21 Years Ago Today

I wish I'd thought to do this earlier in the year for the boys' birthdays, but there's always next year for them. Today's entry is a very short retrospective of our youngest child, Adrianne. A few days ago I was going through some things to send with her birthday box, and came across some quotes I wrote down of cute things she said when she was between the ages of four and eight.
Adrianne was born in a birthing clinic in Germany. Before she was born I would look at our children, and knew someone was missing. That feeling went away after she joined our family.
Here are some of my favorite quotes, as well as some pictures of her as a child. Remember there were no digital cameras back in the 1980's, so most of these pictures are scanned. One more thing, the quotes and the pictures don't match up. I couldn't find pictures that were the exactly the right age to go with the quotes, since we haven't scanned all the pictures from her early years. April 1993, age 4: One time when I was in the bath tub I sang so loud that I made the toy boats fall down.
When I asked Adri why she woke up so early one day, she told me, "I just woke up! My dreams were over." March 1994, age almost six: I want to wear a dress to school that no one has seen before, because people look at you more if you're wearing a new dress.
April 1994: I wish I were a baby. I'll never be that cute again. (she said this after watching family videos of when she was a baby.)

January 1995, age 6: I can't wait to grow up, I have so many plans! I know what my house is going to look like and what pets I'm going to have and what my kids names will be.
December 1995, age 7: I need to go in a room by myself where it's quiet so I can throw out some of the stuff in my elephant brain that I don't need to remember any more.
March 1996, age almost eight: I'm never going to use this homework pass. I LIKE doing homework!"
This last picture is of Adri at age 12. She has been a delightful member of our family, and we've all been blessed my her (mostly) sunny disposition.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ADRIANNE!!

Visit to Moscow, Russia

My sister Jill and my sister-in-law Jill have been traveling together for several years. I usually wasn't available to join them, but this year I did. We went during the first week of July. Here we are at the most iconic place in Moscow, Red Square. It's amazing travelling with my sister, Jill, because she speaks so many different languages. Russian was her major in college. Here we are in Red Square in front of St. Basil's Cathederal.

The sign below says, "Moscow"

My sister-in-law, Jill, had enough points to pay for a room at the Moscow Marriott, which was very nice for Jill and me. As an added bonus, due to Jill's elite status, we were able to eat not only breakfast but dinner in the hotel.

The old architecture in Moscow with the onion domes, especially on the churches, is so uniqe and beautiful. 

It seemed like everywhere I turned there was another spectacular looking church!

Notice how each of the colors or shape of the domes is so different! The church on the the right below is inside the Kremlin complex.

                                      The cathedral pictured below is the Cathederal of Christ Our Savior. Stalin demolished it in 1931, but it was rebuilt in 2000. We didn't go into all of the churches, but the picture on the right is an interior shot of one we did go into. It was also elaborate and amazing.

 

Below is a photo of Lenin's Tomb on Red Square.

This is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is not too far from Red Square on the wall of the Kremlin.

   Speaking of the Kremlin, there was quite a line to get in on the day we went.

Below are some of the buildings inside the Kremlin walls, with their iconic red stars on the tops of the towers. Each tower seemed to be a bit different. Below is the Nikolskya Tower, 

and this is the Spasskaya Tower. It's the most well-known.

On the right is the Trinity Tower of the Kremlin. the picture on the left is the Tsar Bell, the heaviest in

the world. It cracked in 1737 and wasn't able to be repaired.

         

This is the Tsar cannon, the largest in the world. It was built 400 years ago to defend the Kremlin.

I was told that the subways in Moscow were elaborate and gorgeous, but I never thought I'd be taking so many pictures of subway stations and the art inside them. Below is the roof of one of the stations, and it was fairly typical.

                           

Much of the art was mosiacs, and a common theme was honoring Lenin and military battles and heroes.

 

There were statues, carvings and mosaics throughout the stations. I wanted my picture taken in front of the art below left, since it showed a pianist.  

In this picture I was trying to show how far down the escalators to the subway stations went. 

    

I loved the stunning craftsmanship in the mosaics!

 

Definitely not the best picture of me, but I wanted to show the Russian cheese blinis we had for lunch one day. It's basically a filled crepe, but served in a different way.

Below is the Izmailovsky Market. We came here to shop for souvenirs.  

It was super helpful to have Jill to speak Russian to the vendors to tell them what we were looking for.

I was looking for a larger Russian nativity set, but sadly was only able to find a very small one, which I bought for my mom. I did find a lovely little black piano with a Russian scene painted on it, though.

Just had to put in a couple of pictures of the sweet little "babushkas" we saw around the city.

             

There are many, many big statues in Moscow. The one on the left below is to Pushkin, Russia's Shakespeare, and the one on the right is a monument to Peter the Great.  

     

                         

We walked through one of the largest cemeteries in Moscow, where the rich and famous and military leaders can put statues of themselves on their graves.

Below is the entrance to Gorky Park, the most famous park in Moscow. We enjoyed walking through it and seeing all the families enjoying the park.

I could add a dozen photos of the Soviet symbols: the star, hammer and sickle. They were everywhere! Here are a few representative pictures.

Below are some prime examples of the Stalinist-style of architecture from the 1940's and 1950's. There were many buildings in this style, which is very distinctive.

       

If you look closely you can see the hammer and sickle carved near the top of this building.

If I get the chance I love to go out in the evenings to get night shots. When things are lit up it really looks magical. Below is the entrance gate to Red Square.

Night shot of the St. Basil's Cathederal.

This is the huge department store that sits on one side of Red Square.

The fabulous interior of the GUM department store.

This is the State Historical Museum, on one of the sides of Red Square.

After a truly remarkable trip and taking hundreds of photos, it was time to say good-bye. Jill Louise and I were flying home, but Jill Lucy was taking the train, off for more adventures.