Sat 4:00 PM -

The day after - a very relaxing, worry free day. Well, almost. Getting Megan here is a little trickly only because of communication. She's currently planning on arriving in Ekat 9PM Sunday but it's unlikely that she'll actually be here then. She's only got a 2 1/2 layover in Moscow which is questionable . . . getting through passport control, getting her bags and making it to the next airport in that amount of time will be extremely difficult. I'm keeping my fingers crossed though.

Today was a fun day. We keep hearing about an indoor play area in a shopping mall so we decided to venture out today. It's been snowing off and on all day so it's pretty cold out - but really nice. At first it was just snow flurries but then we had a full on downfall in the afternoon. It's blue sky and sunny again right now though.

Viktor picked us up around 11 and it was probably a 30 minute drive to the shopping mall. One of the things I've always noticed about the various places I've been in Russia is that there really are no recognizable storefronts - all the buildings are pretty closed in and you can't window shop or anything because they're all hidden. We drove up to a smallish looking grey building with hardly any cars parked outside of it. We walked through the entry doors and found lots of shops inside. You never would have known it from the parking lot. Then there was an arcade type area with a couple of rides and various games for Katy.

We spent a lot of money and a lot of time trying to figure out the games and the money but it was fun. The most fun were the bumper cars because everyone was trying to give us direction on how to get the cars turned around but, of course, we couldn't understand. Angela couldn't get her car started because she was facing the wall and just crashing into it. There was a woman spectator who was yelling instructions at her and also the ride operator but she couldn't understand. I don't think they knew that because she was trying to turn the wheel and looking like she was listening but just like she was incapable of doing anything! It was really funny until I ended up in the same position and they came to me. Angela had since figured it out and then started telling me in English how to get myself out of there and saved me. Katy actually laughed pretty hard everytime we bumped into Angela. Things are too tame for her here but she enjoyed that.

After some rides and games, we found their version of the food court which provided 3 or 4 choices of places to eat. We ate at the "American Hot Pizza" place. We pointed and put the number of fingers up for what we wanted and did pretty good except for the 4 boxes of french fries that we ended up with! We'd asked for 4 pieces of pizza which we got and 1 french fry but, we almost ate all 4 boxes anyway! I have a great picture of Angela with her one little piece of pizza and 4 boxes of french fries.

Then back to the flat - the dreaded flat. It was snowing and cold so we just came back up and Katy is bouncing off the walls. I really hope nobody is living below us but we'll be gone soon.

Tomorrow Sasha is supposed to be coming but she's sick so now I'm not sure. Tomorrow night - Megan. We may have a houseful. On Monday after everyone is together we'll head off to Chelyabinsk with Sasha. I'm thinking we're taking a bus for the 4 hour drive but am unsure. We're planning to keep the flat and return to it on the 4th via Viktor. It's a long way and I don't intend on trying to navigate the public transportion by ourselves to get back so I've asked for Viktor's help. I'm really hoping we have internet there but it's possible we won't. These little worries are so nice after all the big worries over the girls.

We don't plan on heading back to the orphanage until around Oct 5th - it is so tiring for the girls and for Katy that I've decided to take some time to do some other things while we're here. We'll visit them on the 5th and then do some more sight seeing. I think on the 7th we will pick the girls up to take them out for their passport photos and then, once the passports are done we'll pick them up for good. That should only take 1 or 2 days I hope.

We're doing fine here but I for one am starting to get homesick. The brown rice and pasta are getting really old but the restaurants are too difficult to figure out and the food is too unpredicable for me - and, more importantly, for Katy. And, I miss everyone at home and know Katy does too. She's ready to get back into her house with her family and friends and play in her back yard and her playroom and her bedroom . . . even though it will be completely different now with her sisters, I know she'll be extremely happy to be home. I can't wait either - I'm constantly thinking of all the things Camryn & Courtney are going to be getting into and will have to work quickly after we get home to remove them. After watching them over the last two weeks I know that I do not have the house toddler proofed nearly enough for those two!