Another Big Fat Greek Wedding...

Hey lovelies! Sorry for the lack of posting, we've been in Greece for about a week now on our annual summer vacation. The kids are finally over their jet-lag (thank God) because waking up at 4:30 am everyday for a whole week is less than awesome. We went to a huge wedding (almost 400 people) in the small town of Astros and had a great time with all our fam and friends. In fact almost 100 people came from Canada alone for the wedding...nothing like a 9 hour time change to bring home-town friends together!

 One of these kids is not like the others... Mama's too tall and in need of a tan!

 Up "the mountain" at the brides family home, starting off with some traditional dancing before heading down to the church for the ceremony

 The tradition of walking the bride to the church to meet her groom

 Arriving at the church

 Joining the rest of the guest waiting for the wedding to begin

 Inside the church during the ceremony

 Waiting for the couple to exit the church, not all the guest "fit" inside the church so they waited outside!

 The happy couple...they're married!

 The get-away (Smart) car

 At the reception dinner, traditional Greek desserts and candy coated Jordan almonds called" Boubounaries"

 Mama feeling good after a few glasses of wine

 The couple arrived to the party by boat!

 The reception was outside by the water..dinner for 400!

 The bride got the dancing started at around 1:00 am

The groom busted a move, dancing the traditional Zeibekiko dance

The wedding was a blast and of course we didn't make it back to our hotel until almost 6:00 am and the band was still playing...

More updates will be coming but our internet is a bit sketchy and I'm not sure how often I'll post... tho I'll try to keep you kids updated as much as possible!

Hope your July has been fun in the sun, where ever you are!

Another night out at Bouzoukia please

 In Greece every summer, Husband and I have always made a point of herding together our friends and heading into Athens for a night out at Bouzoukia (Greek music/cabaret/show with a big name star of the moment). This year we went with 5 other couples and checked out Panos Kiamos... Mr.Hotstuff this summer!
It's always a crazy night out (the show doesn't start until 11:00pm, the main act starts at 1:00am and the show ends at 6:00am (home by 7:30am!!!)  With table bottle service and good friends together it takes about 10 minutes to get tipsy. Never mind that I don't understand all of what's being sung, my Greek is far from perfect, but a party is a party in any language. They don't call it Booze-oukia for nothing!

The women are sexy, the men are hot and entertainment is amazing...

{Apparently the shorter the skirt the better!}

{1:00am, Panos was ready to rock}

{Kid #1's Godmother, our "Koubara" Maria}

{Mama's new boyfriend, Panos Kaimos}

{That waitress is holding trays of Carnation flowers to be thrown at the singer (20 Euros per tray). People buy dozens of trays to throw flowers at their friends and at the performers. Safer than throwing plates?!  Only in Greece!}

{Panos and me go wayyy back}

{Husband and his brother enjoying just a bit of Grey Goose}

{Mama dancing on the stage...}

{My bro-in-law always adds something special to pics...}

The show was crazy and was even better because we were there with amazing friends. It's so much more than just going to a club, great food, service, drinks and dancing on tables. The Greeks know how to party like it's 1999, even on a Tuesday! 
Economic crisis?..what economic crisis?!! Bouzoukia makes them forget all their troubles...for one night only.

Summer's a comin'!

Summer is coming and that means that soon we'll be off to Greece for our yearly summer holiday. Husband is from Athens originally but we have a place just outside of the city on the sea.  I've got tones to do to prepare for the trip and apparently now we're only "allowed" by the airline to take 1 bag/person.  Have they gone crazy? How am I supposed to travel to the other side of the world with ONE suitcase for myself? Do they not know that we're going to Europe, where people actually dress really well like ALL the time?   I guess Kid #1 and #2 will be sharing a suitcase this year to free up another bag for Mama. Obviously.

{Only 1 bag. Say whaaat?}

We're heading to our summer home for a little over a month. That's right, I'm going to our home, which means I need to bring STUFF for the home. Like lots of stuff.
One suitcase only Air Canada? REALLY?
So somehow I'm supposed to defy the laws of physics and stuff three suitcases worth of things into one.  Already this trip is stressing me.

I've got lots to do to get ready and one of the main things I need to do is brush up on my Greek.  I've talked about the mission impossible challenges of learning this language before here.
I've taken classes but I finally broke down and bought  the Rosetta Stone Language Program (you know, the language CD's they're selling by late-nite infomercial.) So basically I'm trying to teach myself Greek. I had a good base of understanding and I'm not a complete Muppet but dang is it hard...

{Box should read: Contains mind bending-ly difficult language lessons. Morons need not attempt}

{Learn Greek you say?}

So now, instead of reading blogs all day I'll be trying to spend my time practicing Greek. Why is nothing ever easy?