Dan and Ozsel's Wedding - Rehearsal Dinner

After a wonderful few weeks in the US, we were sad to leave. However, we were very excited for the next part of our journey: Assos, Turkey!

Our travel included:
Drive from New Haven to JFK
Fly overnight to Frankfurt
Sit on the runway in Frankfurt for three hours
Get to Istanbul late, miss our connection to Izmir
Fly to Izmir
Rent car, meet Ozsel's friend Carolina
Drive four (or five?) hours to Assos.

We left Thursday early afternoon and arrived Friday night, 10 PM local time, just in time to join dinner outside - delicious fresh green salad, garlicky bean and yogurt dips, grape leaves stuffed with rice, grilled fish, thick slices of hearty bread, plates of watermelon and other fruit. Yum!

There was a traditional henna ceremony. We didn't have a chance to find out the background, but it was still pretty cool to watch.



After the formal ceremonies, there was a regular old dance party. Conveniently, Aviva was still on California time (even though we had spent a week on the East coast!) Notice that one of Ozsel's friends moves her out of harm's way, but she JUST CAN'T STOP DANCING.

Singing with Grandma Ellen

While we were in Connecticut, Aviva had fun singing with Grandma Ellen.




In case it isn't obvious, her favorite songs are "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and "Happy Birthday To You" or "Happy To You To You."

Happy Birthday, Grandma Susan!

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming of belated posts about our travels to wish Grandma Susan a very happy birthday!



Happy Birthday, Grandma Susan!

Mealtime (and Hiding time) in Hamden

Aviva loves to say, "Cheese!" when we take photos of her now. She also still loves yogurt (in her hair.)




One night, Aviva had a cupcake (or two.) She enjoyed it in her trademark way.




Aviva got to do another of her favorite activities, hiding, while we were in Hamden. The curtains downstairs were perfect!




We had such a great time in Hamden, and we were very sorry to leave. We're already looking forward to going back next year!

Andrew, Thomas, and NICKY

While we were in Hamden, Aviva had a great time playing with her uncles, Andrew, Thomas, and Nick. Here she is with Andrew.



She loved playing with the Mrs. Potato Head that Benvy gave her. Here she is with Thomas (or as she called him, "Hommas," and Nick, or as she called him, "NICKY!!!!!!!"


Unfortunately, we did not capture on video Aviva yelling, "NICKY!!!! Where ARE you??!!!" as she looked around the garden. She is very fond of Nick.

While it is a little unfair, we did sort of trick her into proclaiming her love for Nick by "raising her hands."



She'll laugh later (after she is finished hating us.)

Hanging out in Hamden

Aviva was very lucky to have grandparents at every turn on this vacation. In Hamden, went swimming with Grandpa Richard almost everyday. They had fun in the car...



...and at the pool.




There was a lot of "Wow!" or "Waaaaaaaaaaaaao." Who taught her that? (Hint: It's not our nanny, housekeeper, or Mao.)



She had fun playing Scrabble with Benvy and the boys.



It was wonderful to see Aviva's Great Grandma Miriam. She came over to visit when Aviva's Great Aunt Cheryl and Stuart came over to visit.

Twinkle, twinkle

We were very sad to leave Chatham, but we were excited to go see Grandpa Richard, Grandma Susan, and the boys. There was quite a bit of traffic, so Aviva entertained herself by singing, "Twinkle, twinkle little star." If you listen closely, you can hear the words "wonder" and "sky." At one point she has to concentrate on making a diamond with her fingers.

Fourth of July Celebrations!

On the Fourth of July, Chatham had its tricentennial parade to celebrate three hundred years of Chatham.

Aviva and Seamus had a great time cheering for the parade floats, bands, and other participants. Aviva and Peter even did a little dancing.


Later that night, there was a free concert at a bandshell. The concert really reminded me of the summer concerts at the Edwardsville Public Library that our godparents used to take us to. I think mostly we ran around and probably didn't pay attention to the music, but I have very fond memories of those concerts, nonetheless!

Aviva chased Seamus around. Note my little slip when I'm talking about Aviva/Sarah. Heh heh, sorry Sarah.


Aviva also tried to dance with some older girls, but sometimes she just got confused and showed off her belly.

Chatham photo shoot!

On our last morning there, Brianne organized a photo shoot of all the kids. She had ordered some stunning Neige outfits for all four of them. We all did our best to corral them into looking like the shiny happy people that they are, and we were mostly successful. Here are a few clips from the session. Brianne did a fabulous job keeping her cool even when all four of them were falling apart.


Here's a clip where at least Peter and Aviva are looking at the camera.

While Brianne was busy with the others, Aviva played with Rory and Seamus' toys.




Afterwards Aviva spent some time trying to put on her light blue bloomers. This clip might seem a little long, but believe me, I already edited out much, much more of her doing the exact same thing. There's a reason that last year, Peter, Agong, and I all chose "persistent" as one of the three adjectives that best describe her.

Chatham

After our excellent visit to California, we headed back east for beach time with more family. Jeff arranged for us to rent a house in a lovely area of Chatham. The view from our deck of the nearby tidal pond was peaceful at sunset.

We did like the area very much, even if the signs were kinda funny.

Baby Rory showed off his muscles by grabbing my hair.




The little beach right around the corner from us was excellent for kids. It was extremely warm and shallow. Yeah, I know. Lots of kids. Warm. I try not to think about it.


There was also an excellent playground within easy walking distance from our house. Aviva and Seamus went almost everyday and liked being on the seesaw with Uncle Jeff.



While we were there, Aviva continued to show off her bossypants skills.

We'll do anything...

...to keep Aviva quiet and happy on the plane. Five-straight hours of videos on the iPad, no problem. Lollipops, sure. Salty, fatty, processed, meat? Oh, yes. Yes, indeed.

'

We were definitely sad to leave my family and California and all the friends. But thanks to Nina and Sarah, we had mini Slim Jims to occupy Aviva during the long flight to Boston. (I also love SJs and only shared this one with Aviva!)

Snow Ice

On our last night in California, we went out for shaved ice at a Korean food court. Shaved ice with various toppings is a popular dessert in Taiwanese and Korean worlds (and possibly other Asian cultures, too. It was delicious.

Aviva lost interest in ours and went to explore what the people next to us were eating.



Aviva got to slurp up sugary, cold fruit and ice and hang out with Christian Yi-Zhang. What could be better?

Visiting the Bendavid Family

Last year, when we visited our friends Dona and Eran at Stanford, and their darling girls, Alma and Dalia, we took tons of photos and videos. This year, we were a little lazier.

I only took the following short clips. The last two very short ones are funny. Aviva got tired of waiting for us to leave, so she just went into "Child's Pose" and fell asleep, on the hardwood floor, right after a bunch of other kids came in. Guess it was her naptime.

What kind of parents would keep chatting away while their toddler just passed out on the floor???? Oh yeah. Hm.

St. Louis Taiwanese Kids!

You might not have known about the community of Taiwanese-American kids from the St. Louis metropolitan area, but there were many of us, and we are still in touch.

While we were in California, our good friends, Nina and Anthony Wang hosted a small reunion at their beautiful home in Burlingame.

Agong continued his job as Charlotte's chief handler.

Mrs. Huang was there taking care of her grandson, Eldredge (Chris's son.)
Nina's daughter Ella helped Sarah bake some excellent chocolate chip cookies.

Aviva had a great time playing with Nina, but at the end, you can see that she is distracted by seeing her hero (Uncle Christian.)


We tried taking a few group photos. I included all three so that you can see how Aviva escapes by the end.
From left in the back row: Jenny, Chris (holding Eldredge) Ella, Nina (holding Audrey), Sarah (holding Charlotte), Henry. In the front, me, Christine, and in the very front, Aviva.

The Wang girls, Ella and Audrey, love karaoke. They treated us to a few Disney tunes. Aviva doesn't really know what's going on but joins them for the applause at the end.



After the party Agong and his two granddaughters relaxed for a bit.

What a fun way to spend the afternoon! Many thanks to the Wangs for letting us borrow books and toys again while we were in California, and for hosting a super fun party.

Hanging out with Ama and Agong

Aviva had fun with my parents, sometimes helping out with the chores.



Occasionally she spoke some Chinese.