A 'Sore Feet' Kind of Day :)

Today was a busy day :)  A good-busy day!  Before we left the apartment, we decided it needed a clean sweep.  Lets just say that after 11 days of three people in one bathroom, some work had to be done :)  After about 10 minutes, the place was shiny and we were off on another adventure.

We decided that the Caves Monastery would be too much of a hassle, as much as we'd like to go.  Luda said it's somewhat difficult to find, and we didn't feel like calling a taxi.  She also said that skirts and scarves are required - but we didn't have skirts.  So today we decided to visit three historical churches in the area.  St. Sofia, St. Andrew, and St. Michael.  We took the green line to Zoloti Vorota, and after asking a few people about St. Sofia, we found our way.  Once we got there, we realized that we were very, very close to Kreshatyk and probably could have walked :)  Lesson learned.

St. Sofia

If we had done a little more research, we would have learned that St. Sofia bell tower & museum is closed on Thursdays.  Bummer.  So we walked to St. Andrew's.

This is the view of St. Michael's from St. Sofia's. 

We knew the location well, seeing as it's next to the SDA.  There are tons of vendors selling souvenir's there, so we hoped to get some shopping done, too.  We also wanted to show Rachel the SDA - that's where all the 'magic' happens :)  This bug on the statue is supposed to be 'good luck' if you rub it.

St. Andrew's.  It's under construction right now, because it's literally sliding into the Dnipro.

Everyone adopting from here gets a photo taken here, at the SDA.  Well - when we came for our appointment, Jake took a photo of me, and I took a photo of him.  Today, Rachel was able to take a photo of BOTH of us!

Rachel found AWESOME gifts for her sister and brother at the little vendors.  Can't wait to see Josh's reaction ;)  And we got 15 small 'Gotcha Day' Anniversary gifts for Carter - enough until he is 18 years old.  

After our shopping and SDA fun, we headed to a restaurant that was recommended to us by a family that was here in the summer.  It's literally right across the street from St. Andrew's.  I would most definitely recommend it to anyone coming after us!  It is a little French restaurant/cafe...the inside is very nice, but we felt comfortable in jeans and sweatshirts.  The prices were decent...less than TGIFriday's.

We tried to get all three of us in this picture using the mirror.  If you look closely, you'll see Jake's head between Rachel & I.  It looks like he's about 5 tables away...I know :)

Oh how I wanted to tuck this pumpkin in my bag and take it back to the apartment.  Have I mentioned I'm jonesin' for a Wisconsin autumn?

I ordered this creamy pumpkin soup with chestnuts...it was so - so - SO good!  A little more savory and less sweet than my Grannie's - so it wasn't quite like home...but close enough!!

After our late lunch, we called Luda to call us a cab.  He was at the SDA within 5 minutes, and took us to the orphanage.  He was the craziest driver that we've had...I feared for my life a few times.  Niko has spoiled us - because we feel VERY safe when he's driving.  This guy...not so much.

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A pre-warning...not sure what's up with the videos.  Keep in mind, this is Eastern European internet...and the uploading stiiiinks :)  If they don't work...just know that they were super cute :)

Carter's eye is totally back to normal.  Today's visit was great - he was a happy, bubbly guy.  Most of it was spent doing this:

He pulled the belt out of my coat, and it entertained him for quite a while.  Lately, he's been doing something very sweet.  I wish we could get it on camera, because I'm sure it's a stage and I don't know how long it will last.  But he'll be on my lap, in the middle of exploring something, or playing with something, and he'll suddenly do what we call a 'tackle hug'.  He just throws down what he's doing and shoots forward, arms around my neck, head on my shoulder.  If I'm not paying attention, I could possibly get a black eye :) But, I really, really love it.

Carter learned something new in the last 2 or 3 visits!  A high-five!  I'm sure he does it to get the tickles afterward...but he definitely gets it :)  And his papa is so, so proud.




One Thing I Know For Sure: This 10 day wait is OVER!!!  High-five :)