Trip 2 - Day 4

Still trying to dig out of the pile of photos I'm readying to upload, and battling the challenge of using up $ on the wireless connection - but stay tuned as I have edited a bunch of photos and will get them posted, even if it's from our layover in Washington DC on Sunday (wish we had time to hang out with all the girls while at Dulles)!

So day 4 (Thursday) started rather early with Oleg picking us up for the medical appt, which once complete, would allow us to get the Visas finished. Our follow up appt with the Embassy was supposed to be Friday at 10 a.m., but we were able to get it pushed to Thursday afternoon and in the event all went well with medical, we'd be able to completely finished. So medical did go without a hitch - whew! We then went to a downstairs mall in the downtown center of Kyiv and ate at a food court. So guess what the kids ate? Big Mac's and fries - while I, on the other hand, have been getting really good at finding the Ukrainian food I like (including the buckwheat, which is cooked much like brown rice) and had a great lunch with a variety of things - all very healthy, unlike my crazy kid counterparts!

We went to the MTC store where we initially purchased the wireless modem (1st trip) and had them look at why it has been behaving so glitchily (nice word, eh?) and they identified it was the USB cable - bought a new one for $10 and life has been smooth since. I wish you guys could see the number of gyrations sweet Cherstyn went through on the first trip, monkeying with the device, finding the precise position - typically hanging it from some inane structure like the ironing board, to get the darned thing to work... all resolved now!

Ashley, Shaun and I took a cab back to the apt and got ready for our final appt of the entire process - the US Embassy for the Visa! Once there, it went seamlessly and within about 40 minutes we had everything we need to bring them home! It'd be kinda cool to map out a flow chart of all of the various forms to be signed, documents to be notarized/apostilled, sweaty govt offices to sit in, oaths to be sworn, lines to wait in, photos, medical tests... such a relief to finally be finished!

Although we're now clear to come home as soon as we can get a flight, our timing requires us to wait here until Sunday a.m. when we fly home and go straight to San Diego where we'll meet up with Cher and the kids who are driving down there to meet us for a work convention Cher has. So these kids will get to go to Disneyland within their first few days of being in the U.S. and they are STOKED! (Personally, I rather dislike the place, particularly in the middle of summer when there are lines and a billion people, but I guess I can take one for the team and it will be fun to watch the 4 kids tearing up the place - but Cher is clear that this is going to be my last time for quite awhile - I need to go to Alaska or a surf/dive trip at least a few more times before I have to be submitted to the torture that is Didneyland!).

So Dale and I celebrated our successful day by taking the kids to see a movie at the cinema - initally we hoped to see Karate Kid, but showtime was too late, so they insisted we see StepUp 3D (again, how many points am I scoring here Cher??!) The kids loved it and it was their first 3D movie. This was the first big public setting that we've been able to observe the kids in and Dale and I both commented on how out of control they are! They really have zero sense of social graces and courteousness and I liken them to Tazmanian Devils, tearing through the place, doing whatever they want and oblivious to those around them. Kept having to ssshhhh them in the theater as they were so loud and crazy - please don't think I'm being negative here, just observant of the phonomena of what it must be like to go parentless for so many years. Dale and I are both of the mindset that this is their last chance on their turf and we're going to give them quite a bit of rein. I also like being able to just see them now for how they act and who they are, knowing full well that once home, we'll reel in the reins and establish structure and learning unlike they've never known. They LOVE popcorn and Dale warned me that popcorn is more important to them than the movie - and he was right. I pounded an entire can of Pringles (no time for dinner in order to make movie) and looked forward to some dinner afterwards.

While at the theater/mall, we took Ashley to get a new bathing suit and I'm grateful Cher has already established benchmarks for modesty with her - she walked into one store with 99.5% bikinis and started looking at some to which I gave her the knowing look and she smiled and said "let's go" and we went to the store at which Lena had purchased a nice, modest one piece suit earlier that day. Relief!

After movie we walked to a Ukrainian restaurant and the kids were going richter! Bouncing all over the place, dancing, singing, amped on sugar... and the riotness continued in the restaurant. Good meal and then Ashley, Shaun and I peeled away from Gledhills as our walk back to our apt was further. On the walk home, Shaun was in especially rare form, signing and skipping, listing off the names of each car brand we passed: "Lada, Skoda, Toyota, Volvo... Maserati!" The kid was cracking me up! We called Kayla and Nate and he was more vocal than ever, clearly high on life and willing to try his English more than ever - such a fun kid!