Random

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!

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!

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

Victory Day

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

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!

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. :)