December 27, 2008...

We all slept well last night. Ryan was up for 4 hours, but got plenty of sleep, hours wise. Vera slept from 9 PM to 9 AM. I have been telling people she is so easy to put down to sleep, but I think I might have spoke too soon. She was fighting it tooth and nail today for both of her naps! I think now that she feels better she isn't as tired and I think she feels a lot more comfortable with us. All in all, she is a joy! She has the sweetest smile and I love it when she reaches her arms up for me. I can't wait for everyone to meet her.

Today we were around the apartment until after Vera's second nap. Ryan took the girls to the other apartment to do laundry and so I could do some Body Step. What a great husband! Time by myself and he is doing laundry...you can't beat that!

After Vera's nap, we headed out for dinner and a little shopping. Ryan had seen a restaurant on Old Arbat that had a picture of Uncle Sam. I even found their website on the internet, it is called the Uncle Sam Cafe. This sounded pretty American friendly! We got there and it is a pretty small place. There is basically one booth right as you go in and then you either go downstairs to the bar area or upstairs to more seating. Since we had the stroller, we just took the first booth right inside. Our waitress came and I asked if they had an English menu. She said that they didn't! What? You are the Uncle Sam Cafe and you don't have an English menu...that makes no sense to me! She did go and get a big picture menu and it did have English on it, so I guess that is okay. We ordered chicken fingers, french fries and the Super Sam pizza. It was all very good, I would recommend it if you will be in Moscow. They have 2 or 3 other locations in Moscow and I think those places have bigger menus.

Then, we stopped at a sovenior shop and bought Vera a nesting doll. I bought a bunch of them on the last trip, but didn't ever get one for her! Ooops! We also bought a set of 3 Christmas ornaments that have famous buildings in Moscow painted on them. I bought each of the girls an amber bracelet that I plan on giving to them when they get older and can appreciate them more.

Next, it was off to the toy store. There is a toy store in the basement of where we went to the grocery store on our first trip and we had always wanted to check it out. It was a lot bigger than I thought and it had everything. It was like a Babies R' Us. Then, off to the fancy grocery store at the other end of Novy Arbat that I had heard about from many people. I had to check it out before we left Moscow. You go into this really nice looking department store, I really felt like we didn't belong, and go to the basement. The store was beautiful. It even has a fountain thing in the middle of it. It seemed more like a specialty store. Every section seemed to sell specialty items. They had some staples, but not like the other grocery stores. I was panicking a little when I didn't think they had any soda, but Ryan found it for me!

Vera was a trooper through the whole night. She was in the big snowsuit and in the umbrella stroller. When we were in the sovenior store, she was being so loud! When we were at the toy store, a lady stopped Ryan and wanted to take a picture of Vera. Then, she gave her camera to her friend and knelt down by Vera to get a picture with Vera! She was really nice, but it was so strange!

Tomorrow, we are going to trek to Red Square to get the famous picture in front of Saint Basil's. Let's hope everyone is in a good mood!

Here is a picture of 2 of my favorite things in Russia! I don't know what they are called, but they are soooo good! I am going to bring as much of each of them back with me as I can, so maybe I will share a few if you want to try them!