Just Your Friendly Neighborhood Lifeguards

Luke met a couple of the lifeguards at a beach he went to in June. They wanted to meet Stazy, and went wild for her when we brought her.

Turkish guys are as crazy about babies as much as Turkish girls are.

It was a relaxing day. Got to hang out with some good friends and have some great conversation, play in some calm waves, and watch Stazy enjoy the water.

Ağva (aava)

New suit! Thanks, grandma! Lovin' it!

Evolution of a Smile

Wait for it...

Sun Sets on Turkey

We went to a beach which is a little over an hour and a half out of town the other day. It was a spur of the moment thing, so we ended up leaving later than we had hoped. However, we headed back just around sundown and managed to catch this beautiful sunset!

Casting Call

Does anyone know if there are any ice cream bar companies looking for an ad baby?

I told Stazy she needed to lay off the ice cream and that she looked like she was getting a little chubby. She just laughed at me and said that first of all, I should never criticize a lady about her weight, and secondly, she assured me that it was all just baby fat. Touche...

Meanwhile, if you ever get the chance to try a Magnum bar, we highly recommend it. Robyn's favorite is the white chocolate (seen here), where as Luke's is the double chocolate (a chocolate ice cream bar dipped in chocolate, surrounded by more ice cream dipped in more chocolate... are you really worried about calories when you have that much chocolatelyness in your presence!?!)

Kitchen

We thought we'd go with a southwest kind of color scheme for our kitchen, but when Robyn got the paint home, we found out it was more of a smiley face yellow than anything... Oh well. We are just trying to throw as much cobalt at it to tame it down. Meanwhile, it seems to be a happy color, so we'll stick with it.

Our View

We now live on the 4th floor (which most Americans would reckon the 5th floor). We live across from a beautiful park and we can just see out over the trees.

The stadium is that of the local soccer team, Fenerbache. Fans can be fanatical about soccer (ahem, "football"), although perhaps they don't always make it to the point of ritualistic slaughter as in some South American countries.

Just before we moved, however, we were treated to the sound of angry mobs who roamed the streets after the team missed it's chance to be the league champions by only a half a point.

Next season, we think we might have to invest in some earplugs during match nights...

Our Salon/Dining Room

We've been in our new apartment for nearly a month now. We have almost gotten completely settled, although there seem to be a few pesky boxes that won't go away.

Our salon is much larger than the one in our previous home. You may recognize most of the furniture/curtains, etc.; however, the recliner is new. (Dad's got to have his recliner!)

It's Hard to Be Humble When Everyone Loves Me

I just can't get away! :)

I Luv My Daddy :)

Summer Students, Summer Not

Our summers will almost perpetually be spent hosting exchange students, but seeing as how they so often cook and clean up after themselves, keep 'em coming! The night they cooked for us, we had 9 girls visit in addition to the 4 American girls who cooked fried chicken, mac & cheese, peas, and apple pie!

The picture resembling seals laid out on a beach is from a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Stazy @ the Beach Part II

We learned that going to the beach really means something completely different now that Stazy is crawling. Mostly it means sand... Sand in her hair, on her face, on her legs, armpits... everywhere! But we were glad to have the little pool to clean her off.

In other news, we enjoyed relaxing at the beach for the afternoon. Luke got to go jump off some rocks after climbing them and Robyn got to get a little sun.

Ahhh, life in the big city is more possible with the beach just an hour away!

Smiles on a Boat

We often enjoy travelling inter-continentally by vapor--the ferry boats going between the Asian and European sides of Istanbul. It usually takes 20 minutes, so we're definitely happy that Stazy usually enjoys the ride.

Friday Prayers

We missed the actual call to prayer, but we were walking by a mosque about a kilometer from our home just as they were finishing. We were able to snap a few shots before everyone completely dispersed, but you can tell that it was pretty busy that day.

Watermelon Outfit

Stazy's grandmother, "Bobo Sue," made and sent her some dresses for summer. The watermelons have already been a hit.

New Home, Old Neighbors

One reason we really didn't want to leave our old apartment was our wonderful neighbors. Their son, Husein Emir is 2 weeks younger than Stazy, so they have a good time. He's almost ready to crawl, so Stazy was giving him lessons. Lots of fun all around.

From our apartment

Well, we've finally moved in, although we're not settled. We still have a few boxes with no home; as well as a few pieces of furniture. Nevertheless, we love our new place. We have a park across the street and a great view out our living room windows.

Tarik

We ran into one of our friends from our English club while touring the city with some of the new students from the States. Not a total coincidence since it's a very common area for people to go to, but still...15 million people or so...

Extra Stazy Pictures

We're proud of our daughter... so sue us.

Ok. Don't sue us. It's been a rough month.

Actually, if you could just look at these extra pictures and smile, that'd be great!