What have we been up to?

Again, time has gotten away from me and my blog posts.  Here is an update on what we have been doing.  As my niece Kadi reminds me, she doesn't really care what I write, she just likes to look at the pictures.  At the beginning of October we were able to squeeze in a couple of more days at the beach.  Nissi beach in Agia Napa is beautiful but like spring break for most of the season.  There are still some party goers left at this time of year, but nothing too bad.  The kids like it there because the water stays shallow for a long time, so they can go out pretty far. 
The Cyprus Road Rally also occurred in the month of October.  We watched it just outside of Lefkara in a place where we could see the cars turning a corner.  Alex always enjoys seeing the fast cars, but this year there was a bit longer wait time between the cars so not quite as exciting. 
October 28 is a national holiday in Cyprus, Oxi (No) Day.  Basically it is a day marking the Greeks telling Mussolini in 1940 that they would not allow Italian forces in Greece at the beginning of WWII.  In other words, they said "No!"  How's that for a clever day?  Anyway, the kids of course did not have school that day and had the whole following week off on top of it.  We kept plenty busy.  For the long weekend we went to the village.  On the way there we had a lovely experience with the car.  The clutch went out as we were approaching Pafos.  The car had very little get up and go, especially on the hills.  On one hill we were particularly slow.  Demetris said, if we can just make it up this hill the rest is downhill.  We made it and were able to roll right to our desired destination, McDonald's.  Gotta love Mickey D's.  Gave the kids lunch and let them play at the playspace for a couple of hours until we were able to rent a car and have a tow truck come.  The next day we headed to the Pafos Zoo, the largest in Cyprus. We stayed for five hours and saw everything twice.  Not as big as some of the zoos we are used to, but the kids thought it was great. Amazing how they can keep walking without complaint for that long when they want to. I chickened out of the snake exhibit.  Who needs to see snakes? 
Since Demetris only had that Monday off, I planned some activities with the kids.  We went to the Cyprus Museum of Natural History. It is very small and we were the only ones there.  The kids had wanted to go because of the dinosaur statues.  Most of the museum was displays of animals that had been stuffed.  The dinosaurs were disappointing.  The statues were small and not much to look at. Alex was hoping to see skeletons. This museum is located at the Carlsberg brewery/bottling plant.  The real excitement came after the museum when we were allowed to watch the beer being canned.  Now machines are something that Alex is interested in!
We also did plenty of Halloween crafts during the week and made a worm and dirt dessert.  Halloween is not celebrated by Cypriots, but we were able to get a couple of neighbors to hand out candy to the kids for a small bit of trick or treating.  They only cared that they got candy. Alright, Kadi, here are the pictures.

The best picture I could get of the three of them

Sofia at Nissi beach

Sleeping at the beach after a diaper incident

Me with my littlest angel

Alex

Daddy and his girls

At the rally waiting for the cars

Here comes one

Whoa!  Did you see that?

At the rally

Aren't those black swans pretty?

Nope!  Too close.

Boy's team at the zoo

Daddy and Marissa

Siberian tigers

Pretty giraffe

Not impressed with us

Halloween treats and our "dirt" dessert

Sofia's pumpkin rocks

Alex made pumpkins and ghosts

Time flies

My blog writing has gotten a bit away from me.  I'll blame having a baby for the cause, but the truth is that Marissa is a super baby.  She is happy during the day and in the past week has started sleeping through the night.  She makes everyone melt with her big smiles and is making lots of cute cooing noises. 
The month of September started with Sofia's fourth birthday on the second.  We had a party here at the house for her with family and our neighbor friends.  Sofia cracks us up with all of the funny things she says and her many facial expressions.  She is a character! 
The Limassol Wine Festival was the following weekend and we decided to use that as a chance for a little getaway.  We went last year but didn't really like having to drive home afterwards and Demetris was the designated driver.  We were smarter this year and stayed overnight in a nearby hotel.  The kids are always excited to spend the night at a hotel.  They were happy just to play in the pool there.  Couldn't decide where to have lunch and ended up at TGIFridays of all places.  It tasted pretty good actually, maybe since I don't have many choices in American restaurants here.  The wine festival was enjoyable, pretty much the same as last year.  The next day we went to a cafe I had seen on the internet that sounded good called Chocolate Soup.  With a name like that I figured we couldn't go wrong.  The food was nice, but for Alex the highlight was seeing two red Ferrari's parked out front.  He likes fast cars. 
Alex's big news for the month is that he lost his first tooth.  Luckily, the tooth fairy found him, even in Cyprus.  The other big change for him this month is that he and Sofia started school.  They are going to Highgate Private School.  Sofia has only been one day so far as she had a fever the first two days.  They both settled in nicely and I think they will blossom there. 

Sofia showing some of her presents

At the party

Zac, Alex, Evelina, and Sofia enjoying the cake

Happy birthday to you!

Marissa wearing her party dress

Three cutie pies at the hotel

Marissa's first time at a hotel

Opa!  The wine festival

Marissa's first swim.  Skinny dipping in the hotel pool.

Daddy, Alex, and Sofia with their backpacks at the hotel

Awesome kids

Sofia's first day of school.  Proud to go with her brother.

One less tooth

Alex's first day of school

Summertime

What a busy two months we have had since Marissa was born! We have been lucky enough to make it to the beach several times.  Yiayia (grandma) has kept Marissa at home with her to make things easier for us.  Marissa did go with us once but she seemed unimpressed.  We typically head to the beach on Sundays.  Until last month, pretty much all stores were closed in Cyprus on Sundays.  All of our errands had to be done on Saturday and then the fun day would be Sunday.  Of course, everyone else was in the same boat, which means more crowded beaches on Sunday.  Recently, due to the financial crisis on the island, it was mandated that stores stay open on Sundays as well as later in the evening and Wednesday afternoons, all times when they were previously closed.  It makes things much more convenient for us. 
On August 3, we celebrated Alex's sixth birthday.  He looks so grown up to us.  We had a family and friends party for him on the 8th at the Athalassa Park.  He is an awesome boy and we are lucky to have him.
A couple of weeks ago Demetris and I had a rare date night. There was a documentary film festival in Limassol that we enjoyed very much.  We saw the films "Open Heart" and "Soldier on the Roof".  Both were interesting and thought provoking.
This past Thursday "Assumption Day" was celebrated in Cyprus.  It is a holiday that everyone celebrates by going to the mountains or beach areas for the long weekend.  Many people schedule their summer vacations at this time.  I haven't yet figured out what Assumption Day actually is.  I think it is mostly an excuse to take time off in the summer.  Along with the rest of the family, we went to Salamiou. While there we took some short drives during the day.  We watched the sun set over the Rock of Aphrodite one evening.  Very beautiful.  Sofia added to her rock collection while there.  We also went to the remote beach that we discovered last year in the Akkamas area.  The water is a bit rougher there, not really safe for the kids to go in, but they have fun sitting on the edge and letting the waves crash against them.  There were probably only ten other people there, probably because there are no facilities such as bathrooms. 
We also ventured to Platres, a lovely mountain village with a hiking trail to the Caledonia Falls.  We started the trail in a place that took us about 30 minutes to reach the falls.  The creek runs downhill along the path creating several small falls.  It was a pretty hike which the kids really enjoyed.  Too bad our camera battery died before we reached the actual waterfall.
Now we are back in Nicosia and into our usual routine.  Marissa is growing quickly.  She is a happy, sweet baby.  Demetris and  I are sort of adjusting to getting up during the night with her.  We are hoping to get in a few more day trips and beach outings before the end of the summer.  Luckily we still have a couple of months of nice weather left.

Rock of Aphrodite sunset

Looking for more rocks for her collection

Beautiful sunset

At our remote beach in Akkamas

View at the remote beach

Stopping for Marissa's lunch break during our river expedition

On the Caledonia trail.  Marissa's first hike.

My little explorer

Being silly on the hike

Along the trail to the Caledonia Falls

Marissa, two months old

Welcome Marissa

On June 19th at 6:10 a.m. we welcomed a beautiful, healthy baby to our family.  Marissa Hope weighed in at 6 pounds 10 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long.  She took us by surprise by arriving a little earlier than we had planned.  My "mommy sense" must have kicked in because I finished packing my bag for the hospital the morning before and her bag the day before that.  I had joked to Demetris over the previous weekend that I was "nesting" as I was washing all of her clothes and linens and getting everything organized.  You would think that since this was my third baby, maybe I would not have worried so much about getting the bags ready, especially since the clinic is only about a ten minute drive away.  However, things are different in Cyprus than they are in the US.  In the US, the hospital pretty much supplies everything that you would need for the birth/delivery. In Cyprus, you are expected to bring many items yourself.  The clinic gave a list of what to bring and included sheets for her hospital bed, receiving blankets, her towels, all clothing needed, and even diapers.  For me, I needed to bring my own hospital gown for the delivery as well as the usual stuff you would need.  So, I was careful to pack the bag on time out of fear that we would be rushing to the clinic and I wouldn't have any clothes or a blanket for her.  Surely they must keep extras on hand just in case, but I didn't want to take any chances with that.
As for the actual medical care, in Cyprus there is the General Hospital which is funded by the government and provides free services for Cypriot citizens.  I was able to get on Demetris' medical card to allow me to qualify for these services.  The main hospital for adults was built in the last ten years and appears very clean and modern.  But, the maternity ward is located at the children's hospital, which is quite old.  While I was pregnant and we were trying to decide where to go and what doctor to use, we decided to walk around the maternity section of the hospital just to see what it is like.  Let's just say that I didn't want to have my baby in that environment.  Plus, you are not allowed to chose the doctor you want to see and confidentiality appears to be a foreign concept.  Even the people who book appointments for you act like they are doing you a favor by being there.  Not at all helpful or friendly.  Based on the recommendation of our pediatrician, I chose a private clinic with a Cypriot doctor who had been trained in the UK.  The clinic is only a few years old and very modern.  One of the main reasons I liked this doctor is that he has a very low rate for c-sections.  Cyprus has the highest c-section rate in Europe with a rate somewhere between 50 and 70% depending on the source.  I have heard it suggested that one of the reasons for this is that some of the private doctors encourage c-sections because they can charge more for those services.  There are also many women who request c-sections to avoid going through the labor process.  I was very happy with the care that I received at the clinic.  The obstetrician facilitated a smooth delivery and our pediatrician was present at the delivery to check the baby once she was born.  Medical care in general is not as comprehensive here as it is in the states.  I think the doctors here think we overdo it there, and maybe there is a bit of truth in that, but it is more comforting.  Overall, we had to pay to receive the services that we wanted/expected but for us it was worth it and the end result was a most precious baby. 

Proud parents right after the delivery

Her first feeding

Alex said, "I didn't know she would be so pretty."

Adorable sisters

Introducing Marisa to Sofia's kitty (blah-blah)

Home from the clinic

Four days old

Aren't we blessed to have her!

Everything we needed for her hospital bag