A Trip to Kirovograd

We all piled in the van on Tuesday to make the required 1 hour trip to Kirovograd. This is where the central office for regional passports is located. Zhenia always seems to find ways to get us to the front of the line and he did so again on this day. That was good because the children were hungry by the time we were done.

We found a nice restaurant on the way home and we had the best borscht ever! This was rounded out with rolls, cabbage salad, chicken steaks, and fried potatoes and onions. Chris said, grinning, "This is the first time I have been to a restaurant!" (of course, in Ukrainian) I had to do some teaching about a fork and knife. :-)

The way home was fun. Ben and Anna laughed and played in the back seat while Chris just stared out the window in awe at everything going by. He was reciting his name, "Creestopher Baykor, Creestopher Baykor, " and learning new words like: field, wagon, and tractor.

We did not visit the orphanage the next day, as Ben and Anna both had a fever. Anna is in the hospital as per protocol (but just until tomorrow) and Ben is doing fine now... just has a minor cough. Zhenia suggested (and I agreed) to forego visiting Chris in the orphanage until we go to pick them up. Most of the kids there have this virus, I guess.

Saturday when I officially go to get Chris and Anna, we plan to have a little party for the other orphanage kids with juice and cookies, etc. It's a nice type of closure for all of them. We did this with Ben last year and it worked out well.

Today, with not much to do, we ventured outside so Ben could play on the playground and feed the outside cats. Right outside our building, a couple ladies were tending to a mama dog and her 4 week old pups (so cute)! They made a crate into a little house for them, and were kind enough to let Ben hold one. They asked what we were doing with the box of catfood. I don't think they realized what it was, even though there was a cat on the front of the box. (They usually feed the cats scraps) After I told them, they said, "Thank you!"

I, for one will be happy to go back to Kiev! Our hot water heater is on the fritz and I doubt it will be fixed before we leave. Alexandria is a nice little town with great people. It has really grown on us, but we all are ready to go.

See you soon!