Day 3

Sitting at the lobby bar, having a glass of wine and eating a salad at the end of another great day!  The day started with a trip to a photo shop to have a picture of Audrey cropped for her passport and visa.  Then we were off to exchange money.  The dollar is dropping so Tanya thought it was time to do a larger exchange.  Guess what - 5 exchanges, no rubles!  Or at least they said no rubles.  Tanya said they sometimes hold the rubles when they know the rate is dropping so they have to pay out less.  Nice.  We finally found one though - but already a lower exchange rate, although no commission.  Then - off to see Miss Audrey.  Traffic was good so the trip was only about 70 minutes this morning.  Audrey was a stunner again today.  Same yellow shirt as yesterday but this time, a beautiful doiley on her head along with pinkish tights and of course the yellow booties.   As you can imagine, it takes a special kind of girl to rock a doiley on her head and Audrey was fierce in it.  She could make doileys runway fashionable!  Anyway, we were able to spend almost 90 minutes together today which was great.  I held her and rocked her, gave her some belly play-time and some wheels on the bus too.    We practiced sitting up, which needs a lot more work, but she can roll over both front to back and back to front.  She demonstrated that for me twice today which was great to see.  She gets better each day at grabbing things with her hands but like most things, it will improve with time.  She still is very quiet although I heard a couple babbles today.  Her face isn't expressive but she hasn't had too much to express yet in her short little life.  I am so looking forward to getting her home, feeding her well,  giving her some fresh air and sunshine and lots of love and attention.  I just know she will blossom.

The ride back into Moscow took a little less than 2 hrs (better than yesterday).  I was able to take a few shots of sites from the car.  Tanya also took me to a beautiful cathedral called The Cathedral of Christ the Savior (picture below).  It has an amazing story that Tanya shared.   When Bonaparte fled Moscow in defeat in the early 1800s, Alexander decided to build a Cathedral to honor Christ as their Savior, saving them from defeat.  It took 20 years to build originally and stood tall until 1931 when Stalin ordered it demolished by dynamite.   Thankfully in 1990, they decided to rebuild it in its original glory.  Construction started in 1994 and completed in 2000, with complete restoration as it stood originally.  A beautiful and very symbolic building for a beautiful city.

Tomorrow, we are off to the notary to sign some papers for my court date and then off to the babyhome to see Miss Audrey before I leave for 6 weeks or so.   Is the trip really drawing to a close already?  I will be so happy to be home and to hug sweet monkey Clare but so sad to leave Audrey.

St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square as taken from our car passing by...  

The American Embassy as taken from our car, passing by

The amazing Cathedral of Christ the Savior - not in the car this time!  :)