Greece Part 3

Greece Part 3

The rest of the week was filled with conference sessions for Eric, Greek school (as they called it) for the boys, spouses sessions for me, checking out potential future ministry opportunities, swimming, meeting new people serving in many different places, the kids program in which they performed their songs from the week, including a Greek dance (only Cole would go up- in their defense, it was in front of 700 people), eating more good food, playing on the playground, clean water, and in general just enjoying a break from our normal life. 

Friday we headed to the airport via a “big big bus” as Tucker would call it and then proceeded to fly all night back to Nairobi (arriving at 3:30 a.m.) I will spare you the details, just know it included very little sleep, quite a bit of crying, lots of movie watching and prayers that time would pass quickly. We crashed at a guest house in Nairobi till about 9 a.m. and then headed home.

All in all, we are so thankful we were able to go and have a break from normal life, Eric to get his CEU’s and to meet new people! 

Goodbye Greece!

Isn't he scrumptious? What a cutie!

Everyone’s favorite parts:

Erin- meeting new people and our whole weekend trip to Athens

Eric- talking with the older missionaries and Mars Hill

Cole- Greek school

Cooper- food and swimming

AJ- sliding on the rocks at Mars Hill and the Acropolis

Tuck- Airplane

Some thoughts:

- it is impossible to keep little boys clean. I bought a few new shirts for them for this trip since all their Tenwek clothes look ragged and dirty, and still they manage to get food all over them at every meal, dirt, mud, etc, etc. It could have to do with how they eat and the fact that they roll around on the ground. I try people, I really do. Are girls this messy??

-Everything in Greece is OLD. So old, it is crazy to me to be in a city that was around before Jesus lived on the earth. I can’t help thinking about the people who built all these structures and those who walked these same paths.

- At all the historical sights there are ropes everywhere to mark where “you should NOT go”. The boys think it means 1) Go under here-please! 2) Hang on me, come on! or 3) The real fun is behind this skinny little rope, they must not have really intended to keep you out or they would have built a wall!

- People everywhere in Greece kept saying to us, “Are these your 4 boys? Congratulations!” I should have been born in Greece, or in Bible times. I am coveted by all for this crew (even if they’re dirty!)

- This was the best field trip ever!

-The marble on the ground of the Acropolis is slippery, the boys thought it was great, the first slides!

- Greeks love ice cream! There are ice cream shops everywhere and people are always walking down the sidewalks eating it! Do they need missionaries in Greece? ;) Paul thought so.... We so enjoyed ice cream after not having it in a long time!

-Everything in Europe is small: the sidewalks, the shops, bathrooms, portions, cars, etc. It makes me realize how everything in America is huge. Everything in Africa is just, well, African.

Funnies: 

Our friend Annie (age 3)  to Tucker: Tucker, speak English!

Tucker: I want my home! Where my home??? (so confused about where we are!)

Erin: Tucker, where are you from?  Tucker: From my home.

Erin: Alex, carry this water bottle home

Alex: To America?

Erin: No

Alex: To Tenwek?

Erin: No

Alex: To our room?

Erin: Yes.

Again, so confused, we’ve traveled a lot in the past year!

They told me in childcare that Tucker is the music director of the group. He kept singing Holy, Holy, Holy :)

I had Tucker in an Oscar the Grouch shirt the other day and AJ kept calling him “Oscar the Crotch”.

Alex was so convinced that we were going to see the Eiffel Tower. He asked multiple times a day when we will see it. Wrong country, kid.

AJ: (at the Parthanon) Why’s that falling down? Who keeps wrecking it?

So there you have it...now we can stop blogging about vacation and get back to real life! (sigh, vacation is great though, isn't it?)