Bring on the Bottles! (Quincy says, beer please)

We tend to be a family of many beverages.  And given EVERYTHING we drink here comes from a bottle (only brave locals drink from the tap), we generate quite a lot of empties.  

This past weekend we hosted a Newcomers Wine & Cheese party, resulting in a significant load....

After a year of longing for our fab blue bins (recycling containers right in our alley), we put some clues together and figured out there IS recycling in Kyiv.....you just need to look a bit closer....

The random dude in the alley of the 'Babushka market'???.....

He's actually running a legit recycling business.....

Roll up, drop your bottles & get a fair price (with CLEARLY LISTED VALUES and everything!!!)

Our first load (mostly beer bottles) net us 7 hryvna (~$1).  The kids were excited & decided to use our recycling funds to save up for a pet.....

However, we experienced a harsh let down when our big load from the Wine & Cheese party only paid out a whopping 2 hryvna (~25 cents)!

We were shocked.....BUT alas, it turns out all bottles are not equal.....

A big beer bottle will net you 20 kopeks...

Meanwhile, a wine bottle - a BIG FAT ZERO!!!

So Quincy says, come on over & have a drink - just please make it a beer.


However, Logan & I - being relatively 'wine biased' - are still inclined to pop corks - despite the zero $ glass return.....AND after discovering a new wine party trick, are even more eager to share the joy.

YES, it's a dry erase marker to write your name on your wine glass (no confusing wine glass markers to remember)

And, YES - it wipes right off.  Frankly, you don't even need to wipe it off - the dishwasher does the trick too!

So if you are as impressed with this trick as we were, drop Quincy 20 kopeks to put in his pet fund & we'll pour you some wine instead of a beer.


Here's to wine, recycling and the magic of a dry erase marker!

Sticking with Tradition

Word is, when you move overseas, you're supposed to keep as many traditions & special celebrations intact as possible.  I kind of blew that one last Christmas (trying to pass 3 silver sparkly decorations off as our Christmas Tree), so for Xavier's 7th birthday today we went traditional.....3 key steps:

1) Breakfast in Bed
Started the day with breakfast & a present in bed.....

I can't remember when we started this tradition, but I am fairly certain we must have initiated this when someone's big day was NOT a weekday.

Tonight Quincy explained that it wasn't that Xavier was not excited about his present - it was just that he was still half asleep....

....after a sugary breakfast - he did perk up to build a space ship before school

(Yes - this is what you too would look like if you had 2 cinnamon twists for breakfast)

2) Celebrate at School

He celebrated in his class & brought in brownies

Just like at home except no pesky food allergies to worry about (maybe it's true about the US being over antibacterial soaped - sure don't see much of that here)

3) Home Birthday party

We had a party at home after school.  One of the great things about our little school is its flexibility.  The kids' school bus brought 7 extra kids to our house for the party.  

We kicked off with some of Xavier's favorite snacks (watermelon, pretzels, Baby bell cheese)

While enjoying some half screw around on the grass half tag 

Then moved onto a birthday party scavenger hunt.....(we've done these for the past 3 years for Quincy's birthday - think a cross between Amazing Race & Animal House)

....given I'd spent the entire day preparing, I might have been the most eager one to start

The kids enjoyed hunting for candy, tossing bean bags, swimming & painting mugs...

But, most noteworthy was the Lego station....  

Not that we needed another reason to LOVE Lego in this household - but seriously - we had 12 boys aged 7-10 totally concentrating and captivated for a FULL 30 MINUTES!

It was like a weird scene from the Twilight Zone

Meanwhile, the 2 girls (Zoe and her BFF Leah) opted out & enjoyed their own girl party....

And of course we had a cake.  Xavier requested a Lego cake.  I said "Great - what color block do you want?"

But, no....he wanted a Lego GUY cake!  I asked him to bring me some of his favorite guys that would be easy to make & we could pick the easiest among them.  Here's what he considers easy to make.....

Huh?! 

I pushed for some easier ones & got these....

So we went with the one that seemed semi possible...

And thanks to our US imports of canned frosting, food coloring & cake decorations we had ourselves a Lego guy cake!

And while we'll never know if this smile is from the warm embrace of familiar traditions, or just a sugar high.....

...either way, it was worth it

Happy birthday Xavier!

Here's to new adventures anchored in old traditions.

Eric's take on Kyiv

Thanks to an Oracle meeting in Madrid, Eric was able to 'swing by' Kyiv for the weekend.  (As my friend Sussie said, leave it to a Bernauer to say 'since I'll be in Madrid, I may as well pop on over to Kiev'....just 3,600+km away!)

Anyhow, we had a fantastic weekend showing Eric around our haunts.  His take on it all.....


More European than expected.....

Cafes everywhere - even a chocolate cafe!

impressive, old churches

More Developed than expected....

heck - we even have organized 'flash mob' dance practice on the main drag!

Fun, Vibrant city - loads of restaurants, parks, beer gardens & kid friendly too

'hot dog donuts' would sway anyone!

fun play areas

loads of parks

and even beer IN the park!

But still an 'up and coming' air to it (ala Mexico or Greece).....a little rough around the edges & unfinished in places

a house near one of my favorite grocery stores nearby

At the end of the day, Eric seemed pleasantly surprised by Kyiv - and while some of that clearly could have been the company, we agree - come visit Kyiv - it's nicer than you'd think!

Three cheers for popping by visitors & here's to Eric!  What a fun weekend we had - went way too fast - but we had a blast!

Camping in Kyiv

Some 'experienced Kyiv friends' (been here ~3 years) invited us to join with a few families camping.  Given we left our tent & gear in Chicago, we were reluctant - till we learned this was 'camping light'....

A little less than an hours drive....and here was our cabin

Right on a river

And importantly...

Ok, I admitted this was 'camping light' - beds, a bathroom and a small kitchen (stoves apparently removed recently once their restaurant opened.  I guess that's one way to encourage restaurant sales!)

The kids quickly took to the 'refreshing' water - it was shallow enough they could walk across and forage in the forest on the other side

Played in & rolled in the sand

(think we'll be extracting sand from the kids for at least a week)

Caught & played with / tortured a frog

(Xavier & Zoe with Gio - poor froggy!)

As well as enjoyed the playground on site

And the space to scooter about

(unfinished construction makes for a nice scooter pad - just mind the random wires)

The men-folk made a fire and took over the dinner preparations!

(men BBQing might just be the best part about 'camping'!)

(one dad brought a clay pot & dough to make homemade bread on the fire - seriously, this is good camping)

We had a big pot-luck

(Paolo adding Italian essentials - wine & cognac - to the buffet)

We felt like we really got away, got to enjoy some nature, some friends & a new Ukraine adventure.  AND were home early enough to top it off with Sunday naps!

A fantastic, fun & easy get-away.  


Here's to weekend adventures & hoping you're having a fun one!