The past two weeks have been very busy. Colin had his Christmas concert at school, which the girls and I were able to attend. Colin looked so handsome in his shirt and tie. If you are sad that you didn't get to see him all dressed up, don't worry. He will be wearing the same shirt and tie this summer in South Carolina when he makes his first Holy Communion. It was a very nice performance and from where I was sitting it seemed that Colin was singing.
Amalie and Kathleen also had a Christmas performance, but it was completely different from Colin's. Colin goes to an American school, so his concert was really like any you would find in the US. The girls attend a Russian preschool and I have to say I found their performance fascinating, cute, and also a bit odd.
Kathleen's show was first. All of the kids dressed up as bunnies (no idea why, some kind of Russian obsession with bunnies at Christmas time. There are bunny comstumes all over Moscow). They sang some songs and danced around. Kathleen did not participate at first, but she did smile at me the whole time. When they got to the Hokey-Pokey, though, she perked up and was quite good at putting her little bunny tail in and shaking it all about. Her class had a visit from Santa, but unfortunately I had to miss that part because I had to get to Amalie's class to watch her show. In the whole school I am the only parent that has two children attending. You know what breeders Jesy and I are.
Amalie's class did some singing and dancing, and they also did this whole little play where they were cooking in the kitchen. During the middle of the performance one of the teachers (who was dressed up as a goblin, or something) came into the room and started crying that she didn't have a Christmas tree and had no friends. Then Amalie and her classmates had to comfort this creature. Then they went back to singing and dancing. At the end of the performance Santa Clause (not Father Frost as the girls insisted he was) visited. He spoke to the kids all in Russian and it was hilarious to watch Amalie. I know she did not understand much of what he was saying, but boy was she paying attention.Oh, and in the middle of Amalie's performance, Kathleen came running in the room from her show yelling "Mommy, look what Father Frost brought me". I had to quiet her down because she was quite excited about the star pillow she had been give with a bunny on top. The Russians with those bunnies again. But Kathleen did quiet down and she was allowed to sit on a stool in the middle of Amalie's performance and watch her sister. After the shows were over all of the children were allowed to eat the many snacks that had been provided. I noticed that the Russian parents took their children home shortly after this, but most of the American and European moms stood around and chatted. And let our kids run around like lunatics with their sugar high. Hey, better they go crazy at school than in my house.
Last weekend Jesy and I took the kids ice skating at Gorky Park. Well, I should clarify that Jesy took Amalie and Colin skating. My very smart Kathleen and I sat in the warm cafe and drank hot chocolate. I have no interest in ice skating, but I have to say that I have never seen a rink quite like this. Not only did they freeze the center of the park, buy the sidewalks as well. You were able to skate all over the park and there were tv's and lights everywhere and Kathleen and I enjoyed watching all of the Russians and our family skate around.
After skating we went to Papa John's. Here in Moscow they have a sit down restaurant and there is also an indoor playground. It was wonderful- the kids played and Jesy and I actually had a conversation without being interrupted every 2 minutes. And the pizza was pretty good! There were lots of kids to play with and I got a good giggle from Colin. At one point during the meal I looked up at the playground and saw Colin surrounded by a group of Russian children. And he was laughing hysterically. And he had no idea what they were saying to him in Russian. He did make friends with this very cute little Russian girl who followed him around the restaurant during our stay. When we were leaving Jesy told Colin to go say goodbye to this girl. Colin went to say goodbye and as the girl went in for a hug Colin gave her a high five. Jesy could not stop laughing.
I am beginning to think that Colin has a type- an Easter European type. First the Romanian girl in Cedar Falls and now these Russian girls in Moscow.
You are probably wondering as you read this, where is Johnny? Does he ever leave the house? Sadly, no. He often stays at home with the nanny and really only leaves the house to go on walks, go to church, and go to the doctor. Russians have a huge fear of taking little babies out because of all the supposed germs and cold weather. If we took him somewhere we would just spend the whole time getting yelled at in Russian by the old babushkas, so it's really not worth the hassle to me. But John did go to a party last weekend, and next week he will be in Greece. And I promise you we will take him everywhere with us in Athens. Poor kid- here in Moscow is is cold, so when he goes out in the stroller I pull the cover down and he never sees anything. Athens will be so exciting for him! I will leave the cover up and let him see the world!
Speaking of John, I just have to say that he is the sweetest little baby. He reminds me alot of Amalie. He only cries when he wants to be held or is hungry. He smiles all the time now and makes these adorable little noises when I am changing him. I feel like he is trying to talk to me. He adores Amalie and Colin and really looks at them and responds when they are playing with him. Kathleen. Well, you know how it is with her. I think John is a bit terrified of her. One minute she is loving him and then the next minute she is putting a blanket over his face and telling him to be quiet. If he is crying she enjoys crying with him, very loudly and in his face. Kathleen will be in for quite a shock when he gets a bit bigger and really starts messing with her. And yes Mom- I know all of this is payback for how I treated Suzanne. Good thing we will be seeing you in April and you can take over Kathleen duty. And you can feed her!
Merry Christmas friends and family. We miss you and send lots of love from Russia!
No comments:
Post a Comment