Христос воскрес! Happy Easter!

This morning, one of our apartment managers brought in our breakfast which usually consists of eggs, cheese, toast, bread, kasha (oatmeal), yougart, OJ, coffee and tea. Sometimes we have "bangers" as well to add more protein to the mix. She (Luba) doesn't speak a word of English and my "good morning, how are you?" in Russian only goes so far. She speaks to me as if I really understand everything she's saying and today it was about the eggs. I noticed how beautifully they were decorated (almost too pretty to eat -- but we were hungry!). We just didn't understand why (left over from last week?). Later, when our driver came to take us to the see K, we learned it was Easter! Apparently, Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter according to a different calendar than Western Christians. Somewhere in my 12 years of Catholic education and a college course on Religious studies...I missed that discussion.

Holiday or no holiday --- we still got to see K. And the weather was beautiful in the 50's (farenheight). For the first time, I got to dress K up in clothes -- albeit it was a ski jacket, knit pants, boots, scarf and hat --- but hey --- I'll take anything. Definitely almost bundled up like the kid in "Christmas Story"... although K could atleast move her arms.

We had fun on the see-saw, slide, blowing bubbles, scribbling on paper, and playing with a ball. She's definitly like the energizer bunny and keeps going and going. No wonder JD falls asleep by 8:30pm latest each night ~ and that's only playing with her 1.5-2 hours per day. A truly wonderful visit. We're just sad when it's time to "give her away."

A sight we never get used to....as K is taken away to her Grupa.

Since we went to visit K in the morning from 10-11:30am vs. our usual 4:30-6:00pm, we had the afternoon to ourselves. We walked the city and grabbed dinner at "Gordon's Doctor Scotch Pub". A few glasses of beer and 2 tasty Scottish dishes and we were HAPPY. Dad: I think you would have loved this pub...we'll definitely be back! I look forward to venturing into a Russian restaurant soon but it is so hard when we don't speak the language that the servers speak, nor do we understand the menu.

In front of Doctor Scotch Pub...good beer and good food!

K: You bring us so much joy that words cannot even describe. When we knew we couldn't be with you for your birthday in January, we hoped for Easter on April 12. Last week, we were bummed that we just missed that day as well. But little did we know that we really would get to spend Easter with you!!! xoxoxo, Mama and Papa