Do I or Don't I?....That is the Question

Hello Butterfly Travels. Do you remember me? I am your Mommy. The one who created you. The one who worked long and hard on you. The one who abandoned you. You ask what are my excuses? I only have one: life got away from me. Do you accept my apology?

I am sure I no longer have anyone looking at my website since I have been gone for so long. I was all excited when I got a new look for my blog, but once I got home from Moscow, Russia last summer I didn't have the energy to continue. I am not sure why. I LOVE reading my friends' blogs and even some that I have stubbled across. So, here I sit at my computer trying this blog thing out again.

Once again we find ourselves in Moscow, Russia. Cliff is still working on the same golf course here. We are living in the same Dacha (house) as last summer. So, when we arrived a few weeks ago it felt like we arrived at our summer home. Crazy. It felt very comfortable. The girls knew their rooms and the routine right away. As far as jet leg. We all adjusted so quickly. Probably the quickest ever. I am not a huge fan of jet leg, but this one was doable.

I traveled with the girls alone again. My first attempt was last summer when we left a bit early due to the heat and fires that smogged the city. It went so well that I thought I would try it again. It went very smoothly and the girls are getting to be great travelers. We had our layover in NY and then straight to Moscow from there. Our plan wasn't full on the long flight which allowed each girl to sprawl out when they slept. They slept way longer than normal. It was a nice wind down time for me. I even allowed myself to have a beer and a movie. That DOESN'T normally happen. Yeah for me! :)

Now we are into our Russia schedule. And now I hope to keep up with my blog this summer.

Please check back for our Russia adventures.

Changes

Wow a lot has happened since I posted last. I just couldn't post when my blog was so messed up. It was driving me crazy!


In no particular order (because blogger frustrates me sometimes and the pictures are not the order I put them in)!

Our baby turned 4 years old in October.
Madison & MacKenzie started Kindergarten in September.
Madison lost her first tooth.
MacKenzie lost her first tooth.
I flew from Moscow to Minnesota with the girls by myself for the first time. Since we have been traveling with kids (when M&M were 3 months old) I have always had someone helping me travel. I have had some wonderful support from family to friends. But, I decided I could try it solo and it went just fine. The girls were so good. Here is a picture of them in the Amsterdam airport. They loved all of the cows in the airport.

I hope you like my new blog's make over. I am excited that things are back in order and I can catch you all up on our daily lives. Check back soon!

New Look

Watch for the new look coming in the next month. My blog is kind of out of sorts right now. Come back soon and check it out.

Work in Progress

I am in the process of trying to change some things on my blog. That is why things are all over the place. Please check back in the near future.

Heat Wave

It has been quite the month here in Moscow, Russia. We have had some seriously hot days in the 90's and even 100's. These are some of the hottest days in Russian history. The stores have been sold out of any and all fans or air conditioners. Good thing we bought ours before the heat wave started. We have not had any rain in over a month which has caused many peat moss fires. Crops and lives have been lost due to the heat. The smoke has put a blanket over the city of Moscow. The government has advised to keep windows closed and stay in doors as much as possible. The pollution levels are 10 times over the safe level. It doesn't affect us as much where we are, but when the wind blows the smoke our direction it is so strong that it seems there is a fire in the back yard. We haven't been out doors as much as normal because of this. And not having any air conditioning in our house has been a challenge as well. The upstairs gets so hot that we have all been camping out in our guest bedroom on the main level (see photo below). It has worked out well and the girls seem to sleep much better with Mommy and Daddy so close.

Because it has been so dry it has been causing MacKenzie to get bloody noses. These always seem to happen in the middle of the night. Cliff picked up a humidifer for our bedroom. We are hoping this helps the poor peanut.

The kids have been such troopers and have not complained about the heat or the smoke. They have been having such a fun summer filled with so many things. To help remember the summer I listed some of the fun things we have done:

1. pool fun
2. bubbles
3. bike rides
4. playground
5. side walk chalk
6. sprinkler
7. watching tad poles turn into frogs
8. catching frogs and toads
9. catching butterflys
10. picking strawberries and raspberries from our back yard
11. growing potatoes (thanks to Grandpa)
12. outdoor picnics
13. coloring
14. stickers
15. eating ice cream
16. painting
17. going to Red Square
18. picking out and playing with nesting kittens
19. playdoh
20. getting new toys/coloring books that Mommy brought from home
21. new movies
22. 4th of July celebration in Moscow
23. exploring big house
24. playing with toys that came with the house
25. reading books that came with the house
26. bath in a huge tub
27. play Russian game with kids at playground
28. learning Russian words

These are ones that came to mind. Like I said, the kids have had a fun summer so far.

Hit-n-Miss

Because our internet here in Moscow is unpredictable I am not sure how often I will be able to post. Most days it won't even let me sign into my blog account. I will do the best I can at keeping you all up to date on our summer adventures.