Where do I start??

Initially I was unable to post because our departure was delayed to Moscow by a day, and then when I got to my apartment, I didn't have the energy to figure out how to use the free internet. Then once we returned home, it has been mayhem. Only now I have the energy and free time to update.

First, we didn't leave on Tuesday for Moscow as planned. Again, as in true Russian style, there was a delay, then a mixup then another delay, so we could not leave Belgorod until Wednesday night. The delay was WAY frustrating. The translator called us in the AM to say that we would head to the Recorder office at 9:50am. At 930am she called to say their had been a change, and paperwork would not be ready until 2p, so be ready just befor then. Frustrated, and already packed and ready to get the day going, we decided to go out to lunch to kill time. We went to our favorite Restaurant, The Viking, and had a great time trying the food recommended to us by our waitress. We walked back to our apartment at 130p, and noticed that the driver was there. We got his attention and he immediately got on the phone and called the Asst. Coordinator, who had been walking all over town looking for us. Apparently, the delayed paperwork was ready sooner but because we weren't at our apartment when they found this out, we would now be delayed and might not be able to get the kids passports in time to leave that night. Like this is our fault??!! Maybe they could have told us to stay in our apartment in case something changed. We thought it was simply a done deal and were never told it could be sooner. Ridiculous. So need less to say, it didn't work out. We went to the Belgorod recorder who couldn't do the birth certs because the kids had been registered in another village outside, so we had to go to that village. It took ages to get the certs. At first the women were saying, "no we won't do this. We have never had to do this before, why should we?" (typical response it seems). Finally the attorney strongarmed them and they did it. Most of the records are still hand-written in log books and stored in the file room. They did have computers so maybe they are coming of age. One thing that was fun was that Mike and I could sit in that room and talk bad about the workers and how frustrated we were, right out loud, and none of them had a clue what we were saying. I have found that now that i am home, I have to watch what I say, as I got used to saying out loud whatever I was thinking.

So, we left on Wednesday, in 4 separate train cars: Nicole and Lauren, Me and Michael, Olga the coordinator, and Mike and Nathan. I don't think I have mentioned yet, but Nathan is VERY active, and probably ADHD. We joke that Mike drew the short straw and got to sleep with Nathan. On the train ride, We had to call Olga to Mike's car to give Nathan his Russian verbal lashing a couple of times as he was out of control. Once when I went in to check on them, he was "swinging from the chandelier" Jumping on the bed in his underwear and laughing hysterically while Mike pretended to sleep. Turning the tv and lights on and off, etc. Mike said Nathan finally went right up to Mike, while Mike feined sleep, and shouted "speeeee!!!" (sleep!) and then when he got no reaction, he turned off the tv, turned off the lights and went to bed. In the AM it was like nothing ever happened. Such has been our life over the last few days.

Moscow was quick and uneventful. We did the medical and embassy the same day. We left on Friday as scheduled, on what will forever be deemed "The Trip from Hell". We were on a non-stop 13 hour flight to LAX which under normal circumstances is great because you don't have the hassle of connecting and going through customs in the middle of the trip. However, when you have a hyper child that will not sleep, it is anything but great(I am being kind by avoiding the details). Mike spent almost the entire trip battling Nathan. He finally gave up and Nathan was cruising down the aisle talking to everyone (almost all Russians on the flight). He spent a good amount of time chatting up the flight attendants. After landing, we had a two hour drive home and all the kids slept. We all went to bed exausted. The last few days have been challenging, but with a few days of sleep, they have improved considerably. I will give more details soon.