Terrace Houses at Ephesus

We stopped to see the Terrace houses while at Ephesus

The floors were my favorite part

In Istanbul I took pictures of ceilings and in Ephesus I took pictures of floors.

Ephesus

McKayla at the top of the stadium.

Library of Celsus

It was really hot, so when ever Alina found a shady spot we took a break.

The Virgin Mary's House

After Ephesus we went to the Virgin Mary's house. 

It is believed that this is where the apostle John brought her.

We had lunch at the café.

Then happy birthday ice cream.

Selcuk

We had a great view from our hotel.  We could see the Aegean, a castle and mountains.

Our hotel also had a fenced off area full of turtle and rabbits.  The girls loved watching the turtles and the owner let them each hold one.

If you asked the girls what their favorite part of the day was, this would be it.

Selcuk castle

Pergamon

Ruins from the temple of Dionysus.  I must say, we have seen a lot of ruins, but Pergamon are at the top of my favorites list.

Alina at the top of the Theater.

McKayla also at the top, you can see how steep this theater is.

You had to go through this great tunnel to get to the theater.

We were surprised that most of the places we went you could climb on the ruins.

The temple dedicated to Emperor Trajan.

This is the gallery at the lower part of the temple.  There were several arches in a row with rooms in between each arch.

Coming out the other side of the arches.

My Greek Goddess posing on her pedestal.

My other Greek Goddess posing on her pedestal.

We road the gondola, or sky bucket as Alina called it, up to the acropolis.

It's funny how you can go see these amazing sights and when you ask the kids what their favorite part was they will tell you the "sky bucket" ride.

Once you get up to the ruins you understand why they built the city where they did.  The view was amazing. 

McKayla reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane to Alina to pass the time.

We definitely need to add more kid books to my kindle.

The girls getting an up close view of the Aegean Sea.  I love Alina's shadow.

We stopped at a bakery on our way out of town and bought some fresh bread to munch on.  It was so hot and yummy.  If only we had butter to slab all over it.

The girls ate almost an entire loaf on our drive to the airport.

The Dirty Dash

Alina and Roz before the race.

The first muddy obstacle

Do not touch the yellow lines of death!

I don't think she stopped smiling through the whole race.

Notice that Alina has no shoes, they are now a permanent part of the course.

Trying to come clean.