Swirly Whirly Russian Girliez

There is nothing better than a mini vacay. The girlz, my mom, and I went to NYC for Thanksgiving. It was the 10th anniversary trip for me, and a lovely anniversary, as 5 years ago on Thanksgiving Day I drove alone to AugustRose’s orphanage to pick her up. It’s odd but I sort of forget their anniversaries anymore. As I am writing this, it only occurred to me that we were driving to the hotel in a blizzard on Turkey Day all those years ago. I was sort of bummed that they had waived my ten days, as I would be leaving for Moscow the next evening. We ran around town and picked up her adoption decree and birth certificate and dropped off the documents for her passport. We packed in the afternoon, and went outside to play in the snow for all of 20 minutes. We sent our luggage and “what-nots” down to our driver after lunch, and then I went alone with the translator to pick up the passport. That evening, we were headed to Moscow. It was a real whirlwind. I could have stayed a few more days. As time goes on, we are less and less a Russian adopted family and more just a family. Nothing special about it really. Just living life and moving forward. New York City was just what we all needed. I sent the dog to a lovely lady and he won’t be coming back. It was good to do it while we were away. Anna is sort of sad, but I keep reminding her that he is happier, and we will get a puppy soon. We need a dog that we can raise and not correct. It’s funny, it makes me think about disruption. I always thought I could Never do it, but now I wonder if I could. If anyone threatened the safety of my girlz I would have to consider it. I guess that is why I never thought of adopting an older child. I guess somewhere in my mind I was always afraid to lose too much time with the child. Afraid that they would be too damaged. But what do I know… New York was amazing. We stayed in ChinaTown across the street from a cute little park full of ladies and gents doing TiaChi at all parts of the day while others played traditional Chinese instruments and sang what appeared to be traditional songs..It was awesome. Of course we found a lot of new and exciting places that we have never been before. On Wednesday we stayed in Chinatown and did a little shopping. They still do the KNOCKOFF purse/watch/glasses thing, but I don’t participate. I honestly feel like it’s stealing. The designers hate it that they are copied, and I would never carry a fake anything. But we did find tons of fun little trinkets for the girlz, and my mom found an amazing Chinese jewelry store that sold sterling silver. Needless to say, she walked away with lots of new bobbles. And maybe I did too. After a bit of shopping, we walked through Little Italy and sampled boatloads of cannoli and other Italian treats. Late night we headed to the park and the girlz enjoyed the swings for a while. Our favorite is always Times Square. We go each year and the girlz have figured out, it’s best to go at night. So when my mom had gone to sleep, the girlz and I took the subway up and walked around checking out stores and generally doing the tourist thing.

On Thanksgiving morning, we took a cab to Rockefeller Center. The cab driver let us off and told us that we were on a cross street that would allow for us to cut through the parade. So we literally walked up to a great spot to see the balloons, bands, and floats. It always happens that we just end up in the perfect spot.

This time the only “touristy” excursion was Top of the Rock. My mom wasn’t up for it, so she sat on the street watching people at Rockefeller Plaza. AugustRose was terrified when she realized that part of the tour was outdoors and 70 or so floors up. She stood by the wall and wouldn’t move. I tried to make her pose for a picture and she cried..So I took her inside and watched Anna put her quarters in the little view-finder and check out the city. It was okay, but not really worth it. But what are you gonna do? You have to see all of these things just to get them checked off the list.

We had no intention of doing any sort of Black Friday anything, so we decided to go to the Village for the day. We ended up at Washington Square. It was another bit of paradise. The girlz found the big and little dog parks and we enjoyed watching how the city dogs play! The playground there was much busier and better equipped so the girlz were in Heaven. Mom and I just sat in the sun and watched. The weather was simply gorgeous. Not too cold and such beautiful skies..

Some quotes that I want to share so I won’t forget them.. Anna’s Quotes: “I feel like I have just gotten off a plane and landed in Japan.” “Poppy, please don’t change the tv channel, your shows are so old and I will end up dreaming in Black and White.” “When I finish writing a few songs, I’m going to perform on Broadway.” AugustRose’s Quotes: “Mommie, I am going to go to college at NYU, and you can come live with me when I am there.” “When I am in New York, I love to twirl.” “I love these glasses, they make me see gorgeous.” Hope you all had a great holiday!!