Birthday Eve

The night before Ella turned five, Igor (the driver/ right-hand-man of Bubbles) and his family invited us to dinner. 

We ate at a traditional Ukrainian restaurant - but they reserved the back room so it was  a bit more family-friendly. 

Dinner started at 5pm, and when we insisted on leaving at 10pm, we had not yet had dessert ... having an almost 5 year-old, 3 year-old, and 1 year-old makes us not the best dinner guest I guess. 

Anne's seat was directly in front of the stuffed whole fish ... and she lovingly stuffed lettuce into the fish's mouth all night long - fish need to eat too, right? 

Here are Ella and Anne watching yet another movie ... they watched two full-length movies during dinner ... 

While we were getting ready to go, I asked Ella what she wanted to wear: "My Paris dress," she said. "I might see boys."

What!? 

Where did that come from. She's turning 5 not 15! 

That was the first time (and hopefully the last for 20 years if Benj has anything to say about it:)) we've heard her make a comment like that.

Independence Day

I was 10 when Ukraine became a free nation - though I'm pretty sure it wasn't until I met Benj that I actually knew where it was on a map, or anything else about it.

Celebrating Ukraine's independence in Lviv, is like celebrating the fourth of July in Heartland Missouri - people come out in throngs, and proudly wear the national apparel. 

It was exciting to navigate the sea of people

and see the young, old, and everything in between listen to music, and watch traditional Ukrainian folk dancing performance.

 
Of course we stopped by Bubbles to see how the cleaning crew was managing with all the cement dust that has engulfed the store.
I tried to get a picture of the girls together - but let's just say Ella wanted to hold hands and Anne did not ... and it was a bit of a throw-down.

ps- Mom, that white pin-wheel thing in Anne's hand is her "daughter" that she was telling you stories about.

Lviv Churches

We explored a couple new churches in Lviv. 

This is the church where Pope John Paul visited when he came to Lviv. 

He, of course, was Polish, and this area (depending on when the maps were made) was part of Poland - so he had a soft spot in his heart for western Ukraine. Many churches, like this one, are ornate and boldly decorated. Allegedly, this is the clothe Christ was wrapped in after his crucifixion. 

And why not wear spandex leopard print to church?

View

We visited this church - love the brick exterior, and the vaulted ceilings.

Then we hit up a new park. Looks cool by day, right - sort of castle-ish.
Well, from a closer look (and the smell) we're pretty sure it's home to about a dozen homeless people.
We didn't stick around long enough to find out:)

Mary didn't seem to notice, however, and won the prize for best ice-cream beard.

 Just another day, and another Lviv outing.

Carpathian Waterfall and Dinner

There's a waterfall in the Carpathians where you can "lock your heart" with a lock on the bridge.

It's all a bit touristy, but it's worth eating at this "authentic" Carpathian restaurant. 

The food is great, and the atmosphere unmatched. Leather bound menu's as thick as a novel, log cabin style construction with intricate carvings and detail, traditional Ukrainian dishware, stove, and live music. Even the ceiling is a work of art.

Of course those things may be said of a number of restaurants around the globe, so I'll tell you what really sets this place apart ... HOT CHOCOLATE. I don't know why we don't have hot chocolate like this is the States, but we definitely should! It's basically melted chocolate bars, so thick and rich and warm ... mmm. Positively delicious!

Carpathian Swimming

One of the great things I'm learning while living and traveling abroad with young children is - it's the simple things that matter most. Like swimming, for example. Here's part of our conversation as we drove to the Carpathians: Parents: "We're going to the Carpathians - you're really lucky. Not a lot of kids from California get to go to the Carpathians."

  

Kids: "Is there a swimming pool?"

 Parents: "I'm not sure about a pool, but there are church's that are hundreds of years old, beautiful villages, and the traditional Hutsul life-style..."

Kids:  "I want to swim. I hope there is a swimming pool."

 Fortunately at the hotel next to ours, there was a pool you can pay to swim at.

Want to know what makes Ukraine different than the US or western Europe? It's not that they don't have all, or at least most, of the same amenities and luxuries, they do.

It's just that they don't USE what they have. If there are double doors to a building (the Opera House for example) only one will be functional. If there are 30 lights hanging from the ceiling (above photo) only one will be on. That's a tell-tale sign you are in Ukraine.