Latvia day 3 - Fun Day

Today we had no meetings, no doctor appointments, no court hearings... just a day together to do whatever we wanted to do.  The day started around 8:30 am with the girls waking up.  After some morning cuddles on the couch the girls were ready for breakfast.  So, cereal it was! Ha! They were actually thrilled with it.  One wanted milk on it and the other wanted it plain.  I, of course, had my coffee.

After we were all up and dressed we decided to walk to the park.  There is a gorgeous park down along a canal that leads out to the Daugava river.  There are nice walking paths, lots of grass, different statues and fountains and stuff like that.  We started walking along the canal looking at everything.  The girls are super-observant, to the point where it is almost sometimes hard to walk with them.  They look at everybody who passes by, most of the time even turning around to watch people walk away.  You can tell they are listening to conversations, and just constantly looking around.  It just reminds you that they have led a very different life from most 5-year-olds.  They are little sponges who are absorbing everything around them. 

We had an idea to take the girls on a boat ride down the canal and out to the river before we left, but we needed to check on the price before we said anything to the girls about it.  There are long wooden boats, I think Dutch-made or something.  Anyway, the price was okay, so we decided to do it.  We had to sit in the boat for about 20 minutes before the tour started.  That was starting to get hard, to get them to sit... but there were enough other people around to keep them entertained (by people watching).  The boat ride was nice.  Nothing fancy or great, but it killed about 45 minutes.  The girls liked to see the ducks and wave at people on the shore.  We also passed where cruise ships would come in and dock.  Those boats were pretty impressive! Riga is such a beautiful city - there was plenty to look at!

After the boat ride, we decided to come back to our apartment for lunch and naps.  The girls were excited about lunch, not so much the naps.  We have to somewhat follow the orphanage's schedule for now, and they take a 2-hour nap in the afternoon.  We told them we would go to the playground after naps, so that at least let them know there would be more fun to come.

Let me tell you: there was no napping going on during nap time.  They were in the bedroom (mostly) but there was singing and playing going on.  Jon was able to take a short nap and I sat to read a book (which I haven't done since we left home!).  When the time was up, I went in to let the girls out.  When I came in they both ran to their beds and laid down to pretend to be asleep... I was so not fooled - ha!

On our way out to the playground we stopped at McDonald's to get ice cream.  The girls have been asking us for ice cream... I am not sure if the orphanage workers told them they would be getting ice cream or not, but they have asked every day! Apparently it is not something they get very often in the orphanage.  So, we stopped and got some cones.  They devoured them!  They were each given a Happy Meal flag by the cashier and when we walked out Vika was waving it and singing "America, America!"  I have no idea why... but it was pretty funny!

The rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful.  Dinner - I made chili and both girls were telling me as I was making it that they didn't like it... but they both ate it with no complaints.  They are much better at eating now than they were at our house this past winter.  They both have also retained a lot of English.  Even Mila who didn't really want to try to speak English at our house is saying things and trying it out!  I have a feeling someone at the orphanage has been helping them with it.

So, all in all it was a pretty good day.  A few minor tantrums, but nothing serious.  They are still testing the boundaries with us and that is to be expected.  They keep asking about Ty, Devon, and Solomon, and when they get to go on an airplane to America.  At least they are excited about it!  I am definitely missing my boys, but grateful for this bonding time with the girls as well.

I will end with this funny story: The first day we were here our lawyer took us through the grocery store to show us a few things.  She pointed out a candy that she said ALL Latvian children love.  When we asked what it was she said it was basically cottage cheese that had been dipped in chocolate.  Okay, that sounds gross... but I bought some anyway! Tonight I gave it to the girls for dessert.  Jon and I haven't had ours yet, so I still don't know what it tastes like, but the girls really liked it.  As Vika was eating hers, she said "cheese" in Latvian (siers) as she looked inside her chocolate.  Jon said, "yeah - it's cheese." Then, without missing a beat, Vika looked at Jon and shook her head as she said as clear as day, "that's not cheese."  Jon and I looked at each other and just started laughing.  The kind of laughter that you just can't stop, with tears.  The poor girls were looking at us like we were crazy, and they didn't understand what was so funny!  I think they will have a pretty good grasp on the English language in no time!

On the boat.