1st Grade Picnic: FUN!

Lucy's sweet teacher organized several group games throughout the day.  I'm telling you, she is amazing.  I cannot fathom where she gets the energy to engage with 53 kids all day every day.  I would croak!

We started with dodgeball

Callie was such a great abla (big sister) to the kids.

Callie trying to figure out who she was going to pelt next!

These kids lost.

Then the moms started getting into it.

They may look innocent, but they were competitive!

This is when I had to put the camera down and show them how it's done!!  Any chance to take out my frustrations in a socially acceptable manner is great with me!  

The moms and the kids jumped rope throughout the day.

Here's my Callie girl doing the jumpity-jump!

My favorite was the sack race.

It was fraught with trials and triumphs!

Waiting for the starting whistle.

This is pure hustle!

Then it was the girls' turn.

They were every bit as competitive as the boys!

But, far more dramatic!
Many a tear was shed by the ones who lost!

The finale!

Look at their faces!

Derviş won!!

The mommas couldn't sit on the sidelines for long!

They were really going for it!

Callie jumped in for round two!

They knocked our sweet little teacher out to the way!  HA!

Tug-O-War!

First the whole group competed.

Then we had competitions between some smaller groups.

The little girl in the back cracked me up.
She was giving it her all.

Egg Race

Practicing the perfect hold.

Lining up for the race.

Lucy's egg fell off the spoon one step before she crossed the finish line.
She was brokenhearted!

When we finally got home around 7 p.m. I was worn slap out!  Even though I had reminded Noah several times to remember his keys, he forgot them!  So he sat on the bench in the building courtyard and did his homework.  The girls and I went straight to the bathroom, threw every bit of our clothes- shoes included- into the washing machine, and took showers.  After I got myself cleaned up, I was cleaning and putting our picnic things away when the dern kids started asking for dinner!

For Pete's sake!  Why do they have to eat all the time?!?!

I made them some quick quesadillas.  Then I announced that I was done for the day (Justin is out of town).  I told them to clean up after themselves and put themselves to bed at the appropriate times.

Momma is clockin' out folks!

1st Grade Picnic: Folks

I am really enjoying getting to know the moms of the kids in Lucy's class.  Most of them are really sweet and fun.  The picnic was the first time that most of us have gotten to spend an extended amount of time together.  We arrived around 9 a.m. and didn't leave until after 6:30 that evening!

As I've said before, picnicking is one of my favorite ways to spend extended amounts of time with folks here.  The kids can run and play happily- not cooped up in an apartment being shushed at.  The adults are free to chat, fiddle with the food, grill, or tea, take a nap, and/or play games with the kids.  And, when it's just women and children, the women really let loose.

Here are a few fun pictures of the sweet people that we had the privilege of spending the day with:

Songül
She is so funny.  She was the life of the party!

Hamza
He is even more adorable in person!

The lady in the pink is Lucy's teacher.
We LOVE her!  She's not much taller than the kids!
She has so much energy and is the perfect mix of sweet and stern!

Lucy and Hatice

Irmak

Rıdvan

This little cutie wanted Lucy's baby.

Climbing up to the table, smacking her lips!

Baby Ela, Lucy, Elif, Ufuk, Hatice

And, of course, no picnic would be complete without some dancing to close out the day!

1st Grade Picnic: the FOOD!

We had  a great time at Lucy's class picnic.  Our class arrived at the park nice and early, so we a great spot with plenty of tables.  Now, as I've said before, picnicking here is not a spectator sport.  Everyone gets involved.  It is an all day affair.  I took over 200 pictures.  So, I'm going to break this post into three parts: food, folks, and fun.  Here's the food...


The park where we met for the picnic is fairly close to our neighborhood.  So, most women and children loaded up their hand carts and walked over.  The class mom and a few other ladies arrived at 8 a.m. to secure a spot near the playground and gather up plenty of tables.  Everyone else slowly arrived, and by about 10 a.m. we got breakfast put out for the kids:

Ufuk and Lucy
This is the kid we brought.  I didn't lose him!

Once the kids ate, the moms got our table set up.

I LOVE Turkish breakfast.
Tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, cheeses, all sorts of breads, jams, honey, molasses,  pastries... Oh my!

Lots of little tulip shaped glasses of tea are a must!

Then the moms chowed down! 

After all sorts of fun and games, and several hours later, the moms decided it was time to start the grills.  Typically this is man's work.  So, it took quite a bit of work to get them going.

Köfte was on the menu today.  They are like a cross between a meatball and a hamburger patty with a bit of spice and flavorings.  They are yummy!

Getting the grills fired up.

Once the food was finally finishing up on the grills, the moms got the kids seated and ready to eat lunch.

We fixed köfte sandwiches for the kids.
Bread, köfte, and tomatoes.

Once the kids were fed it was time to roll out the feast!

Roasted vegetables (eggplant, potatoes, onions, squash, peppers) with roasted tomatoes on top,
bulgar salad (wheat bulgar, olive oil, tomato and red pepper paste, parsley, curly lettuce, seasonings), stuffed grape leaves (rice, spices, olive oil, and onions), small plate of potato salad, and another small dish of roasted vegetables.

Stuffed grape leaves

Lentil patties (for lack of a better word)
Made from cooked red lentils, olive oil, parsley, green onions, tomato and red pepper paste, and other spices.

These mommas didn't play when it was time to eat.  It was a total feast!

One of my favorite things at this sort of thing is watching the other ladies realize that my food isn't gross.  Monday the class mom was assigning food, and when she got around to me she decided that I should bring watermelon.  I guess they thought that I couldn't mess that up.  HA!

Well, in addition to the huge bowl of watermelon cut and chilled to perfection I made these cookies.

YALL!!

They are soooo good!

So, I opened up the container and set them out on the table.  A few ladies sort of turned up their noses asking what they were, and what was in them.  (They have to make sure I don't put any forbidden ingredients in them!)  Finally, one brave mom tried a cookie.  She freaked.  She loved them.  One by one they all tried the cookies and fell in love.  They were begging me for the recipe.

This always happens!  Not that I'm some amazing cook or something.  But, it is so funny to me to watch the complete change of heart once they taste my food.  

To be fair, I'm sure I'm the same way.  Looking at those photos above.   You might not think,  "Yummy!!  Gimme some!"  But, the food here is so good!  With the exception of green moldy cheese (which was supposed to be like that), I haven't had anything here that I haven't liked.

So, there you go!  A feast of a picnic!