Crying and Whining! Me, that is, not the children.

Posting from: Ukraine Hotel,MoscowRussia
Local time at writing: 9:45 am Sunday September 17
Local time at posting: 8:00 am Monday September 18
Weather: Perfect - clear, warm, light breeze

Ai Yi Yi!

Or as Juliana would say, “Oy!”

It was a dreadful flight. Though there is much to be thankful for, -- Andy and Juliana and I got bulkhead seating so Andy didn’t kick anyone the whole flight, and there were no screaming meltdowns – we didn’t get to sit with Jamie and the bathrooms were vile. Vile is the nicest word I can think of. So vile that I waited the whole nine hour flight. The kids could not, so we held Juliana up in the air above the toilet and hoped for the best.

We did finally arrive in Moscow and were met by Andrei who transported us to our hotel. We were thinking, “okay, feed the kids, baths, and bed” as it was midnight on kid time. Nope! Paperwork with Andrei time. Have I mentioned that Andy is a bit hyper in new situations? He is. And this was new. So there we were, trying to do paperwork with two children bouncing off the walls and we didn’t dare lay down the heavy hand of the law as these same two children had no naps and were up way too late and had not eaten and a Screaming Fit was in the making. So, we get through the paperwork. Food, Baths, Bed? Nope. The next delay was well worth it and we are grateful, as usually one has to get up really early to see the Embassy clinic doctors before applying for the children’s visas. I suppose since we arrived on the weekend and have Monday embassy appointments, we got to have a housecall. I really don’t know why; I didn’t expect it.

As we couldn’t leave the room because the doctor is coming, we ordered some food up from room service and tried to feed the nearly melting children who each ate three small bites before Doc arrived and got them all excited again. Doc left. Meals were abandoned. Baths were had. Children were in pjs. Children were asleep by 10:00 pm Moscow time (6 am kid time). Happiness. Sleep. Pillows.

Boing! Andy woke up at 2:00 am and I spent the rest of the night making him stay in bed and lay down and be quiet and stay in bed and be quiet and no it’s not morning, hush, stay in bed, no, don’t get up, no, you just peed 10 seconds ago and stay in bed. By 5:30 I was crying and made Jamie wake up and do the next shift. At 7:30 J and the munchkins left so I could sleep. At 7:31 toddlers upstairs woke up and started their laps.

Today we hope to see some of Moscow if no one melts down. I think I am the leading candidate. Poor Jamie. I did do the whole flight of kid-care and most of the paperwork, and the night shift. I think that entitles me to a bit of wobbliness, don’t you?

On a perky note, there are five LUSH stores in Moscow!!

The Ukraine Hotel is huge and rather pretty in an old architecture sort of way. It needs a bit of paint and TLC here and there, but it is more then adequate for our needs. Cots cost extra and cribs are free, so both kids are in cribs.

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Why the lag between writing and posting? We left the hotel yesterday morning and walked the city ALL DAY. We wore our poor kids out until they wobbled. They slept a solid ten hours, as did we last night, so it was worth it.