Gunny and me on Independence Day

Holiday modelling

Ho, Ho, Who?

The Embassy community tries to set up a normal set of events that celebrate U.S. holidays.  Here we have the Holiday party at the Deputy's house.  Miss S was quite excited to sit on Santa's knee, in part as she realized it resulted in a treat at the end.  Our dear 3 year old wouldn't sit still, and had no interest in getting a photo taken.  She is a smart cookie, and realized she'd get treats anyway (which she did.) 

And for the record, the requested toy was a Mermaid Barbie, which Santa managed to deliver, so well done, Miss S!

Christmas Safety Swim!

Miss G took swimming lessons last year through EasySwim, which is a great program near our house.  (She had to take a term off since she refused to wear the swim cap and goggles, but that's a different story...)  The last lesson of each term, they do water safety, a highly logical undertaking given that we live on an island surrounded by cold, fast-moving water.   

This photo is from 2 days after Miss G's 3rd birthday.  They put the kids in life jackets, put them in a boat, and flip the boat over.  Sounds cruel, right?  But much like our endless earthquake drills here, it's quite useful. They do it gently, and the kids in the group then grab each others' life jackets, to make sure they stay together.  Hope we never have to use it but, like those earthquake drills, we may just have to...

Oh, and the hands under chin is her favorite way to express happy/sad/overwhelmed feeling.  My girl... 



ANZAC Day!

This year ANZAC Day, April 25th, fell on the Easter Monday, and so we invited friends over for a big brunch.  Unfortunately, we were so busy having fun, we didn't get many photos.  But see if you can "spot the kiwi" in this photo... Actually, see if you can spot the confused Kiwi-American, who isn't quite clear what holiday she is celebrating. And her older sister, who is wearing a dress in the colors of the Ukrainian flag.  We are all truly citizens of the world, with love for members of all nations... but a little more love for Kiwis and Yanks!  So Happy Memorial/ANZAC Day everyone, keep our soldiers and veterans in your thoughts.

Easter Sunday - Enjoying the weather!

Easter Sunday the weather was so beautiful that we wanted to go out and enjoy the sunshine and the freedom to run around.  We chose to head back to "Glory Park" which is between the Lavra (Monastery complex) and the Statue of the Mother of the Motherland (see below.)  It's a lot of stairs but at this point both of the girls can walk, so it's not as bad as the first time we did it in the end of 2008.   

Mother of the Motherland.  At any given point, I was only in charge of one of the two girls.  Here we stop for a photo, and the little one makes a break for it. She really is active at this point, but more motion than sense, as I like to say.

Someday my children will thank me for the opportunity to have a cool childhood.  They will also marvel at the fact that our idea of fun was climbing over left-over Soviet military hardware and picnicing at the site of WWII memorials and graves.  Here it's time for fun with anti-aircraft guns! Yeah!

Easter Sunday - Looking for treats!

The baskets started out empty, but for some soft, floppy bunnies, and some leftover New Year's candy (shhh, don't tell the girls!)

It doesn't take much to impress them - here Miss S is showing off her ChupaChup lollipop.  The idea that there was candy hidden all over the house was exhilarating to her.

The older got the concept, and you can see an egg hidden behind her on the chair.  She left some for her sister - some of the more obvious ones, but as you can see, Miss G found what she always finds - mischief!  She loves to push the power button on the laptop and see if anyone is Skype-ing her, since obviously that's the only reason people Skype, right?

The Easter bunny was creative, and even hid an egg in our toy teapot.  Mom was only concerned that we find all of the real eggs, and they not disappear to be discovered either during packout or, even worse, after we arrived in New Zealand!  But I needn't have worried - as you can see, the haul was excellent.  And she even got over her initial concern when she picked up an empty egg "Mom!  It doesn't have any lollies!  What's wrong!"  Perhaps the Easter Bunny is trying to teach you that the hunt is just as important as the result?

 

Egg-stravaganza!

Even though we're overseas, we still like to do somewhat traditional things.  Traditional American things, as we also take on activities reflective of where we are.  And this year, we got to dye Easter eggs. We waited until G "The Destructor" was down for a nap, since her current craze is to "decorate" the house, just as we get ready to leave, with crayon and paint, and I thought that egg dye would be too much for me to handle. 

And so below, I include to keep the punters happy...enjoy my proof that my kids do all get along, and the teenager is actively engaged in our lives.  (Good form, son!)

Easter finery at the Marine House

Happy, Happy Easter!This was the first year that we really felt like at least one of the girls was interested and involved in the process. But that didn't stop the youngest from having fun!  We went to the Marine House for their outdoor Easter egg hunt.  It's a great location since, as you can see, there's a tall, secure fence ringing the entire building.  You can relax and enjoy, and know that your kids won't wander off into traffic.  (Although I have since learned that small, devious and enterprising kids can actually slip through the bars, but I didn't know about this at Easter.  The photos on the couch are the only examples I have of the girls in their lovely Easter frocks, since April and May here in Kyiv are still quite chilly.

 

And below we have the aftermath of the hunt, once all of the eggs were gathered.  Like many of the littler kids here, who have largely grown up in an urban environment, the concept of "grass" is still exotic and foreign.  Lots of our playgroup buddies were interested in (or wholly suspicious of) the concept that you could sit in the grass and play, and that it wasn't dirty and full of cigarette butts and dog poop.

On that note, however, in one of the funnier moments, when the under-2s did their hunt, Miss G picked up not one single egg, but did hurry over to the garden, grab a cigarette butt and put it in her basket.  Her only contribution. In the event she needed to hunt and gather for a living, I think she wouldn't last long, although she'd probably figure out a way to organize the others to gather for her and then reap the rewards, as she did with her big sister's loot.

EGGS!

Birthday in an Airplane Hangar!?!

OK, what could possibly be more awesome than a 4th birthday party in the "largest indoor hangar in Europe"?  (A claim I find doubtful, but what the heck!)  Nothing could be cooler!  Joseph, in Miss S's nursery school class, invited her and the other classmates to his party at the National Aviation University.  So we all trotted over there on a Saturday morning.  We were limited to one adult per child for the "tour."  I got to go, which was good, since the tour was all in Russian.This was not your average tour - we actually got to climb in, on and under all of the working airplanes.  I know they look like they are old and decrepit (they were) but they are all functional, and the students use them for practice.  In fact, while we were there, a group of students was studying the HVAC system on an old plane in the corner. 

The kids were totally amazed by everything, obviously.  Here my daughter is dwarfed by a tire.

Logically, if you are going to have 3 and 4 year olds runnning amok, you would assume the location is somewhat child-friendly?  No way.  The first thing the guide said was - don't touch any levers or any of the items in the hangar, especially if they are red.  I'm sure none of the children paid the slightest bit of attention, especially since that part of the lecture was followed by the guide putting each of them on the missile (seen above with Miss S beneath) so they could have their photos taken. What?!? 

Here we are in the world's oldest Tupelev airplane.  You could go in the cockput but my daughter was a little scared.  I don't blame her. After all of the kids left, the last little boy, Sammy, was coming down the stairs from the plane, and the guide engaged the hydraulics, putting the wheels down.  The kids all freaked out - saying "Sammy pushed a button!"  I think it was the high point of our entire tour, the idea that one of them made the wheels come down. This was the plane (below.)

Last thing we went inside was the MI-8 helicopter. Fun for the whole family? We enjoyed looking out of the portholes, but again she didn't want to do into the cockpit.  Maybe next time?

Maslyana

Maslyana is the holiday that corresponds more or less with Mardi Gras.  It's part of the week before Lent begins, when people enjoy the foods they won't get for the next 40 days.  Maslo is Russian for oil or butter (I know, what a great holiday already!)  So we celebrated by going out to the VDNHa, or the obligatory series of monuments to the acheivements of the Soviet Union that exists in the capital of every former Soviet Republic.  Hence the awesome architechture that you see here, and the women holding sheaffs of wheat.  It's fallen on hard times since then, and now hosts Expos.  They were selling souvenirs in the first hall in the photos.  And they were heating the place with a giant blower, which alternately freaked the kids out, and was a great attraction.  If I'd brought more funds I would have picked up some nice items, but I always feel like there's more time, and then run out!   

Here are the munchkins enjoying the delightfully freezing weather, bundled up against the ice-cold wind.  I could barely handle it, after about 20 minutes outside we had to leave. I, of course, was foolish enough to go outside without a hat, and that was my problem.  They were happy, but then again, they also had crepes (blini) with warm mashed bananas inside.  Yum!

Carnival!

Mommies have Birthdays, Too!

Happy birthday to me! (Guess who blew out the candles?) Kyiv is sometimes cold and far from family. Thankfully we have Cousins Cameron and Robert, and their two kids around the corner. My birthday was on a weekend, and we'd been meaning to get together, and they invited us over for lots of fun. The photos aren't the best, but William is 5 (6 in April) and Max is about 2 months younger than our littlest (they would have been four weeks apart, if SOMEONE hadn't come so early!) The chocolate cake was delicious, Cameron is a wonderful cook, and we really just enjoy their company. The two littlest get along beautifully, although our precocious girl was walking at this point, and poor Max wasn't quite yet, so the fight for toys was a little unfair. But they had two high chairs, so everyone was fed, cutting down on the competition. And just a shot for flavor - this is what the back seat looks like. Lots of warm clothes and car seats. I can't compete with my brother, but I don't know if car seats per capita is a fight that I want to win, to be honest!