Fun in the Sun

So my husband travels frequently for his job which means I get to travel frequently to see new places too! Whenever he gets an email about a meeting or a training course he has to take his first move is to call me and say "How do you feel about..." Well this summer it was "How do you feel about Cyprus?" And let me tell you I feel amazing about Cyprus!

I know we saw a good amount of the island, experienced quite a few new things but in all actuality it felt like we were in the pool all the time. And I'm completely okay with that! Me and the kiddos started every day by hanging out in the pool for a few hours, then while they napped I hung out on our balcony and worked on my needlepoint project and after my husband finished up "working hard for the money" we went off to explore something new.  It was the perfect summer vacation formula: a little sun, a little history/sightseeing  and a ton of fun!

Mr Cool and look at princess touching the Sand!

I will admit to being a bit bummed when we walked off the plane in Cyprus because I was thinking Greece and got Tel Aviv. It looks very Middle Eastern and not the least bit Greek- all sand, hills and a little green not the least bit white with crystal sapphire blue water. Getting over that I saw the palm trees, felt the near constant breeze and decided I could enjoy this :)  and enjoy we all did!

Yummy lunch by the pool

Not straying far from the pool even for food

On Sunday afternoon we crossed over the border, through the Demilitarized Zone into Turkey. It was amazing to see the difference and they are less than a block apart. I love that the UN chose to use olive trees to delineate the border. What better reminder that peace is achievable?

Young olive trees

Now remember that I am a huge history nerd, so seeing an old cathedral turned into a Muslim Mosque was cool. It was like neat to see in real life exactly how conquerors and religions just absorb what is already there and make it fit the new regime or religion. 

Stained glass replaced by Arabic writing.

You can just barely see how a steeple was replaced by a parapet. 

The saints were removed from the arches

We also saw a Greek Monastery, friends and took the kids to their very first movie. But by the best part of vacation- two zonked out babies! Nothing like sun and fun to wear em out.

Hines up and zonked out!