Jet Lag & Independence Day

We've been back in Kiev a little over a week & officially made it through jet lag.   Coming East seems a bit harder than going the other way - thus we had to pull out some extra tricks of the trade.....

STAY AWAKE till at least 6pm....via swimming...

Going to the mall play zone...

Late evening walks to attempt to tire us out...

(hmm - maybe ice cream along the way isn't the most brilliant)

Good old fashioned caffeine!

(THANKS Kelly for my little frothy machine - totally FAB!  No need to go buy coffee again!)

Don't Take me down with you
When the kids woke up in the middle of the night, they were promptly instructed to do what they wanted - as long as it did not involve me......like Lego's...

And talking into the fan...

After a week with very few plans, we are now into our time zone.  

Just in time for Ukraine's Independence day (Aug 23).  22 years post Soviet rule, the people of Kiev celebrated.....

With National Dress in many iterations

 including of course) sexy....

A parade with floats & dancers...

And of course FAB people watching....

The close up view (note his hair) is critical on this one

And the BEST part of Independence day....the FIRST DAY of school was Tuesday!

While there weren't any floats, I'd never felt quite so free!

Happy back to school 

Here's to freedom for all!

Chicago to Kiev with 400 pounds of essentials

The kids & I flew home this week – each of us allowed 2 – 50 lb bags.  It seemed irresponsible not to bring all 8.  However, when I saw all of them crammed into the van, even I wondered WHAT exactly does one need that adds up to 400 lbs?!

Aside from our clothes, which took up ~2-3 bags, we hauled loot - loads of loot:

Loot you can’t get in Kiev…

Considering we moved here with Mars - OF COURSE there are M&M's & Dove here....but not the PB or Mint varieties!

(You really MUST try these new dark chocolate mint Dove's - YUM!)

And my dirty little secret - contraband Trader Joe's chocolate almonds

Bagels, yes - 96 of them - filled more than 1/2 of one of the 8 cases....

(OK, there IS a vendor who makes & delivers bagels here - but they just aren't the same as Einstein's!)

Baking mixes, Crystal light, black beans & fancy fake sugar....

Fruit snacks & Costco nut squares....

(8 bags & 400 lbs. is a LOT of baggage!)

Loot that’s too expensive in Kiev…

Clearly there is winter gear here - but everything imported is so much more expensive.  8 bags could come for free - how could I not?!

And now that our Lego situation has crossed into an obsession, we cannot afford NOT to bring those from home (~2x the price here)

Loot that's probably here, but too perplexing to find….

Given how much baking there is here, I KNOW Baking Powder must exist.  But at $0.89 and just 1 pound, it's easier to pack a box than to figure out what is what.....

Toiletries, OTC meds & hair dye....I know Ukrainians use these - but OMG way too many varieties

(I have questionable enough results with American dyes / English instructions - practically an unintentional blond at the moment)

If you've read many of my previous posts, you know there is LOADS of booze in Kiev.  But we're still struggling to find stuff like you get in Napa.  And I've yet to see a 3L double-magnum.  So of course, it had to come!

And of course, who could live without a Rechargeable Mosquito Hitting Swatter?!

(Logan + the way too easy Amazon Prime are fully responsible for this one!)

When she saw the mound of goods, our cleaning lady was concerned that I thought there were ‘deficits’ in Kiev.  But as our friend Sussie says, you grow to the size of your fish bowl!

So, necessity or not,  here's to the comforts of home - even if they have to be hauled in a suitcase.

Chicago - while we were out

Since we didn’t go home over Christmas, it had been ~a year since we were last in Chicago.  What a difference a year makes!

YEAH for bikes!

Bike lanes have been springing up all over & while 5 years ago, the bikers were mostly the hard-core messenger type, now you see people in dresses.

The city even installed tons of shared bike stations 

And thanks to the double-tandem, we were able to get the whole family out for several spins

Outgrowing old haunts

The bad news with being away is suddenly realizing our old haunts are no longer 'age appropriate'

Climbing structure at the zoo.  We LOVED this - used to go all the time & now Q has aged out of it....

A neighborhood park the kids spent endless days at - Adam's - was deemed 'baby-ish'  - and Q aged out of their water feature

Luckily you are never too old / big for this park feature...

Gorging on favorites

Another risk with being away, is the gorge fest we feel is justified during visits.....

Chipotle is such a favorite, we stopped there on the way home from the airport

Q loves the crunchy tacos, X a carnitas burrito, Z a large bowl of white rice...

After going 4 times in the first 5 days, I discovered one can burn out on a good thing.  (Sissy is smiling as it was the first of ~4 times we made her dine there with us!)

Clarke's for omelets, pancakes & free WIFI

Mandy B's for cupcakes...

And 7-11 for Slurpees & donuts....

Is it shocking that our pants seem to have all shrunk while we were away?

Packing in the Play dates

We also attempted to make up for lost time with friends - with as many play dates & get togethers as possible...

(the best/only shot I could get of these 5 kids together!)

Including day trips to the horse races...

And 6 Flags...

Cramming in the annuals

Unfortunately, not all of the loading up is on friends & frosting.  We also get the joy of cramming a year's worth of doctor and car registration etc. into the short time in town...

Bittersweet farewell

Leaving a good vacation is hard, but leaving our constantly improving Sweet Home Chicago is even harder.   

Here's to home & celebrating your favorites!

California – friends, family, sunshine & the wheels starting to fall off

We spent the past 2 weeks in California – first in Lake Tahoe, then in Sunnyvale – visiting friends & family and continuing our vacation buffet of summer.  

Highlights included:

Floating the Truckee river - with Bernauer cousins (pictured) + Welsh & family - SOOOO fun!

(It cost me my iPhone – turns out an empty Dorito’s bag is not water-pfoof - but well worth it!)

Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is simply gorgeous

And Northstar makes the living easy...houses right on the golf course

A Village with restaurants & skating...

Organized crafts at the pool...

Playing with cousins...

International Birthday Day
EJAM held a group birthday celebration for us - with a trip to the movies...

And a 'pick your own gift' at Target

Zoe picked a pillow pet, the boys pooled their budget for Lego's

Topped with dinner of the group faves...

Ethic cuisine
Living in Kiev leaves us craving variety.  Northern California is a great place to load up
Middle Eastern fast food @ Dish N Dash....

Fish Tacos @ Rubio's...

BUT....
While we enjoyed nothing but blue skies and sunshine, 6+ weeks after leaving home, morale among our troops deteriorated....

Xavier alternated between saying he hates me & fighting his siblings to sit next to me

(shown in San Jose refusing to walk down the street with me)

Quincy holds firm that life would be better as an only child....

(shown ripping Zoe's decorations off the robot the 3 built together at the museum)

Thanks Bart & Nancy & EJAM for hosing our California adventures!  As always, the time went too fast.

Here's to fab summer vacations AND looking forward to our own beds.