If this Arbat St. we must be in Moscow...

Our driver showed up in a compact car (despite the fact we requested and paid for a minivan) but we managed to shove everything into the car - 1/2 of the bags in the back seat with Skip, Harry AND I, while Mike got to ride up front...

We got to our apartment in "Arbat Central" pretty quickly, and after waiting about 15 minutes, someone from the rental office showed up to let us in. I was E-X-H-A-U-S-T-E-D. The kids were cranky since in Irkutsk it was already 9:30 p.m., and hadn't napped, and I had no desire to leave once we got here. Mike went out to pick up breakfast essentials and to pick up something for dinner. Since we are 1/2 of a very short block from Arbat Street, that was not too difficult to do. I unpacked a bit while he was gone, but was too tired to care to do much! Must say I was THRILLED to see a "real" washing machine in the kitchen, as well as a vacuum cleaner, and hair dryer. Haven't enjoyed such luxuries since I left home almost 7 weeks ago!

Mike returned with milk, bread, eggs, juice, for the morning, and a bag from McDonalds! Yipee! It was actually VERY GOOD, and cheap. All of us ate for less than $10.o0! After dinner we passed on showers for the boys (just a shower here - no tub) and got them asleep by 7:15. I then thoroughly enjoyed the free high-speed Internet (something I have craved since I was home) and then was asleep by 8:45. It's a good thing, since both boys were up during the night for potty runs - of course being in a strange place they HAD to wake us up for it! By 3:oo both boys were wide awake again! Joy! Mike ended up lying down with the boys, but, his snoring (while they played and talked and ran around in the living room) meant I never got back to sleep. Since it was "Defender of the Motherland Day " formerly, "ARMY DAY" here in Russia, all federal offices and most businesses were closed so we knew we couldn't get our medicals done. Instead, we finally motivated ourselves, about midday - to take the subway to Red Square. On the way we stopped for lunch - McDonald's again, since the prices are good, and the food excellent. Harry had his first Happy Meal, complete with "Littlest Pet Shop" toy. Skip lucked out and got a Transformer toy.

The trip to Red Square was a big mistake! Well the subway part wasn't a mistake. Harry LOVED it. Every time our train would pull-up, he'd screech "VOT!!" and point to it. THAT part he loved. He also loved the HUGE escalators in the subway. One of them took more than 2 minutes to ride up/down! That is a LONG time! The mistake was walking the boys from the subway station to where we wanted to go - only to find the entire area roped off and closed to traffic /pedestrians. Apparently President Medvedev was laying flowers on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside the Kremlin, and there was a military parade. Oh well. So as to salvage part of our trip, we walked some more, to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. We visited it back in '04 when we adopted Skip, and wanted to go back to see it again. It is incredible! This photo I got off the web, since you can't take photographs of the interior. While we were walking up to the Cathedral, we stopped to admire the grounds. Skip thought it was awesome - because it looked like a skateboard park. Hmmm. So much for culture. Later, we walked back to the subway, and mercifully back to the apt., stopping for a few more groceries on the way back. The grocery store - on Arbat - is pretty upscale, and had an escalator that you took the grocery carts on to get from one floor to the next. Best part was - lots of food we knew and recognized! We had thought we'd have dinner out, but the boys had had it, and so did I. We also picked up a cooked chicken, potatoes, and mixed veggies at the deli in the supermarket, and had that for dinner. Worked out better than making the boys suffer through a restaurant.

The boys were again in bed by 7:15, and Mike and surfed online (did I mention how glad I am to have Wi-FI?) and then watched an old tv show DVD before falling asleep by 9. Once again, good thing. Skip as up at 1:30 with a stomach ache - which eventually ended with a trip to the bath room. Enough said.

He crawled into our bed since he insisted he couldn't sleep, but did eventually fall back - until Harry got up for a bathroom room at 4ish. When he noticed Skip was in our bed, he dragged his "Sabaka Dog" and climbed in too. For us in a queen didn't cut it. I finally got up at 5, after having Harry's knees in back longer than I could stand. I made coffee (with a French Press) and started breakfast since Mike wanted to be out of the apt. by 7 so we could make it to the Medical Clinic by 8 for Harry's U.S. entry exam. I'll finish up today's adventures in my next post. Right now, I'm headed for a much deserved nap! These are pictures from our adventures thusfar:

Outside the "Moo-Moo" All-you can Eat Buffet (Here in Russia, it's "My-My")

Lots of characters on Arbat Street - Like walkin' around Disney - only weirder!

Yet another costumed figure...

As close as we came to the Kremlin yesterday

M is for Metro

Harry's liking the escalators!

Guard outside Red Square

They love domes Churches here!

We had no idea what this was supposed to be, but it was the highlight of the boys unsuccessful trip to Red Square

Cathedral of Christ the Savior

Ah, comfort food!