One last day in Moscow

Hello All -

One last day in Moscow, and we are on our way home!!! Here is a quick overview of our last few days in Moscow. Saturday we did go to the Moscow zoo. Very different than Toledo. Different types of animals, and the buildings and cages were not as nice. The boys seemed to enjoy seeing all the animals. On Sunday we went to Arbat street. It is the main street for souvenirs and neat little shops. It has no room for cars, so you can walk slowly. People do not have the right of way over here, you always have to be watching for cars. They drive very fast, and also park on the sidewalks... This makes pushing a stroller a lot of fun. Today we went for another walk. We went to the Bolshy Theater, the old KGB headquarters, and warmed up in the GUM dept. store. It was cold today, about 20 degrees C. This will be our last post. Tomorrow we went all our paperwork back from the Russian embassy. We have a 3am wake up call on Wednesday for our trip home. We are hoping the boys fall asleep on the flight to Amsterdam, and we pray we get some extra seats on the ride home to DTW. The attached pictures are from the Moscow zoo and a church in Red Square. Also my little Hun. (as in Attila the Hun)

Thanks again to everyone for the prayers, kind words and emails. Also for all the help with the animals at home. There is no way we could have done this without every one's help. Sergei can't wait to meet everyone. Please brush up on your Russian.....words like, No, drop that, please don't throw that, do you have to pee pee, etc :)

Love - Rick, Marcie, and Sergei

Moscow Update

Hello All-

Sorry for the delay. Internet access in Moscow is very expensive, and I am not able to log on everyday like in Kras. It's about $15 per hour. Everything is very expensive in Moscow. Our airplane ride from Kras to Moscow went pretty well. We started Wednesday at 345am for our ride to the Kras airport. Sergei was sleepy, but was fine for the hour ride to the airport. Flying domestically in Russia is an adventure. Long lines, no computers, poor service. When we checked in, they could not find my ticket, and had Marcie and I not seated together. After but an hour, and an additional 1,300 rubbles for over weight baggage, we were ready to go. We were told to ask when we got on board to try to sit together. Luckily that did work out, and Marcie and I could sit together. Sergei did very good on the plane. He watched the take off, ate a little lunch, and fell asleep for about 3 hours. The plane left 45 mins late because they could not get one of the engines started "technical delay". The flight time was just under 5 hours.

Once we arrived it was straight to a medical exam for Sergei, as required by the US Embassy. After the exam it was off for pictures for Sergei's US visa. Sergei is currently a Russian citizen with a Russian passport. He will not be a US citizen until we arrive in Detroit, and he gets his passport stamped. Finally to the hotel at about 2pm Moscow time. Time change between Kras and Moscow is 4 hrs, so the boys were a bit off schedule. Sergei has adjusted fine, and is back on schedule.

Thursday was a day off, and I spent most of the day in search of diapers. Millions of people in Moscow, and no pampers. They don't sell them in a grocery store, you need to go to a special pharmacy store. We found a nice place to eat and off to bed. We have a stroller in Moscow, so long walks are not a problem.

Today (Friday) we had to go to the US Embassy to get Sergei's visa. Everyone at the embassy was very nice, and the place was packed with adopting families. (At least 20 couples) We also went to Red Square to get some pictures with the boys in front of some landmarks. We went into a store that had Russian Olympic hats and shirts to look for souvenirs. Hats were over $50 each. Yikes.... People here would go crazy if they ever went to a Wal Mart.

Tomorrow we are going to try to go to the Moscow zoo. The weather is much cooler here, and it has been raining off and on. The h0tel room is a great improvement from Kras. There is 400% more of everything (including the cost :) Big beds, space, pillows, soap, and I don't have to use a hand towel to dry off after a shower! The bathroom is as big as the last hotel room. Very exciting.

The attached pictures are; the 3 of us in front of St. Basil's, Sergei standing in the center of Moscow, and our ride from Kras to Moscow. (Boeing 767 this time, we stepped up a couple decades from the last trip)

We are counting down the days until we come home. Only 4 more days.

Love - Rick, Marcie and Sergei

Our Last Day in Krasnoyarsk

Hello -

Today is our last day in Siberia. We depart on Wednesday morning for Moscow to start the last step in our journey. Sergei is still a good little baby; eating, napping, playing... Last night we borrowed a stroller and took the boys out to eat at a restaurant that was way on the other side of town. They seemed to really enjoy the stroller ride, and behaved very well at the restaurant. Sergei has become quite the chatter box, and gets lots of smiles from people we meet. We also stopped at the court house on the walk back for a group photo. Today we will need to repack, and again figure out how to get all this stuff to fit in two bags. Next post will hopefully be from Moscow, and I can let everyone know how the airplane ride went. (this will be a good test for the long ride home)

Love - Rick, Marcie and Sergei

Our last weekend in Siberia

Privet-

Today was our last weekend in Siberia. Only two more days until we fly to Moscow. Today was very much like yesterday. Couple snacks, a few diapers, and we are ready for bed. Sergei was very good today and is starting to talk up a storm. We are all ready to get moving on the next step in this adventure. Tomorrow we start packing :) Attached is a photo of the happy family. Sergei says "Hi" and he can't wait to meet everyone. Thanks for all the kind messages.

Love - Rick, Marcie, and Sergei

Day 1 with Sergei

Hello All -

Day #1 with Sergei went very well. It was a day of firsts; first trip with us in a van (beep beep), first professional photo (for passport), first dining experience in a restaurant, first nap, first play date in the square, first bath and currently first bed time. So far so good. He is a very good little boy. Because the rooms are so small, (especially with a crib) we have taken over the sitting area on floor #6 and turned it into a play area. We spent the afternoon playing blocks with Sergei's newest friend Maksim. We also tired doing laundry for the first time in the sink, which was a real treat. The sink is about 3 inches deep. Oh, did I mention we woke up this morning to no cold water? Hot water, yes; cold water, no. This makes taking a shower a very quick adventure. The water gets very hot, very fast. Another thing you can't get in Siberia, cold water and ice. Go figure. Hope everyone is well, we are off to bed as a family. Good Night (spock-oy-noy no-chee)

Love, Rick, Marcie and Sergei

ps - I will post pictures of the happy family tomorrow. I was unable to get the photos downloaded today (I was a busy dad!) Attached are a couple photos of Kras, one of the clock tower they call "big ben" and one of our hotel.

Tomorrow is the big day

Hello all -

Tomorrow morning is the big pick up. One last trip to the orphanage. The judge signed the papers today, and the 10 day wait ends tomorrow. We leave in the morning, and after picking up Sergei, we need to get all his important paperwork (birth certificate, etc) Today we went shopping for baby food stuff (not just nacho chips and salsa) Something called fruit and juice. The boys were very good today. I can't help thinking about what Sergei's first car ride, plane ride, meal in a restaurant....is going to be like. Our passports were taken for some paperwork things, so we were under house arrest in the hotel. We had the newest couple go out on a beer run. Beer is much cheaper in the grocery store, 18 rubbles; out on the square it's 50 rubbles. Attached is a photo of our favorite brand. And one of Sergei at snack time. Wish us luck tomorrow :)

Love - Rick and Marcie

Day #?? - 36 hours until Sergei

Hello -

Today was our last Thursday in Siberia...yes, we are keeping count. Everyday closer to next Wednesday is a milestone. Our day started out at about 7am. Our orphanage visit today was in the morning. We all like it in the morning because it is cool outside, and the boys are not too tired or cranky. Sergei was a wonderful little boy as always. The California couple have two older boys, and they love to run and climb for the entire two hour visit. We are glad Sergei is laid back, so he might be easier to travel with. After our visit we went to a "KFC". We all tired the chicken, and it was sort of like home. It is very difficult to order anything in the city, as very few people speak any English. Any restaurant with a picture menu is popular. Or my other trick is just to order what the person in front of me ordered and just point. I did this yesterday in the square out front. I ended up with a "hot dog" roll up, two "hot dogs" wrapped with hot mustard, ketchup, and some white sauce we thought was mayo (but wasn't). After lunch we went home for an afternoon nap. At 6pm we met in the square for a piva (beer). Beer is cheaper than Voda (water). After our afternoon drink it was off to a restaurant we heard had spaghetti and lasagna. Moma Romas was awesome. Marcie and I with two other couples were very excited. We are going back for lunch :) We have met a total of 4 other couples staying at the hotel, with rumor another came in today. We are going to try to meet the newbies tomorrow. Show them around, and make them buy us beer. Our other money making scheme is to charge people to get their picture with an American. We are a bit of celebs in the square. Lots of looks. Could be that I haven't changed my pants in over two weeks.....The picture is of Sergei's first ride on a teeter-tauter. He does not get to play with it because it is on the bigger kids side of the yard. We get to play anywhere we want until the other kids come out, then we are stuck in one area. He had a blast, as you can see.

Love - Rick and Marcie