Saturday in Dnepro

We went to pick up the boys in the morning and they said Oleg was gone to the forest. Turns out they took a group of kids there and went swimming. While we waited for him to come back we chatted with the kids at the orphanage. We took pictures of Kate and Alexi's younger brother and sister. I have always thought that the little sister Lira is the cutest little girl and so when they said that she was in Oleg's group I thought "What if she is the cutest little girl in the orphanage" and sure enough she is. It was actually kind of a relief to find out that she is not available for adoption because she was one of the ones that I will always remember as so friendly and always smiling at us. I think that they are officially available to be adopted but are loyal to their parents and they said that they come and visit them every weekend. I hope that we get to see them sometime because they have to be handsome people to have such gorgeous children.

While we were hanging out waiting for Oleg we took 2 kids with Vitaly to get an ice cream at the store. We also bought them a snickers. One of the boys was Sasha who really wants to go to America. He said that his little brother was adopted to America 8 years ago. He was the narrator in the program and sang a solo and is really a stand out awesome kid. I will post a picture of him soon. We told them not to tell their friends about the ice cream. I don't know if it is that or because the Corbetts took ice cream to all the kids the other day but all day there was someone asking us for Ice cream (Mer o sh nea) They would pantomime eating an ice cream cone. I even met some boys in the grocery store tonight and they literally followed me around asking for ice cream. It was crazy. We used to be known as the gum people but now it is ice cream they want.

When Oleg returned he was covered with sand and so we took him home and had him shower. I made lunch which was chicken and rice, sour cream (smit tonna) and chicken gravy and I made it because it was what Vitaly had described as his favorite dish. I guess something got lost in the translation because when I served it to him on a plate he made a nasty face and said "NE" he wouldn't even taste it. He put ketchup on bread and ate that (yuck) Tyler tried to explain that that it kind of hurts Mama's feelings when he won't try things and he said that he didn't care. I don't know the Russian word for "twirp" but between that little encounter and us telling them that we were not going to the park AGAIN and wasting $30 on dumb rides Vitaly started to pout. We told them that we were going over to Igor's side of the river and maybe to a movie everything we suggested was met with anger and "NO....PARK" We prepared to leave and everyone went out the door and Vitaly was gone. We had told them that if they didn't want to go that we could take them back to the orphanage and so we wondered if he had gone there mad and so we walked over there and no Vitaly. We came back and there he was pretending like nothing had happened. I put my arm around him and walked to the bus and he didn't push me away. We decided that we need to decide every day what we are going to do and and not ask them for input because it will always be "park."

We took the bus and I met up with Oksana and Sonya and we got a pedicure and a manicure. The whole thing was under $15 and I would have paid much more for the relaxing conversation. It was so fun to not worry about what was happening for a little while and let the Dad's take charge. They played soccer and had a fun time. After we went to potato house. Oksana and Sonya got a cappuccino and I was introduced to Ukrainian Hot Chocolate. OK this suddenly made this my favorite day in Ukraine. In total I had 3 of these in the next couple of hours. I will describe this treat but you have to try one to truly appreciate it. It is a little cup like they serve espresso in and it is melted thick chocolate not like a drink but like a fondue that you would dip things in. It is like warm pudding with more chocolate added. It was so good. You eat it with a little spoon. I am going to be going back for more. This is living proof that chocolate can change things!!

The guys joined us and everyone had pizza and baked potatoes and then we headed home. The boys both took a shower and I washed their clothes in our washer and hung them to dry.

We also ran into Alla (the mother of the village family who had us for dinner) She said that she was planning to go to the 7th day adventist church tomorrow (but don't they meet on Saturday) and talk to the pastor and the family that is trying to adopt Anya and Ruslana. She is convinced that they need to come to America and she kind of sees herself as kind of a prophetess or a seer or something and is not inhibited when it comes to telling others what God's will is. I hope she has good luck. One interesting thing is that she talked to Ruslana and said that Ruslana had a dream that she and Anya were on a plane to America and the plane crashed and that Anya was killed. She thinks that this has scared them into not wanting to go. She said that this is not a true interpretation (she also interprets dreams) and said that they need to go. So take that for whatever it is worth. We will see what happens. They said that they fasted for 2 days for Anya and Ruslana. It didn't work for Alina but maybe she can help to dispel the rumors that seem to be spoiling that little group of girls.

All is Well!

The Hinksons

PS Thanks for the post Margie and Wendy we are always chuckling when we read your posts. Here are some pics.