The day started quietly. Christina was still sound asleep at 7am even after my banging around in the bathroom showering. I didn't sleep well last night. I usually don't when Carol is not present, at least not the first night. I have the same problem when I travel for work. It takes a day or so to adjust to being in bed without her. I awoke many times last night wondering if she was getting any sleep. I wasn't concerned that the boys were keeping her awake, just that she'd be worried over noises she hadn't been used to. She is a light sleeper and hears almost everything. I suspect she won't hear too much tonight back at the hotel. :-)

Today it was only Christina and I at breakfast. How different. We figured it was our last quiet breakfast together for years to come.

Today Misha was on time while Natasha was a little behind. Natasha lives close by and walked over to The Turtle. She noted that Misha really doesn't like for her to be late but she tried to call and confirm times today. Sounded like employee grumbling to me. Alexander met us in the parking lot before we left The Turtle. He is very interested in how Carol did at the Orphanage last night and also ready to discuss the preparation for court tomorrow. We left for Chernyahovsk at 0835.

The trip was the usual: about 90 km/h, stop for cigarette break. But we did stop by the market in Chernyahovsk before going on to the Orphanage. I figured Carol was out of STILL water and wanted to ensure we had some on hand before we arrived. It turned out that she didn't finish the five liters we left yesterday.

Pictures (mouse-over for descriptions)

Carol was in really good spirits and didn't look all that tired from her night out. She said the staff was plenty helpful in every was to ensure she was comfortable. She noted the boys were just too excited to calm down last evening and she did need a little help settling Zhenia. But he obeyed their commands and they slept at least eight hours. However, Carol (Mama) did let Zhenia crawl into her bed sometime during the night. Who would have guessed it? :-)

We played with the boys for about an hour, repeating some of the skill association tests and walking again but not down to the river. We took a different route around the Orphanage property. At 1145 we took the boys to have their passport pictures made locally in Chernyahovsk. The boys were very curious as to where they were going particularly since they didn't have bags of any type along with them. We stopped at a studio next to the town square and spent about 20 minutes while the 'professional' worked Adobe Photoshop with expert skill. The photos were beautifully set and cropped for the passports. We then took a couple of pictures in the square but it started to sprinkle so we had to hurry back to the car and return to the Orphanage.

We left the boys at 1230 just as there lunch was being readied for consumption. The ride back was filled with some emotion as we knew the next ride to K'grad would include two small boys enjoying their first taste of perceived freedom. We were very anxious to have today move along quickly as the court date loomed early tomorrow and were ready to make preparations for doing well at 9am tomorrow. Natasha spent a good portion of the return trip reviewing her 'court question notes' with us. She is aware, of course, of the types of questions that the judge will ask. She shared them with us and wanted to know how we would answer them. The only odd question of them all was 'What do you have to add?" This question is at the end of a long string of questions from the judge where you have the chance to say why you are here in Russia. We were encouraged to think about how this question would be answered ... use some detail but not much; try to keep the response to about five minutes. Five minutes!?!?! Hmmm. I knew this would keep me up some tonight as the other caveat was that Father had to answer it. We had our usual half-way stop for a Misha cigarette break and then proceeded to the Kodak store in K'grad. We needed to have a couple more pictures ready for the judge in the morning. It is important that you have a number of pictures, at least four, the judge can view of the parents and child(ren) together, both from the first and second trip. The judge is looking for the appearance of 'fit' from both a child's and parent's point of view. Other adopting parents should ensure they have a digital camera with them so good pictures can be made during the visits just prior to court so the judge will be sure everyone is getting along well. The Kodak place, the same as for our first visit in July, was busy as the person whom you speak with to identify the pictures you want was busy with a new bride. She and her girlfriend, I suppose, were all of 18 yrs old and were spending a bit of time giggling and selecting pictures. Natasha got annoyed and located another clerk, a male who knew some English, and he quickly took our order and said to return at 1800 to pick up the prints.

At this point you can tell we have missed lunch and are just snacking on some of our American supplies (nabs, PayDay, etc.). We also had to exchange some more dollars for rubles but couldn't find a 'street vendor' to accomplish a good rate. So Natasha found a legitimate exchange business near the cafeteria at town square for me to use later. It turns out the legitimate business had a better rate ... even Natasha was surprised. So now I'm wondering if the 'street vendor' was on the hook with Misha. We returned to The Turtle for our 3pm meeting with Alexander.

Alexander was ready at 3pm and we met under one of the picnic shelters of The Turtle grounds. He reviewed the story of the parents including specific dates of when the children were removed from parental custody, why and where. We did learn that the flat in K'grad was inherited from the mom's mother when she died. We had previously thought it was a loan or gift. Thus, there were no other relatives who could speak for the boys than the parents who were denied rights in Dec 2001. Alexander reviewed a number of the same notes that Natasha had given us during the ride home. He encouraged us to think about 'our story' and how we would respond to the open-ended question of why we are in Russia. Another reminder I wouldn't likely sleep well tonight. The meeting ended in about 20 minutes and we said our good-byes to everyone and they wished us a good nights rest before the big day tomorrow.

We walked into town about 5pm to exchange dollars for rubles, eat and pick up our pictures. It was a little breezy this afternoon and we took a short-cut through some apartment buildings; no hassles to report. The exchange rate was the best I'd received since arrival, the food was very good (Christina ate well finally!), and we picked up our pictures at 1800 as requested. I actually asked for them at 1755 but was told they were not ready yet. We waited the obligatory five minutes and they were miraculously ready right on time! How interesting. We walked back to The Turtle so Christina could try a cup of Russian hot chocolate and Adrian have a glass of red wine from the lounge. It would be a long evening of anticipation.

Tomorrow's plan:
+ Breakfast at 0730
+ Hearing at 0900
+ Await court paperwork