Catching Up
So, we have a lot to catch up on since our last post. When we made that post, we were still in Moscow getting new passports to replace the ones that were lost. Since then we've come back home, had a visitor and gone out to see some of the countryside we hadn't yet visited, and had visa news and a birthday party.
Let's start by finishing off our time in Moscow:
Every time we go back there, we try to get together with our old friends, who are sisters from Uzbekistan. They are really fantastic people, and we always have a great time. They gave Matthew an early birthday present:
and more importantly, they made us real Uzbek plov, which is one of the most delicious foods in the world (although bad versions of it are much more common than good ones, in my experience).
Anyway, we eventually did get our new passports and returned home. On the way, we picked up a visitor, a friend of ours who also lives in Siberia. He came to T-land with us for a visit, and we had a great time seeing some parts of our republic together, including a town I'd never been to before. Unfortunately, I didn't take the camera, so you'll just have to take my word for it that all that happened.
Then, after another eventful week, Saturday was Matthew's fourth birthday. Last year he turned 3, which is the really important birthday in T culture (I don't know if you remember the video of his hair-cutting ceremony?), but we still wanted to have a party, even if it was smaller. He got some nerf-type guns, ...
... and a few other presents, but the big one was the present we ordered on ebay a few months ago and Bobbie's parents sent over for him (thanks, Poppa and Grandma!). Here you can see him opening the box:
Our family had a set of these things when I was a kid, and though the good quality ones are now out of production, you can still buy them used on ebay (you have to look for a good deal; some of them are really expensive!). It's a set of tracks that you can build for a marble to roll down, and some of them have a starter and finisher piece so you can make it a race.
It was a big hit with the boys, and still several days later they're wanting to play with it 24 hours a day!
Here's a little video of how it works with it all set up:
Anyway, Bobbie also made lasagna (which turned out to be really popular with our T friends!) and some multi-colored cupcakes for a birthday dessert.
Then the cupcakes went from beautiful works of art to being stuffed into faces as fast as possible.
Matthew even got another T vest from our next-door neighbors. I guess he should give one to Steven so they can both have one.
Anyway, the end result was two happy boys, and two tired parents. It was a fun day, overall.
Last night we had some more company over, and they were so curious about the toy that we set it up together again. Truly a toy for boys of all ages!
