Saturday Day 10 in Dnepro

We are still here. Everyone has been getting sick. Dave and Tyler both had some kind of fever and sore throat this week and Sonya and Dean had the flu today and have had stomach problems. Sonya told Dave that as far as she is concerned this whole place is one big Virus! We are surviving though.

Today we picked up the boys early at 8 am and took them to the park on the other side of the river. It took a long time to get a bus and when we got there the rides were all closed due to no electricity. Wendy called it the "law suit waiting to happen" park. It is pretty funny. It seems like no one here is afraid of being sued at all. People are motivated by bribes and getting paid above and beyond what they are normally paid. But nobody seems to worry about getting fired or getting in trouble or the things we think about in America. I am sure that Sonya will tell you about the horrendous hospital conditions here. This is not a place to get sick or seriously hurt, that is for sure.

Dave had given the boys some money and they wanted to spend their 100 gryvna and so they shot guns at a booth and hiit a bunch of beer cans down and then threw more darts at the balloons for a sucker and then they paid to jump on a trampoline. I told Tyler to tell them that we have 2 of them at home that they can jump on all summer for free, but that money was burning a hole in their pocket. Luckily they bought some spiderman cards and so they will have something to show for their park day.

We then got on a bus and rode to Dnepropetrosk (the big city) We went to Mcdonalds and tried to download the show 24 but it can't be done outside the US. The kids like the food and sadly that was the highlight of the day for me. We went shopping and tried to buy some new clothes for the boys. We wanted some new clothes for church but they both didn't like what was nice and the only pants Vitaly liked were like $50 and looked like what girls wear in the US and so we didn't get them. He did get some shoes and a backpack. Oleg spent about an hour pouting and we didn't know why. Evidently he wanted some toy and we said no or something because it was a piece of junk and he didn't like that. We finally cheered him up enough to buy a calculator. I saw a boys suit for only 70 grn which is about $10 but he didn't like it. It i s hard when these boys are so picky and there is nothing to choose from over here. Every store is like a DI and I think they send all the returns and rejects to Ukraine because all the packaging looks old and beat up. The box that Vitaly's shoes came in looked like it had been through the war. All the toys and stuff are the things we find at Dollartree. What I wouldn't give for a Walmart. I also found out that Vitaly didn't get a letter and money that I sent and he didn't ever get his Christmas package. I was upset about this. We sent clothes and CD s and a CD player. I guess that they were stolen. I can not believe the dishonesty. There is scandal all around and everyone acts like it is no problem. I better not get started on this.

We came home and I made mashed potatoes and gravy and Chicken nuggets for dinner. They put mayo and Ketchup on everything even the potatoes and ate it so that is something to try if you are bored on a Saturday night. We took them back at 8 and felt exhausted. We will sleep good tonight.

Vitaly and Oleg are awesome boys and we are so lucky to be preparing to be their parents. They are going to have a great time with our kids at home. They love to see pictures of the family and are getting anxious to go. We are very anxious to go. Dave and Ty are the best traveling companions ever. If we can make it through this we can make it through any trip. We may get to go a few day to Russia between the time of our SDA appt #2 and the court date. After Court Dave is going home and Ty and I will stick it out for the rest of the sentence ( I mean time.) What a crazy week this has been. Not our favorite but Oh how we will appreciate the good ones because of this one.

All is well