Epilogue

We have been home now for a little over two weeks. We thought we'd update you with the activities that have happened since we left Novosibirsk.


We arrived in Moscow on a Wednesday morning and had a full day with doctors appointments for Nick, visa photos and paperwork. We checked into the hotel and basically slept. Thursday, we had the day to ourselves.



This is just a typical view of the kiosks that you would see there.









We arranged a cab to drop us off and pick us up near Red Square and we took a tour bus that showed us all the sights around the city. It was kind of fun and the kids were contained. Best of all, they fell asleep half way through allowing us to listen to the tour guide and focus. While we've been to Moscow before, this was the first time that we felt, at least a little bit, like tourists. Moscow is so large and they have many visitors, we didn't feel like we were standing out. We did impress the other tourists on our bus by even braving taking small children on the trip.






The first stop was the Bolshoy Ballet Theatre which is currently under construction. We caught the bus there. Kayla and Nick were so excited.

We saw some of the homes of famous Russian leaders, many monuments of leaders and artists and a lot of architecture. The Moskva river was beautiful as you can see by this picture. This is the Kremin wall which is definitely an impressive site. We wish we could have enjoyed a boat ride - the weather was georgous and it was truly a beautiful day.


We took this picture on Sparrow Hill which overlooks the city of Moscow. If we're not mistaken, the arena you see in the background was built for the Olympics in 1980. On the other side of the road is the University of Moscow. It is labeled as one of the 'seven sisters' due to its architecture.










After the tour, we hung out near Red Square - it was blocked off that day unfortunately but we wandered outside. We saw Stalin and Lenin look-alikes that you could pay to have your picture taken with. Dan snuck a photo when no one was looking.



We also had lunch at McDonalds at an underground shopping mall right next to Red Square. Kayla was ecstatic to have her beloved "Old McDonald's"!



Next day, Oksana (from the Children's Home Society and Family Services) took us to some of the more popular tourist sites:

Christ Our Saviour Church which was rebuilt after the Communists tore it down.




Red Square is always a popular tourist spot. It was nice to be able to walk into Red Square. They were building a temporary stadium in the middle so the square wasn't totally open as it was the first time we were in Moscow. It is still very impressive. Kayla was very tired at this point and there were several points where she stood her ground and wouldn't move. She really wanted Daddy to hold her:-)


Novodevichy Convent - This is last remining, in tact convent in Moscow. It was built by Grand Prince Vasilli III is famous for housing several famous Russian women including Peter the Great's wife and sister. Next to the convent is the Novodevichy cemetery which has the graves of the likes of Chekhov, Yeltin, and Krushchev. The park across the river makes the convent a beautiful site and there is a neat playground for kids there. There were some bronze ducks that were presented to the city of Moscow by Barbara Bush. You can see Nick and Kayla playing on them.










After all of this, we had lunch you know where only it was on Arbat Street. Then we went to the US Embassy for Nick's visa. Everything went very well and we were able to get back to the hotel early enough. We saw the same cab driver that took us the day before, so we arranged to have him take us to Old Arbat Street for a few hours. We had dinner at the Hard Rock cafe and walked up and down the street. Kayla got one of her most favorite souvenirs - a police hat! It was a nice evening.












Next day (Saturday) was time to leave. We got to the airport. Long story short, the plane was delayed then cancelled and American Airlines put us up for the night in a local hotel and we were booked for the next day's flight to Chicago. We were thrilled to be on American soil!


We've been home for two week's now and Nick is adjusting beautifully! We think Kayla likes him, but we are still not sure. Thanks to everyone who has helped us on this journey - it has been a ride. The interesting part is that the ride with Nick has really only just begun. You will all love him. He's delightful - he has a great laugh and an adorable smile.