Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Today's guest writer: Renee

Well, we had great intentions today of visiting the Kremlin. Got up, showered, dressed, read about the sites, got out the door ... and well the snow and Larry's ankle pain led us to revisit our plan. Instead, we hit a bookstore to feed my Harry Potter fix (re-reading the series). Hopefully I will get book 5 read before Monday, as I guess I will have to wait for books 6 & 7 for when Syevinch hits puberty. And, as a lame attempt at bringing Russian culture home with us (and since we won't now see the Kremlin), we bought a tourist book version of it. We then had our coffee fix at the cafe chain Shokoladnitsa and looked at the images of the Kremlin from a really warm and toasty place. Did I mention the art and jewels look an awful lot like the treasures in St. Petersburg?? (I know, really lame excuse). (See pic of Larry in his favorite Moscow spot: Shokoladnitsa.)

Then we started our holiday shopping and souvenir buying by going back to Arbat Street. I think we had the word "tourist" written on our foreheads as we left with way fewer Rubles than when we started. (There is a fine line between overpriced souvenir junk and way way overpriced hand-carved and hand-painted artisan crafts. We tried to find the balance somewhere in between.)

We then went back to the supermarket to restock a few items in preparation for next week (i.e., our first week of parenthood)!! Did I mention that our true mission for the day was to find more Cheerios? It is the only snack Syevinch will eat and I was just fearing the plane ride home sans Cheerios. Well, we found a knock off and will do the true test when we bring a few of them to the orphanage tomorrow. We trudged our way back through the snow carrying arm fulls of bags when we came back to the palace. Our cleaning lady was here, we tried to communicate a bit, scheduled our last cleaning and found that she had set up the crib for us!!
Have I said recently how this is getting really real. And can I say... the crib is also a rocker... how cute is that!!!

By the way, plan B (if the fake Cheerios don't work), is for Lare and I to go to an exorbitantly overpriced brunch buffet at the Marriott and stuff our pockets with Cheerios. (Thanks to Melissa for the idea!!!) Apparently the Marriott serves many, many adoptive families and has a plentiful supply of Cheerios on hand (gotta do what you gotta do!).

Anyway, I thought you might like to see a few shots from our day today (the one in red is not Larry). The photos from our visit yesterday weren't fabulous. Syevinch was really tired and there were more tears than smiles. We were able to get a photo of a few of her caregivers though, and I know in years to come she will appreciate having these images.

Just two more days of trekking out to the orphanage! Yippee! (You have no idea!) And, yes, we are doing the countdown till we come home.

All our best,

Renee (and Larry)

P.S. We still love hearing from you — it makes home feel a lot closer than halfway across the globe.