Settling in at Home (Week #2)…

Hello again everyone! It’s hot and humid here in central Jersey, but things are “cool” here at home. All-in-all, Victoria had a great week. On Tuesday, she received her first state-side haircut. So, she is sporting a new hairdo and looks great! On Thursday, she had a captive audience when Mommy brought her to visit Daddy at work for “Bring your Child to Work Day”. This weekend, Victoria’s grandparents where down for a visit. It was a very nice visit. Although initially shy, Victoria has really let her playful personality shine during her visits with family. We see so much of this, but it is really nice to see her light up the day of family and friends that she meets.

We had a follow visit at the doctor’s this week. Even though Victoria cried as we arrived (she certainly remembers the shots that she received a few weeks back!), we received an incredible amount of great news. All of her blood work came back OK. We are still awaiting a few other results, but we expect that she will just need to go in for a few more immunization boosters in about 6-8 weeks. Also, another doctor completed the first part of Victoria’s educational assessment (she assessed her against her 6 year old Russian peers). The results suggest that she fairs exceptionally well compared to her Russian peers and her overall cognitive ability is well within acceptable ranges. So, in her professional opinion, Victoria is not delayed to the degree that was expected. As one of our doctors said, “Good news is good news and bad news is good to know.” But, of course, good news is way better than bad news and we seem to be getting a fair amount of good news of late.

Here are some pictures of this week’s highlights…

We may have a budding sidewalk chalk artist on our hands (or as our neighbors joke, a “graffiti artist”…since their daughter does exactly the same thing…hahaha…):
Victoria loves to play in the grass. During our visits to Russia, it was apparent that there was very little grass where Victoria played. As a result, she simply adored the chance to run and roll around on the grass:
Victoria loves to head to the playground, so there were multiple visits to the park this week. Colonial Park near our home is ideal for running, climbing, swinging, blowing bubbles, riding a scooter and checking out water wildlife (turtles, fish, etc.):
Think someone likes to pose for pictures (haha…)??
She is still excited about most new outfits and is currently fascinated by the flashlight (hey, simple things make great toys!):
She loves hanging out and having fun at the park with Mommy:
Victoria still loves her bubbles:
Here is the last one for this week…Chillin’ in the back of the car on her way home after a long day at the park:
Well, have a great week everyone and we’ll talk to you soon

The Start of the Next Chapter (Our first week at home)…

Hello again everyone! Sorry for the delay in posting, but we have been getting things settled here at home. Today marks one month since our day in court. Things have been going quite well and so many things have happened during the last week and a half. Victoria had a blast as she colored her first Easter eggs. She could not wait to see the results of the coloring, so we had to keep telling her to wait….not an easy thing for an excited 6 year old! Hahaha….

Victoria’s Uncle Joe had us all over for Easter dinner. Even though they met us at the airport, this was Victoria’s first chance to play with her cousins Joey and Kyra. Fun was had by all…as they played on the swings, rode scooters, etc. Of course, Victoria also got to take part in 2 Easter eggs hunts!!

Our little girl had a chance to bake her very first batch of cookies with mommy and daddy. She made a delicious batch of chocolate chip cookies and helped cut-out/decorate festive Easter cookie cut-outs. Over the past week, Victoria has thoroughly enjoyed her afternoons in the park (there are a few really awesome play parks around here).

On Thursday, Victoria had her first state-side doctor’s visit. Everything is looking OK and she was a big girl, but she absolutely did not like having her blood drawn or all of the immunization booster shots…poor thing, but nothing that an ice pop could not cure!!

We signed up for the YMCA so that we can take part in family swim….Victoria asks to swim on a near daily basis. This weekend, we traveled to Victoria’s great-aunt and uncle’s house for a birthday party where she was able to play all evening with a number of her cousins.

Similar to her visit to McDonald’s in Moscow, today was another red-letter day in the life of a child…we took her to Toys-R-Us. As expected, she wanted nearly everything in sight, but was very good when we stuck to our list of items to pick up.

Hope everyone had a great Easter and that you enjoy the pictures. We will try to update the blog on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, so keep an eye out for updates!!

At Long Last, We’re Home!!!

Our long journey has come to an end and we arrived (safely) home last evening. The drive to the Moscow airport was uneventful. Getting to our departure gate, however, took some time. There were multiple security checks, one of which included an open search of everyone’s bags. We were happy to see that Victoria maintained her excitement about flying right up to boarding for our flight. Unfortunately, that’s about where her excitement ended. She clearly likes the concept of flying much more than the reality of it.

There was a slight bump during take off and it set her off for what was a very stressful flight home (for all three of us…and likely a number of folks around us). Of the 10 hour and 20 minute flight, she was crying for at least 5 hours. Everyone around us (including the flight attendants, as well as our friends Chris and Daniela), were very nice in helping…but, nothing seemed to do the trick. We all endured and the flight was otherwise uneventful.

As we landed, the clock showed 2:14pm and Victoria officially became a US citizen. We worked our way through immigration (completing her immigration paperwork), baggage claim and finally passed customs. With hugs, we parted ways our friends Chris, Daniela and Sasha. Exhausted, we then turned to our left and exited the terminal where we were met by a number of our family members. Smiles, hugs, kisses, and presents….relief…we were finally home and Victoria had a chance to meet some of the family members that we have been talking with her about.

At about 8pm, our little girl finally arrived at her home…our home. As we walked her through the house, she finally saw the house that we showed her pictures of. We saved her bedroom for last….her giggles and smile were priceless. She could not believe that this was really her room, her bed, her bathroom, her toys, her home…

There are so many people to thank for their continued support, prayers, kind words, assistance. While words simply do not seem sufficient, we want to thank each and everyone from the bottom of our hearts. While this closes one more chapter in the book of our lives, the rest of the book is about to unfold before our very eyes…

Farewell to Russia…

This is our last post while we are here in Russia. Just enough time to catch some breakfast and get checked out of the hotel. We leave at 8:30am for the airport, with our flight scheduled to depart at 12:05pm. Flight time is expected to be 10 hours and 20 minutes, crossing 8 time zones. We have enjoyed our time here in Russia and the amazing folks that we have met along the way. Looking forward to the comforts of home and watching Victoria’s reaction when she finally sees that the pictures we’ve showed her are really of her room…our house…her family. We’ll drop a post when we arrive at home. Talk to you all soon!!

Our Last Full Day in Russia…A Day of Relaxation!!

Since Victoria went to sleep super early last night, she was up about an hour early this morning (5:30am). So, we sat on the bed and looked for cartoons on TV. After breakfast, we started to organize for packing. While we pulled things together, Victoria was playing with her balloon (the one she got at the Hard Rock Café a few days back). She obviously could tell that we were packing to leave, because she started to talk about the plane (sam-al-yot). She wanted to make sure that we packed her water bottle and balloon, so she dropped both of them in one of the suitcases that we had opened. We all had a pretty good laugh over this and we told her that we were leaving tomorrow (zavtra) and going on the plane. Of course, this gave us a chance to gauge how she was feeling about tomorrow’s flight. She was all smiles and giggling while we talked about it (other than the landing part). So, she knows we are flying tomorrow and is currently excited about it….which is a good thing, since it is a 10+ hour flight home! Hahaha…

After a little packing, we decided that the 3 of us would go for a walk to Sokolniki Park, which is about a ½ mile from the hotel. Sharon noticed the park while we were taking pictures from the 25th floor restaurant yesterday, so we thought it would be a nice way to spend our last day here. Once outside, we noticed that it was pretty windy and cold…but, we wanted to take in some more sights. So, we bundled Victoria up and headed on our way. Once we reached the park, it was quite a bit larger than we originally thought. So, it made for a nice walk. The first part of the park was obviously for kids 10 and under. Over the sound system, they were playing songs from cartoons. Victoria knew the words to most of them and was singing right along. As we walked, we noticed that there were a large number of amusement park rides within the park. However, based on the time of year and the weather, a majority of the rides were not in service (but, it’s likely a bustling spot when the weather is warmer. Nearing the exit of the park, we caught sight of a few rides that were open (token rides similar to the kind one might find outside a store in the US).

It’s likely that Victoria had never been on a ride before. So, even though it had started to snow (can you believe that it has been in the 50’s each day in Vlad since we left?), Victoria had eyed up a carousel ride and we simply could not deny her the chance to ride. She wanted to ride a few more, so we bought a couple of tokens and she worked her way through the 5 rides that were there. The carousel and motorcycle seemed to be her favorite, with the submarine coming in last (it twisted around, while going up and down).

We relaxed this afternoon and finished up the majority of packing. We are headed to dinner with Chris, Daniela and Sasha to celebrate our last night here in Russia. Our 3 and a half week stay here is almost complete. Tomorrow, we leave the hotel at 8:30am to make our way to the airport. We came to Russia as a couple and we leave and a family of 3. By tomorrow evening, we should be stateside with one of the country’s newest citizens and comfortably back in our home. Other than 4 post-placement visits (a social worker from our home study agency will come in 6 months, 1 year, 2 years and 3 years to write a report for the Russian government) and registering Victoria’s adoption with the Russian Consulate, this will mark the end of this adoption journey. However, this was only the first step on “Our Fantastic Family Journey.”

Here are a few pictures from today. The first is a picture in front of Sokolniki Park. The second is a train with a number of cartoon characters. The third is Victoria on the carousel. The last is Victoria next to her first car (some cars here really are that small).

At Long Last…Business Complete!!

Today, we visited the US Embassy to complete our official business here in Russia. Our driver picked us up at 12:45pm (along with Chris, Daniela and Sasha). Traffic in Moscow was bad, but not horrible. So, we arrived at the Embassy at 1:15pm and waited for our Moscow coordinator, Natalia (who had submitted our paperwork to the Embassy last Friday). At 1:35pm, she arrived with our interview ticket which we needed to gain entrance into the Embassy (it contained our names and proved that we had an interview appointment). Only adoptive parents and children are allowed to enter the Embassy for the interview, so we approached external security at 1:45pm.

Once inside, we proceeded down a long hallway and through another security checkpoint. We picked up another interview ticket (a sequential type ticket…akin to the kind of ticket that one would pick up at a deli counter) and then headed to the cashier’s window. We were #4 of what wound up being 6 American families with scheduled adoption interviews (Chris, Daniela and Sasha were #5). At 2:20pm, we were called for our interview. The gentleman at the counter was extremely pleasant and the interview was quite painless (which was nice for a change...hahaha). We signed a few documents and Victoria said a very pleasant “spasiba” (thank you), without being asked (looks like we are making headway on her “please” and “thank you’s”). We were then asked to wait while they finished processing the documents. While we waited, Victoria took the opportunity to count (over and over) the number of chairs in the waiting area. At 2:46pm, we officially received Victoria’s Immigration Visa! We have been waiting years to say this, but this officially completes our business here in Russia.

As a small celebration, we went out to an Italian restaurant for dinner with Chris, Daniela and Sasha. It has really been a blessing to be able to share this experience with this incredibly nice family. We are now only one full day away from heading to the airport and beginning our journey back home. When we arrive in JFK airport, Victoria will set foot on US soil and have her immigration visa stamped. At that time, she will officially become a citizen of the United States of America. Currently, we have no real plans for tomorrow (our last full day here in Russia) as we are hoping to get some rest for what will be a long travel day on Wednesday.

For security reasons, they do not allow pictures within or right outside the Embassy (sorry about that). However, here are three pictures. The first is a picture of the US Embassy in Moscow (from their website). The second picture is Victoria buckled in for the ride back to the hotel. The thirf is a picture of Victoria shortly after dinner (with the excitement of the day, she passed out on the bed pretty early).

Here are a few pictures of the subway from yesterday (the one of the escalator is from about 2/3 the way up…they were really long)…

A Day Spent Deep in the Heart of Moscow…

Greetings everyone! Today ends our last weekend here in Russia and we are only a few short days away from heading home. The weather was supposed to be cool this morning (mid-30’s), with rain/snow beginning in mid-afternoon. So, we decided to head out for some sightseeing, including a trip to the Moscow Zoo (along with Chris, Daniela and Sasha). Victoria’s fascination with animal shows on TV made us think that she would absolutely adore a trip to the zoo (http://www.zoo.ru/moscow/defengl.htm).

We had no driver today, so we took map in hand and had a crack at the Moscow Metro (train) system (http://engl.mosmetro.ru/flash/scheme01.html). We headed out at about 9:45am, starting at Sokolniki station (across the street from the hotel), then headed to Komsomolskaya station, where caught the ring and headed on to Krasnopresnenskaya station (which is right across the street from the zoo). The train stations here are incredibly ornate, colorful and marble from wall-to-wall (a number of stations date back to the early 1900’s). To enter the Metro, one must descend deep below Moscow down extremely long and steep escalators (one counted 410 steps and appeared to take multiple minutes to descend). Once at the bottom, the hum of the trains whizzing by is quite loud. For Victoria, this was a little unsettling at first. While she was OK with the ride (as long as we told her how many stops we had to go), she was not crazy about the loud sounds. All-in-all, she handled it all very well and was such a big girl. With any luck, we’ll have a similar reaction on our upcoming plane ride! Hahaha... Also, there are no signs in English and all signs are written in Cyrillic. So, it’s a good thing that we brushed up on our Russian before we travelled!

The trip to the zoo was every bit as good as we could have hoped. This being Victoria’s first trip ever to a zoo, she loved looking at the animals and even said “priv-yat” (hello) to most of them (very cute). One early afternoon hit, the weather started to get cold and snow began to fall. So, after the zoo, we decided to go to lunch downtown and headed to the Smolenskaya station, which is a short walk to the Hard Rock Cafe here in Moscow. The Hard Rock here is a 3 floor restaurant, which was not very busy today (since it is Sunday). On the second floor, they had a kids buffet and play area (something that they appear to do on given weekends). They had a moon bounce set up for the kids right in the middle of the restaurant’s second floor. This seemed a little odd for a Hard Rock, but it was definitely a hit for the kids that where there. After lunch, it had gotten colder and there was a constant rain/snow. So, we decided that it was time to call it a day and we headed to Biblioteka IM Lenina station for our transfer back to Sokolniki station, where we arrived shortly after 4pm.

Tomorrow is an important day, where we will technically set foot on US soil for the first time in over 3 weeks. We will be picked up at 12:45pm for our 2pm appointment at the US Embassy where we will obtain Victoria’s immigration visa and complete our official business in Russia. Once Victoria sets foot on US soil (at JFK on Wednesday), she will officially be a citizen of the Unites States. So, even if she does not realize it now, this will be a very important moment in her life!

Here are a few shots from today’s travels…

A Day on the Town in Moscow…

Today, we received the news that our USCIS issue is resolved and we should be good to go for our visit to the US Embassy on Monday. What an incredible relief!!!! Now, we can enjoy our weekend in Moscow with clear minds. Woke up this morning at 6:30am and Victoria was playing with her Happy Meal toys by 6:32am. We needed to be up early this morning because we were headed out for our 4 hour tour of Moscow. Our guide (Irina) and driver (Vladimir) were here at 10am this morning and we headed out with Chris, Daniela and Sasha.

We drove past some of Moscow’s incredible train stations, then we headed down to Red Square. We had expected this to be a spectacular sight, but it was simply amazing to see up close. It is really hard to describe and the pictures really do not do it justice. Our only real complaint would be the weather. There was a stiff breeze that made it quite cold…the sun was in and out of the clouds, and when it was out, it was in a spot that made it tough to catch some of the photos that we wanted…also, there was a snow squall that kicked up and ruined a view from the observatory. Oh well, everything was still an awesome sight to see in person…

Just outside of Red Square, there were a number of folks dressed up as Stalin and Lenin impersonators (for the purpose of taking pictures…however, we did not partake). We also visited the GUM (an enormous mall off of Red Square), a few beautiful cathedrals (where no inside photos were allowed), and a number of other sites down town (Gorky Park, the Olympic Stadium, etc.). There was also a nice place to stop for some souvenirs for Victoria. We have well over a hundred photos from the day, which makes it very hard to compile some for posting. However, we put a few into the attached….

Tomorrow, we plan to do some more sightseeing. The weather is supposed to be similar to today (cold with some snow showers). So, we are hopeful and we’ll see how things go.

Two interesting things that we are noticing here:
One…outside of the hotel, everything is sold ala cart. For example, at the grocery store and souvenir stores, you pay for bags…at McDonald’s, our friends were charged for ketchup. We suppose that it’s just a different way of doing things, but it does seem pretty odd.
Two…Just behind cartoons, Victoria’s favorite things to watch on TV are nature shows, cooking shows, ice skating and the biathlon (cross country skiing, with rifle range shooting). Nature, cooking and skating are all fine, but we figure the first time we take her skiing, she’ll be wondering where her rifle is! Hahaha….

First Full Day in Moscow…

Tried to do some relaxing today, but we were interrupted by a call from the US Embassy stating that there was an issue with the dating on one of our documents. This required us to get in touch with our local USCIS (Newark immigration office). With the 8 hour time difference, the New Jersey office was not yet open. So, we sent our e-mail and waited. While we do not have an actual confirmation, we appear to have sorted everything out, so that we can keep our 2pm Monday appointment with the US Embassy here in Moscow. We’ll keep you posted. Like we said yesterday, this sort of thing has happened about 100 times during this whole process. So, it’s frustrating, but we cannot say that we are surprised. There are so many documents which need to line up precisely that the law of averages would suggest that this sort of thing should be expected. All you can do is roll with it and do what needs to be done to fix it.

Today was a big day for Victoria…likely an exciting day for any kid. She had her first trip to McDonald’s and her first Chicken McNugget Happy Meal with apple juice. While she was not crazy about the McNuggets, she loved the experience and could not believe that the meal came with a toy. She got a toy from the “Monsters vs. Aliens 3D” movie. Right at this moment, she is jumping up and down on the bed, giggling with excitement as she plays with the toy.

After McDonald’s, we went for a short walk to see some of the places surrounding the hotel. There was snow here today, but the weather had cleared up bit by this evening. On the way back, the wind was directly in our faces and quite brutal. So, we called off our walk a little early. Today was a day to get organized and settled. We have our city tour tomorrow at 10am, where the weather is forecasted to be 38 Deg F with AM snow showers. We still hope to be able to get some nice views of the downtown landmarks. Good night everyone…

Greetings from Snowy Moscow…

Hello everyone! We are now in Moscow and it is about 1pm here. As we prepared to checkout of the Vlad Inn yesterday, we received a call from Irina letting us know that our flight had been delayed. Looks like Vlad was sad to see us go and wanted us to stay a little longer. Of course, we had thrown away all of our food in preparation to leave. Fortunately, we had made a sandwich for Victoria (meant for the plane, in the event that she did not like the plane food). So, we had our lunch in the hotel. While we waited, Irina stopped by with some paperwork (needed for the US Embassy in Moscow) and with some of Victoria’s items from the orphanage. This included some of her artwork, as well as some pictures of her over the last few years. These are invaluable items and we are very happy to have been able to take these with us. This also gave us a chance to say goodbye to Irina (who was really awesome in making sure that everything was taken care of for us).

We headed to the airport at 3:30pm. When we got there, Lana (our translator) helped us get check in and get all the way to the security checkpoint. This was our chance to say goodbye to Lana (who also was amazing). While we waited for our flight (with Chris, Daniela and Sasha, who were also on our flight), Victoria caught sight of the planes on the tarmac and she ran over to the window to get a closer look. She was sooo excited to see the planes and even more so about getting to go on one (she was constantly telling Sharon that we were going on a plane…as if mommy did not already know. Haha..). This, we felt, was a good sign for the 9 hour and 10 minute flight to come.

So, after a 5 hour flight delay, we departed from Vlad at 6:10pm on Aeroflot airlines. Victoria was a little amped up about the take off, but she handled it like a champ. However, this is where things started to get interesting on the flight for us. Anyone who thought that she might sleep or even sit still for a single moment, could NOT have been more wrong! Of the 9 hour and 10 minute flight time, she was in constant motion for 8 hours and 40 minutes. How many times can one open/close a tray table? ...How many times can one buckle/unbuckle a seatbelt? …How many times can one turn on/off a light? Unfortunately, we lost track. Hahaha… The airlines gave all of the kids a “Junior Aeroflot” backpack with some goodies (a puzzle, a hat, a maze game, a coloring book and socks) which Victoria loved. She has barely taken the hat off since (it’s bright orange and a little too big, so we’ll have no trouble finding her in a crowd) and she did the puzzle about 104 times on the flight (almost losing pieces 102 of those times…hahaha).

There was a little girl sitting with her parents directly behind Victoria. We learned the girl’s name was Katya (who appeared to be about 7 or 8) and she turned out to be very friendly. At first, Victoria did not pay her much mind. But toward the end of the flight, they were playing a nice game of hide and seek. So, to this point, Victoria was having a great time. With a half hour left, we prepared for our descent and arrival into Moscow. Victoria sat down and put on her belt. Sharon gave her some fruit chews to help with her ear popping (which worked great during take off).

We had a sneaking suspicion that she might not like descent as much as she did take off. This turned out to be 100% correct. Anyone who has flown knows the noises and feeling of a plane descending….for Victoria it was like a switch was flipped. She became hysterical. Not a laughing hysterical, but inconsolably delirious, yelling and shaking hysterical. Everyone within about 10 rows (heck, maybe 20) shared in this experience with us. We both rubbed her back/head/hands and continually told her it was OK. Even little Katya was attempting to console her, but all to no avail. Victoria wanted the flight over and immediately! You know “that kid” on a flight? Well, that was our kid at the end of this one. Hahaha… Once we landed, she was still beside herself. So, needless to say, this was a traumatic experience for her (and us, too). Since the flight was delayed, we arrived at about 8:30pm Moscow time, which would have been 3:30am in Vlad. Considering that Victoria refused to sleep on the plane (“it’s morning” she kept saying…since it was sunny the whole way), most of her reaction was to be expected.

After we picked up our bags, we were met by Olesya (one of our adoption agency reps here in Moscow). We thought that we were on our way to the Marriott Tverskaya. However, there was limited availability, so we headed out on the hour drive to the Holiday Inn Sokolniki. The hotel is very nice, but not the family/child friendly confines of the Vlad Inn. It was about 10:30-11pm when we reached the hotel, so we had all officially been up for 24 hours….but there was no rest for the weary. There were documents to be completed for a submission to the US Embassy today. So, we put our stuff in the room and headed down to fill out our paperwork. Just as we were finishing up (around midnight), we noticed that there was a minor error in one of Victoria’s translated documents…which we had then transcribed onto the US Embassy forms. This being one of our last steps in the adoption process, we are well aware that bumps in the road like this happen. But, we were hoping to be spared this time. Hahaha…

Olesya assured us that she would personally take care of the corrections and meet us at 8am back at the hotel. So, we headed to our room for some much needed sleep. Victoria was completely spent at this point. She cried about going to bed. However, once we turned out the lights, she was asleep in about 1 minute. None of us slept particularly well and we were up at about 6:30am because Victoria was very emotional when she woke up. Sharon saved the day by offering to have Victoria take a bath (which she had missed the night before) and get dressed for the day. We completed our US Embassy paperwork, then headed off to breakfast (a buffet here at the hotel) with Chris, Daniela and Sasha. Afterwards, we all went to the supermarket for some food supplies to tie us over for the next few days. We learned that we will be going on a tour of Moscow on Saturday and that we expect to be at the US Embassy at around 2pm on Monday to receive Victoria’s immigration visa.

Well, it’s about lunch time, so that is everything for now. Just a few short days until we finally travel home! Here are two pictures from the day. The first is Victoria with Irina (on the right) and Lana (on the right). The second is Victoria on her first plane flight (before she got her hat).

Farewell to Vladivostok…

Today, we leave Vlad. While we are truly ecstatic to be moving on and closer to home, this city will always hold a special place in our hearts. Vlad gave us our most wonderful blessing and one of its most prizes possessions...it's where we became a family. The folks here (CHI reps Irina and Lana…all of the staff at the Vlad Inn) have been awesome and we were very well looked after. The next step of our journey takes us to Moscow (an 8+ hour flight and a mere 7 time zones away from Vlad), where we will file our petition to the US Embassy requesting Victoria’s US citizenship. We are also hoping that the weather holds up, so that we can take in some of Moscow’s historic landmarks.

Once we have settled into our hotel (the Marriott Tverskaya) and set up our internet connection, we’ll reach out and let everyone know how Victoria handled her first flight.

Finishing up Business in Vlad and Preparing for Moscow…

Less than a day to go here in Vlad. We were out and about finishing up our business here; along with Irina, Chris, Daniela and Sasha. At 1:30pm today, we headed back to the passport office to pick up Victoria’s Russian passport. What a cute picture and she enjoyed looking at it (over and over and over, hahaha…). We were then on to see the doctor’s office (as required by the US Embassy for Victoria to receive her US citizenship). All went well and we got back to the hotel around 4:45pm.

This officially wraps up our business here in Vladivostok and we leave for the airport at 11am tomorrow morning. So, we are in our final hours...just time for dinner, packing, then on to bed. Once we arrive in Moscow tomorrow afternoon, we will be half way home (physically). So, that will feel great.

Here are a few pictures from today…