August 29, 2025
We woke up and got ready earlier than usual because we had big plans to go into Izmir today with Mehmet. He recommended we go to a fancy hotel with a spa so the boys could swim in the outside pools and the adults could get Turkish body scrubs and massages.
We enjoyed another lovely breakfast starring my favorite pastry to date- Tahini Çörek. The flaky pastry was filled with tahini and topped with sesame seeds and made a delicious companion for tea and coffee. Their home picked and cured lemon olives are another breakfast favorite of mine while the boys favor fresh bread and cheeses; Civil peyniri (Turkish string cheese) and tulum (super salty goats milk cheese).
On the way to the hotel in Izmir, we stopped at a package drop off spot where Ollie’s adventure hat had been delivered from Kapadokya!
When walking into hotel, Mehmet held hands with Lenny. Lenny moved Mehmet’s hand to his face and Mehmet thought it was so cute that Len was kissing his hand. But really Len was wiping his nose on Mehmet’s sleeve.
There was a huge outdoor pool at the hotel. The adults rotated through getting massages and a Turkish scrub while the others watched the kids at the pool. We started at the non-thermal heated pool with the kids executing challenges that Kyle gave them. Len “monkeyed” all the way around the pool and swam across an opening all on his own. Ollie swam out and back across the huge pool. He was super tired but so proud of himself. We then spent some time at the much warmer thermal pools where you were required to wear a swimcap the whole time. Mehmet chuckled when the attendant confirmed that he wouldn’t have to wear one. The kids were happy to keep swimming and climb all over me and Mehmet in the water while Kyle got his massage. The boys then asked to have a breath holding contest with Len telling Mehmet, “What its not hard? You go under and then don’t come up!”
Next we went to the mall so I could get a pedicure. The kids were really hungry asking for a snack so Kyle and Mehmet took them to get humongous cupcakes. Then Kyle found an arcade at the mall and the kids nearly exploded with joy.
The kids swam for over 5 hours today so it was not surprising that Len fell asleep almost instantly in the car. We put him straight to bed and Ollie was excited to be the only kid up again. He was clearly exhausted though and acting super silly the rest of the night.
Manti (Turkish stuffed pasta) was on the menu for dinner tonight. Mehmet’s mom brought me in the kitchen to ask how she should serve the manti to Ollie. Since they resembled pasta, I asked if maybe he could have his with just butter and she shook her head and said that would be gross. So Ollie had his with just tomato/pepper sauce while the rest of us also also had yogurt, sumac, and red pepper flakes with ours. Ollie eventually cleared his plate once he had a taste. Then we had a dessert of milk custard, rice pudding and homemade berry/coconut ice cream.
When he served the custard, Mehmet said “don’t worry it’s not the kind with chicken breast.” His mom and sister went on to tell me that the type with chicken breast (Tavukgöğsü) is really good and that you’d never know it has chicken in it and that it really just added texture.
