My parents' visit, part one

Two weeks ago I commented that it's already acting summer-like, unseasonably warm even for Cyprus. Happily for me, it did cool down in the last week, and I also appreciated the rain...but the timing wasn't necessarily the greatest, with my parents visiting for only a week. They moved to Eureka, California, ten months ago, where it never really gets very warm and the sun is rarely visible, so might have liked a little more heat and sunshine. However, we managed to pack quite a lot into one week, and there really was plenty of sun, even if not quite as much as we're accustomed to.

They arrived last Tuesday evening, conveniently after the little ones were in bed (I can't say I love taking the little ones to the airport...), yet not particularly late. We had to wait awhile because their luggage didn't arrive and they had to fill in forms and such, but it was nice and peaceful waiting in the car and reading a book, waiting for Marie to phone me from inside the airport. (Maybe someday Cyprus will figure out the concept of cell phone lots, but in the meantime, I, like many other people, park somewhere just outside the airport and wait, rather than park and pay...)

When we got home, my dad walked into the house and immediately found Makenzy.

And I do not understand just how my mother managed it with the ten-hour time difference, but she got up to go walking with me at 5:45 every single day, which I enjoyed very much! The first morning we even walked around the entire Salt Lake, as it was foggy and not too hot. I didn't take the camera, but it's not like I haven't posted photos of the Salt Lake park a...few...times before.

http://sheilasomewhere.blogspot.com/2013/04/easter-sunrise.html

http://sheilasomewhere.blogspot.com/2012/07/fourth-time-around-salt-lake.html

http://sheilasomewhere.blogspot.com/2012/05/ive-always-enjoyed-walking-but-almost.html

On Wednesday we walked downtown and went to the medieval fort, which I had never seen before. I can't claim it was wonderfully exciting, but it's nice to have seen one of the local sights! Funny how we always seem to have to have visitors as an "excuse" to do that.

 

And then we went for ice cream, something that my father has gained quite a reputation for providing. :-) One of the times they visited us in Germany, we had ice cream every single day, and it's also my dad who gave Katie her very first non-Mama-milk food: ice cream, when she was only five months old. We didn't have ice cream every day of their visit this time, both because my dad is trying to be more careful with his diet and because we're trying to limit sugar for all of us, but we certainly enjoyed the treats.

Orthodox Easter was May 5th this year, so schools were closed both the week before and the week after, which meant that most of the children's regular outside activities were also on hold, which was very convenient, as normally, there's something scheduled almost every day. In addition, Jörn took the week off of work, so could join us for almost everything, not to mention that for activities which required cars, we wouldn't have fit in one car.

In the afternoon (when Jacob and Lukas would have normally had their guitar lessons) we hung around waiting for my parents' luggage to arrive (it did), and then we headed to the beach, taking a picnic, but no photos. It was warm enough for my parents to go in the water, and the children don't even need it to be warm to do so, even when they start turning purple, as Elisabeth did, but I ended up deciding that I will have more than enough opportunities the rest of the summer and I really didn't need to get cold.

We probably played a game that evening, as we did any evening we had time, but no photos.

Here's another photo of my dad with Makenzy. The two of them really hit it off--one time she even went down the stairs and around the corner to find him in the guest flat.

The next day really needs a post of its own, so I'm going to stop there. I hope to finish up blogging about the week before my parents come back!