Yaroslavl

A couple months ago, Brandon ran into some friends he knew from when he served in Yaroslavl on his mission.  When he told them that we had lived in Moscow for the past year, they were upset that we hadn't been to visit yet.  Um, yeah.  We were way overdue.  So we booked some train tickets to spend a weekend.

The last time Brandon or I had been to Yaroslavl was eleven years ago (I'll pause here while you read the blog post I wrote about it) so it is to be expected that our experience this time was a little different.  First of all, we had a much nicer train experience--reserved seats, complimentary snacks and water--and then it was a short taxi ride to the apartment we stayed in (which was a good reminder for us that the apartment we have in Moscow is nothing like a typical Russian apartment) which was within walking distance of the center.

Our friend Sveta met us Saturday morning and was so nice to spend the day showing us around the city.  Our first stop was a ride on Eastern Europe's largest ferris wheel--but there was so much to see on our way!

Then we walked....

...over to the Spassky Monastery.

We said hello to the bear that lives at the monastery...

...and then climbed to the top of the bell tower to see the view.

A few more pictures around the monastery and it was time to move on.

All clothing coordination was unintentional.

This time we rode on a ferry to a nearby convent.

The ferry was pretty crowded, so Kiddo and I spent most of the time 

standing near the rail and looking at the view.

After landing, we looked around the convent for awhile and then took the bus back to town.

No pants for women, or shorts in general, so Kiddo and I had to borrow 

a skirt to wear while we were exploring the convent.

Then we saw the Church of Elijah...

...the Eternal Flame and the Grand Cathedral...

...and Strelka Park.

By this time we were all pretty exhausted, but we we made a quick stop at an amusement park to let the kids ride a roller coaster before calling it a day.

The next morning we attended church before taking the train back to Moscow.  There were a few people that Brandon recognized, but it is a small group.  Sveta is the primary president so she spoiled the kids and they each left with candy and cakes for the ride home.  It was a fun, whirlwind trip to Yaroslavl, and I'm so glad we finally made it back!

World Cup: Portugal vs Morocco

Technically, the kids didn't actually go to the last day of school.  We got World Cup tickets for Kiddo and, rather than check them out early on a half day, they just didn't go at all.  I don't think I've ever seen Kiddo excited about missing school before.  (The girls stayed home with a babysitter; the pre-World Cup game experience showed us that they mostly cared about the hot dogs.)

We metroed to the stadium, and even in the metro, the excitement from the other fans was palpable.  Spontaneous singing and cheers, flags and signs--it was just a taste of what the game was going to be like.

On the walk from the metro to the stadium there were dozens of Russian volunteers, smiling and asking for high-fives, and pointing the way.  In front of the stadium were booths for food and games.  We stoppled for some ice cream and then headed inside to find our seats.

Can you see the crowd waiting to get in?

And then the game!  The crowd was almost as fun to watch as the game was.  We got World Cup fever for sure!

Last Day of School Party 2018

Last day of school picture!

(Click here for first day of school)

This school year has really flown by and it has been a great one!  We will really miss these teachers!

But the end of the school also means one big thing around here: End of School Party!  The theme for this year was pretty obvious: World Cup!

Each child got their own Zabivaka figurine, a 'FOOTBALL IS LIFE' sweat band, and soccer ball glasses.  There was also about 50 soccer player trading cards to add to their already large collection (Kiddo has the entire set, BG is still missing three), soccer ball candies (a tootsie roll center covered in milk chocolate with a candy shell--not as good as it sounds), a soccer ball-shaped water bottle (which we were going to bring outside with us while we played soccer, but decided against it), and some official World Cup paper plates and cups.  I also put a soccer ball banner across the living room wall.  

A few weeks beforehand, when I was buying all this stuff for the party, I thought that I had gotten a pretty good representation of World Cup-based stuff, but as the games got closer, I realized that this is all pretty tame.  I could have gotten way more.  (More on that in a later post.)

I told Kiddo he could watch the match while the girls and I did a soccer ball craft, which they loved.  Pizza for dinner and more World Cup watching made it officially summer break!