tot soccer

 Tonight, Cedar got to play soccer!

 He's been watching everyone else play sports his whole life & it was finally his turn to go to soccer practice!

 We signed him up for Tot Soccer, for 3 & 4 year olds.

 I took way too many photos!  But in my defense, the light was really pretty & they let the parents follow the kids around...so I was able to get up close.  Anyway, I had fun!  :P

 Cedar did better than I expected with staying focused & following the group.

 He really likes kicking the ball!

 Go Cedar!  Shoot the ball!

 Big smile!  He told me, "Mama, I'm really good!"  :)

 Nice kick!

 Cedar chose a gray shirt.

 Following directions.

 Ready for a game!

 Run away from the monster!

 It was pretty hot today & I could tell that Cedar was losing steam as the hour came to a close.

 He took a few more reminders to know what to do & was moving much slower...

 ...until the parent tunnel!  

All the parents line up & make a huge, long tunnel for the kids to run through at the end of practice.  Pretty fun!  

I was impressed that they worked on dribbling, throwing, trapping & shooting the ball.  So much fun!  And all the stations were run by the middle school girl's soccer players, which was pretty funny on it's own.  Clearly, not all of them know how to explain rules of a game to a three year old, but they still did great!  :)

small group kids!

 On Sunday, September 16th, the Thaxter family joined our Bible study group for the last time.

 They're starting their own group, so we had to get a photo of the kids to remember them all together.  :)

 Cedar, Macey, Matthew, Bridget, Finley, Ethan & Emma

 Silly faces!

It was a little hard to get every kiddo looking & smiling at the same time!

kindergarten soccer

 Finn & Griffin get to be on the same soccer team!

 It seems like most of the other kids are in the morning kindergarten classes at Buena Vista.

 But it's still cool to get to know some of the other kids that they'll be going to school with for the next many years.

 Finn had a lot of fun being silly with the ball & paid attention to the coach's directions of little bit of the time too!  :P

 Know what I mean?!

 I hope he has fun learning how to play soccer for reals!

Cool cousins.

cedar's first day of preschool

 On Monday, September 10th, Cedar started preschool at Grace Community Preschool!

 He was beyond excited!  He's never been so ready!  ;)

 Two big boys!

 Cedar (age 3) & Finley (age 5 & 3/4)

 Kenton got to take Cedar on his first day.

 Trying to reach the hook!

Yay, Cedar!

When I asked him about his day he said that his teacher, Miss Elizabeth, was funny & cool.  The best part of his day was "criss cross applesauce".  The worst part was leaving preschool.  :P

first day of kindergarten

 On Wednesday, September 5th, Finley started Kindergarten at Buena Vista Elementary (a Spanish Immersion school).  

 Mama had fun helping him pick out a new backpack & lunch bag.  Cedar was excited about his new lunch bag too!  He didn't get to start Preschool this week, but he was more than ready!

 Dad was pretty jealous that Finley got to go to school - Kenton loves school!  ;)

 One more pos from the little brother so no one feels left out.  :P

 I skipped out on a staff meeting at work so that I could take Finn to school.  We met up with Griffin at Memaw & Papa's house & walked over together.  These lucky cousins get to be in the same class!

 Waiting for his teacher to open his classroom!

 Don't they look like big kids?

 I was dragging my feet the week before, dreading the start of school...mostly because it meant I was back to work, but partially because it was a little sad for this Mama to see her oldest baby getting so old!  :)  When did he get old enough for elementary school?!

 Griffin & Finley got to sit at the same table...for about a week.  :P  But his teacher said she was able to move them to different tables because she knew she could trust them.  That makes Mama (& Auntie) so proud!  Way to go, Griff & Finn!

All five of the cousins that attend Buena Vista this year.

Sadie (4th), Finley (Kinder), Griffin (Kinder), Cohen (1st), & Ronan (3rd)

I think school for these five is going to be so much fun!  Can't wait to hear them all speaking spanish to each other.  :)

our big trip: in instagram

Here is a look at some of the moments that I missed with my camera, but captured with my phone.

Sea urchin eggs.  They form the 5 points of a star!

Our view from our apartment at Alea.

We ate snails at the celebration in Lefkes!

 Grilled octopus at Karina.  The crunchy suction cups were the best part!

We played lots of board games with Dimitris.  We also played some with two guys from Athens who'd heard about Alea Apartments through boardgamegeek.com, Andres & George.

Playing 7 Wonders.

The octopus.

Poor thing was trying to get away.

Kenton brought the game we'd given him for Father's Day, Hive.  I beat him, as we played a game at the beach.  :P

Being herded like cattle, off the ferry in Santorini.

There were donkeys!

Cute boats at the port on Thirassia.

Our cheap meal of choice: Gyro for €2.50 & an iced coffee for €2.50.  Not too shabby & oh, so tasty!

Taking a swim in our pool at the hotel in Santorini (Oia Sunset).

A common sign near the toilets.  We weren't supposed to flush our toilet paper, but I always thought it was funny that they include photos of a bottle & some other plant/octopus?? :P

My phone had a timer for the camera!  Plus, the photo shoot in the background is pretty funny!

Some of the artifacts that were discovered at the Akrotiri dig site.

A portion of a fresco discovered at the dig site.  I got corrected for trying to take a photo of Kenton "in front of the monument".  Apparently, that is not allowed.  :\

Our dangerous walk down to & back from Oia's port for a swim.

The long, steep stairway back up to Oia town.

Our much appreciated ferry cabin for our overnight ride back to Athens.  This was actually bigger than our hotel room in London!  :P

A nice, shady street, where we ate lunch in Athens.

 Heading off to Hogwarts!  :)

 Our last look at London before heading underground to ride the tube back to the airport.  What an amazing, unforgettable trip of a lifetime!