A day in the country side

Yesterday we all set our alarms for 5.00 AM. We were intending to get up and make it out of the house by 5.45 in order to catch the 6 AM "bus" ( it was really a van) to the country side, in the village of Berezeni.

The girls were extremely excited to have their first "bus" ride and also to see/meet their 2 great grandmas. Maile had actually met them for the first time when she was 7 months old. At that time Audrey was only in my womb.

We got to the bus station only to discover that the 6 AM bus had been "canceled" only because the driver didn't make it there that morning...and since he is pretty much his own boss, well...there was no one to complain to. I just had to explain to my sweet 3 1/2 year old that the bus she's been waiting for had been "stuck on ice cream mountain" and that the wonder pets were working on rescuing him.

Lucky for us we were able to get on the 7.30 bus, both girls beaming with excitement. The trip over was only about an hour an half. Maile kept reminding me with each stop that she wasn't ready to get off.

We were welcomed right away by my parents who had gone there the night before and by my dad's mom.

Right away, when we entered her courtyard, the girls noticed there were chickens everywhere, and they could touch them and feed them and play with them.

My grandma also had a dog who had recently given birth to these 2 adorable puppied. Needless to say my girls were in heaven. My sister even played with them.

While the girls enjoyed romping around, exploring, their papi started grilling some meat on an improv grill, that looks nothing like a "weber", while my sister Dana and I enjoyed the beautiful weather.=)



We had lunch outdoor, which Maile called a "pic-a-mic" (a picnic) and enjoyed being with each other. Several times during our lunch Maile cared to remind us how much she loves her great grandma despite the fact that she didn't understand a word she was saying. Such a sweet sweet girl. It was great to watch her interact with them and seeing how polite she was, and cuddly. She also said to me during lunch ( while she's looking down at the kitty laying next to her foot): " Mommy, this kitty really loves me and she wants me to be her owner but I can't live here forever"...Hahah!! I was just beside myself. This little girls just makes me laugh so hard. She is such a funny character.
Next up, we headed down to my other grandma's house ( my mom's mom) with Maile holding papi's hand half the time and riding on his neck the rest of the way there. These 2 have become quite inseparable.When he's not around, she always always asks for him...not so much my mom but always him..I often wonder if she's just looking at him as the male figure that she is missing in her life right now.

We got to my other grandma's house, and we were also welcomed by 2 of my aunts, one who lives just down the street from my grandma and another one who had been visiting and keeping my grandma company for the last few months. It was great to see everybody and kind of "show off" my 2 treasures.They had certainly heard a lot about them but seeing them in person was just the icing on the cake.

My mom's mom is the old lady on the left...my dad's mom is the one on the right. I have so much respect for these 2. They have worked so hard their whole lives and you can see it on their faces.

By the time we left, it was almost starting to rain, but all in all we had a fantastic day.

We got back to my parents house and we were joined by daddy on Skype as we read the girls their bedtime story and prayed together.

What a perfect ending to an absolutely beautiful day.

Fun Fun Fun

What a busy but very fun day we had. The girls woke up around 10 AM and by 11 AM today, we got to go to a children's play at the local theater for which my mom works for.

The play was called "The Land of Happiness" and it was obviously in Romanian...a cute little plot featuring lots of animals and songs.

There were a TON of kids there with their teachers and we were lucky enough to have front row seats. I was worried that the girls might not get much out of it but to my surprise, they absolutely understood the story line and engaged in clapping and dancing to the songs.

Also, we got to see a bunch of my mom's friends from work and met some of the actors as well who came to introduce themselves to the girls.

This afternoon after another really long nap, my mom and sister and I took the girls to one of the local parks for some outdoor fun. Audrey had her worst meltdown since we got here. I know she must be feeling pretty weird sometimes having been thrown into a totally different environment. She is going through this phase where she can't have anyone else touch her, hold her hand, help her, even look at her. It all has to come from me. I have to say I hope she gets over it and starts enjoying this time with her "buni".

Other than that, I'd say they had a great time at the park. It never ceases to amaze me the capacity that they have to make friends, even in foreign countries where they obviously can't speak the language.

The moment we got to the park, they were surrounded by so many kids, every one of them more curious than the other to find out a bit about our girls, where they come from, what their name is, how old they are...and since English is a compulsory class here in Romania, most of them will actually storm their brain and you can see them trying to put together a sentence...something that they wanna ask the girls or tell them. It is so cute. I love it.

We made it!!

Well, it only took us about 2 full days to get here, but we made it. I made it!! I traveled across the Atlantic Ocean by myself for the first time...

Ok, so not really by myself because I had my 2 little girls with me...I just meant without Eric guiding me everywhere. I can't tell you what an exhilarating feeling it is. I feel so blessed and so proud of my daughters. I always knew they were good travelers but never in my wildest dreams did I think they were gonna be THAT good.

The plane trip itself was 18 hours. We left Phoenix on Sunday around 1 PM, went through Chicago, barely made the connection since i only had an hour an a half. By this time the girls had gotten no naps, but they kept themselves entertained while watching a movie on their DVD player.

The trip from Chicago to London was a little over 7 hours. Audrey ended up falling asleep in my arms and by this time she was so tired she barely even moved. She slept a little over 3 hours.

Maile took a lot longer to go to sleep, but once she did, she was great. Once we got to London, again we only had 1 hr and 15 minutes to make our connection to Bucharest. I was completely shocked when I got off the plane and realized that my double stroller which I had gate checked, had been sent on the plane to Bucharest because supposedly they were too full to fit it on board of the plane.

Wish they'd told me that before they actually did it. Needless to say, at this point I am starting to worry that I am not gonna make it. The airport in London was just HUGE and even though I didn't have to change terminals, I still had to take a train to get me to my gate, go through security yet again and all that. We literally made it just in the nick of time.

I didn't get a chance to take a whole lotta pictures on the plane, just because I kinda had my hands full, with either one or the other girl sleeping in my arms. Either way, I honestly could not have imagined this trip to be easier in terms of how the girls did. They only slept for a little over 3 hours during the whole trip, and yet they never once had a meltdown, no aching ears upon take off....nothing.

The first night that we made it to Bucharest, we spent the night in a hotel before getting up the next day and getting on another 5 hr train ride to Barlad, the city my parents live in.

I put the girls to bed that night around 8 15 PM and all three of us slept until 11 PM that night and that was it. After that, it was like...hello there!! The girls were up and ready to play...have breakfast...heck for all they knew, it was breakfast time in America.

By the time we were ready to get on the train that next day, I could just tell the girls were both so exhausted. Here are some shots of them on the train to Barlad.

The girls and I decided to grab some McDonalds for lunch before we got on the train.


Did you ever know that if you wanna order "Meal number X" at any fast food place in Romania, you would actually say..."Please, may I have "menu" number X?" I never realized how funny that sounds until I met Eric 8 years ago and we went to one of the fast food places in Bucharest together. Nowadays, that just cracks me up? And did you also know, that while you're sitting in line waiting to sumbit your order like a good "almost American citizen", there's probably at least 3-4 "fellow Romanians" that will try and cut in front of you?

Yeah, I knew I was "home" the minute that happened to me...oh and what about having to pay for your grocery bags at the store?? Yup, I had to do that too today. It's amazing the things that we take for granted in other countries, America included. I know I am often guilty of that.

But anyway, that was totally unrelated,,,I did just have to throw it out there however, because it cracks me up.

Anyway, we made it to Barlad yesterday afternoon, and not even 30 minutes upon arrival, auntie Dana had taken the girls out for a walk.

Next thing I know, Maile is out there making some new friends. It was so great to see her going out there and despite the language barrier and her being BEYOND exhausted at this point, just really trying to reach out and make the best of this vacation.

As of today we are still trying to get over the jet lag but I am happy to say that the girls got about 10 hours of sleep last night and again 4 hour naps this afternoon and so did I. Hopefully we will soon be back to our regular routine and schedule and ready to embark in new adventures.