Out and about in Kyiv

St. Andrew's Cathedral
April 26th, 2007 - playing outside again today. She mostly 'walked' the trike (with some help) but the ground was far from smooth!
Out and about - I don't remember exactly where we are!
This is for Dale Kary - a fighter pilot's helmet - found in one of the kiosks of people selling things in the artisan's district.
Art, glorious art...we found some amazing pictures! This little lane goes on for quite a while and is filled with various artists work. A lovely place to walk on such a beautiful day. (St. Andrew's Cathedral in the background)

So, here I am, sitting in Mario's again by myself. The boys think I'm too wordy or something so they have gone to the store to find some dessert. I sit here with a 'cafe americano - with milk' with a hockey game playing on the TV (not that I really care any more about hockey than I normally do, just because I'm so far away from home though!). We have had a good day. To ease your minds, we have talked both to Slava and to Lesya about the missing document and they have both reassured us that really, if it can't be found, everything will be fine and it won't affect the adoption. They are continuing to gather our documents and hopefully we'll hear before Jonathan leaves Monday when our court date will be. This morning we spent some time in the car with Slava and Vadim driving around (it seemed like in circles) to deal with documents for another couple who's adoption has fallen through (an older girl who has chosen not to be adopted). It was a bit frustrating but we also felt for this other couple. We ended up at the orphanage around 10:30 and so got to spend about an hour with Ivanna. We spent some time walking around, riding (walking) a trike, swinging (until she started to fall asleep again - so she sat in my lap for a while sleeping until a worker told me I was too heavy for the swing and we had to get off), having a snack (animal cookies, gummy candies and juice - nutrition will have to wait until we are home - for now, we bribe her to like us with sweets!!!) and then the best part of the day was when we were walking her back into the orphanage she was holding each of our hands. We had to 'jump' her over a low hedge and she had the hugest grin on her face after! It was priceless. We turned around and Jonathan got her smiling on the video camera as we swung her a few more times. She actually started to laugh a little! Her darling little face just lights up when she smiles - it just warmed our hearts. Darren said it was worth having the video camera just for that alone. Anyway, we then headed back into Kyiv and then the 3 of us took the Metro to the artisans area near St. Andrew's Cathedral. We bought a few souvenirs and found 'Jonathan's' artist - we plan to go back tomorrow or the weekend to buy some pictures. Good art is so much cheaper here than at home! We then wandered from there and ended up back at home - a long walk, but such a gorgeous day to be out and about. We came to Mario's for supper and plan to head back to the apartment for dessert. Tomorrow we will attempt to take the 'electrichka' or electric train out to the orphanage - we think we have it figured out and it's very cheap transportation! It will be an adventure and we are thankful Jonathan is here to help us find our way.
Thank you all for you comments and love and support. Darren and I are feeling more at home and comfortable with the city, language (sort-of) and people/culture. Jonathan has been a tremendous help to us for that. I can finally count to 8 (we are working on 9 and 10) and am able to at least say my pleases and thank you's. We are feeling like we will survive his (Jonathan's) going home and continue to enjoy this place - even if not quite as fully as when he has been here. We have tickets for the 3 of us for the ballet on Sunday (his last night here) - so that will be wonderful. Anyway, much love to everyone back home. Paka!