Visit from Christiaan and Nathan!

We were thrilled when our good friend Christiaan asked if he and Nathan could come visit for a long weekend!  Of course!  Brandon was able to take a day off and show them the sites while I managed kids and school, but don't worry!  We got a couple of babysitters, too, so we could all go out a few times before they left.

On their first day, they stopped at Victory Park, and then on to Bunker 42!  It's 65 meters (about 213 feet) underground, and apparently it's about 18 flights of stairs down--and then all the way back up again!

Then we met up for dinner in the library room at Pushkin Cafe (and somehow didn't take any pictures).  The meal was delicious!  Afterwards we stopped briefly in the Елисеевский магазин.  It's a crazy fancy grocery store that Brandon and I used to frequent when we lived in Moscow before, but apparently never made an appearance on the blog.  What?  Good thing we can rectify that now!

If you can't stand the prices, just look up at the ceiling!

The next day the boys went on a tour of the Kremlin Armory, saw all the Red Square excitement, and then stopped by the Christ our Savior Cathedral.

After seeing the Fallen Monuments Graveyard, I met up with them at the New Tretyakov Gallery and then we all had some Georgian for dinner.

We wrapped up their trip with a final stop at the Novodevichy Convent.  

We loved having Christiaan and Nathan here for a few days!  Come again when it gets warm!

One Year in Moscow!

I made the family take a commemorative photo.

ONE YEAR!  I can't believe that we've been here that long--it's gone by so quickly!  We celebrated (a week late, due to sick kids) by going to an indoor trampoline park...

...and then walking to a restaurant down the street (Italian, as is fitting from our first restaurant experience last year).

We are loving it here in Moscow.  Obviously there are some pros and cons to this move, but for now we will stay as long as they'll let us!  Here's hoping for many more years to come!

Russian Language Practice

I just love watching this!