From October 29th

October 29

Second highlight of the day (second only to the obvious…) was our “bowling” outing in the morning.  The bowling alley is connected to our hotel so we don’t even have to leave the building!  So Karri, Jim, and I took on the pins.  You would think that a bowling coach would do better at explaining the rules….how was I suppose to know you wanted the HIGHEST score….I think I was sabotaged!  J  I must have had it confused with golf…yeah that was my problem!  My score would have had Tiger Woods shaking in his golf spikes!  I did manage to hit a few pins….it was fun though!  It is important to be able to laugh at yourself….and I also provided others with some laughter as well…  At one point I was actually TIED with the HEAD O. VARISTY BOWLING COACH….ok, so it was the first frame…..

Then it was on to the Baby House at 2.  We were quite surprised to walk in the playroom and find all of our kiddos awake….then we found out why.  They had not put them down for their nap!!  Ummm…yeah!  But we had another surprise in store for us…a “special” doctor was there to check the kid’s ears, etc.  We took him back in the playroom and one of the nannies held him as they checked his throat (which he clearly did not like) and his ears.  Of course all the doctors are talking in Russian and I am standing there thinking, “What is wrong?  Is he ok?”  Our interpreter turned to us and told us the doctor said he needs “physical therapy” because he had an ear infection 2 weeks ago.  Huh?  We got back to the room and the 5 of us were trying to figure out what that meant….what it really means is he needs to go to a “physician” when we get home and watch the ear infections.  Ahhhh!  That makes a little more sense!  All of our kids have had runny noses and a cough since last week so I am not surprised he had an ear infection as well.  He will fit right in with his mama, Nana, and cousin Beanie….

Next came our “discussion” for next week….here comes the nerves!!  Our court date is set for November 11^th.  We do not have an exact time yet but usually it is in AM.  But before we go to court we have a meeting with officials from the Ministry of Education.  This should be next week – probably Wednesday or Thursday.  It is this meeting that will then give us the go ahead to go to court.  Our interpreter discussed with us certain things we might be asked and since each of “our” three families in our group are different we might be asked certain questions that pertain more to us than the other 2 families.  Makes sense to me…does not mean I am going to sleep any easier that night before!!  How do you explain – through a translator – that there is nothing in the world you would not do for this little boy?  That you would go through it all again – the paperwork, the background checks, the home visits, the waiting, the tears, - if you knew at the end he would be waiting for you? 

By this point the kids were so tired they could barely stand it!  Most of the other families in our room went out for a walk but I really wanted to try to get him to sleep a little.  Yes, this cut into “our” time but he was so tired.  He did fall asleep for about 45 min.  He was a little more “himself” when he woke up but as you can see from the pics he was still pretty tired.  We practiced drinking some water from one of “our” bottles and he had his afternoon snack before we went out for a walk.  It was getting pretty cold by this time so we did not stay outside very long.  By the time 5:45 PM came a long he could not stay awake.  We have 3 more days of the 2-6 shift before switching to the 9-1 shift next week.  So it will be interesting to see what he is like in the AM.  Of course this also means we will be feeding him his AM porridge….gotta remember to wear our plastic clothes that day! 

Maria P:  It is pretty safe to say that Blonde Lady is pretty smitten with BK as well J

Abbey/Ryan:  Got your email….enjoy the last few days J  Then ENJOY Saturday!  We have not had any Lion bars because there is so many other “treats”….

Literacy Comm.:  Don’t wait for me to put the boxes together J I won’t be offended if you do it without me.  And Krista will bake snacks for you….

Bridget F.:  The temperature has not been too bad.  We only had one day of rain – in Almaty - and we slept the entire day.  The sun has been out everyday, which is good when you are walking most places.  We have been told to expect snow in early November…but the heat is on – FOR SURE!!   I can't view the pics on dial up...so will check that out when we get home!!  

Amy/Pat:  BK will gladly wave that UD towel!  Go Flyers! 

Angelika:  We better not have any house damage from any sign you put in our yard….!!  What are the kids dressing up for Halloween as?