Daddy went to the U.S. to meet Nana and Grandad in June, leaving the rest of us with school, work and playgroup. The original plan was to have them visit us, but it was prohibitively expensive, unless you can find a good deal. So they met halfway, and I think Aaron needed a break, anyway! They spent a few days in Los Angeles, and then some time in Las Vegas, where none of them had ever been. I've got some highlight photos here, guess which one earned Daddy the most "street cred" with the younger set?
Looks like Lance is world-famous - being interviewed on the big screen.
They look born to it! What a great vacation.
And just for fun, the two youngest kids, just being goofy with mom, and sporting Earth Day attire.
We uncovered a truly awesome "Dinosaur!" exhibit being staged at the Landscape park in the main Botanical Garden, and thought we'd spend a lazy weekend afternoon taking in the exhibit. Apparently thousands of other Kyivans also thought this was a good idea, since the weather had warmed up quite a bit (this was 9/17, after a week of freezing temperatures.) So we fought our way through, and didn't get too many great photos since it was uncontrolled chaos. There were signs everywhere warning people not to touch certain dinosaurs or climb on them. As you can imagine, in the absence of rigorous policing, this was completely ignored. Yes, even by us. But doesn't she look scary?
We are working on our posing. This is a definite improvement - in the photo I took just before this she was trying to say "Cheese!" and her lips are loooking a little odd. This was at the entrance to the exhibit, and the crowds prevented us from getting much closer.
This is an exmaple of why Kyiv is known as the "City of Flowers." Every spring and summer they spend inordinate amounts of city resources and human capital to create these lovely flower pictures. I would be more impressed if it weren't for the fact that the central government was constantly illegally selling park land in the city for development. Ah, the dichotomy of Ukraine!
Why not spend a few lazy July days in a beautiful European city? My talk (on technical assistance in criminal justice reform, and why failure isn't always bad in this sphere) is beside the point. I got to meet Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who said that my talk was very good. Cool, if you're a dork like me.
(The photo above is just an add-in showcasing the joys of having two girls. We can't wait until they are both teenagers. So stylish!)
Guess which of the food products are daughter most enjoyed? Hint - see the uneaten plate of cole slaw in the background?
(S looking dutifully somber at the gravesite after laying the flowers that Daddy purchased at the bottom of the stairs.)
Of course, though, despite the pleasant walk, there's always a catch. When we got to the top, they were renovating. They had taped off the main path, so we asked two babushki how to get to the monument. They pointed to the left - and we dutifully followed that way, until we ran into more tape. Finally, out of frustration, we just ducked under the original tape and stepped over the freshly-laid concrete. I think you get the picture here as G and I sit on the steps surrounded by construction. 
The view reminded me of the view from Mt. Vernon near DC, along the banks of the Potomac. In this photo, you can see the future tourist center, which was being built. I was pleasantly surprised by this investment in infrastructure.
G and I are also dutifully somber as we ponder the great words of Ukrainian's greatest poet, and the first to really write in the Ukrainian language.
Little G loves her a good picnic, especially when surrounded by empty beer bottles and cigarette butts!
The beauty of having small children is that they really don't care where you take them or what you do. (Reinforcing this point is the absence of M on many of our trips, although in this case he was in the States at Kooch I Ching.) So they loved the decrepit football grounds, since they had playtime/training equipment. Much of it was broken, but it is the same stuff that we have in the park across the road from our apartment. So we played for an hour, and simultaneously got our exercise!
Here is the mother with child at the WWII Memorial. As you reached her, there was a great view of the river and less nice view of parts of the city.
S is reading out the names of those from the region who died in the war. Ukraine lost the largest percentage of its population of any country during the war, a fact that is often forgotten, or wrapped up in the Soviet statistics. Even little Kaniv, a medium-sized town, had a few hundred names, and many times the same last names in a row, signifying brothers and fathers dying together. It is really a sad legacy and much closer to the Ukrainian psyche now than WWII is in the U.S.
You can see us walking back to the car past the flowerbed.
And it started to sprinkle. Unfortunately, our umbrella carrier was a bit short, so those of us over three feet tall got wet. But she was happy...
The kids loved the big, blue church, although when we went inside it was hard to convey the necessary sense of solemnity to the toddler. And with her current accent, she kept saying "It's a big blue shursh."
