Plumb out of Titles

Another day. No titles for blog posts left in my tired and overworked brain.

Today wore me out.

Seriously.

WE KEPT BUSY ALL DAY.

Can you believe it?!

We arose from our beds of slumber about 8:15, and Mom had breakfast ready by 8:30. This thing of having a cook is something that I could get used to in a hurry.

At 9:00 we scurried around and skyped in to Bethel (our church) to enjoy their singing. It was so pretty. Got JN to dance a little. Of course, he does that when I read a book with rhyming lines, too. It was so nice to go to church again. Seems like it's been months.

Then. We had an appointment. A family down the hall for us wanted to tag along with us into town. Francoise and his son Nikolai (his wife Marlene, and new daughter, Olga stayed at the motel) were waiting on us in the lobby at 11:25, so we actually had a schedule to keep. It was a stretch, but it did ensure that we made it to the train station well before departure time at 11:48. Yes. 11:48. There's a train at 10:28, 10:38, 11:48, 12:10, etc. Odd times, but they are always exactly on time.

Sharing gum while waiting on the train.

It was their first time to take the train downtown, and boy, was Nikolai excited. He could hardly contain himself. He's the same age as Addie....and they were a good pair. Same energy level, same sense of humor, same obnoxiousness. He was adopted from this region in 2007.

We went to a couple stores in downtown Vlad and caught the 2:10 train back to our motel.

Miscellaneous downtown shots:

We intended to stop off at the Second River station on our way back through, but missed the stop. We didn't recognize it when we got there. I'm sure you're all shocked at that. So. We just came on home. By the way...for those of you reading who are heading to Vlad sometime soon, the Second River station is the third stop after you leave our station. Just follow the crowd when you get there and you'll find the markets and whatnot. You can even walk to the baby store and to the main grocery at that stop if you don't mind walking 25-30 minutes. I could give you a pictorial and wordy guide on the walk if you would like.... :)

Back home again, the children took naps while the adults played Euchre. I should say that Addie and Will took naps while Nickolay opted out once again. The stinker. Yesterday and today both he has slept about 20 whole minutes at nap time. Don't tell his caregivers. They would have a coniption. He was used to 2 two hour naps each day. Oops. Hard to do when he just lays there and plays.

At 4:00, we went back outside to play with Nikolai. His parents bought him a little sled to help pass the time. The children had a ball!

Back in again by 5:30, we started supper. Late supper. We've gotten used to eating by 4:30-5:00. Anyway. Supper consisted of a chicken and rice glob, over-warmed, rubbery bread, California blend casserole (which was delicious), apple crisp (which was delicious, and chocolate ice cream from the restaurant (they were out of vanilla). It really was a decent supper...until the ice cream. Actually, I thought it was all good....even the ice cream. Unfortunately, the rest of them chose the wrong bowls. Their's tasted like chocolate/onion ice cream (looked like chocolate, tasted like onion). In fact, Dad said that the only way to take care of the taste left in his mouth was to rinse with the vinegar that is sitting on the counter. It was that good.

What next. First we ate prune/walnut ice cream....now we ate chocolate/onion ice cream.

The restaurant here typically has pretty good food (except the nachos and now, apparently, the chocolate ice cream), but it appears that they forget to check the expiration dates at times. No biggy.

Tonight, poor JN was in bed very shortly after supper. He was miserable. Hopefully the 'no nap' will ensure that all elbows, diapers, knees, and heads stay in the general area that is allotted him.

See? We were busy all day.

Not even a spare minute to perfect our pool skills.

Which really is a bummer as we only have two more days here. I fear that all skills we have gained will soon be lost.

And. If I happen to remember.....tomorrow I can officially show pictures of our little JN.