My cup is overflowing! Thursday was a holiday (Veteran's Day, sort of, with an overall theme of celebrating men of all ages). Celebrated my husband and sons at Papa John's Pizza (dine-in). After getting off of the bus (2 stops from home) we were greeted by the sound of fireworks going off in Park Pobedy while snow was falling which created a very unique and memorable experience. The fireworks (called Salute here) reminded me of watercolors in the sky from the passing snow clouds and the filtering effect that the snowflakes had on the display.
Meghan was frightened by the loud booms at first, but quickly was in awe of the colors while snowflakes melted on her face, saying, "Mommy! Lellow! Mommy! Pink! Look, Mommy, Lellow!!!" Yes, lellow is yellow in Meghan-speak. During the 5 minute walk back home we saw one of Ashlynn's classmates (Katya) who lives nearby. After talking with them fora little while and the girls playing in the snow, we arranged for Katya to come play at our home the next morning at 11am. This took some effort on both parts because they speak very little English and we speak very little Russian. Their English is better than our Russian and helped tremendously.
At 11am sharp, the doorbell chimed and we were greeted by Katya and her father Alexey who brought us a delicious cake and some chocolate. Katya and Ashlynn went straight to playing and Alexey stuck around. It was weird. I hadn't anticipated that he would be planning to stay. I had planned things for the girls to do if/when their language abilities became stressed. I hadn't created a Plan A, let alone a Plan B for what do to with her father.
With no plan, I relied on common sense and offered coffee/tea and we talked. I had taken the time to write down a few words that they taught me last night, so I showed them to him and asked if they were correct. He smiled, confirmed that they were correct, and that was the beginning of a beautiful day!
After an hour of playing together, the girls were eager to go outside to play. Since it was so close to lunchtime, we split up, ate lunch separately, got in our snow gear, and met them at 1pm to go outside. We started at the playground (yes, swings, slides and many other outdoor items are equally fun, possibly more fun with snow), proceeded to the top of the hill at Park Pobedy (greatest height in Moscow and also a historical military site) and went sledding! We had a BLAST! Alexey brought a sled that looked like a hybrid between a sled and a snowmobile. Essentially, it was a sled with a seat that accommodated two or three children, or an adult and a child. It also had a steering wheel and a brake! Very cool!
When the girls were tired from sledding, Alexey suggested we go for a walk to Pobedy Museum (War Memorial and Museum at Park Pobedy, known as Victory Park). We had a lovely day! When we returned, exhausted and cold, we returned to my home and had coffee, tea and the delicious cake they brought earlier in the day.
Alexey and Katya ended up spending much of the evening here and when it was finally time to go, he thanked us for a very nice day and for the new friendship. It was a wonderful day!
After yesterday's sun and temperatures hovering at 32 and 33 degrees, there was a lot of melting and concern by my kids that the snow would be gone by morning. Instead of sadness and despair, I awoke to sounds of delight and laughter and discovered freshly fallen snow! It was still falling so lightly and delicately without wind to disrupt it that it had collected on the trees the same way it had earlier in the winter. Like I said earlier....my cup is overflowing.
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