Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Fun Russian Toys

Here is a picture of a few fun Russian toys we were able to find in the USA.  The little rolypoly doll was on ebay, and looks very similar to several toys on the shelf at the orphanage.  The man comes apart into rings and stacking pieces, and was at a local thrift store!  Elena likes stacking toys.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Elena's New Room

Some New Clothes for the Orphanage Kids

While recently traveling to the Upper Peninsula to go mountain biking, we stopped at one of the big outlet malls on the way to buy a few things for Elena.  We also decided to buy some clothes for the other kids at the orphanage.  Before we left we checked to see if it was fine to get things for the orphanage, and asked what types of items were needed.   Dimitry's list covered almost any clothing things you could think of.  We decided to buy girls and boys mid weight coats, shoes, and socks, figuring everyone else is likely to send the cute dresses and fun shirts. 

There were summer sales, so we were able to buy good quality things.  We will bring them with us on our next trip to Russia, the purpose of  which is to go to court to officially adopt Elena....  Hopefully, this will be in a few weeks.

The kids at the orphanage get good care, but the economy in Russia is tough right now, so some extra things wont hurt.

Ooh la la! Or: An Account of Our Five-Minute Shopping Spree in Paris, Complete with Expository Illustration

On our first trip back home from Russia, our plane transfer was in Paris, onto an Air France flight for a 7 hour trip over the Atlantic and home again.  We had a two hour layover at the Charles  deGaulle Airport, and I had visions of a small rest from our already long day of travels with a wonderful latte and a croissant, plus time to shop for something with a picture of the Eiffel tower on it. 

Even if it is just the airport in Paris, it IS still Paris! 

The airport is gigantic so it took most of the two hours to get to the terminal we would leave from.  We waited for a tram, traveled very slowly in a meadering route from terminal to terminal, then walked forever, took a train, then walked some more before getting to our gate.  That left us with only 10 minutes to get a drink of water, use the bathroom and stop in a store nearby.  Inside I could only find one child's shirt, and it happened to have a picture of the Eiffel tower, and a change purse I liked, so we quickly got those for Elena, then ran over to stand in line to get on the plane..... Which was then delayed for an hour after we boarded....

On the plus side, Air France has an very helpful and polite group of stewards and stewardesses,  and much better food than average airplane food. And you can have a lovely little bottle of the proper wine to go with your meal.