Cirali Cheer 2

Cirali is just perfect for a family who works hard and plays hard and then finally has a little time to rest. The attraction for us is just the time together, with no real agenda, and the beautiful creation of God all around us. We went for a hike that CC mapped out for us, which was part of the Lycian Way.

I momentarily lost our guide, then found him up in a tree.

He wanted to take this picture of us, then we insisted we should take a selfie. We don't own a selfie stick and probably never will. We have CC's arm....it's like a selfie stick.

And so he took the photo. When we looked at it, would could not stop laughing. For whatever reason,  though he truly was in our photo, it looked like he had stayed home and we had photoshopped him in....with grass surrounding his face.

Can you see all my people down there?

Cirali (Cheer-ah-luh) Cheer

As you know, last year we found a little spot down at the Mediterranean Coast that became so special to us, called Cirali (pronunciation in the title) . It's completely empty during our week of Spring Break. In the summer it's hopping, but in March/April, it's dead. So, we decided to go again this year. The drive down is about 8 hours. It would be about $20 to fly there, but CC likes his drive. For a few dollars a night we can stay in rustic cabins and eat a homemade village Turkish breakfast. Our days are spent reading, swinging in a hammock, sitting by the beautiful sea, or napping. The only event of the day is when we walk to town to eat dinner. The walk is a half hour each way, but it's the perfect way to end the day. So, we booked a four night stay and left the chill of our city.

Our first night we happened upon this cute hedgehog.

The flora is just beautiful. Cacti and wild dessert flowers line the paths and streets.

I'll admit, it's cold. The kids are wearing sweatshirts sitting on the beach.

Isn't it beautiful? I will never get over the mountains and ocean combo.

Meanwhile, Firstborn celebrated her 20th birthday! We had a fun birthday FaceTime call to her!

We wake each morning to this breakfast: olives (with tiny leaves still on them), honey, butter, homemade jellies, cheeses, greens, an omelette, sigara boregi, and fresh squeezed orange juice.

Of course, we skip lunch. Breakfast is enough to carry us through until our walk into town. I love this picture of my kids. Not staged, just all hanging on to each other.

Dinner is a delight too. Here's the giant bread that is served right away. One pop and it falls flat so we can eat it.

Driving Through Turkey

Our final quarter of school began with a week off for Spring Break. We decided to drive down to the Mediterranean coast for the few days to unwind.

I snapped this picture of a simit seller, just to have a picture of what we see so often. They walk up and down at stop lights selling their little round sesame bagels.

I love driving through the country of Turkey. We spot little village after village!

Soon we began to see the Taurus Mountains, still snow capped in April.

The law states that every person must be within walking distance of a mosque, so the minarets dot every village.

Another thing I love to see is the cooperative effort of women harvesting crops together.

I believe these beautiful pastel trees are cherry trees.

Sleeping Beauty

The Spring semester flew by! All of us commented that it went faster than any school year, ever before. The kids were involved in so many things. In the Fall, Miss Middler tried out for the school play. She is a natural on stage and landed the role of Aurora in the play Sleeping Beauty. She plays a good doe-eyed princess for sure!

She faithfully learned her lines and practiced her part, and soon the play weekend was here!

I had her pick out a costume and ordered it from Amazon. I loved how it turned out. She wore her hair down, like a sweet princess.

She was set to be our only child in the play, but the director came to me to ask if Big Ben would be willing to play one of the woodland creatures. He happily complied, and CC took charge of creating him an owl costume. He took an old brown sheet and cut it into wings. He pinned it to his black t-shirt. He added knickers that we had in our dress up big (one piece of a costume for Betsy Ross way back when Firstborn was in 5th grade!). Then he created his owl mask from old movie 3D glasses, some paper, and some feathers. We spiked up his hair really high, and he was the cutest owl I've ever seen!

In the play, the woodland creatures all love Princess Aurora. They all presented her gifts when she came to the forest before she met her Prince. The owl had to present her a worm he had coughed up. The gummy worm served as a wonderful prop for each dress rehearsal and for the opening night's performance. But then we got a big rain, and CC noticed the generous supply of actual earthworms around campus. He helped Big Ben preserve a REAL earthworm and surprise his sister with it on stage for her final performance. She stayed in character and recovered well. That's just what little brothers do, right?

All of the characters were so well cast. The play was so fun because the audience was encouraged to participate in reactions. The witch was booed, and the princess was cheered.

One of the sweet gals in the play had an actual spinning wheel from her home in the Netherlands, so they used it on stage.

The original plan for the "wake up kiss" involved one of my ninth graders, the Prince, kissing her hand. I told him...go on and at LEAST kiss her forehead! I'm her mama, and it's ok with me! The kiss worked and she woke out of her deep sleep!

It was a delightful show, and I'm so proud the kids got to do it!