The High Life

For all of it's, well, lack of charm in the winter, Moscow is one of the world's nicest cities in the world to live in in the summertime. Everywhere you look, there are parks, bursting with green, and the weather is stellar. We've been taking advantage of this fact as much as possible these days.

B even seemingly has instituted a required quota of vitamin D absorption for the family every day, so we've been getting outside more regularly of late. It seems she doesn't want a repeat of our arrival in the States in the spring, when people asked us why we were so yellow (seems a lack of sunlight causes jaundice). Anyway, we're getting stocked up while we can!

So, many of you know that we've been on the hunt for another apartment. Our landlady came at us with a hefty (read: almost double!) rent hike, so that put us on the hunt. After searching high and low, we realized just what a great deal we were getting on rent last year. Only $1000/month for a 2-bedroom! Sounds outrageous when you consider that it's not as nice as the place we had for $500 in the US the year before we came, but when you compare it to some of our options it starts to look great, even at almost twice that price.

I've included a map for those of you with a Y chromosome, and in it you'll see our best option after much searching. Indeed, we were able to find a place that was a little cheaper (and a lot smaller, further from everything as the map shows, and much lower quality). However, by the time you add up the real estate agent fees, moving fees, and the cost of selling all our furniture only to buy new stuff in a year, it only saved us a tiny bit. Once we realized that, we decided just to stay put and trust him. If you're looking at the map, the office is where we go every day to study, and downtown Moscow is to the north. Our lives might get tricky this year, but we know the one who owns the cattle on a thousand hills!

It's been good to get back into our studies, if at a slower pace than we were doing when we were here last. Unfortunately, our teacher went on vacation pretty much right when we got back, so for now we're self-studying in various ways until she gets back. Mostly I've been helping B and our friend Julie review some of the basics, and I've started to read the Chronicles of Narnia in Russian. You may laugh, but even kids' books are tricky when you're at my level. Fortunately, I've read them in English many times, which helps to fill in the gaps when I don't know a word or something. I have learned a lot of new vocabulary, though (who knew that Mr. Tumnus is also a фавн in Russian?)

On Tuesday night we had a friend over from one of the -stan countries (the one we used to want to work in). It was a fantastic conversation, which I can't really get into here, but I was thrilled to finally get beyond the surface in Russian and be understood! Maybe I didn't forget as much as I thought in the US. Anyway, we made some brownies for dessert, but left the pan of batter waiting on the counter while something else cooked.

It seems that I'm not the only one who likes brownie batter! Of course, we had to discipline Steven, which was hard as everyone was trying hard not to laugh so he'd understand that this was a no-no.

Enjoying the weather outside again. Steven really likes to swing, especially these two-seaters where he can share a ride with Mommy.

Of course, we can't have all the pictures be of Steven. Matthew's getting more interactive these days, and here he is smiling for all he's worth. Oh, and he rolled over the other day. It's funny, I remember that being such a big deal with Steven but it seems to be just another event for Matthew. I guess we need to make an effort to be excited about both of their accomplishments, even if we've seen it done before.

While I was in the US, my parents let me copy all of our old photo albums that they had scanned onto my computer. I thought you might enjoy some of the pics of me (that'd be J, just in case anyone was unclear) growing up. And so, I present, for your viewing pleasure, the _ family men (I'm on the far left):

What a muscular bunch! Oh, and of course, there was the classic "Family at Arms" photo that was hanging on everyone's fridge when we went home on furloughs. I'm on the left again, rocking the sports glasses. Actually, as an experiment, if you remember this photo being on your fridge, reply in the comments. I'll be interested to see how many there are - it was definitely a more "unique" choice than most of the other people in my parents' line of work.

That's about it. I might dig up a few more of the family pics from jungle days for future blogs, since I think they make a nice change of pace.

Возвращение!

Steven rummaging through the luggage

Yes, dear readers - we are back in Russia, we have resolved all internet-related difficulties, and are now prepared to post more of the information you all crave about our lives! Stop pretending you don't crave it. It's really nothing to be ashamed of. :)

Anyway, we are finally back in Moscow. While we had a great time in the US, it's good to get back home (and no, I don't want to reengage the semantic debate on the term "home" as it applies to The Wandering Family).

But lo, we have pictures of our last week in the US, and it appears that you will have to suffer through them before you will be privileged to enjoy any sights of Moscow with us. Well, that and the fact that we just unpacked our camera, and haven't had a chance to use it here yet, that is. Onward we rush, into the aforementioned pictures:


So, we wanted to make the most of our memory-making time, so we decided to take the kids to the beach with the whole family. We had to drag some of the entourage kicking and screaming, but after much gnashing of teeth, we arrived.

Of course, my mother being who she is, took 3 seconds after she realized that Steven might burn with so much time in the sun, she whipped up an improvised jacket by cutting some holes in a towel. He seemed to like it.

They even enjoyed building some sandcastles together!

The waves were, well, not exactly crushingly huge in the swell department. Here I demonstrate how to shred 18 inch waves for our Russian friends, who don't exactly have an illustrious history of surfing and maybe won't know any better.

We also managed to get Matthew dedicated our last Sunday, after which we got together with all our friends for a farewell dinner.

First, though, we had to at least try to get a decent picture of the boys. Not a bad try, I guess. We still have not managed to get a good family picture with all four of us, but this will have to do in the meantime.
Of course, any two of us - that's not a problem. It's just when you try to get both kids, B, and me all at the same time, well, not so good.

The farewell dinner, which mostly consisted of all our friends trying one last time to fatten us up, was by most accounts a success.

We also managed to get one last picture of Matthew and his cousin Natalie, born only one day after he was. It's mostly here for the "Aaaaaaawww" factor.

And that was about it. We'll have to fill you in more on our trip here later, but the short version is that we got here without any major problems. Actually, on our long flight across, we were soooo blessed to be on a half-full flight so we could lay the kids down and rest.

We're slowly adjusting to the time difference, wishing we could convince the kids to rest when the sun is still out, but overall we're doing well. Thanks for thinking of us, and we'll have more on the housing situation when we know a bit more.

Happy Birthday USA!

So, it's the 4th of July, and we haven't posted in a while. It seems that all our friends decided to wait until the last minute of our time in the US and then all invite us over at once! Unfortunately, having not yet mastered the art of warping the time-space continuum to the point where we can be in two places at once, we're limited to just one at a time. That's kept us quite busy, with lunch and dinner invitations most days. And while it's been really good to catch up with people, I think next time we'll be more proactive about inviting ourselves over to your places a little earlier in our visit! :)

Anyway, on to the pictures:


One of our first stops since our last post was to visit our friends Rich and Lydia. We had a good evening catching up with them. After dinner, they invited some friends from their family group over for dessert, since they had some orphans from Belarus staying with them for the summer. Anyway, the idea was for us to chat with them in Russian some, which we did, but somewhere along the line it morphed into a giant pillowfight that threatened to consume the living room decor. Sorry, Lydia! I guess you'll know better than to invite us over again.

One of the neatest things about being back in the US has been getting to see our boys and grandparents getting to know one another. J's family has had us over to eat and spend time quite often, and we've been living with B's parents, so we've gotten to see both of them quite a bit. In the above picture, Steven's Aunt Kellie is taking him for an airplane ride of sorts.

He seems to really like his grandmothers (and really, who doesn't like their grandmother?). Here Steven sleeps on J's mom's chest while we visited with some friends from a local family group.

While we were at the same people's house, we decided to try our best to get a decent family photo. Unfortunately, we didn't get anything that great, and due to cropping and recropping this picture turned out a little weird. Of course, I've only played with it for a minute or two, so hopefully we'll have a decent family picture soon with both kids in it for all of you.

We also got over to see our friends Mike and Martha last week, and our friends Dan and Valerie came over as well with their little boy Cooper. It wasn't as chaotic as you'd think with three toddlers in the same house at the same time, but it wasn't relaxing either.

B's sisters took her out to dinner the other night just to spend a bit more time with her before we leave, and here's a pic of them dressed and ready to head out.

Of course, the boys' maternal grandparents are worried that they might not turn out culturally as "American" as they'd like (what, you mean like me?), so they're doing their best to expose them to the culture here. ;-)

Last night they took B and Matthew to a minor league baseball game while I got to go waterskiing with some other friends (sorry, no videos of that bit of contra-athleticism exist to humiliate me later). To me it looks like Matthew has the look of a football/soccer fan being forced to watch a baseball game - utter and complete boredom. Maybe he'll turn out after all!

They even tried to get him to dance to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"! Disgusting!


Of course, today was the 4th of July, which requires that you celebrate with what else - food! Hamburgers, hotdogs, chili, fixin's, tea, ... you know, the essentials.


Of course, since your humble narrator's birthday is coming up soon, I got to pick out the cake. The cake on the right was my choice (the hand is there just to give a sense of perspective) - a punchbowl cake complete with layers of chocolate cake, chocolate pudding with Amaretto flavor, whipped cream, and crushed Heath bars. Heavenly!

My cousin Daniel managed to teach Steven the art of giving him 5, and here he's displaying his new skill. Ah, the challenges of raising a boy-genius!

Seriously, though, it is funny to watch kids learning things that you've taken for granted for longer than you can remember - they take so much joy in simple things.

Summer Fun

Since there seems to be a dearth of blogly interest in our continuing Russian efforts, I'll focus this blog on our enjoyment of the summer season. In Russia, the summers are actually quite a nice season. It's a little warm in the Moscow area, but it never gets too bad, and with the help of a fan at night, it's actually quite enjoyable weather-wise.

Here in North Carolina, things are a little different. It gets hot! Since we last wrote, we've had temperatures pushing 40° C (100° F) on a few days. Fortunately, folks here are ready, with pools, beaches, and air conditioning to keep things comfy.

The first few days it was really hot was something of a revelation for poor Steven. Most of his life has been spent in the cold, so he wasn't really ready for the splashing and sloshing fun most kids associate with summer. It didn't take too long, though, before he was enjoying his summer quite a bit.

One of the local towns had a summer festival, and Elvis showed up! Actually, he seems to have lost a bit in his singing voice, but I suppose for a dead guy he's doing all right.

One of the best things we've had happen in the past weeks was a visit from my brother Sam. We had such a good time chatting with him and catching up, and we're really glad he was able to come down. I think he also enjoyed playing with Steven as well, since he hadn't seen him since he was really little.

We took the family to the local park one day, and here we are enjoying the merry-go-round that my Mom used to take us to when we were really little. I don't know how much Steven enjoyed it, but he rode it, anyway.

Here's Sam with Matthew. I'm not sure that Matthew cares, but there you go.

B finds this picture amusing. She could never figure out why I seem to spend a good portion of the day with the laptop. I don't really use it for anything specific, but for some reason I like to have it around in case I want to look something up. This picture might explain it - maybe it's genetic? :)

By this time, Steven was fully enjoying his time in the pool. He might have lost his fear a little too quickly, since by the time we'd been there 10 minutes he was ready to jump in the deep end any time we took our eyes off him.

Last week, we went down to Florida for a combined business/visiting trip. While we were there, my parents hooked us up with some friends of theirs who own a boat. They took us out for a day, which was a great time.

We went out to a small tidal island that was pretty much deserted. Steven had a good time just being able to wander around and play in the sand.

Matthew might not be such a fan, but he did finally go to sleep. The rules said that he had to wear a life preserver, so we put one on him. Whether it fit or not, might be a different story!

OK, so here's this week's challenge: who are these people B's posing with? It's not a hard one for most of you, so no points are awarded this time, but I thought it'd be fun to see who recognizes them. Enjoy!

Hiking Around and Hanging About

Once again it's been a while since we posted a blog, and we're starting to get those "reminder" emails that people are waiting for an update. And so here you have it!

What have we been up to? Actually, we've had a good week and a half. Being back in the US has been a drain on our language study, for certain, but it has been nice to catch up with so many of our friends and family again, as I'm sure I've said before. It's always especially nice to be able to spend time with family, so when I heard that B's Dad was thinking of going on a hiking trip, I jumped at the chance to accompany him. Later Kellie, B's twin sister, decided to join us, and so the three of us headed up for the Tennessee mountains. Here we are at the beginning of the trip:

We parked the truck in the parking lot at a state-run campground, and headed out into the woods for an extensive hike to our final destination. Actually, even in between actually camping, we spent most of the weekend on hikes all around the valleys that we were in. Most of the trails followed along a river, with some spectacular scenery the whole way:

Of course, hiking that much makes you very hungry (I think we totalled around 30 km the whole weekend). To that end, we brought some steaks that we grilled over the campfire the first night, and enjoyed the food with the extra gusto that real hunger brings.

When we saw this log sticking out over the river a bit, we couldn't resist the chance for a photo op:

On our last morning, B's dad promised to buy us breakfast if we got to the truck in time. That sped up our hike out considerably, and here the two of them are revelling in their food. Actually the bread in the picture was stolen, after a discussion on how much food gets tossed prompted B's dad to reach over and take the toast off another diners' table after they left before the busboy could come to throw it away. :)

Warning - the rest of the blog is kind of child-centered, and doesn't have a lot of info about what we're up to. If you're wondering what that is, exactly, it's mostly studying Russian, taking care of the kids, and meeting up with our friends and supporters. I've been fortunate to have opportunities to speak in several meetings since we've been here, and I think we'll have another chance or two to present our work before we leave.

Anyway, here goes. This is Steven "enjoying" a haircut - his first from a professional barber. He wiggled so much it turned out a bit crooked, but you certainly couldn't blame the barber, who had his work cut out for him from the start!

Couldn't resist putting a few videos in, and here's a short one of Steven playing in the hose outside. It's been really hot lately, so he's enjoyed the chance to get wet when he gets it!

I don't think this is supposed to be a riding lawn mower, but you couldn't tell Steven that.


We finagled an invite to our friends' Martha and Mike the other day, and so we got to play with all their animals for a while. Of course, M & M couldn't make it (sorry we missed you!), but I think Steven still had a good time. He's not been around animals much in Russia, since most of our lives are in our apartment, but he's enjoyed it since we've been back.

More of the same, pretty much, this time with their dogs:

So that's about it. This weekend my brother Sam is coming into town, and then next week we head to Florida to visit family and straighten some things out with our financial guys (taxes get complicated when you move overseas, in case you're wondering). We'll try to post on those topics in the weeks to come!

Finally!

OK, so it's been a while, so I figure I should get on this and update before I let it go for another week feeling guilty. We've kept ourselves fairly busy in the interim, so let's get straight into it. I thought you might like this little vid of Steven enjoying his little rocking horse.

We haven't really posted much of anything since Matthew's birth, but we have had quite a bit going on. One of the biggest was B's family gathering for her Mom's, um, well, her 32nd birthday! ;-) All 4 of her kids were there, their spouses and children, and a good selection of cousins and other relatives as well. They stayed the whole weekend and we had lots of good times to chat and play, and I was once again reminded of the many ways I am not really culturally an American (the story of how we collected honey from an in-use casket when I was a kid always gets such a weird reaction here!).

It really was a good time, and we managed to get our cameras out for the gathering, so I'll just walk you through the festivities bit by bit. First, though, a picture of Steven playing with his friend Noah at a recent visit to his house (well, his grandparents' house, but close enough).

The weather here has been as close to perfect as imaginable for the past few weeks, so we decided to take a family trip to a local park one day while everyone was here. Here, Katy (I hope I spelled that right) takes Steven down the slide. The slides here are a bit higher and it seemed to scare him at first, but after a while he liked it.

B's cousin Tara also had a baby recently - exactly 26 hours after Matthew, as it turned out, and here's a picture of her with baby Natalie at the park.

Matthew was also able to meet his great-grandmother for the first time, which was nice:

The nice weather continued the whole time everyone was here, and the kids really enjoyed their time outdoors. Here Steven enjoys a wagon ride with his two cousins, pulled by B's cousin's husband Wes.

One of the most interesting events of the weekend was the "Un-Talent Show." Each one of us arranged to do something, centered around the guest of honor, to display our lack of talents. Here, Janice's sister Patti pretended to be a boisterous and rather garish "character," who came bearing some lovely clothing for the birthday girl so she could be as stylish as she. I wish I could show you the video, but I've been sworn to a non-disclosure agreement on that particular part of the act.

Anyway, I don't have time or energy to get into the various acts, but had to include this picture of Wes rocking a pastel blue wool scarf. Work it, sir, if I may be so bold!

Of course, my (J's) family are here in town as well. It's been fun to see my parents interacting with their grandsons and refresh my memory of some things about my childhood I had forgotten. One of those things was my mother's creativity. She spotted a large box that no one was using, and turned it into a sort of fort for Steven, who loves it!

Since I haven't posted in so long, I'm trying to make up for lost time by making this an extra-long post. Hope it doesn't feel like just filler, but I know some of you will like this video. It's funny to see kid's develop and grow in their understanding of the world, but I don't think Steven totally understands what a chair is really for yet:

OK, so that should about do it. Tomorrow morning I'm heading out to the mountains for a camping/hiking trip with B's dad and sister. I'll try to take some photos of what promises to be a fun weekend for next post. For now, I'll leave you with a picture I like - Daddy just enjoying being around his new little boy.