Monday

I'm behind a day in our blogging it is already 11 am on Tuesday here but I realized that I did not write anything about yesterday.

Another day of getting up too late... We were all out of bed around 11. Of course, part of the reason is that Doug finally figured out the problem with Mom and Dad's microphone so we could finally skype with them at 1 am! As hard as I try to get us off this schedule of staying up half the night and sleeping until noon, I just don't think I can!

The 3 boys and I walked to the bakery to get some more goodies for breakfast (lunch?). The lady remembered us from the day before and was very helpful. She only had 3 doughnuts left :( So we bought those and I wanted some of the pastries by the register but she kept holding her nose and saying no, no. She picked something from behind her that looked good so we got those and were on our way back. Everything was delicious. We also had watermelon - we can buy it right outside our apartment door for $1! And grapes - I have very spoiled kids who are used to seedless grapes. I don't think they have ever had grapes with seeds and they are not thrilled about it!

We did the daily homework battle but accomplished quite a bit. However, I think yesterday was one of the first days that everyone had just had enough of each other - constant arguing, teasing. It was the first day where I really felt like - what was I thinking?!!!. We decided to walk to see Ana again and that must have been the break we all needed. Things seemed better when we got there.

The director made a rule that only one of us and 2 kids can see Ana at a time. We did this on Thursday and Friday last week. On Saturday and Sunday Kostya said not to worry about it. The director had given us the paperwork we needed from her for the adoption and she wouldn't be there anyway. Monday we decided that 3 would go in and we would switch in an hour. I went in to sign the book and get Ana. Our friends Michale and Liliya were already there waiting for Vanya. We all headed outside. Visiting outside is so much nicer than being stuck in the bird room - first, I hate birds. Second, there is more freedom when we are outside. Soon it started to rain and Jim and Keegan and Kelton were stuck on the other side of the fence while we were under a roof. Liliya suggested that he just come in, the director left for the day. He did and we had another great visit. The rain stopped and Ana brought some friends outside. We played soccer, some card games, painted nails and Ana went crazy with the pictures again!

She was promised by the director that we could walk to a small amusement park last week. Everyday there is a reason why we can't go. She gets more disappointed everytime. I am hoping that one of the days this week, they let us go.

We decided to walk with Liliya and Michale towards the downtown area. We had a great time and Liliya introduced us to Ukrainian Tacos - kind of like a wrap at home - with chicken, cabbage, garlic sauce, cheese, mushrooms - pretty much any filling you can think of. They were delicious! And the best part is - as Liliya was explaining the choices to us, the guy at the counter started talking to us in English! Definitely a place we will return too! We walked some more - I think we had a total of 3 1/2 walking hours yesterday. Finally we realized it was still pretty far back to our apartment and Liliya helped us get a bus. She got on the bus and talked to the driver and told us 2 stops. To me, 2 stops means get off the second time the bus stops, right? That's what we did even though things did not look familiar. The entire bus was yelling no, no! and laughing at us, of course. One more stop and we were right in front of our apartment building! We visited with our puppy friends and came inside to relax. We even went to bed early (10 pm) hoping that we could get a better schedule. However, it is now 11:19 Am and we are all just starting to move around! Reality will be hard on the 19th!