The newest Muscovites!

Well, we did it...we made it to Moscow!  Here is a snapshot:

The anxiety I had built up for the flight was not warranted.  The flight was great.  The kids slept the majority of the time and when they were awake the gadgets, movies, and food kept them content.

We had to be creative when it came to entertainment in the hotel.  Here the boys are, "surfing in Moscow" as they put it.

And Dan tried to wrestle some energy out of the kids each night, but the jet lag won and the kids and I spent most of the nights in the hotel wide awake.  My goal was to keep the kids quiet enough that we didn't disturb the other guests there for the G-20 summit.  I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders.  If my kids kept these diplomats from having a good nights rest their judgment would be impaired and I would be responsible for the demise of civilization...  My jet lagged thought process might have been a tad irrational, but those were not the easiest nights for us.

While Dan was at work each day, I summoned my courage and took the kids on mini-excursions around the city.  We have seen a lot of playgrounds, parks, and monuments.

One of my first adventures out by myself with the kids was to the Moscow Zoo.  It wasn't too far from our hotel so I walked.  On our way, a security guard in a booth we walked past resorted to sign language to communicate with me after Russian didn't work.  I have had many people go the extra mile to try to communicate with me.  Very thoughtful.  But, this one stands out.  The security guard grabbed my hand, drew with his finger and did a little finger dance on my palm, guesstured forward, pointed to my children and used his finger to slit his throat.  I panicked!!!  I had no idea what he was trying to say until the throat thing and then wasn't sure I wanted to stick around to understand.  I'm sure I gave him a look of horror and just booked it down the street.  I was shaken up all day until Dan finally deciphered it for me that night.  The nice guy was trying to warn us of impending danger if we tried to cross an intersection up ahead...and had we tried to cross the intersection he was referring to he would have been right.  You do not cross big Moscow city streets, but we are able to navigate the underpasses fairly well.

Toward the end of our zoo trip, after dodging a teenage brawl at the entrance, purchasing tickets in my mutilated Russian, and trying our very best to blend in with the locals (which we failed at before we even opening our mouths) a lady switched over to English to ask how I got all 3 kids to the zoo.  She assumed we had taken the metro, which everyone does, and couldn't figure out how I did it with 3 kids.  I realized I was one of the few people there with three children...and the only one by myself with three children.  As much as I try to blend in...we do stand out.  But most of the time people are especially kind and thoughtful of us and if they are telling me I'm crazy, it's lost in translation!

One of my favorite moments was sitting next to a babushka at the zoo park and after our two sentence conversation when I had exhausted my language abilities she decided it didn't matter if I understood or not, we could still be friends.  So she just kept on chatting with me and playing with Amy. I couldn't translate the words but I could translate the spirit of them...  Human kindness at it's best.

Jet lag in action...

 After a few days in a hotel we moved to a temporary apartment just a few blocks from Red Square and it has been an amazing opportunity to live here in the center for a while before heading out to the suburbs for our "permanent" residence.  There is so much history and culture to experience everywhere we look.  Plus, it's been a good challenge for us to figure out logistics in a city apartment with little ones.  I am very grateful for an elevator in our building...I would have preferred it started on the first floor rather than the second but it gives me such a sense of accomplishment after a long grocery shopping trip to get 3 car seats, 3 kids, jugs of water for the week, and groceries up to our apartment.

Laundry has been another adventure...  I still don't know if I'm using the washing machine right and Benson is my dryer when the sun doesn't go fast enough.

Here are a few shots of our explorations around the city center.  But know that taking pictures is usually the last thing on my mind during our adventures so this is the best I can come up with...

Festival of flowers at Red Square.

  I should start a tally of all the playgrounds we stop at.

 This was a little fairy house at Gorky Park.  Spence was excited about something!

Lunch on the Moscow River.

 I Love Moscow!

 This is the Russian fabulist Ivan Krylov at Patriachy Ponds...

 and one of several statues of his fables...

We unintentionally approached the Bolshoi Theater from behind which was the perfect dramatic introduction for the little boys.  We came around the corner and they looked up to see the horses of Apollo's chariot towering over them.  They were fascinated!   That is until they noticed guys feeding the birds next to us.  Sight seeing with little ones is funny.  I never know what will catch their attention...sometimes they point out things I'd never notice but I'm grateful for their perspective.

Thanksgiving, Spence's Birthday, and Amy's Blessing Day

We had Thanksgiving in Dallas with Grandparents and cousins!  They have an amazing community playground for the kids that was extra fun with cousins.  Cousin Carly was so good with the little boys.  They adored playing with her!

 Leaving the playground we stopped for a cousin shot!

 And then while I ran into a store with Jen the boys and Dan entertained themselves in the car by making crazy face pictures!

We also played with cousins at the park right by Grandma and Grandpa's house.

 Spence celebrated his 2nd birthday with his cousin Cierra who just turned 4 and Aunt Mia.  They each had their own cakes with their name on it.

 Amy had a tough first day at Grandma and Grandpa's house after too long of a drive!  But after that she warmed up and enjoyed her extended family.  She loves to talk to anyone who will listen!  She's a babbler.

 We went on a little adventure to a museum in McKinney and when we pulled in we were a little leery.  It didn't look like much.  Even as we walked in I wondered if we should stay, but it ended up being tons of fun!  The boys dug for dinosaur bones together.  Of course Benson who has an aversion to sand dug from the rocks on the side.  :)  But Spencer didn't hesitate to make a mess.

 After going through the little indoor museum we headed outside to hunt for dinosaurs.  We went on about a half mile hike meeting life size animatronic dinosaurs roaring, hissing, mooing, and spitting water at us.  The water spitting dinosaur shot his stream a good 20 feet right at us.  It was great!  Spence and Benson thought it was cool but they were pretty realistic and the boys were definitely timid...particularly Benson.  He usually walked on the very edge of the path furthest away from the upcoming dinosaur and sometimes he stood a good 10 feet off the path.  Only with Dan or I right by his side did he get up close and personal with the dinosaurs.  

 The grand finale was this T-rex that would lift it's head high into the trees and roar!  So cool!!

 After our walk through the land of the dinosaurs we went to the mini zoo.  Benson who is my little geographer led the way by following the map they gave us.  We stopped and collected rocks along the path.  The cupholder on the stroller was full by the time we got back to the museum and we had to return all the rocks to their natural habitat.  :)

On the wall behind the boys there were wingspan images of different birds.  The boys decided whose wingspan matched each bird.

Our nurturing little Spencer got a doctor kit for his birthday.  Dan and I returned from a shopping trip to find Grandpa getting his blood pressure checked and receiving shots.

On our last day our little Amy received a beautiful blessing in Grandma and Grandpa's ward.  It was extra special because cousin Jenna was blessed too.  

 Thank you Foster Family for a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

Welcome Amy!

Welcome to Amy!  Our healthy 9 lbs 5 oz and 21 inches long not so little girl has arrived!  She is eating well and sleeping well.  The boys love her I dare say too much and want to be a part of everything Amy...especially naptime and nursing time.  :)

Here she is at 5 days old:

 Meeting her brothers and Grandma for the first time:

Super Heroes

While at Walmart Benson was fascinated with all the Avengers posters and wanted to know more.  I honestly know nothing of the movie but assumed it was something with super heroes so tried to satiate his appetite by explaining super heroes and villains.  And thus began a new phase in the Foster household...Super Heroes!

(You can see our Super Ven poster like the Avengers on the floor under Spencer's feet.)

Fathers & Sons...Mothers & Daughters

Benson and Daniel went on their first Father/Son Campout a couple weeks ago and it was all I heard about for days leading up to it.  The favorite library book of the week was some Mr. McGee's Camping Spree book that I really should have memorized by now.  But all the excitement meant no nap the day of the campout and a late night ahead of Benson.  I guess it all went great and it lived up to every expectation Benson had until it was time to go to sleep.  Benson and Dan stayed up until 11:30 tossing and turning, switching beds (sleeping bag on floor vs cot...Benson couldn't decide which he liked better), and listening to all the fun going on outside the tent.  Benson was so wound up that by 11:30 he was at a breaking point.  He decided he didn't want to sleep in the tent and he just wanted to sleep in his bed.  Lucky for Dan...his bed was 5 minutes away!  (It was a Stake Father/Son Campout on some property behind our church)  So, the boys left their tent and snuck home to sleep in their own beds and were back to the camp in time for breakfast the next morning.  Dan decided that was a pretty good way to camp...all-in-all a successful campout! 

Meanwhile, back at home...Spencer and I had our own fun reorganizing the kitchen!  I wish I had done it sooner but glad it's done now because come August I'll be a little busier around here with our new little GIRL!  I'm due the end of August and so far the pregnancy has been smooth!  We just have to survive the hot Houston summer!  We're really excited to have a little girl join our family and I'm especially excited that she's number 3.  I was number 3 in my family too and it's a good place to be!

My Kind of Fun...

I was so impressed with an exhibit at the Houston Rodeo this year!  The kids entered a "farm" by walking through a silo and were given a bucket to fill with goods while they worked the farm.  Hay bales guided their way through the chicken coop, cow barn, and sheep barn which had live animals attached to them and pretend animals inside where they could milk, sheer, and collect eggs.  There was an orchard of wooden kid sized trees where they picked fruit, a garden where they planted seeds in the dirt and collect vegetables.  At each station they collected something...an egg, milk carton, sheeps wool, fruits, vegetables...and put it in their basket.  They took their basket to the market where they deposited their goods in baskets to sell and were given money for their hard work.  The last stop on the trail was the general store where they went inside and chose a treat from a barrel to buy with the money they had earned!  I loved it!!  The boys did too. :)  There was a lot of work that went into that exhibit but I was so grateful for it!  Very well done.  I only took a couple pictures but this was a corn box to play in near the vegetable garden.  

And Benson rode this tractor before heading to the market to sell his goods.

 I was having too much fun playing at the rodeo that I didn't take many pictures.  So on our way out I made the boys stop by a tractor for a picture.  Proof we were there...maybe I'm in the reflection?

 I love how the simplest things in life bring so much excitement to these boys!  Green milk and lucky charms brought hours of fun on St. Patrick's day but then days of fun talking about those silly leprechauns.

 And one of my new favorite places in Houston...the Downtown Children's Museum.  I had heard it was great for older kids but wasn't worth it for the younger.  But decided to try it out with the boys thanks to Groupon.  We came home and couldn't stop talking about it.  The boys spent several hours there and didn't think twice about lunch when the time came and went...they were so enthralled with it all!  So, we've been back several times since then and this last time we finally brought Dan to see all the hype.  He had more fun than the boys!  I love these kinds of places...educational, entertaining, and just fun!

We made rockets very quickly and spend a lot of time launching them!  I wish I had a good shot of Spencer launching his rockets.  I eventually had to pull him away kicking and screaming!

 Their little engineering minds at work.  They made lego cars to race down big tracks and figured out which models survive the big drop and which don't.

 The boys did some fishing on a boat in an old village.

 Benson explored the science of balance with several challenges.

 This part made me laugh because my boys love bathtime and playing with water.  This was right up their ally and they spent lots of time running boats down the streams, turning on and off water valves, and connecting pipes to fountains.  But the child I could not pull away was Daniel.  It was ridiculous!  I can see why he chose engineering.

Anyway, we love the Children's Museum!  I know it's on Benson's mind a lot because he'll randomly reassures me that "The museum is closed so we can't go there today but we'll go another day."  He's repeating verbatim the words he's heard me say countless times.

I'm so grateful for people who give their time, energy, and resources to create wholesome places like this for  us to explore!  Thank you, thank you!