Getting Out

Toting four kids around everywhere is no easy task, regardless of how well behaved they are. I have really come to appreciate mothers of small children a lot more since I have been living with my sister. I've learned how hard it is to get out and do things - even running a quick errand. And what makes it even better is how foreign it is to the people here to have more than one or two kids. There are always stares as we're walking down the street or walking into a restaurant with two little kids, a toddler, and a new born. The looks on people's faces are priceless. And people ARE NOT afraid to stare here. For long, awkward amounts of time.

But it's usually not a big deal since Calvin and Henry have school all day. So Traci and I just have baby and toddler. Easy-peasy. But with the outbreak of PARANOIA here (aka Swine Flu), school has been cancelled for

THREE

WEEKS....

on top of the week they already had off for Fall break.

So it turns out that it's not so easy-peasy after all. Four weeks, four kids, and a lot of pent-up energy. We may not have swine flu in the house, but we might have little bitty cases of cabin fever...

But as fortune would have it, there is a group of college-aged girls from the states that are here teaching English in the schools that happen to be VERY bored since school has been cancelled and that are looking for things to do like, um, baby-sitting for example.... And the best part is that Traci didn't have to do anything to arrange it - they called her and volunteered themselves! Hello!

So, needless to say, we have totally taken advantage and gone out a couple times - once the other night when Traci and I went shopping for a dress for the Marine Core Ball on Saturday (I'm sure I'll post about that later - my first black tie affair!) and then another time last night when Traci and David took me out to dinner. It was quite the treat.

We took the trolly bus to an authentic Ukrainian restaurant and then walked home afterward, which was really nice. I had a cabbage salad, vareniki (boiled dough pockets with mashed potatoes and onions - tastes divine with sour cream and a pinch of S&P), cherry compote (a drink that looks and smells a bit like red wine but tastes like mashed cherries, which it is - and totally alcohol free... maybe.... we are in the land of Vodka, afterall), and cherry vareniki for dessert. I've had a lot of vareniki (not sure how to spell it out in English) in my life, but I had my first authentic Ukrainian vareniki at the restaurant last night, and it was delicious. And to add to it all, there was a little quartet that played instruments and serenaded everyone while we ate. It was fab, to say the least. Thank heaven for those volunteer baby-sitters, and thanks to my sister and brother-in-law for taking me on such a nice outing!

It's funny how you start to really appreciate the little things - things like walking at a normal pace and having uninterrupted adult conversation. And to think I'm not even a mom yet... ☺

Long name for a restaurant! Very funny.

Vareniki... mmmm...

The little quartet that played music and sang to us. (I apologize for the crap video -you'll have to tilt your head to the left to watch it... Anyone know how to rotate videos so they are going the right way?? I'm such a blogging rookie!)

I just had to post these... These were the bathrooms. The view from the outside - separate "His" and "Hers" entrances (I found the peep holes especially interesting)

that lead to the same communal bathroom on the inside... They could have saved space and materials by just making one entrance. We thought that was pretty funny.