Instagram Update - Germany & Turkey!!

Burg Lichtenberg
I am in LOVE with Germany!!

St. Goar castle
LOVE these people!
2 moms + 8 kids = loads of German castle fun!

(1) Trier, (2) small village in Germany
LOVE German food!!
#frites  #sauerkraut  #homemadesausage  #liverdumpling   #friedporkbelly

Blue Mosque, Istanbul
SO nice to be back "home" in Turkey.

Sultanahmet, Istanbul
Adana walks all over Turkey wearing her headscarf.
Not because she needs to ... just because.

Grand Bazaar, Istanbul
Yep, the shop keepers could sure see/hear our huge American family coming.

Minmar Terrace Cafe, Istanbul
Dinner overlooking the Bosphorus.

Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofya), Istanbul
A lovely date to the Aya Sofya.

Istanbul
Fun felt hats!

Blue Mosque, Istanbul
Ready to enter the Blue Mosque.

Istanbul
Spent a fantastic evening in the home of these great friends - Ramis & Setcil.  Probably the best meal of our whole trip (cuz nothing beats home cooked Turkish food!) 

Istanbul
These two cuties became instant friends!
Torah & Deniz.

Istanbul
Only a few of the delights that we ate tonight.  After these pictures, I was too busy stuffing my face to bother with my camera.  Cig kofte, meatballs wrapped in eggplant, dolma, potates salata, borek ... (There was also homemade baklava!)
#iamabouttoburst

My sweet birthday girl got THREE chocolate cakes - one in Germany (thanks Jessica!), one at our friend's house (thanks Ramis & Setcil!), and one was waiting in our hotel room when we got in this evening (thanks Aslan!).  She deserves all this love & more!  I sure adore this wonderful 12-year old.

on the tram, Istanbul
This one is for @themike14.  We are riding public transportation all over Turkey, and we think about you every time.  The kids said, "Do the grandpa face" for the picture.  :)

Buyukada Island, Istanbul
Today:  Buyukada, one of the Prince's Islands in the Sea of Marmara.  Cars are not allowed on the island, so people get around in horse & buggy.

Kabatas, Istanbul
Our dinner tonight .... street food!
Grilled fish sandwiches (left) and grilled meatball sandwiches (right).
Fast, cheap & delicious!

Royal Restaurant, Incirlik
The food love continues!  Our favorite place in Incirlik (formerly known as Red Onion).
The owner still remembered us 8 years later.
#cheesebread  #tava  #BestHummusEver!

Yilankale (Snake Castle), Turkey
Visited our local castle.  This is where my email address came from.

Yilankale, Turkey
Scaling the castle walls got a bit sketchy at times.

Karatas
Finally!  The main reason for our trip to Turkey:  Adana was baptized today by Jared in the Mediterranean Sea.  It was wonderful, and she will have quite a story to tell about this special (& somewhat crazy) day.

Incirlik, Turkey
Our sweet Adana after her baptism.
#raisingAdana

Karatas
(Top) Our baptism site - I LOVE the Mediterranean!
(Bottom)  It was WINDY and pretty chilly today.

Sabanci Camii, Adana
My favorite mosque (Sabanci) in my favorite city (Adana).  I just WISH that you could hear the laughter of Turkish families playing in the beautiful grounds & smell the overwhelming scent of flowers in the warm spring air.  The grounds around the mosque create the most stunning park that I have ever seen anywhere in the world.

Galeria Migros, Adana
Eggs for sale at the grocery store, sitting on an end cap next to the macaroni & bottles of ketchup.

Adana, Turkey
Driving in Turkey can be PSYCHOTIC!  But why don't we do this in the U.S.?  They use the yellow light to tell you that the red is about to turn green.  So helpful!

Hodja Inn, Incirlik
Poor baby girl got sunburned cheeks today.  She isn't used to all this sun.

Canyon View Hotel, Goreme (Cappadocia) Turkey
Turkish doorways.  Both of these are at our hotel in Cappadocia.

some random gas station bathroom
Another brilliant invention ... pull the lever and a new plastic cover comes onto the seat.  Way better than our flimsy paper covers!

Goreme, Turkey
I took 84 pictures of our Cappadocia hiking today, but this one is my favorite.  I'm sure gonna miss this guy when he heads off to college in a few months.

Zelve (Cappadocia)
Some random shots from our Cappadocia hiking today.  This area is impossible to describe and pictures can never do it justice.  These cave dwellings are over 1000 years old.

Goreme, Turkey
Adana literally wore the seat out of her pants climbing around the rocks and sliding back down.  She was pretty embarrassed walking into town for dinner with her undies showing.
#raisingAdana

Urgup, Turkey
Everyone decided that it was MY turn to pick where we would eat dinner tonight, so I chose a Corbasi (soup restaurant).  I wanted some place (1) cheap and (2) different.  Plus I love soup.  I definitely got my wish.  Cut the TL price in half to get the USD price = cheap!  And different?  I ate Mercimek, but Jared had the Dil and Micah ate the Beyin.

Canyon View Inn, Goreme
I will miss our Turkish breakfast each morning!  Breads, dried fruits, olives, cheeses, yogurt, homemade jellies ...  Our last hotel also served us delicious omelets, sprinkled with dried mint.

Canyon View Inn, Goreme
It's pretty rare to find a public bathroom in Turkey that has toilet paper.  So Nathan pilfered a roll from our hotel room after we checked out.

Hodja Inn, Incirlik
A Turkish classic ... have the downspout drain onto the walkway (the CARPETED walkway) right next to the hotel room door.

Wyndham Istanbul Petek Hotel
Our hotel pool.  The room to the left of the girls is the hamam.  I can't wait to go there tonight!

Istanbul
The Last Supper.  :(
We went out for Konya-style pizza tonight with our wonderful friends.

Istanbul
Our tray of homemade ayran (yogurt drink) in copper mugs.

Final shot from the trip.  I was definitely meant to be an expat and LIVE overseas.  Traveling kinda sucks.  Can you name the airlines we flew?