Well Father's Day 2011 was certainly one to remember. I shared the day with my new son but only got to spend a few moments on Skype with my sweet heart girls. They are the sweetest and I miss them very much. I did get to see them with their Grandpa holding a big fish they pulled out of the river. Way to go! My girls have been fishing twice since we left and are getting pretty good at it. Maybe they can help feed all the mouths we will have at home!
As a part of our Father's Day activities at Christ Community Church today I was asked to share my testimony and how it ties into our adoption. My big old head was on the big screen at church today but it was neat to share all the Lord has done in my heart, marriage and family over the years and celebrate His being our Father! That was a really neat activity and I'm thankful that Keith and the staff at our church would ask me to share and that we have such wonderful technology which allows us to feel so close even though we are so far from home.
We ventured out this morning to see the sites of the Kremlin. Vasa was a trooper during the entire morning because it was rainy and cold. We walked the 10 or so blocks from our apartment in a slight drizzle under a tiny bright green compact umbrella that Claire was smart enough to pack (probably against my complaining!) We arrived but had trouble figuring out which ticket we should purchase. Do the "full" tickets include everything listed or do you have to purchase them individually? Full seems to mean "adult" price to me but not to Claire...we just bought the Kremlin Courtyard tickets because the ticket people didn't speak English and weren't interested in trying to understand my Russian.
While I was inside trying to buy tickets Claire was outside the little ticket booth with Vasa. Claire is pretty certain that the old drunk lady from Friday afternoon in the lobby of our apartment building was outside the Kremlin. Vasa was singing his "la, la, la" song when the old lady came over sang la, la, la back to him in a nasty tone then stuck her tongue out at him! Claire said she had to laugh because the lady only had a couple of teeth. Apparently the old woman had been holding a grudge against my boy since he got cheerios while she was being jerked off the bench by security earlier in the week.
Well as the rain picked up and the wind kept blowing the three of us sloshed through the courtyard of the Kremlin. The place is really neat and despite the rain we had a pretty good time. We walked around for a while looking at the palace, senate buildings, towers and churches which are housed inside the Kremlin, which means fortress in Russian. There were beautiful churches that were constructed in the 1500s and are still standing. They were used for crowning all Russian Tzar's etc. We saw huge cannons that were used in battles. The palace was a bit different that I expected relative to the other buildings. It reminded me of the gov't center back home. If you can imagine it next to these majestic old churches! Claire was the tour guide for Vas and I. She read from our little wet map while I handed Vasa Kix as we stayed dry under a wing of a church building. We decided to move on out and the rain stopped a bit. We walked along the side of the Kremlin walls where we had seen the tomb of the unknown soldier on Friday. We let Vasa look at a couple fountains and some statues that were in the fountain at different places. Ducks, bears, foxes, wolves, children and an old man fishing. He liked to see the water but was shivering from being wet. There is a mall under the road at the base Red Square which had a food court. We chose McDonald's and ordered except I felt under pressure while pointing at the "I don't speak your language" picture map and didn't order enough food for us all. Claire shared her cheese burger with Vasa and I meant to order him carrots since he can't handle fries (learned that in Kaluga). So to make up for that mishap I went back to order 2 (duva) vanilla ice cream cones for my bride and her new son. Well, they don't have vanilla in Russia - then what are the 40 other people eating ice cream cones with white ice cream eating in here? I chose strawberry and asked for 2. Thinking i would receive a couple of pink colored cones...nope I got ONE plastic cup with vanilla ice cream in it with strawberry preserve on top. Vasa liked the ice cream and I'm sure the berries were somewhat good for him but I didn't fire on all cylinders today when ordering for my wife!
The rain had slowed when we walked back and by the time we made it up to the apartment it was time for Vasa's nap. He slept pretty well and Claire and I got a bit of rest too. It felt good to get out of our wet clothes and lay down for a while. I tested Skype with our church crew before the service and then we took a short stroll next door to the grocery store to buy a couple frozen pizzas for dinner. After the first service testimony we took a walk up and down the street to get out a bit. Of course the sun was out and the breeze was nice. Then we came up and baked our pizzas (not half bad) and drank tea that we brought from home. It was nice to have a glass of iced tea!
We've just been hanging in the room this afternoon and put Vasa down around 9. Claire and I have been reading and resting this evening. She will keep Vas here tomorrow while I go with our translator to file his paperwork at the Embassy. We plan on bullying our way to the front of the line since we are US citizens...just kidding. I'm sure I'll be in line a while everyone tries to get their travel visa just like my Vas!
Well that's it for the Father's Day edition of "A week in Moscow" by Josh and Claire! Love to our sweet Daddy's and we will update you all tomorrow. Sorry we've been less frequent with our posts but you try posting multiple times with a three year old who likes to play with his deflated balloon! Love you all! J&C&V
As a part of our Father's Day activities at Christ Community Church today I was asked to share my testimony and how it ties into our adoption. My big old head was on the big screen at church today but it was neat to share all the Lord has done in my heart, marriage and family over the years and celebrate His being our Father! That was a really neat activity and I'm thankful that Keith and the staff at our church would ask me to share and that we have such wonderful technology which allows us to feel so close even though we are so far from home.
We ventured out this morning to see the sites of the Kremlin. Vasa was a trooper during the entire morning because it was rainy and cold. We walked the 10 or so blocks from our apartment in a slight drizzle under a tiny bright green compact umbrella that Claire was smart enough to pack (probably against my complaining!) We arrived but had trouble figuring out which ticket we should purchase. Do the "full" tickets include everything listed or do you have to purchase them individually? Full seems to mean "adult" price to me but not to Claire...we just bought the Kremlin Courtyard tickets because the ticket people didn't speak English and weren't interested in trying to understand my Russian.
While I was inside trying to buy tickets Claire was outside the little ticket booth with Vasa. Claire is pretty certain that the old drunk lady from Friday afternoon in the lobby of our apartment building was outside the Kremlin. Vasa was singing his "la, la, la" song when the old lady came over sang la, la, la back to him in a nasty tone then stuck her tongue out at him! Claire said she had to laugh because the lady only had a couple of teeth. Apparently the old woman had been holding a grudge against my boy since he got cheerios while she was being jerked off the bench by security earlier in the week.
Well as the rain picked up and the wind kept blowing the three of us sloshed through the courtyard of the Kremlin. The place is really neat and despite the rain we had a pretty good time. We walked around for a while looking at the palace, senate buildings, towers and churches which are housed inside the Kremlin, which means fortress in Russian. There were beautiful churches that were constructed in the 1500s and are still standing. They were used for crowning all Russian Tzar's etc. We saw huge cannons that were used in battles. The palace was a bit different that I expected relative to the other buildings. It reminded me of the gov't center back home. If you can imagine it next to these majestic old churches! Claire was the tour guide for Vas and I. She read from our little wet map while I handed Vasa Kix as we stayed dry under a wing of a church building. We decided to move on out and the rain stopped a bit. We walked along the side of the Kremlin walls where we had seen the tomb of the unknown soldier on Friday. We let Vasa look at a couple fountains and some statues that were in the fountain at different places. Ducks, bears, foxes, wolves, children and an old man fishing. He liked to see the water but was shivering from being wet. There is a mall under the road at the base Red Square which had a food court. We chose McDonald's and ordered except I felt under pressure while pointing at the "I don't speak your language" picture map and didn't order enough food for us all. Claire shared her cheese burger with Vasa and I meant to order him carrots since he can't handle fries (learned that in Kaluga). So to make up for that mishap I went back to order 2 (duva) vanilla ice cream cones for my bride and her new son. Well, they don't have vanilla in Russia - then what are the 40 other people eating ice cream cones with white ice cream eating in here? I chose strawberry and asked for 2. Thinking i would receive a couple of pink colored cones...nope I got ONE plastic cup with vanilla ice cream in it with strawberry preserve on top. Vasa liked the ice cream and I'm sure the berries were somewhat good for him but I didn't fire on all cylinders today when ordering for my wife!
The rain had slowed when we walked back and by the time we made it up to the apartment it was time for Vasa's nap. He slept pretty well and Claire and I got a bit of rest too. It felt good to get out of our wet clothes and lay down for a while. I tested Skype with our church crew before the service and then we took a short stroll next door to the grocery store to buy a couple frozen pizzas for dinner. After the first service testimony we took a walk up and down the street to get out a bit. Of course the sun was out and the breeze was nice. Then we came up and baked our pizzas (not half bad) and drank tea that we brought from home. It was nice to have a glass of iced tea!
We've just been hanging in the room this afternoon and put Vasa down around 9. Claire and I have been reading and resting this evening. She will keep Vas here tomorrow while I go with our translator to file his paperwork at the Embassy. We plan on bullying our way to the front of the line since we are US citizens...just kidding. I'm sure I'll be in line a while everyone tries to get their travel visa just like my Vas!
Well that's it for the Father's Day edition of "A week in Moscow" by Josh and Claire! Love to our sweet Daddy's and we will update you all tomorrow. Sorry we've been less frequent with our posts but you try posting multiple times with a three year old who likes to play with his deflated balloon! Love you all! J&C&V
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