Home again, home again lickity split

If only "home" were lickity split away.  As exciting as planes are--their novelty is starting to wear off, even for Rawly--who has now traveled on 37 flights (which is, coincidentally, how much he currently weighs, although if you ask, he will say seven-thirty.)  Well, I forgot two more flights to the All Star game in Phoenix last summer, which brings his total up to thirty nine--so sorry for the previous "mom" comment:)

With two kids in tow for our first hop over the pond, we wanted to break up our return to the States with a stopover in Boston.  Ken's sister and her boyfriend greeted us at the airport and, after registering with lost baggage, we made our way to the T and our apartment we rented in Beacon Hill.  OH!  I had almost forgotten about getting to the airport for our departure--what a ride!  Let's just say we made it there in our second fastest time yet.  Ask Ken to tell the story!

Zoya was quite the fan of Chris, here, he's entertaining her with a menu--oo la la!

We kept ourselves busy from (EARLY) morning 'til night.  Ken deserves the title of Super Dad for getting up the first morning and taking Rawly and Zoya for a walk at 4 am!  He is my hero--which I don't tell him enough!  

Our apartment was just a few blocks from the Boston Commons and we enjoyed our historical walk along the Freedom Trail.  At one point we got doused by a heavy rain storm and sought shelter under a restaurant awning.

The next day we watched a great game at 100 year old Fenway.  Ken loved taking the kids there and Rawly really enjoyed watching "men play baseball."

The day Em and Chris left Ken was an allstar yet again and got up early to go with them to the airport and pick up our rental car.  Thanks to Em's directions (via her trusty Gretchen), he made it back to our place easily and while I was out for a stroll with the very awake children, managed to load most of our luggage.  Now mind you, neither Ken nor I are too keen on computed direction givers (I love the The Office episode where Michael drives into the lake), give us a good ol' map any day and we're golden.  Let's just say that after finding a map, we realized that the directions we had were indeed correct and that there's an I-95 and a I-93, one takes you to New Hampshire and the other to Rowley, MA where Grammy Janet lives.  Upon finding the later, we spent a lovely morning catching up with Grammy--we sure love surrogate family!

Rawly still loves feeding horses, well having Dad feed horses and Zoya was quite ecstatic to be so near the big ladies.

From there we traveled north to Albion, Maine (no problem thanks to our handy dandy map).  There we enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of life at a slower pace and the good company of my Bill and Nancy.  It's hard to believe that they left Eugene over 15 years ago, but I do suppose that I am nearly thirty now, so the math adds up!  Ken and I knew that the trip there would be well worth it, but little did we know the surprise that waited for us there (no, I'm not pregnant as one facebook friend surmised.)  Probably not quite the fanfare she was looking for, I dumbly announced, "What are you doing here?" when my mom popped out of the pantry.  Lucky for us Gigi didn't want to wait an entire month more to see us in Oregon, so she came back to her East Coast roots to see us (and was also able to catch up with some longtime friends).  In summary: good food, good conversation, good people, Maine.  Oh, and who can forget a good tractor ride?

Living up life on the farm with Cousin Bill

As shown, Z was a little cautious of the chilly water, but Rawly traversed and kept asking for more!

Gigi and grandkids splashing in the same pool that she swam in as a little kid (at her aunt and uncle's.)

Up on the rooftop

Tonight we went up for our third annual rooftop movie that Ken likes to plan.  On our way down I saw a hedgehog--my first up close since it cornered itself in the courtyard at school.  Ken and Rawly are sleeping out under the stars--we'll see if they can make it until morning.  By any means, I'm sure it will be an early one since the sun generally comes up around 5:30!  Well, it's almost one, so I'd better get some sleep myself before they get back or Zoya wakes for a feeding.
~Sweet dreams

Who's at the door?

We really love our church here--being away makes us so much more thankful for it.  But what's more is that Rawly really seems to love it too.  Here are some recent moments that I've loved...

Saturday lunch prayer..."Thank you for Gigi, Papa, Mimi, Grandpa, bubble, Jacob, store..."

Sundays a group of gals and I have Glee nights.  Generally it's at the other Alyssa's house or mine since we have the little tikes.  This week it was at our place, Holly was here playing with the kiddos while I was getting dinner ready when the door bell rang...Holly asked Rawly, "Who's here?" and he shouted, "JESUS!"  Really, who better would be coming over?

Thursday morning, after having Dad and Mom for the day (typical of a Saturday), he woke up, came into our room and shouted, "Church today!"  He was a little less than thrilled and a bit perplexed when we explained that it was a work day--the poor guy.

Ken's mainly been putting Rawly to sleep since Zoya was born.  Last night worked out for me to though.  As he was trying to fall asleep he asked, "Mom, Jesus loves me sing?"  which isn't a song that is in our usual repertoire.

Holidays and Such

In most parts of the world May 1st is Labor Day.  As nice as it is in September, I really appreciate it much more in May.  We've made it through winter--wahoo!  What better way to celebrate that basque in the beautiful sun and enjoy the sights and sounds of Spring?  The first of May fell on a Tuesday this year, here in Ukraine, Saturday was an official work day so that they could take Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off.  Don't really get that.  We (at KIS), however did NOT work on Saturday and therefore went back to work/school. 
For what seems to be the first time since we arrived, I had a bad wave of home sickness.  I'm not sure what really brought it on, it's silly really, I made it through the dead of winter--but I think it might just be that: instead of being trapped inside, I feel trapped in the city.  A friend asked what I missed the most, among the list was friendly strangers.  The very next day, a lady on the metro shocked my socks off!  An older woman kept smiling at Zoya and started to ask me about her.  I did my best to communicate in the minimal phrases that I know.  Realizing that I wasn't Ukrainian, she asked if I was American and proceeded to tell me (in Russian) that she was getting her green card in 2-3 (weeks I think).  Later another babushka sat down next to us with her granddaughter and they too started to ask about Zoya, then the first lady explained what she knew about us--all the while she smiled and laughed.  It's really hard to express how amazing of a feat that is--(former) Soviet strangers hardly smile, let alone laugh--in public, on the metro.
Our original intent was to rent a van and go to this awesome castle city southwest(?) of here--but plans fell through, so we hope to do it at some point.  We tried our best to make up for being indoors all winter, Sunday by walking all over downtown with some friends and Tuesday by going to see the Tulip festival.  (It's so weird to see tulips, lilacs, peonies, and irises all in bloom at the same time.)  Ken is back in school (online) working toward an Ed Specialist degree, so he spent large chunks of time on Saturday and Monday working on his final paper.
The following week we had another holiday (Victory Day), this time falling on a Wednesday.  We went to the other side of the river to visit some of our friends who recently had a sweet baby boy (fittingly on Labor Day:).  They live in a datcha which is a little like a cottage outside the city.  It was so nice to play in the grass (though Rawly did chew on some sidewalk chalk, probably not the nontoxic kind--he seems to be alright.)  Walking home from the metro, I really wished that we could have had a picture--both kids had fallen asleep and we were carrying them the same way--oh how I love these moments when they are still out "little" ones!

Easter in Espana

Sidetracked by swings on an Easter Sunday stroll

More swinging time at the playground near la Sagrada Familia

Zoya singing, "Da da da" and lots of other songs

grabbing lunch (and a kiss!)

The illuminating Alhambra, the place that has enchanted my dreams for years.  Unfortunately, we were only able to see the gardens--maybe we will return.  (Rawly just called it Baba's house!)

Happy as a clam in her little carrier!

A BOO!

On top of the Alhambra (the kids really were happy though you can't tell here)!

Climbing into the great unknown

Overlooking Granada from the Alhambra

Rawly is always observant of everything in the sky, especially planes

Back in Barcelona, "Feed the birds, tuppins a bag," in Plaza Catalunya

Exploring life from the stroller

Spring has sprung

April 22
The first cherry trees blossomed yesterday--at long last Spring has arrived!

Exciting things on the docket--nine weeks left until we go home

Our little guy keeps on growing.  He's grown out of his "FaS shoes" and is now wearing his new "FASt! shoes."  He loves running EVERYWHERE! Rawly's excitement for sports changes with whatever the boys are playing in the gym.  It's currently "Rawlyball" season (AKA volleyball).  He doesn't have too bad of an overhand serve either.  He also loves to perch on his window sill and watch everyone run fast (even mom's a fast runner--what a confidence booster!)

The plastic bag saga

April 1, 2012
Everyone knows that plastic bags are bad for children.  I know it, you know it, but they just sound so cool when you're five  months old.  DO NOT WORRY...as a precursor to reading this, no child is left unattended with a plastic bag...so tomorrow we're returning the car we've been renting since October.  This evening I cleaned out some odds and ends and put them in a large plastic sack.
Bag gets set on floor during dinneR.
Zoya finds
Oh, that box looks like fun.  Wow box, you flip, that's cool.  Box bumps plastic bag.  Plastic bag, where have you been?  Decisions...bag or box, box or bag....oh, Mom's typin
g on the computer so she won't forget how cute I am....Computer wins///////////////////

Spring is in the air

Ukraininans celebrate spring on the first of March, but it was much more true to it's actual date than we would have liked.  Well, I actually didn't mind too terribly much.  March 8th is Women's Day.  It's supposed to mark the "We can do it" attitude of women, but has been watered down to chocolates and flowers.  Now let's be honest, I love both flowers and chocolate, so I can't complain too much--plus we got the day off of school.   Zoya joined my friends and I for a "Sound of Music" sing along, nothing beacons Spring like a shout-out to the Austrian hills; I myself hope to frolic through them with our family someday.

Cock-eyed Sanders?

This picture may not look it, but Rawly is always very concerned for his little sister's well being.

I love it when he wakes up in the morning to let us know, "Zoya singing," or "Zoya, wake!"

It's hard to believe that she's already grown out of this outfit and that she is now holding herself up on four limbs.

We love tickling her.  Rawly can make her laugh more than anyone else can!

She loves gnawing on anything that she can get her paws on.

Zoya likes to help with toothbrushes and grabbing silverware--especially with food!

So Spring, have I mentioned how I love when flowers pop their little necks out?  The birds are chirping, the sun is rising earlier, which can mean only one thing--BRING ON DAYLIGHT SAVINGS!!!  This Sunday is the day apparently.  Maybe we can sleep in until the "new" six or shhhh...even seven???

Cold update

This morning all the trees were white with frost, friends with hoods on even had their hair and eyelashes turn white.  Yep, it's still chilly.  This morning I left the baby wipes in the car during church, when Ken went out to get them, they were a bit frozen and the package from last week was solid like a rock.

Holly got these for her b-day, they always make me think of Camp Creek in the spring

~Having fun, but dreaming of warmer weather this winter, ZARK

Baby it's cold outside!

If you have been following world news in the slightest bit, you've probably noticed that we've been in the middle of a bit of a cold snap.  Last week the high was 1 degree (F) in the middle of the day and lows got down to -18 in the middle of the night.  Previously, Oksana had been bundling the kids up and bringing them over to the school a couple times a day, but they've been staying in since last week (coming out with us to watch basketball games (aka release some ENERGY!)  or visit friends.)  There have already been 131 deaths recorded, which is almost half of the toll in Europe.  Most of these accounts are from homeless people.  There aren't necessarily shelters for the homeless here, but some "warming tents" have been set up, one in each district here in Kyiv (10 total) and about 2,000 all over the country.  When you sit down to think about it, it's quite interesting to imagine that some of these kids got Christmas presents that cost thousands of dollars and yet some people can't stay warm enough to keep their body functioning. Needless to say, the past month, I've quickly realized that my problems (where to go on vacation, even what to make for dinner) fail to be seen in the shadows of issues such as these.

On a lighter note, we have been having a bit-o-fun around here!  Rawly loves the snow--so much in fact, that he doesn't want to wear his mittens and begins to cry when his fingers go numb (I guess that doesn't really sound like fun) he's enjoyed running around in the "snowmen" (that's what he called the snow at first), we're still looking to go sledding once it warms up a bit.  This weekend we also went swimming in our friends' pool--which was supposedly 80F, but felt SOOO much colder. Rawly did a great job on the kick board, swam from me to swim coach Auntie Holly, and even put his face down in the water once (accidentally, while trying to head-butt a ball!)

Zoya's three and a half months and as active as ever.  She's rolling to her tummy every time she's put on her back and doing what I call the surfing kick.  She laughs and giggles and has begun to sing.  Yesterday at church she and one of our friends' daughter (9 mo.) were having a conversation, one would babble, then the other, back and forth.  She's learning to project her voice quite well, as this was happening across the sanctuary!



Rawly has also been quite the little helper.  He mostly helps when asked, and oftentimes without being asked.  Such as last weekend when he decided that we should be awake around 6:30 am. (Side note, friend pointed out that he's probably getting his 2 y.o. molars since he's been uncommonly gnawing on his fingers--sure enough he's in various stages of getting all four at once, which may account for his early waking sometimes around 5 or 5:30 and his less than chipper demeanor.)  Anyway, he carried the laptop from the living room into our room so that he could watch "cars" (Sesame St.'s Let's go driving song).  His second attempt a few days later wasn't so successful, and I don't have any pictures that I can add right now because on his third encounter, he accidentally ran into the cord and knocked the computer off the TV.  The cord is magnetic to avoid problems like this, but he caught it just so that it came crashing down and landed on the connection breaking some of the magnetic pieces...we'll have it all together some day!

Ta ta for now...

city sidewalks, busy sidewalks--ahh Christmastime

First stop: Budapest...Rawly's highlight was that a garbage truck came down our street every morning (yep, it was our wake up call our entire week, 6:30 am!)

...Guess I never posted this since I decided to upload a bunch of pictures to FB instead...

Hands down, Budapest has been our favorite city travel destination in Europe.  We went a little hog wild at the Christmas Markets, ate amazing Mexican food a couple of times (how I miss you horchata) and enjoyed all the kid friendly parks and places like the zoo.

After a week in Budapest, we trained (beats the pants off flying when you have an active two year old!) to Vienna to visit some good friends and fellow NNU grads who did YoungLife with us back in Caldwell.  We had a fun week getting out and about to a couple of the palaces.  One of our favorite journeys was an afternoon stroll from the nearby countryside down into Vienna.  It was that perfect time of day when the sun is about to set and everything has a honey glow to it.  I only wish that I had realized just how perfect it was and taken a few more pictures!  Another highlight was the ever tasty visit to the chocolate factory, hip hip hurray for taste testing.

Unfortunately after our traveling ended, everyone except Rawly came down with a 36 hour bug.  Poor little Z had come down with bronchitis right before we left, so she was on antibiotics our first week, and then again with this bug.