Saturday, April 18, 2015
We got up early (3 AM) to get to the airport nice and early. So, naturally we had no problems and waited. As soon as we got on the plane Hyrum started screaming. Fortunately as soon as the plane started moving he calmed down and fell asleep. We had a very unreasonable stewardess who insisted that each adult could only sit by 2 children. So we ended up spread out in the plane. Josh sat by Hannah and Joshua, and I sat by Hyrum and Michael. Poor Katie and Joseph had to sit by strangers a few rows back. They had movies and toys and didn't seem to mind as much as I did.
At the airport in Istanbul we got our luggage and the kids and I sat and waited for Josh to run around and get a rental car, a phone, and exchange money. It took him over an hour. The kids ate some snacks, played with some toys, and read books. They are good at entertaining themselves with very little most of the time and I am so grateful!
We stayed one night in Istanbul. On our way to our hotel we stopped and got some Turkish ice cream.
We had a slight detour to catch a lizard.
In the Ice cream shop there was a large group of tourists. They all started taking pictures of us.
They loved Hannah, who in return, loved the attention. Thank goodness Michael wasn't their target. He hates that kind of attention.
Hannah the superstar.
Hyrum enjoying his weird ice cream. It's chewy, almost like frozen marshmallows. You can't lick it like normal ice cream. You have to bite it.
We had watched a YouTube video of a Turkish ice cream man before we left for our trip. This was the number one thing to do in Turkey for my kids.
They do tricks with the ice cream. It's ice cream and a show!
Cute, chubby boy hiding behind the door.
We went to our hotel. The kids loved it. They upgraded us to a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, and family room. It was big and great for hide and seek. We read, did a bit of school, and went to bed. Yes, I'm a mean mom who has kids do some school on a month long trip.
Sunday, April 19th
The next morning we drove to Ankara It was a beautiful drive. We crossed over the Bosphorus Bridge (In Istanbul connecting Europe and Asia) that goes over the Bosphorus Strait.
People stand on the freeway selling things. Crazy!
The sides of the freeway were beautiful! Flowers everywhere making wonderful pictures.
I loved the green rolling hills in the country.
Cute bored kids with the windows down.
We finally got to our hotel in Ankara. We were at the very top with a huge balcony. The kids needed the room to run around after being trapped in the car for so long.
Happy kids!
It was also a great spot to watch the sunset.
Monday, April 20th
The next day we went to the museum. It was pretty neat.
The kids took turns listening to the tour.
Joseph being bored.
Katie and Hyrum playing outside.
Hannah banana.
Hey look a slide!
Cats, cats everywhere!
Michael
Hannah leaving the museum.
We found a huge park after the museum and spent several hours there. It was pretty cold.
Hyrum
Josh and Hannah
Trip to the bathroom. Just so we can all appreciate porta-potties in the states! Actually this was one of the nicer bathrooms. Our travels have taught us to always carry our own toilet paper as bathrooms here and all the places we've been visited rarely provide toilet paper (or charge you for it).
There was also a small amusement park.
We took the kids on the ferris wheel. It cost less than $5 for the whole family.
It was a spinning ferris wheel. Yuck, the kids wanted to make us sick!
The big kids rode the bumper cars while the little kids rode some teacups.
The kids all had a lot of fun on the bouncy animals.
We had to get some more Turkish ice cream.
We went to Pizza Hut for dinner. They really only spoke Turkish and it was really hard to order. Don't ever get pepperoni on a pizza in Turkey! Yuck! It's like ordering boloney on a pizza.
Tuesday, April 21st
The next day Josh went to the Embassy. We did school in the hotel all morning and then we walked to the store for some food for lunch. I love being somewhere I don't feel afraid even though I speak less of the language here than I do in Jordan. We took our food to a small park to eat. Josh got back later that evening.
Wednesday, April 22nd
The next morning we packed up and left for Izmir.
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