Sergei Travels

Unbelievable

2012-01-19T20:38:00.000-08:00

Oh, nothing much going on around here - just a bunch of snow! That's Puget Sound in the background!

Here's Ziggy skiing from our house down to the park.

Halloween

2011-12-05T21:02:00.001-08:00

Zig was Boba Fett for Halloween this year. He was pleased that I bought him a costume instead of making it :)

Catch-Up

2011-12-05T20:58:00.000-08:00

These are from October:

He got about halfway up and decided it was too high. It was fun watching him try to figure out where to put his hands and feet - I thought the REI instructors did a great job!

Snohomish Car Show

2011-10-07T21:44:00.001-07:00

Random

2011-10-07T21:37:00.000-07:00

Camping

2011-09-04T10:02:00.000-07:00

Ziggy, his dad, cousin and uncle had a great time on the Dubna River. No rapids, just easy paddling.

2011-06-07T12:33:00.000-07:00

Ziggy had a blast at his grandparents' house over the Memorial Day weekend. Swimming in the pool, playing badminton at the park with Marishka, eating watermelons and hanging out at the beach!

Burglar at Babushka's House

2011-04-02T23:16:00.000-07:00

The burglar was not interested in candy. He wanted the spoons.

Acting: Ziggy

Camera: Ziggy

Makeup: Mom

Long Beach Aquarium

2011-04-02T23:12:00.001-07:00

We were on our way for a THIRD trip to Legoland, but it started raining when we hit Irvine and the windshield wipers on Babushka's car broke. So... we turned around and went to the Long Beach aquarium instead. Lots of fun. The kiddies got to pet sharks and watch a sea lion show.

iPod photos

2011-03-22T20:22:00.000-07:00

Ziggy finally got his fervently wished-for Ninj*go minifigure, but he can' t open it until we get to the airport for our trip to Los Angeles. So he carts it around with him everywhere in the meantime.

Second guitar lesson went really well. I know, I should have taken pictures... won't forget next time.

Winter fun

2011-02-01T22:58:00.000-08:00

Special Guest day at school

Outside Tim Hortons in Vancouver

More Vancouver

Riding ski lift at Stevens Pass (our guys are on the left)

Playing Legos at 4H

2010-12-03T23:25:00.000-08:00

I'm very enthusiastic about 4H - it costs $10/year to join and they have so many clubs to choose from! Ziggy is in the club that does Lego robots. Super fun times!

Legos and Slinkies

2010-11-13T11:28:00.001-08:00

I love the robot and his pet dog. I know I should be making a book of all these miniature designs Ziggy comes up with.

Trick or Treat!

2010-10-31T22:38:00.001-07:00

Zig went trick or treating for the first time in his life this year. He and his friend Harry Potter were so busy playing up and down the sidewalks that we had to remind them to go up to houses and get some candy. Looking at this photo reminded me that I have to wipe that scar off his face before he goes to school in the morning. Hope his teacher had a restful weekend!

Chebuki

2010-10-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

This is a map of the continent Chebuki.

Zig worked out his own alphabet and named all the countries on Chebuki. At the bottom it says "Sergei" in his fancy new alphabet. I can't keep up with my boy, but I like how he thinks. :)

School and Stuff

2010-09-24T09:58:00.001-07:00

So far school has been a success. Today was crazy hair day:We're bonding with our sweet little hedgehog. Last night Ralph took a bath with Zig. He's an incredible swimmer but was ready to get out pretty quickly. Here's how Zig holds him:

The wonders never cease

2010-09-15T20:07:00.000-07:00

Leave the kid alone for half an hour and see what he does:

This is a taxi built using instructions from the website, plus a big fan modeled on the Dyson (sort of) that he just made up. He's been on me to buy a Dyson fan. I think he just wants to take it apart. As you can see here, I don't think he believes in airfoil technology. For the record, his dad doesn't, either.

You won't believe this one...

2010-09-12T16:30:00.000-07:00

Ziggy came racing into the kitchen today with his latest creation:

A lawn mower, no more no less. As usual, I'm speechless.

First Grade!

2010-09-08T13:04:00.001-07:00

Sunset

2010-07-25T23:28:00.000-07:00

Legoland Again!

2010-07-16T23:04:00.000-07:00

We made the grueling drive from Los Angeles to Carlsbad in 100+ heat, but it was worth it!

Zig and Marishka rode every roller coaster in the park and got their Volvo driver's licenses:

Marishka was very patient while Zig did the Build and Test car challenge:

At the end of the evening we did the little boat tour past some fun Lego creations:

Quote of the day: "We aren't tired at all! We want to stay here all night!" (Marisha went to sleep as soon as we got on the freeway, and about five minutes later Zig joined her with his head back and mouth open.)

Alchemy

2010-07-07T20:50:00.001-07:00

This is what Zig spent the evening working on. It's the blueprint for a machine to make gold.

Klyazma River

2010-06-23T13:13:00.001-07:00

The Klyazma River is everywhere. We crossed it six dozen times on our trip to Suzdal. Zig took his first dip in the Klyazma with some friends today.

It was a hot day, but the water was mighty cold so they kept going in and coming back out to warm up and play with bugs. On the way home we parked our bikes and indulged in some ice cream. Fun times!

Creativity

2010-06-19T02:23:00.000-07:00

Zig got creative while I slept in this morning:

He used gouache paints to put flames and other cool stuff on some of his favorite cars. I was so excited until I discovered (several hours later) that he had cleaned his brush on his bath towel. But that's minor collateral damage.

Here's Zig's commentary:

"The company of all the cars is Ziggy.com/hotrod_painting" (He made that up, so don't click it!)

Suzdal

2010-06-14T22:53:00.001-07:00

Random

2010-06-12T00:19:00.000-07:00

Here's Zig and his second cousin Alina beating up on Arsen's cousin David. They were racing around making noise and he was trying to calm them down. Fat chance.
Here's Zig and his second cousin Dima posing with the lovely Armine, the wife of Arsen's cousin from Yerevan.
And here's a giant snail Zig discovered on a nature walk in the woods:

Kremlin

2010-06-08T10:57:00.000-07:00

Masha and I took the boys to the Kremlin last Friday. We didn't go in - just played in the park outside the walls, ate ice cream, had dinner at a very nice restaurant, checked out a playground and met up with the boys' dads for the ride home.

Random

2010-06-01T03:56:00.000-07:00

The batteries in my camera are dead again. Zig and I had a long conversation about batteries. Made me remember a song he used to sing - "Double A batteries, double A batteries, power, power, DOUBLE A BATTERIES!"

So since the camera is out of commission, here is a picture by Yurets, a man who knows his way around a camera much better than I do:

Teeth!

2010-05-30T06:05:00.000-07:00

Big day today! Arsen and I took Zig and little Robert to Moscow today. The first stop was the pediatric dentist, who pulled Zig's baby tooth so the permanent tooth can grow in straight (it was coming in behind the baby tooth). He was a champ, and Robert got a ringside view of the whole procedure. Tough kids. My mom knows I would have been in the parking lot before they could catch me when I was that age.

Then we went to the Polytechnical Museum and gawked at a fantastic display of bicycles, cars, trucks and motorcycles from the 19th and early 20th centuries. From there we walked up to MuMu, the best family restaurant in town for my money. Zig chewed carefully.

Graduation!

2010-05-26T04:51:00.000-07:00

Today was the end of the year party for Zig's kindergarten. When we got home, he told me he felt something funny in his mouth. I looked and OH MY GOODNESS! He's got permanent teeth coming in! Big times...

Victory Day Part 2

2010-05-06T05:44:00.000-07:00

Victory Day

2010-05-02T01:12:00.001-07:00

Victory Day (May 9) is a big deal in our family. Arsen's grandfather fought at Stalingrad and made it to Austria by the end of the war. He was one of few Soviet officers to receive the U.S. Legion of Merit.

Here is Arsen's grandfather David Samsonovich in a post-war photo with three of his four brothers. He is at front left.

Here is David's wife Lucia with their two older boys. This picture is dated March 23, 1942.

Here is David Samsonovich in 1946 with his brother's wife and children in Kazan. His brother Javad died in Poland in May 1945, right before victory was declared.

Arsen works downtown. He left his building to eat dinner last Thursday and saw tanks practicing for the Victory Day parade.

Random

2010-04-21T14:30:00.000-07:00

This is from a while back, but it's a good one. The boys were at Big Sergei's apartment helping get it ready for the move-in.

Big Sergei told them they could write on the walls.

So they did!

Spring!

2010-04-02T04:28:00.001-07:00

I don't have any spring pictures yet, but hopefully we'll get out and about this weekend. Zig is busy wiring the kitchen for an explosion (he's using yarn and cell phone chargers and some precariously balanced cups of water). I'm translating amendments to the Administrative Violations Code. At his suggestion, I will soon be taking a break so we can go outside and take another look at what our neighborhood looks like without four feet of snow everywhere. :)

Fresh Air, Friends, Fun!

2010-03-01T12:46:00.000-08:00

1. Zig and his school friend Irishka

2. Zig, Lizka and Dyadya Grisha

3. Zig coming down the easy slope after a long day

Personality

2010-02-23T12:52:00.001-08:00

We were playing around with rebuses in a Russian book I bought Zig and he decided to make some of his own. This one says "personality" (get it?) He did another one of a cup followed by the letters ON. I said cup-on? To which he replied COUPON!! Pretty cool for a six-year-old.

Indoors Fun

2010-02-13T12:32:00.001-08:00

Eating jelly made by Yulia
Hanging out with Papa and Uncle Sergei
Watching cartoons with Little Robert

Winter in Moscow

2010-02-08T04:54:00.000-08:00

What does winter in Moscow look like? When you're a sick kindergartener, it looks like this:

1. Zig asked me to make a sweater for his friend, and once I got started on it he said "Mama, teach me how to knit." It was a quiet, early morning with just the two of us, so we cuddled on the sofa in the kitchen and I showed him how to knit. He picked it up quickly and completely understands the process of how the new loops hold the old loops. He's slow but careful, a true Avetisyan.

2. This morning he amused himself by stacking a bunch of things on the kitchen scale.

3. When you can't go to school you can still play LEGOS!

For Dedo and Babushka:

На первой фотографии Сережа вяжет свитер своей подруге. Он меня попросил сделать ей что-нибудь, а потом решил что он еще лучше сам сделает. Так ей теплее будет...

На второй фотографии он построил инсталяцию на моих кухонных весах. Это заняло у него почти все утро (много раз менял).

На последней фотографии - сами понимаете что!

Letter to Eddie

2010-02-05T02:50:00.000-08:00

Uncle Eddie, how can you fix the helicopter? It is broken. Bye bye.

Дядя Эдди, как можно починить вертолет? Он сломался. Пока.

More January Pictures

2010-01-20T00:18:00.000-08:00

Self-portrait

Robot costume from school play

Modeling new LEGO-themed sweater.

Birthday Boy

2010-01-09T23:56:00.000-08:00

Ziggy's buds Artur and Robert love to dress him up whenever we come visit. He was hamming it up for the camera yesterday and I thought to myself - I guess this is what it's like to be the mom of a six year old boy. Six!!

We still have the quiet moments sometimes. Which is good. For his birthday Zig got a new Bionicle, two little cars (one of them a rare SMZ S-3A), a copy of Treasure Island in Russian and some birthday money to spend on whatever his little heart desires.

Letter to Santa

2009-12-22T08:10:00.001-08:00

"I want a car and a truck Ded Moroz (Santa Claus). Thank you. Kisses kisses."

Wherein Jane Austen Updates the Blog

2009-11-29T06:20:00.001-08:00

The boy's mother had previously held a middling opinion at best of her husband's cousin David, fearing that he was the sort of uncle who, when in high spirits, might be prone to playing energetic games with the boy that, while undoubtedly a source of delight to the child, could result in grave injury to her maternal nervous system. And he had an unfortunate habit of giving long-winded, obscure toasts at gatherings of the extended family.

But when she observed the uncle's unreservedly glowing estimation of her child's mental qualities and his subsequent gift of a first-rate microscope, accompanied by the most detailed and patient explanations on its scientific potential and proper use, her estimation of his worth as an uncle increased in an instant, and she found herself noting as if for the first time that he seemed to be a doting father to his own infant daughter.

Three Again!

2009-11-13T04:04:00.000-08:00

We're back together again and it feels amazing! Here's a picture Zig painted at his kindergarten:

Here's a shout-out to Marisha from Ziggy:

i love you Marisha. i would love to see you. i miss you a lot. that's it.

This is a mermaid, or русалочка.

More Galveston

2009-09-21T22:47:00.000-07:00

These are from this past weekend. This time the water was flat and we got stung by jellyfish. Still had a good time.

Galveston

2009-09-07T11:14:00.000-07:00

The gulf was calm, very different from a year ago!

Monino Airplane Museum

2009-08-09T23:25:00.001-07:00

On Sunday we biked to Monino (well, part of the way at least - then Zig and I took the train the rest of the way) to see all the airplanes. The first picture is the Ilya Muromets, live and in person!

Way back on Saturday we had a cookout at Yulia's community garden plot. Zig is digging in the dirt with a crowbar while Arsen tends the fire. When we opened the container of marinated pork Dima commented that it looked like the pig stepped on a landmine, so we dubbed it Afghan shashlyk.

A Big First

2009-08-03T23:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had an urgent project to finish that was taking me forever, so I gave Zig the last of the Lego sets I brought from Texas and had kept in hiding. He put this baby together all by his amazing self without any help!

Here he is basking in the glow of the motorcycle before bed.

Apothecary's Garden Walk

2009-08-02T00:07:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we visited the Apothecary's Garden, a botanical garden on Prospekt Mira that I had never heard of before.

Here is Zig with my friend's adorable baby at the cafe before we strolled the garden:

Anna with the boys in front of a sand sculpture:

Me and Zig looking at some fat bumblebees:

Zig liked the Remus and Romulus sculpture.

Day at the Kremlin

2009-07-25T03:53:00.000-07:00

We spent the afternoon on Friday knocking around the Kremlin and the armoury, where we saw some really cool swords, axes and suits of armor. I finally saw Monomakh's Cap and the only thing I could think was "I bet that's not the original fur lining..."

Here's Arsen and Zig at the Eternal Flame outside the Kremlin wall.
Zig capped of his afternoon by falling asleep in the metro and sleeping all the way home in the car.
His Uncle Sergei gave him a "build your own electrical circuit kit" for Christmas and it is still getting active play.

Ice Age

2009-07-23T12:52:00.001-07:00

This is Zig's reaction to Ice Age:

If you saw the flick, you'll remember the dinosaur-tooth dagger that little animal was carrying. I'm not sure what kind of animal it was because we watched the movie in Russian and I'm not up on exotic rodent names. I did get that the "hero" was a sloth (lenivets). Zig's interpretation is in Legos, of course (the blade is an airplane wing).

And here I am in a top I finished a few weeks ago.

I'm trying to live up to the haircut for the rest of the day. Boris chose not to understand me when I told him that I always let my hair air-dry. Don't get your hopes up folks, the regular me will be back tomorrow...

Grammar

2009-07-23T02:02:00.000-07:00

I don't have any new pictures right now, but I wanted to share some cool things Zig has learned. This morning he said, "Мама, ты знаешь что? Русалка - это существительное. Воодушевленное." ("Know what Mom? Mermaid is an animate noun.")

He can take a sentence and circle all the nouns, verbs and adjectives with different colors.

He understands what synonyms and antonyms are, and we're learning lots of them.

Cool stuff, huh!?

Space Story

2009-07-09T10:36:00.001-07:00

Here's a story Zig wrote a few weeks ago. I'll put it up in Russian first, and then I'll translate it.

Про Сатурн

50 лет назад космонавты на корабле полетели на сатурн и прямо когда они приземлились, их корабль утонул. Они узнали, что сатурн сделан из газа и на него вокруг его кружились кольца и их корабль потрогал мяч который сделан из огня, корабль просто утонул и прямо к середине. И чуть-чуть загорелся их мотор. Космонавты включили полную скорость и быстро улетели и потом отрезали мотор, который загорелся. Приземлились на Марс, и от Марса на Землю.

Конец

About Saturn

50 years ago some cosmonauts on a spaceship flew to saturn and right when they landed, their spaceship sank. They found out that saturn is made of gas and it has rings spinning around it. Their spaceship touched a ball made out of fire. It sank right to the middle of the planet. One of their motors got on fire a little bit. The cosmonauts turned on their top speed and flew away quickly. Then they cut off the motor that had caught fire. They landed on Mars, and from Mars they went to Earth.

Randomness

2009-07-09T09:31:00.001-07:00

Ceci n'est pas une pipe... (that's a modeling clay pipe with modeling clay smoke)

Self-portrait

Inspiration

2009-07-03T11:42:00.001-07:00

What could this mystery object be? Zig has assumed all along that this was his dad's nightstand.

It's a Singer sewing machine! Made in Scotland in the 19th century, it found its way to Bataisk, where Zig's paternal grandmother's maternal grandmother put it to good use for many years. It had a wooden cover that was broken when the family home was bombed in WWII. Sewing machine runs fine. We bought a new needle for it today.

Zig has been consumed by thoughts of this lovely piece of engineering - the foot pedal, the wheels, the leather belt, the shiny wonderfulness!!

This is his LEGO interpretation of the Singer.

Space!

2009-07-02T07:16:00.001-07:00

We went to the new space museum at VDNKh today. For your pleasure, Zig posing with a model of the Buran, with a landing module, and with a model of the rocket Tsiolkovsky designed.

While we were eating lunch afterwards, Zig asked for a pencil and paper. He drew this "rocket airplane" (with winglets, if you know what you're looking at!) for his papa and put the Boeing symbol on it.

Horses in the Park

2009-07-01T12:03:00.001-07:00

What a fun day! Zig and I went to the city park to find his cousin for a play date. Rob is always with his great-grandmother (who does not have a cell phone) in the afternoons, so sometimes we have to look for a while before we find them. While we were crisscrossing the park I saw two girls holding a pair of horses by their halters. There is only one reason to bring a couple of cute horses to a park full of kids on a summer afternoon... to make a buck!

Zig got his $5 worth of pleasure for sure, but he was kind of nonchalant about the ride. He did tell the girl that he wanted to ride SLOW.

After he found his cousin and played for a while, it was dinner time and we started home. When we passed the gazebo on our way back through the park, there was a brass band playing waltzes that I recognized from different movies but couldn't put a name to. People were dancing and we stood around for a while and listened, but then Ziggy's bike announced that it couldn't sit still anymore. He makes "vroom vroom" noises ALL the time when he rides his bike. Reminds me of how my mom used to make car noises when she was driving us around when we were kids.

Lots of Pictures...

2009-06-29T12:23:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we took the boys for a long day trip.

It was Uncle Greg's birthday and a good time was had by all. Robert ate a few things he wasn't supposed to (because of his allergies) and Zig didn't each much at all because he was too busy playing. The usual story.

Good Ideas

2009-06-23T01:32:00.001-07:00

This weekend Zig spent fun time with his cousin Rob and helped his dad build two big IKEA shelves.

It's been a chilly June

2009-06-21T02:26:00.001-07:00

So... we rode through a misty rain all morning and discovered some cool places in the woods.

The cute girl sitting with Ziggy is Asya, his nanny's daughter.

He got a little green car (kopeika) that came with a car magazine - this is his new favorite car.

The note on the fridge says: "Hasmik, I think your hair is beautiful." Hasmik is his nanny, and she does have beautiful black hair. She loved the note.

And the cat got a bath.

Do you like edamame?

2009-06-17T22:53:00.001-07:00

Zig likes edamame (at least he likes to play with it).

Picture #2 is a sugar cube city he built on the kitchen table.

Picture #3 is the cat, photo by Sergei.

Fun Outdoors

2009-06-16T09:36:00.000-07:00

This is Yulia (Master Gardener/Queen of Fixing Things/Aerospace Engineer) in her new greenhouse.

We spent the day at Yulia's community garden plot weeding and getting underfoot.

Riding bikes in the forest

What's Ziggy up to these days?

2009-06-09T06:47:00.000-07:00

Playing the mandolin at his nanny's house and taking walks with Papa. Summertime is good!

Junkyard

2009-05-25T10:08:00.001-07:00

Some people go to Six Flags. We go to Jaakko's junkyard.

More Texas Fun

2009-05-15T12:20:00.001-07:00

We are ready to get back to Papa, but having lots of fun in the meanwhile. Zig and his cousins, Zig and the city of Huntsville workers who have been letting him hang out with them ALL DAY today, and finally, an arcade game at Walmart that is broken, thankfully.

Sam Houston Folklife Festival

2009-05-01T15:26:00.001-07:00

Liked: pizza, lemonade
Didn't like: snowcone ("this is yucky")
Accomplishments: threw tomahawks at a wood block, fired a pistol and a rifle, sawed logs with a two-handled saw
Watched: glass blowing, woodworking, pottery, canon firing, bees making honey, sheep shearing, yarn dyeing
Saw: Granddaddy and Mummo, Father Jim from church

Good Times with Patrick

2009-04-15T07:56:00.001-07:00

Zig met up with his buddy Patrick at the Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo. It was a really windy day, but they had a great time. I didn't get many pictures because I was so cold...

We hung out with a bunch of other buddies, too, and Zig and I are holding out hope that we'll be back someday in the not-too-distant future.

Good Times with Uncle Eddie

2009-04-15T07:44:00.000-07:00

Fixing the little truck

Boy with hammer

Fixing the big truck

Uncle Eddie's core values

Grandfather's Lessons in Telephone Destruction

2009-03-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

Too bad you can only see Dedo's arm in these pictures. He really enjoyed helping Zig figure this out.

March on Catalina Island

2009-03-25T11:46:00.001-07:00

We took a ferry out to Catalina Island from Long Beach and spent the day exploring. Zig and his babushka played pirates in this cave.

A huge agave cactus at the Botanical Garden

Here is Zig with his Dedo at Franklin Park. The sunglasses are from his babushka.

This picture is from back in February before Zig came down with pneumonia. He's using his skis as ramps for his matchbox cars. A very Ziggy idea.

February pictures

2009-02-09T06:21:00.001-08:00

2009-01-21T13:02:00.000-08:00

Arsen says this is not a true picture of Daisy.

Zig and his cousin spying out the window with binoculars

We love skiing!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-02T20:33:00.000-08:00

Just one new picture today, more coming once I get them off the camera.

L to R, standing: Dedo, Arsen, Alex (friend)
L to R, sitting: Me, Babushka, Sveta (friend), Zig (tongue out), Marishka (friend)

Los Angeles again...

2008-12-06T19:37:00.000-08:00

I still don't know how to keep captions next to their photos, so here they are at the beginning:
1-4) in Malibu with Baba Nina and Dedo
5) Zig in front of his grandmother's family ikonostas
6) riding the bumpercars at the Santa Monica pier
7) everybody needed a nap!

November Updates

2008-11-24T10:18:00.001-08:00

1. Zig and Rob trying to watch a cartoon with Daisy in their way

2. Zig and Rob at a restaurant the night before we left Korolev.

3. Zig and his bud Kevin trying out to be mannequins at Bloomingdales. I think Zig is pretending to hold a weed whacker.

More Zig

2008-11-05T01:54:00.000-08:00

Here is a Lego car Zig made yesterday when we stayed home all day because we were sick.

In the words of the designer: "Have fun looking at the car. The car will be very interesting, so love this car."

Here is a picture he colored in a workbook. He named his pirate ship the "Floating Log"

Here's Zig in the shopping center across the street. They have a "space cafe" where we like to stop for a juice sometimes.

The Arsen Avetisyan Museum of Clay Magic

2008-11-05T01:42:00.000-08:00

My husband is an artist - his medium is plastilin, kind of a cross between play-do and modeling clay. His family says he's been doing this since he was a tadpole.

You're looking at a vintage car, a snail, a helicopter and a rocket ship.

The second pic is a close-up of the helicopter.

Can you tell from Arsen's face that we've been sick? The house-call doctor said we have a rotavirus, but Arsen says we poisoned ourselves by eating cheesecake and fish at the same meal. We agree to disagree.

This is a pistol of unknown origin.

Here is a cannon made of one matchstick and some clay. Reminds me of the Gonzalez "come and take it" cannon.

Here's a little bi-plane with matchstick landing gear.

Mr. Helper

2008-10-13T12:12:00.000-07:00

This little man is right at home in the kitchen! He spent all morning grinding bell peppers for his dad's favorite adjika. He nibbled, we chatted, and he provided a running commentary on his safety practices - "See Mom, I'm only putting my fingers in here when I'm NOT turning the handle."

Monastery continued

2008-10-06T04:06:00.000-07:00

Well, it wasn't actually a monastery. My mistake. At one end there is a church dating to the 17th century, and the low, white buildings circling the large quad made up the Tsar's residence. Peter the Great lived here when he was young. The church and residence are on a man-made island in the middle of Silver Pond in the Izmailovo district. I'm not sure how people made islands back then. That would be interesting to find out. But for the historically minded, Peter the Great supposedly found an English sailboat on the island and paddled around the pond on it, which inspired him to establish the Russian navy.

A friend of ours has his office in a reconstructed wing of the old residence and he invited us to a birthday picnic for his son.

The grilled meat, eggplants and tomatoes were wonderful. After we ate, Zig and I took a walk around the island and found an exhibition of glazed tiles from the 17th and 18th centuries.

So here are the pictures:

Photos Galore!

2008-10-05T13:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm still trying to figure out how to move pictures around in my posts.

The first picture is Zig, his cousin Rob and his aunt Masha. We took the boys to the Victor Vasnetsov Museum in Moscow to see pictures of knights and fairy tale dragons. The next picture is Rob and his dad, Big Sergei.

Then you see Zig with his new Cyrillic alphabet magnets. He wrote "fuselage" and "bread." He told me he wrote fuselage just because he wanted to, but he wrote bread because he wanted me to cut him some bread and put butter and honey on it. The honey here is thick and wonderful. We bought a jar at the market and when we opened it, it had half a bee floating in it. We decided that was a marketing ploy ("our honey's so fresh..."). But who knows?

Then there's the view from the car as we drove through Sergeiv Posad on our way to see the house Big Sergei is building.

The picture of Zig on the swing is right before he did a half-pipe on his bike.

This is where we were today. More pictures of this monastery to follow, so stay tuned...

Catching Up

2008-09-17T10:08:00.001-07:00

Okeydoke, here is a bunch of pictures to catch everybody up on Zig's travels.

1) Zig and Arsen on the metro
2) Not so impressed w/ downtown
3) Watching bikers do stunts in the woods

4) Gotta love the artillery pieces

Citizen of the Lego Empire

2008-08-20T08:47:00.000-07:00

We visited Legoland California this week.

This was the most fun Zig has had in ages. He screamed the whole time on the roller coaster, but when the ride stopped he yelled "Let's get in line again!" Apparently he was screaming for joy. He says that was the best part of the day. And we did ride it again. I barely held on to my lunch. It was a two-hour drive each way, but well worth it. The last picture is Zig and a friend after a watermelon-eating contest.

Letters

2008-08-10T11:22:00.000-07:00

Zig wrote me a letter yesterday!

He started on the lower line and then continued on the top line. It says: "You are fun with me"

Literally: "EooU R FUN WiTH ME"

The F is on the lower line, and the word "fun" continues on the top line. But I can read it! And he wrote it to me!!!

The drawing is him and me in a train.

Here he is enjoying a Richard Scarry book with his Dedo.

I had a blast listening to Zig try to translate all the untranslatable Richard Scarry cars so that his granddad would get the jokes - how does one say "Maybe our next car should be a bananamobile" or "Dingo dog knocked over all the parking meters" in Russian? Beats me, and it kind of beat Zig, too. This is where having his dad around would be nice.

The weather in LA is cooler than it was in July, but not by much.

Take care, all!

Blue Lagoon

2008-07-30T20:48:00.001-07:00

This is Blue Lagoon, a former limestone quarry fed by a natural spring just 10 minutes outside my hometown. It's run as a private scuba diving school and not open to the public, so I've never been there before. Enter my friend Tara:

She is friends with the people who own the lagoon and invited us to go swimming with her. It was absolutely amazing. The water is alkaline because of all the limestone, so there is no life of any kind. That makes it super clean and clear.

Zig loved it. He paddled around in his floatie, even in the deep water, and kept saying how nice it was that the water wasn't slimy (or snake-infested, for that matter).

So there you have it. You can live in a place your whole life and miss some amazing stuff. There's a moral in here somewhere, I know it.

On the road again

2008-06-24T23:24:00.000-07:00

We've been on the road for over two weeks now. Here's my man standing in front of the locomotive on the Coast Starlight that took us all the way from Seattle to Los Angeles. It was a fun trip, but long and kind of grueling toward the end (10-hour delay). He says next time he wants to fly.

Zig's grandfather ("Dedo" in the mixed Armenian-Russian creole) bought him a scooter to keep at their house. I make him wear his helmet to ride it. And I tell him people in LA are crazy. Here he is with a busted-up Hummer. Zig is a car watcher, so he was never bored.

We finally made it to Huntsville, TX and it was time to get a haircut so Peepaw and Meemaw would recognize him.