Noah Turns 2 Today!!

Our sweet little guy turns 2 today! It's hard to believe, the time has flown so fast. Here's to another great year with lots of adventure ahead!!

Istanbul!

My parents are visiting and they very kindly agreed to watch Noah so Matt and I could AT LAST take a vacation alone. One of the down sides to living across the ocean from the grandparents is that it's a lot harder to get away without children.

Not only was this our first getaway without Noah, but also our last getaway while living in Europe (at least this time). I think we made a good choice- Istanbul would have been a lot harder to see with Noah in tow.

It was an amazing city- totally hectic and chaotic, but also so ancient and full of history. It was amazingly different than the rest of the places we've been in Europe (although technically Istanbul straddles both Europe and Asia).

Istanbul at sunset (view from the Bosphorus River)

We FINALLY got to do a food tour in a city we were visiting. We had appetizers and dinner in Asia. This was the guide showing us how to eat a rice-filled mussel. YUM!

The guide brought us through this food bazaar on the Asian side of Istanbul. This is all fresh honey from bees that pollinate different types of flowers. DOUBLE YUM!!

Fresh meat and cheese platter

Dried vegetables

...and Dessert in Europe. Turkish symbols made from Baklava

Grand Bazaar entrance (one of many)

Inside the Grand Bazaar

Hagia Sophia- built in 537! 

Blue Mosque (really named the Sultan Ahmed Mosque)

Inside the Blue Mosque. Turkey is a secularized country and one of the only places in the world a non-Muslim can actually enter a Mosque.

Inside the Blue Mosque

Inside the Blue Mosque

Inside the Blue Mosque. It is nicknamed the Blue Mosque because of all the blue tile work inside.

Inside the Blue Mosque

Suleymaniye Mosque

Inside Suleymaniye Mosque

Suleymaniye Mosque

Suleymaniye Mosque 

Another lost in translation (I hope)

It's been a while, and we have a ton of trips to post, but in the meantime a quick but funny one. Does this girl get what her hat says?

It's hard to read in the picture, but it says 'Little Bastard'

Zoo Day

We go to the zoo often, so there is not much news in this, but today we met up with our friends Stephanie and Loretta. Noah and Loretta were walking around holding hands and it made my heart melt. So cute.

Noah and Loretta

I just thought this was so funny.

Recycling!

A bit further from home, but totally worth it since it is just the perfect height for toddler recycling.

St. Patrick's Day in Dublin

We decided to celebrate St. Paddy's Day in Dublin this year with some good friends of ours, and it was really a great trip (minus a 15 hour bug that we almost all managed to acquire at some point during the vacation). We managed to see a lot and although the two toddlers we were toting prevented us from really celebrating the Irish way, we still had a lot of fun.

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Noah & Aidan!!

We started our tour of Dublin off with some beers at the Porter House Microbrewery.

Luckily the boys let us enjoy

Noah & Aidan

What's St. Paddy's Day without some clovers?

Aidan LOVING his babychino

Checking out Irish ducks at St. Stephen's Green

More St. Stephen's Green- a lifesaver when trying to tire out toddlers

The most crowded playground I have ever been to in my life

Incidentally, there was an Irish Craft Beer & Cider festival going on in Dublin while we were there. It was certainly small relative to the beer fests in the US but it was neat to try some local brews.The boys had fun... maybe too much fun.

The animals came out at the Irish Craft Beer & Cider Festival 

Noah & Aidan hanging with the revelers

Stopping to smell the flowers

Unfortunately I got sick just in time to celebrate St. Patrick's day, so we got off to a slow start. We sadly missed the parade, but eventually got out the door and checked out the Jameson Distillery.

Whisky tasting at the Jameson Distillery

Feeling Irish in his new cap

Christchurch Cathedral

Tuesday morning Matt, Noah, and I headed out to Kilmainham Gaol, a famous Jail from the Irish Famine days. Youngest inmate: 5 years old! He was incarcerated for stealing a length of chain. During that time there was massive overcrowding, people were intentionally getting locked up just to get food!

Kilmainham Gaol

Kilmainham Gaol

Behind bars at Kilmainham Gaol

In the afternoon, we met up with the Goguen's again to go to Howth, a shore town about a half hour outside of Dublin. We had some incredibly fresh seafood and enjoyed a somewhat sunny but VERY WINDY day before heading back to Dublin.

GIANT oysters 

 Once we were back in Dublin, we strolled around Merion Square to see some Georgian doors, and moseyed our way back to the apartment.

On Wednesday we went to the Guiness factory, Mike grilled some amazing steaks for us and then it was time to get on the plane back to Zurich.

I guess this is how you spell Lynn in Ireland?