We are in RUSSIA!!!

Just a disclaimer before I start my post. There will probably be way more details than you care to read, so feel free to skim through the post. I just want to document our journey, so I will be including a lot of details. Enjoy!

We have arrived!! The flight wasn't too bad. We both wish we could have slept more and better. We were lucky enough to have 3 seats for the 2 of us. I can't imagine not having that extra seat, so hopefully we luck out on the way home, too. Here we are shortly after we boarded the plane.

In the middle of the flight when I went to use the lavatory, I met a woman who was also on her way to Russia to adopt! It turns out they are using the same team in Russia and we had posted on each other's blogs a couple of times! What a small world! Also, they are staying in the same apartment building. It is nice to have an American couple close by to be able to figure out the lay of the land together.

We got off the plane to a sunny day in Moscow! We got through immigration, got our baggage, and through customs with no problems. M was right outside of customs with a sign with our name on it. We really hope the rest of the trip goes as smoothly as it has so far. We waited for the other couple to get their baggage and then we all piled into a van and headed for our apartment building. It was nice to arrive in Moscow during the day we we could see the scenery on the way. Here are a couple of pictures we took. The first is a Peter the Great statue and the second is a Lenin statue.

We got to the apartment and got all of our instructions. You have to register your visas if you are staying more than 3 business days, so the apartment lady was able to take care of that. We setteled in and unpacked a little. Our apartment is nice and cozy. It isn't big, but it has everything you would need. You walk in the door to a little entry with the bathroom on your left. When you walk through the entryway, there is one big room that serves as the living area and bedroom. Then, there is a small kitchen off to the left. Here are a few pictures.

We are in a great location. We are right off of Novy Arabat and really close to Old Arabat. Old Arabat is a pedistrian street with lots of shops and restaurants. We are in a very touristy area with TGIFs right down the block. Here is the view from our apartment.

We went to use the phone to call our girly, and the phone didn't work! We went to our new friends room and ended up bringing their phone to our room and we got it to work. Well, after we plugged our phone back in, it worked! Yea!! So, we called our girl and actually woke her up, so she wasn't as happy as she usually is. So, Ryan and I went to explore Novy Arabat street and get some dinner. We exchanged some of our dollars for rubles, ate dinner at an Irish Pub, and got a couple of things at the grocery store. When we came back, we called Kiara with Yahoo Messengar so we could see each other. It is crazy that we are halfway around the world and we can see each other, but it is so nice.

So, tomorrow we don't have anything planned with the adoption, so we are going to explore Moscow. I am sure we will have lots of pictures to share then. Then, Tuesday, of course, is the big day, we meet our new baby girl and our first baby girl turns 5!

Well, I better get to bed, Ryan is already sawing logs!