Almost time for another adventure...

It's been an amazing year for me as far as traveling goes, and I'm about to go on one last adventure before school starts. About a month ago I was presented with quite the opportunity--to nanny for/travel with a family from Bellevue for a month as they go to Turkey! I leave on Sunday and get back Tuesday, August 28, just a week before school starts (talk about a whirlwind week when I get back...)

The family that I'm going with is great...the dad is from Turkey and is now the CEO of TurkCell, a cellular company over there, the mom is from the South, and the 2 kids are so great! Morgan is basically the sweetest, best 11 year old boy I've ever met and helps out with his sister, Erin, a ton. Erin just turned 10 and has cerebral palsy, although she's able to do quite a lot for herself. She's got a great personality and sense of humor and is just SO excited for our trip. Karen (the mom) told me on the phone the other day that Erin has already decided we're going to be best friends and she's sitting by me on the plane Ü

We leave Sunday afternoon, take a 10 hour flight to Amsterdam, have a 13 hour layover where we have a hotel room and are going to sleep for a few hours (WOO HOO!) then fly from Amsterdam to Istanbul. My understanding is that we'll then go to Bodrum for the first few days of the trip, which is on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. A family friend (of theirs, not mine Ü) owns a 5-star hotel in Antalya, which is about 4 hours away, and we may go stay there for a bit...PLUS (this is my favorite part) the hotel has a swim-with-the-dolphins deal!!! One of my goals before I die is to swim with dolphins, so I reallllly hope we get to do that there. After the coast part of the trip, I think we're going to Istanbul for the rest of the time.

I'll have a cell phone there, and I'll put up the number when I get over there, just in case; I'll also be able to get online fairly often I think.

Please keep me in your prayers--I'm very excited for this adventure, but it's also going to be a big challenge, living with a family I barely know and helping with Erin. I'll keep everyone updated as often as possible and try to put up some pictures as well!

Blessings!
Aly