Last weekend, we went on a language trip to the World Heritage site of Berat, a historical city in Albania. A language trip is a trip that our Albanian teacher sets up for those who are interested in exploring Albania in a group setting. Out teacher acts as our tour guide and tells us about the sites in Albanian, while a lucky member of the group gets to translate for the rest of it. To Sean's dismay, he was the one chosen to translate :) He did a great job.
While we were looking forward to seeing more of Albania, I have to admit I was very nervous about it. It was a day trip, having us leave at 8am and coming home at 8pm. My anxiety stemmed from the fact that Asher was joining us on the trip, and we were planning on being gone for 12 hours. With other people on the bus. On a hot summer day. I was leaning towards backing out, since his record isn't so clean when it comes to traveling, but Sean convinced me to give it a try. And you know what? I'm so glad he did. Asher was FANTASTIC! I mean he didn't fuss for more than a couple of minutes and that didn't even happen much! He slept on the bus during his nap times. He did great in the Bjorn while we were at the city. He sat the entire time during lunch. It was amazing! We could not have been happier/prouder of how well he did.
Asher climbing up a slide at a rest stop on the way.
Here are some beautiful sites around the walled city of Berat, the last stronghold of Albania's national hero, Skanderberg, during the invasion of the Ottomans. He held out for decades until he was betrayed by his nephew! Well, this is what we think happened, though it says nothing about it on Wikipedia when I went to check facts, haha :)
A a very large bust of Emperor Constantine.
Great place, great trip!
Next month, we are off to Montenegro and Croatia! What a great place to live!
We decided to open his family presents the day after his birthday. That way it wasn't so crazy and he wouldn't be as tired. Thank you family for all the great gifts! He's loved everything he received!
He wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do with the presents.
He is a HUGE fan of anything with wheels, so these Hot Wheels were wonderful!
He even makes the "vroom" sound :)
Birthday present from Sean - Go Gators!
It was amazing - we lined up all his presents for a picture.
We were expecting him to run into the room and just destroy the neat orderly pile o' presents.
But what did he do instead?
He started playing with the empty boxes!! Completely ignoring his presents.
And then he started playing with the wrapping paper!!
Such a sweet little boy :)
It was a great first birthday for Asher. Thank you everyone for making the day go well!
Happy Birthday sweet little boy! A year ago today, Asher Bennett Whalen was brought into the world and into our family. This past year has been filled with so much love and joy, and maybe a little bit of crying and screaming, but we all have survived it! We now have a happy, active, funny one year old. We could not be happier!
Birthday Celebrations - Part 1
Today, we were able to celebrate the year by having our good friends come over and enjoy the evening!
Since Asher seems to be athletic, we thought this cake was appropriate!
While I couldn't get the blue dark enough to match either BYU Cougar or Indianapolis Colt blue, we made do :)
Asher getting ready for the party, sporting his slick hair
Asher with his friends, Ava, Florida & Mereme
Fate would have it that one of the other families here in Albania also had a little boy who was born on the exact same day as Asher. We celebrated their birthdays together, even though they were both quite oblivious to the significance of the day :) Happy birthday Tate!!
The birthday boys, Tate & Asher!
Many friends to share the day!
It's Present Time!
Asher wasn't quite sure what to do with the presents.
First he started playing with the tissue paper, and ignored the toy inside...
Once he noticed the toy, he was still a little unsure how to respond :)
After we opened presents, it was cake time!!
Let's just say the main reaction from these two was probably confusion, wondering why in the world everyone was staring at them, singing and clapping! And I think poor Asher was just overwhelmed by it all because he was so tired :) That's probably what happens when the normal afternoon one and a half to two hour nap only lasts 40 minutes!
First we sang them Happy Birthday :)
Then we cut the cake and gave them their slice!
Happy 1st Birthday Asher!
We expected Asher to dig right in...
We expected wrong! He didn't exactly respond to the cake like we thought.
There was definitely a lack of interest in the cake...
again, he was very tired by this time :)
Apparently, Tate's cake was more interesting than his own.
By how he reacts when Tate is holding a toy, this didn't surprise us too much :)
"I want his cake, he looks like he's having more fun with it!"
And Tate was kind enough to share :)
Then with some help from the parents, Asher got a little more messy.
Then he was done.
"I don't know what you all want, but I'm too tired to give it to you.
Please just leave me alone!"
"Seriously! I'm tired!"
Clean up time!
While the pictures are great, watching it is wonderful. It's long, and I don't expect people to watch it, but parts are pretty funny :)
I saw on the blog my sister-in-law has that she did a little overview of the birthday child. I liked the idea a lot, so here it is for Asher!
- Favorite toy: Empty soda bottles, toy car, and toy steering wheel
- Favorite stuffed animal: Winnie the Pooh
- Favorite color: Blue (imposed upon him by his mom)
- Favorite book: All Aboard Noah's Ark flip book, Feely Bugs, Baby Einstein Music is Everywhere & Neighborhood Animals, and Happy Baby ABCs & 123s,
- Favorite foods: Bread, yogurt and any fruit. He actually eats anything we put in front of his mouth (ecept birthday cake, apparently)!
- Favorite things to do: Play outside, jump, walk backwards, wrestle with dad, push things (walker, shopping cart, anything that can be pushed)
- Favorite song: The Itsy Bitsy Spider & Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree
- Favorite thing to wear: Anything mom puts him in - either plaid shorts, or basketball shorts & a T-shirt
- Favorite people (other than his parents, of course): Mereme & Florida
Thank you everyone for all your help in getting us through the first year of Asher's life. Stay tuned for part two. Hopefully he won't be as tired for the next celebration!
This past weekend we took a trip to Macedonia to visit Lake Ohrid, the "oldest lake in the world..." so say the Macedonians. :) Only two and a half hours away, we traversed high, winding, narrow mountain roads, to reach our final destination, Ohrid, Macedonia. And it was well worth it! What a beautiful old city. The architecture of the homes and the cobblestone streets gave this town it's wonderful charm. Here are some of the beautiful sites we were able to see while visiting.
This is the hotel where we stayed - an ideal location!
Unfortunately, it was a little loud at night - all those loud people who don't have kids ;)
Views from our room's balcony :) Gorgeous!
City plaza
The beginning of old town Ohrid
Our room - notice the makeshift tent to make Asher's sleeping space more private :)
Eating lunch out in from of our hotel.
Asher didn't end up sitting still very long, so we moved it up to the balcony in our room!
Some pictures of the beautiful sites around town:
King Samoil's Fortress
Asher and dad - relaxing on the steps of the fortress
View of Ohrid from the fortress
St. John Kaneo Church
One of Asher's many dog sightings. He's learned how to point :)
Boardwalk along the lake.
In the first picture, a sign on the railing read "Find your sign, make a wish, throw a coin". On the railing there were plaques with each astrological sign. On our second trip past, we saw these boys swimming in the water and realized they were hunting for the coins people threw in. We decided to give ourselves some entertainment and them some pocket change, so each of us threw in a coin "near" them. The ensuing melee to get the coins was very amusing.
Asher had a hard time going down for a nap, so we let him play on the bed until he crashed :)
Two very humorous sights - First, why in the world would you advertise your tattoo parlor by showing a four year old kid with a tattoo???!!! That is just wrong!
And of course, how could you not have a McDonald's in Macedonia? Probably the coolest McDonald's I've ever seen. While the possibility of eating there was enticing, solely for sentimental reasons, we decided we had gone at least 6 months without, so why break the streak?
Dusk at Lake Ohrid
Beautiful Ohrid!
Well, we highly recommend Lake Ohrid to anyone in the area, and will take anyone who comes to visit! A quaint town, with lots of history and charm. A perfect place to go to with a little one, or have a nice restful getaway. And Asher did so well!, except nights :) One night, we both woke up, at 3am, to Asher peeking over the side of his pack n' play as he jumped up and down all ready to play! We turned to each other and both said, "Don't make eye contact!" and pretended to sleep, hoping he would go back to sleep himself. Eventually he did :) Good times in Ohrid, Macedonia!
