Bodrum Beach Vacation - 2010!

...snuggling with Silas in the shade...

This year, for vacation we were fortunate to find a home to rent near a beach in southwest Turkey. We all enjoyed every bit of it!


The kids enjoyed having grass to play in... a yard all their own for this one week!

And while we all got in the pool to swim throughout the week, Baxter, Maranatha, and Silas had the most fun just sitting on the side and dumping water from bucket to bucket (and splashing Ethan and Daddy occasionally!).

The house had beautiful flowers around it... which Silas enjoyed "watering" with his water gun :)

(randomly, here's a pic of me in the garden @ 35 weeks pregnant, for anyone who's curious) :

While we all loved it, Ethan enjoyed the pool most of all and spent a good portion of every day paddling around in the water:

And we ALL enjoyed the beach-- our first time as a family!

Silas thought Doug's sea monster impersonation was hilarious! He couldn't stop laughing at Doug snorkeling around the bay:

A nearby island with ruins was attached to the beach by a rocky sandbar, so we trekked out through the water to the island to have a look, only to see a sign prohibiting us from actually entering the ruins site once we got there (bummer!):
But still, we made it out to the island and had a good time!
Sandcastling was a big part of the fun for Doug, Ethan, and Baxter:

Well, mainly Doug... :)

The various finished products of three days' work:



Ethan and Jess enjoyed swimming out to a buoy and back!

One day while we were at the beach, Doug found a crab in the shallow water and scooped it up for the kids to observe. That crab scooted around the bucket so quick, and Maranatha offered pretzels while Silas tried to feed him seaweed (he liked neither). We named him "Sandy Claws" (though Baxter was still a bit partial to the name "Mr. Crab").


Maranatha loved playing in the sand:

On the last full day, we took turns, each of us taking one of the older boys for a kayak ride around the bay:

Ethan burst with excitement and joy for the entire ride, and declared that it made him feel like a grown-up man to go on such an adventure.

Doug took Baxter out for his ride (with Ethan running out to see them off), and they had a great time too!

We're so thankful to have enjoyed this week as a family of six... cause it won't be long now until Moses makes his debut. :)