Saturday, May 14, 2016

back to Ankara

another late morning for most of us
Packing wasn't supposed to be difficult.  Tolga and I leave a set of old lounge-around-the-house and work-in-the-garden type clothes here.  But the kids got presents from Baba and their cousins, I bought presents, I got presents, I had bought a couple things for the house.   We had my clothes, Tolga's clothes and the the three kids' clothes.  A bouncy chair.  Car stuff.  Car seat stuff.  Drinks and snacks and diapers and wet wipes.  Somehow - the car was full - Tolga and I in the front, Tomris and Tuana and bags in the middle row, Teoman in the trunk/third row - one seat folded down for more trunk space.

It's a nine hour drive to Kusadasi.  Tolga is used to long roads - driving to locations around Turkey all the time for his job.  He's not a smooth driver - but he is alert and much more aware than I to the unpredictability of Turkish drivers - so he usually drives the whole way and I usually feed everyone the whole way.  

While the road is nine hours, we often take 11 or 12 with the kids - stopping at least three times for gas, food, bathroom or a good looking playground.  Tomris was the first to need an emergency potty break at the side of the road.  It was raining and I held her and she looked at me trying to figure out if I was joking or not.  Teoman had just started peeing standing up - and she couldn't understand why she couldn't do the same.  So Tolga and I were in tears laughing as I tried to hold her squatting over the shoulder drop off.  

Pee everywhere.

We stopped a short while later for the boys to use the toilet.  Then 2/3 of the way home at a McDonald's that has an indoor playground.  (The kids kept saying "I remember this!")  They played while Tolga ran and bought special lokumsucuk, and Starbucks - all special to the area (including the Starbucks because its the only one en route.  

We didn't make home until almost 1 am (we had left at 1pm - so stayed true to our twelve hour travel).  Only Tomris wasn't excited to be home.  (She had woken up about ten minutes before we got home and peed all over her car seat).
keeping herself busy in the car
They are both impressed with the windmills

It was rainy travel weather - and beautiful
three rows of seats being used here - somehow we are full!

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