False Advertising

Learn by our mistake - - if you go to VA Beach, DO NOT be fooled into thinking the people who rent the "fun family bikes" (like the one below) are actually having FUN...they are not, trust me.

If you hear them laughing as they pass you, it's only because:

- - they're delirious from the pain this evil torture device is inflicting upon them or

- - they're delirious from the sheer terror of their significant other's driving skills (or lack thereof) and the fact that the brakes don't work

So why are we smiling in the picture below? BECAUSE WE REACHED THE END & COULD TURN THE BIKE BACK IN! Woo-hoo!! That was perhaps the best part of the weekend!

Ilya was the only one sorry our little excursion was over. He loved sitting in the front basket and flirted with all the women and girls walking by. He loved having the breeze in his hair, he sang, clapped and had a great time. The adults, on the other hand, spent the next few days recuperating... The bruises on my shin & calf are just now starting to disappear...

Oh the things we do to entertain our kids! (That includes little one's AND husband's!)

VA Beach Pictures

I didn't add all our photos from this past weekend - there are a few that wouldn't fit in the frame very good so I'll post them separately. In the meantime, sit back, relax & enjoy Ilya's first beach trip! (click "play" once you open the slideshow)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

6 months ago today...

...Norm & I woke up for the first time in Moscow, took showers, ate breakfast, and tried our best to mentally prepare to meet the precious little child who would become our son or daughter. Oh, and we also spent about 5 minutes trying to figure out how to answer the phone that was ringing incessantly. Turns out it was our doorbell that was ringing and not the phone. Yeah, the apartment manager wasn't impressed with us. HA!!!

I digress...

We had no information, didn't know gender, age, which Moscow region orphanage, nothing. With all of these unknowns, there is one thing we DID know with absolute certainity: That day's events and the child we were about to meet had all been perfectly orchestrated way before we set foot on Russian ground. There was no doubt in our minds that God has brought us half way around the world to meet the child that He had chosen for us, and for this child to meet the parents he/she deserved so much.

You've seen these before, but these pictures are of our first meeting with Ilya. It was an amazing, awesome day that I will never forget. We have been tremendously blessed since! If you'd like to relive the entire day, follow this link.

Greetings from VA Beach!

Hi everyone!

We're having a GREAT time in Virginia Beach! I just wanted to drop a quick line to let everyone know we made it here okay. I've been having a BLAST on the beach, the hotel pools and the boardwalk.

I love, love, love the beach and the waves and the sand and the water and the sandpipers and the flowers and the plants and my new bucket and my new shovel and all the doggies I'm seeing on the boardwalk and the horses and just EVERYTHING!

There's lots more to share but it's way past my bedtime and mommy says I need to sleep. Bahumbug!

Anyway, look for more pictures once we're back home.

Luv, Ilya

Much Needed Break

My mommy's had a tuff week so me & daddy are taking her to the beach tomorrow!! Okay, so I have no idea what that means but it's always exciting when the suitcases come out & daddy starts loading stuff into the big van! Oh, and I also saw my bathing suit & floatie thing being packed. YAY!!


Daddy says we'll only be gone till Sunday but I won't turn 18 months old until September 21, so I don't have any concept of time yet. I get to see my Gram & Gramps again and hang out with them. I hope they still think I'm cute!


Seriously though, how can anyone look at me and NOT think I'm cute.

See what I mean? You have no idea how long it took me to get this pose just right for the camera!


So, we're hittin' the road bright & early tomorrow morning. There's not enough time to surgically remove mommy's computer from her lap though, so she might do some posting/stalking after I go to bed at night.

Hope you all have a great weekend - I know I will!


Luv,
Ilya


P.S. Mommy asked me to thank Ms. Susan for her help, support & encouragement this week. She said blogger friends are AWESOME!!

The Great Spaghetti Challenge

Norm had to work late tonight so dinner was on me. How many of you are cringing at this thought??!! Being as far removed from Julia Childs as one could be, I stressed all day over what to prepare for me & little man. Now that I'm a mommy and have to really consider what I feed our son, I realized the ice cream I usually resort to on night's like this wouldn't cut it for Ilya.

I remembered that I've had some success with spaghetti in the past, and figured that would be my safest bet. Open a jar of sauce, poor it in a pan, boil some water for wheat spaghetti, break up the noodles a little bit, pop the garlic bread in the oven, wait 10 minutes and voila! Dinner in a snap. How hard could that be?

It all turned out pretty good but watching Ilya eat his spaghetti & applesauce was the highlight of the evening. He had a very messy blast, the dogs got a few handouts and I got a few snapshots.

Warning: These photos aren't for the faint hearted! Especially if you click to enlarge them! (notice the clump of spaghetti in his lap!)

The Boyz

Well, we didn't make it hiking on Monday - - both Norm & Ilya were sick, and now I'm getting it. Yippee! Not that I want either of my boyz sick, but really, isn't this picture just precious?

They slept like this for hours, and then started to have buckets o' fun!