In Kyiv

Ahhh...in Kyiv again.

First answers to questions: yes, Mark is planning to play without a second baseman. :) :) We've been here for not even two weeks--we arrived on Feb 6, had our SDA Feb 7, and will be returning home Feb 19. It will be exactly 2 weeks door to door traveling. We haven't done anything unusual to get such a short timeframe. It just worked out with our court date. The French couple who was at the same orphanage met their child the same day we did and had court the same day. The Italian couple met their child the day after the rest of us and have court scheduled for the 28th. :( You're at the mercy of the system here. It could just have easily been us with court on the 28th.

The train ride was great; quite possibly the best train ride I've ever been on in Ukraine. I know that sounds sarcastic, but I'm serious. It was quiet, COOL (very uncommon for Ukraine trains), and not smoky. Both Mark and I slept. I love the motion of the train--it's actually hard for me to stay awake for any length of time while the train is moving!

Once in Kyiv, Nico picked us up and took us to our apartment. We have a great view of the Kyiv skyline. I took a panoramic picture but haven't downloaded it off of the camera yet.

Then...we went walking. ;)

We walked to the Lavra (the monastery caves--I've always wanted to go and in the 5 trips we've made to Ukraine hadn't ever gone), then back to our apartment, then to Independence Square, then to the SDA. Along the way we got pictures of the girls developed, bought souvenirs for the kids, exchanged pictures of the girls at the SDA, and had dinner with Serge and Luda. It was great to finally meet Luda since we've exchanged lots of emails regarding adoption documents. :) We got to show Serge pictures of Danielle and Emily--he knew them both when they were in Khmelnitsky and couldn't believe how much they had changed.

Now we're back at the apartment getting ready for our very early wakeup to go to the airport. This time tomorrow (sort of) we'll be home in bed!