The beauty of Natural Exfoliation...

Today we went to the beach...we thought it was going to be a pretty warm (low-mid 70's) day with the sun shining.  To be fair, I checked the forecast before we left for the coast and it did say SW17-20 mph winds would be starting around 1:00 pm.  It didn't sound too bad or feel too windy outside...so we packed the car up (that only took an hour...big surprise!) and headed south for the afternoon.  The beach is only about 45 minutes away from us.  Of course, there are plenty of other beaches that are further in all directions.  But we headed to the Agia Napa area...

We arrived in record time (after all the dumb construction traffic...but what would Nicosia be without construction, right?).  They have these very clean bathhouse/changing rooms right next to a cute little beach taverna that's not yet open for the season.  So Ashlee & I made a pit stop and the boys headed down to the sand and water to set up for the afternoon.  Well, when we walked out from the protection of the building, holy cow!!  The wind about knocked us over!  But the boys didn't seem to mind and had already headed down towards the water with the sand toys.  So I set down next to Clint and proceeded to get pelted with what felt like a million tiny little needles on the right side of my body for the next hour and half (I guess it wasn't all that bad, though)  :)  At least the sun was out and the kids were having sooo much fun (pretending like it was summer!) digging in the sand and running through the water in the little pools.  It was fun to watch them! 

So Clint and I are sitting there trying to ignore the sandstorm around us...ha!  And a big gust of wind comes through and just pelts us with this big wave of sand.  And Clint says, "It's like natural exfoliation...you just have to sit here!  Want a beer?"  :)  And all I could do was laugh! 

Oh, you should've seen all the kite-sailers that were there!  They were so fun to watch and were catching some serious wind when they jumped...like 15-20 feet in the air!  We met this really nice guy from England who apparently introduced Cyprus to kite-sailing years ago and chatted with him about it for awhile.  Apparently Clint wants to give it a try but you can't rent the equipment anywhere, you just have to buy it and hope you can do it and like it--it's only about 1000 euro ($1500)!!!  (NOT gonna happen!) :)

See all the kite-sailers in the sky...I'll get a close up shot next time

It looks warmer than it was--but they put their bathing suits on because they wanted to get wet while they worked and played in the sand.  :)

That's my man...& his Carlsberg beer!

Our 13th Anniversary celebration on April 4, 2011!



The Happy Couple <3

We usually go to dinner on our anniversary each year to celebrate and this year was no different...other than the fact that we're in Cyprus now!!  A little backstory to how we (I) chose where we went for dinner...At Christmas time we had the opportunity to attend a pantomime (a British Christmas tradition that Tambur & Greg introduced our family to) and a few weeks ago we saw Agatha Christie's play "And Then There Were None" at the Russian Cultural Center.  As we left the Cultural Center and walked down the side streets to our car, I noticed (both times) the most adorable and quaint little French Bistro on the corner.  Long story short, I hinted that I wanted to go there for my birthday dinner but my sweet hubby knows how my heart longs for a good steak and instead took me (& all my babies to an amazing steakhouse--right here in Nicosia--called Starz). 

So this time, I knew that if I wanted to go to the cute little French Brasserie, I had to take the bull by the horns and just make the reservation and plans myself!  :)  I made the reservation on Friday before our anniversary on Monday and arranged for Elsa (our awesome and always available sitter) to keep the kiddos. 

We arrived at 7:15 pm (our reservation was at 7:00) and the sign on the door said "CLOSED"!!  And Clint says, "Are you sure they're open?!" Ugghh!!  So I tried the door and it was open...the cook came out of the back, handed us some menus, and said the owner would be there in a few and we could pick any table we wanted!  So typical of Cyprus, I love the easy way of life! 

In case you're wondering, Cypriots don't eat until 8 or 9 pm--unless we Americans force them to!  So they didn't start serving until 7 and I don't think they ever actually have anyone come in until long after that! 

Well, the owner arrived and made us this yummy drink called Royal Kir (heard of it anyone?  because I'd love to make it again!).  And then I had the pork medallions with a mushroom cream sauce and Clint had the Wild Boar casserole...both dishes were incredible!  Oh, we also had this appetizer that was to die for...Camembert cheese rolled in French bread crumbs and baked (I can almost taste how yummy it was now)!  And for dessert, Creme Brulee for Clint and I had these little proliferoles (I don't think that's spelled right) but they were like mini cream puffs with ice cream in the middle.

We had a wonderful night and ABSOLUTELY enjoyed our 13th Anniversary celebration and the first time we've gotten to go to dinner with just the two of us since we got here in November!  I look forward to our next romantic evening out!  Love you Honey!!  <3

The Royal Kir on the left and the wine we picked on the right.

There were all these really neat paintings on the walls that were for sale

The liqueur used in making the Royal Kir