Day 1 - Final Countdown (double click for pics)

*** We will post photos later and a new post for Friday tonight ***
Thursday, August 11th “So long Pavlodar”

Privet from Almaty KA3ACTAHCKNN. Yes, we are in Almaty and everybody’s doing well.

As I write this post from our apartment in Almaty, we do not have the internet up and running in our room, but we are working on it. We are going out to find somewhere to post, possible a local internet café… We also do not have the phone number; again Aeda is working on that as well. More on the apartment later…

After Wednesday’s post, we had the best playtime imaginable. Landen seems to be so excited about everything that he does not want to miss one minute of the action. When he takes a nap, the least little noise will awake him and it’s time to go at it again. Although he has been getting a lot of action, he has missed out on some sleep. I do remember from Rylee’s baby days that lack of sleep and little babies does not mix well….We will work on this one. Back to Wednesday night….we had another family movie night (only the 28th since we left Atlanta) and it was another special evening. Rylee was partially into the movie and partially into playtime. Mom and I had a chance to play together with Landen which made for some fun times. Landen would crawl all around the floor with the biggest smile on his face. When he got to the front of the couch where Kim and Rylee were, he would pull up and laugh, smile, kiss, giggle…you get the picture… He also played ball for a good bit of the time. He will pick up the little ball we got at the carnival and actually throw it. Where ever it goes, his little pitter patter of a crawl is not far behind.... then he does it again, and again… We played for hours with out any tummy troubles, but plenty of poopies. He is up to 4 per day as the liquid diet is going through him easily.

We all finally got into bed for the last time in that apartment….in Pavlodar. That was another moment for Kim and me to reflect back, but this time we were going way back to GA. You know it’s been a long time when you have to reflect back on your own home..

Thursday morning started off early….around 6:30am as Landen wanted to get as much out of his last day in Pavlodar as he could. We had a quick breakfast (we are using what food is left in the apartment, so I will spare you the -”why did they make a meal out of that” thoughts and just say they were quick. Our main two goals for the day were to visit Sergey and Luba at the photo shop, then pack. We did accomplish both with some unexpected surprises…

We did a little packing prior to our planned time to visit (3:00pm), but left plenty enough for Kim to get that motivation of having “a ton to do and we’re running out of time” going for her. When we got to the Kodak store, Sergey was not there, so Kim had a tearful good bye with Luba. Luba told Kim that she is in Kazakhstan, but her heart is in Atlanta…that’s where here daughter and two grandchildren live… Kim got emotional with Luba as she could see the pain in her smiles when she was telling us goodbye. We gave Luba a box of chocolates (just call me Forrest Gump) and took some photo’s to remember her by. She asked us if she could get Rylee a little gift and we of course said yes, but really hoped it was not chocolates…to our surprise, she had Rylee pick out 2 little key chains and two for Landen. Rylee has a collection of key chains attached to her book bag, so this was perfect for her. Landen just got something else to drool on…After 15 minutes or so, we sadly said the last good bye and promised to contact her family and say hello from her when we get back to Atlanta. We were disappointed not to see Sergey, but Kim was getting into the “lot to do in a little time” mood, so we headed back. Suddenly half way through our walk back, a blue van pulled up beside up and a big, Russian man was getting out….my first thought was we have made it this far, don’t let something happen now. As the man rounded the corner of the van, we could tell it was Sergey. He had a Landen type smile on his face (those from ear to ear) as he approached. He was able to communicate that Luba had called him and he came looking for us. I can’t express what a pleasant and happy man he is, just like Rylee’s granddad’s back home. He asked if he could hug Landen and we gladly pulled him from his stroller for a BIG hug. By the way, Landen loves the stroller…he will just sit back and chill while he’s on the rides all the time swinging his little legs. Kim thinks it is so cute, I think he is working on field goals or something like that… Sergey then picked up Rylee and told her he loved her, just as Luba had. Rylee truly cares about them, even though we have spent very little time with them…that’s the power of Grandparents. We took a photo of the three of them, and then Sergey asked if we could take our camera to the store for him and Luba to get copies of the photos. We were honored to do so, so we headed back. Now, Kim is really getting into the mode of packing with a little time (makes it easier on me…). We got another chance to say goodbye to Luba, gave them the memory stick to copy the pictures, then actually left and made it back to the room. It was now around 4:45pm and we had a lot left to do.

Kim knocked out most of the packing, while I made dinner out of a few odds and ins items, Rylee did a little playing with Landen and Landen, well lets say he decided to stay up and do his part. Lena arrived around 7:45pm with Sergey, our driver, and Leeza. Sergey had the unenviable task of taking our luggage down 5 flights of stairs. Those of you that know how my wife packs can appreciate his pain. I was thankful for saving me the pain. Leeza and Rylee went down with Sergey on his first trip (of 5) and said their goodbyes. Rylee had prepared a small gift to Leeza and likewise Leeza had a gift for Rylee. Leeza’a grandmother had hand-sewn a large pillow for Rylee that favors a quilt.… She loved it and realized how special it is. The airport is about 45minutes from the apartment and on the trip you go by the baby house. Kim and I both had several emotions going through us, but Rylee soon made us laugh as she reminded us we could still stop and get a baby sister to go with her baby brother. Just think Landen just passed the only place he has ever known as a home and is starting his new life!

We got a little “sticker” shock at the airport. The airport charges for bags over 20k, which we had known but did not realize how much more we had. Lena could not go back with us where they were weighing the bags, so we struggled to understand what we were being told. Kim was impressed at how calm I remained, as I did not even try to speak Russian to them. I was taken back out into the main area where Lena was and had to pay for the bags. Now, I look in my wallet and find that I’m no where near having the money(tenge) they are asking for on the bags. All kind of thoughts are going through my head as Lena and the lady are discussing the situation. The only word I could make out was Nyet (no). Lena finally asked if I had any American money so we could “payoff” the lady and board. I was asked to give $150.00 to board the bags and at this point what’s another $150.00?….Lets just board and start flying home.

We boarded the plane with little trouble…our seats were on the first row, where the rows only have 4 seats per row. I know everyone wants to know how Rylee and especially Landen’s first flight went. Well, to sum it up on both of them….ZZZZZZZZZZZ
Yes, Landen took a bottle at take-off to help with his ears and he was asleep before he finished. Only one little scare as he could not get comfortable at first, but after that, he woke up and it was 6:30am in Almaty.

As for the rest of us, we arrived at the airport around 12:30am where we were to meet Aeda. Half of the parties were there…us. Aeda put a good scare in us when she did not show for 15 minutes or so. We were so happy when she arrived and loaded her car and another taxi to get our bags to the apartment. Aeda was able to make up those 15 minutes on the roads….remember she goes fast!

We got to the apartment around 1:20am and after waiting for the key from some Kazakh man, we opened the door of the final place on our journey. The apartment is beside the hotel we stayed in on the flight over. We are next to the US Embassy and the mall. To describe the apartment, in a word it is “decent”. On initial appearance it was pretty good, but after Kim’s cleanliness inspect it scored out quite a bit lower. There is one bedroom with a queen bed, 1 bathroom and large room with a kitchen/living area. We have most of the same channels, but can actually get FOX News….much better than CNN… The kitchen has most of the needed utensils plus a microwave. Hey, we could stay anywhere for 5 days and this place is a lot better than anywhere!

I made a trip out this morning to a store next door and to my surprise, it was awesome. It is better than any grocery store we visited in Pavlodar. The upstairs is like a mall with many shops offering all types of goods. Appears we will be fine these last few days as we COUNTDOWN our return home.