Sept 23 - hi from 'us 3' !

Tues Sept 23 8:30 pm - it's been very cool last few days - down to barely above freezing at night, and up to around 12-16 C during the day. Brrrr! Hi everyone - well we're still doing great and Angelique is wonderful! She's very smart, and certainly knows her own mind! She is speaking more and more, and her understanding of our blend of half-English half-Kazakh is impressive!

Monday we had a quiet morning then went for a HUGE 2-hour walk after A woke up from her nap - we finally got to Panfilov park which is only a few blocks away. Beautiful grounds, a play structure and one of those air-filled bouncy things for kids - very fun! They have a beautiful Soviet-style church that they say is the last remaining building in the world that is 100% made of wood, even the nails! We saw their beautiful war memorial - gorgeous is an understatement. There is an eternal flame, a tribute wall for both WWI and WWII, and an enormous sculpture of soldiers and horses - has to be 80 feet tall and just as wide! So of course we did the touristy thing and took photos....

Today we had a quieter day as Angelique is a little more stuffed up with her cold, and/or she is starting to release some of her anxiety about all the changes in her little world. She had a much longer nap today (2+ hours), plus a couple of upset times - just out of sorts from her regular self. We're hoping for an early night so she can have a big sleep and feel better tomorrow.

We weren't as adventurous today for our walk - we went to the Mothercare store (dept store) and bought Angelique a wind-breaker type long jacket, in fire-engine red! She looks mighty adorable, and I think she likes it as she didn't take it off all evening! Then we walked back and stopped at a small play structure where A played on the swings and on the slide.

We bumped into our friends Bernard and Carole on our walk, who also took custody of their daughter Sasha late last week - it feels odd to not see them every day at our visits, we miss them!

Tonight we had some dinner and played a bit, watched more Bob the Builder (now it's 'Yeop wit ka!'), and we just put her into bed. We'll see if it lasts.... she really needs a big sleep.

So now we'll flake out on the couch, not sure if I even have the energy for Tony Soprano....... have a great day!

take care- lots of love
N&P&A