Soldiers on swings, Brides on Tampolines, & Bumper cars

Saturday morning we met up with Tami & Brian at the orphanage to take the girls to Extreme Park. We had to call for the "Mercedes Van Taxi" today because we have grown in numbers. On this trip we had Matt & I, Anya, Lyena, Nastiya, Brian & Tami. We left the orphanage just after 10am, as we were only able to keep Nastiya from 10am-1pm. While we were waiting for the taxi we had many "shifts" in Anya's mood. She went from extremely happy to flat out not going and then back to happy. The jealously thing again, I would have to guess she is going thru so many emotions and so much anxiety about her future and all the changes ahead, that at times she does not even know her own thoughts. Lyena handled this all very well, she told us at one point when Anya had stormed off that she knew Anya was doing this because of her, and that we should not judge her as Anya is not like this, and this is not her as she is normally. Matt made it very clear to Lyena that it does not matter either way if Anya chooses to act this way, and that she is still important enough to us that we will not allow this to interfere with our plans. We are trying very hard to find the right balance with the girls to make them feel secure and cherished while at the same time keep things in check and not allow the mood swings and jealously dictate how our day goes.

All was great by the time we got to the park, and Anya sang to us her Russian music from the MP3 player almost the entire ride there. All three girls were very excited when we arrived and each one had the idea of what they would ride. It was agreed that we would first all ride the "Crazy Train" roller coaster. After this Ice cream was suggested by Nadia, and this would lead to the absolute worst breakfast/lunch any of us have ever eaten. This would include a combination of ice cream, Popsicles, chips, peanuts, pizzas, sausage rolls, and some very strange smelly dehydrated fish jerky type stuff that Lyena wanted. All the kids ate it happily and seemed to enjoy this, Matt, Brian & Tami tasted it and regretted every bite, I refused to try this and am very glad that I did.

Immediately following the Breakfast of champions, Anya & Lyena decide this is the time to ride the one that flips them around in complete circles over and over! The screams could be heard for miles away. Then Nastiya and Lyena headed for the Ukraine version of "Tower of Doom" you know the one that takes you way up in the air and just drops all of a sudden, oh the looks on their faces, Nastiya informed us through Nadiya that she is not doing that ever again!

Next was to the Flying Swings, but we had to wait because apparently these were in process of being used for basic training for the Ukrainian Army( See the recently added photos for these soldiers on swings) Anya & Nasitya had a good time on the swings. But the best part was the bumper cars, I think we rode these a total of five times. Lyena was the most dangerous, both Matt and Brian decided they are going to pay way too much for auto insurance in the near future. After spending some time at the souvenir stand and carefully chosen bracelets and necklaces were bought, we had just enough time for one last ride and a group photo. It was on the walk to the outer gate for the group photo that Anya's mood shifted again, we had her refusing to be in this said "group photo" and she was apparently no longer part of our group. After some pleading on my part and bargaining by Nadiya, Matt pulled out the "papa tone" which worked quite well, she was now again part of our group. As Matt would have you know the score was now Papa-3 Ukrainian Orphan-0.

The constantly shifting moods with Anya continued in the parking lot where we were waiting for our van taxi. Were now discussing how to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening, and if Anya would want to go back to the orphanage or stay with us and go back to our apartment. First she wanted to stay with us, then she did not, then she did and then not. Nadiya and her had many words, Nadiya is now fairly frustrated with Anya who is indeed acting like a small child. Matt and I discussed this on the way back to the orphanage and decided it was time to draw the line and put an end to this pattern. Since Anya's last verbal request was to stay at the orphanage, we would not allow her to come with us if she changed her mind after we arrived. She did not change her mind and ask to come with us because I am fairly certain she heard our discussion on the way in the van and can understand our English much more than she wants us to know. So we said our goodbyes, and tomorrows and went on our way. It was hard to leave her, but we hope it is for the best and that she will not continue this back and forth game next time we visit.

Brain, Tami & Nadiya were off to the attorney to do some more paperwork and Matt & I decided to walk back to the apartment. On our way we wanted to stop at a grocery on the other side of the Fountain park, so we walked thru the park. This is where we encountered at least 10 different wedding parties all over the park. There were brides everywhere we looked! Even brides jumping on trampolines! Only in Ukraine!(see photos, for a small sample of these brides.) We asked Nadiya about this later, was this a special holiday for weddings or why so many? And we are told this is just a typical Saturday- we can not figure it out very weird stuff.

After this walk in the park and the stop at the market we went back to the apartment to meet up with Nadiya, Brian & Tami. After a while at the apartment we would go out to the pizza place for dinner ad then home to bed.

Sunday

Today was a rather uneventful day. We picked up the girls (Anya & Nastiya) at 10:00 and took taxi's to the Market Place. Matt decided if he had to endure the Market Place on a Sunday then so did Brian. We had a goal of finding each girl an outfit for court. Again to day we had to have Nastiya back to the orphanage by 1:00 and accomplishing this goal in 3 hours was not going to be easy. We got off to a great start when our taxi turned instead of following the Fields taxi when it went straight, so we were dropped of on the opposite side of the market Place. This would not be a big deal we would just call, and this is when we found out our minutes on our phone expired and we could not call. Thank God for Anya, who was able to understand us and help us find a place in the Market to purchase the MTS minute cards. So after this is done and the phone is updated and activated, Anya calls Nadiya to find a place to meet up. After three phone calls and walking in huge circles(taking directions from a 15 year old again) we finally find Nadiya and can meet the Fields and begin this shopping mission.

After many battles over size and tightness and height of the heels and one very embarrassing shirt suggestion from Mama to one future teenage daughter ,that I am choosing NOT to blog about because Brian already told me he would be sure to cover this in HIS and I am sure he will, (if not Matt will they just love it when the Mom makes these very rare mistakes) We accomplished our mission and both Anya and Nastiya have very nice appropriate court outfits. We even had time to get Tami her makeup, me my perfume, DVD's for Twyla's Misha and Brian his Ukrainian underwear. All and all it was a pretty good trip to the Market Place and now Brian and Matt can say they survived shoe shopping with women in Ukraine.

A few more updates on us and the whole process. We expect to go to court on Tuesday or Wednesday, hopefully Nadiya will a get a definite answer tomorrow for us. We received an email from Christine and Mark Niles, Masha's parents, the one that we thought may be coming back to try to adopt Lyena, and it seems that this may be their plan after all. I am waiting for another email back and a little more details, and Nadiya will discuss this with Ludmilla in the morning, but the way things look today we will not be coming back for her next November, and we are just happy that she will be with a family who loves her. Anya was much more mellow today and consistently happy, and well behaved we did not have the attention seeking pouting or mood swings we are hoping this continues and our strategy from Saturday worked.

Check out the photos for our day at Extreme Park, and we will write again tomorrow with any updated news. Love, Aimee