they join their cousins at the table.
The weather here has been in the upper 60's to low 70's. Cypriots think it is cold. They are still wearing sweaters, jackets, scarfs, and some people even have furry boots. They think we are nuts when they see us in short sleeves. Demetris and Alex love to wear shorts, but we haven't seen many others yet. The temperature here does not fluctuate much and it is steadily climbing now. The winter time was the rainy season and all the plants are green and blooming. The summer becomes very dry and desert like.
For those of you wondering about the local soccer team, APOEL suffered a tough loss on Wednesday. They played Real Madrid, who is a real powerhouse. The score was 3-0 , but it was scoreless until the last 15 minutes of the game. They will play Real Madrid one more time and must win that game or will be eliminated from the tournament. No team from Cyprus has ever made it this far in the tournament before. Demetris was able to go to the game with his brother-in-law, and the nephews sat in the "fanatics" section as usual.
On a side note, one of the funniest things people tell us here is that Demetris and I have a "mixed marriage". They mean a Cypriot married to a non-Cypriot but it still cracks me up. They often say things like, "You should meet this couple we know. They have a mixed marriage like yours. The husband is from Cyprus and the wife from England."