Trip #2 Moscow Day #2

On our second day in Moscow we went out for some more touristy activity. Our plan was to tour the Kremlin but sadly it is closed on Thursdays. We did this exact same thing last time!! Haha. Tried to go on a Thursday. Instead we took a tour of St. Basil. It is just as beautiful inside as it is outside!

Below: Paper mache version of St. Basil....very impressive!

Below: Worn by Christians to show penance. This particular set was worn by a famous Russian saint.

All of the following pictures are of different churches within the cathedral. They are each detected to a different patron saint.  The outside of St. Basil is large but when you walk inside it feels some what cramped because of the many corridors and tall pillars.

We also took a picture of the river when we were inside St. Basil. Its hard to tell were its at because its frozen this time of year!!! If you can make out the bridge you can see the river underneath.

We had lunch at our favorite restaurant(not that we have tried many there).Its a Japanese restaurant and they have the best sushi and a really good seafood soup! So yummy!!! We took the overnight train to Kirov and arrived there Friday morning.

~The Rileys

He said YES!!!

Going out of order on the post but this is BIG exciting news...we will go into more detail later but he judge said YES!!!!! Thank goodness!!! We get to pick him up in a little more than 30 days!!! All smiles!!!

~The Rileys

Russia trip #2 Raleigh to Moscow

We have been a little slack since we have arrived with updating our blog! Now the long weekend has arrived and we are in the hotel for Saturday and Sunday with not a lot to do. Starting from the beginning...

We left Raleigh on Tuesday(Happy Valentines Day!!) around 12:00 and arrived in New York shortly after maybe 130. Got on to the flight for Moscow around 430. Upon boarding I got taken out by an elderly Russian women and her suitcase. She decided she wanted to put her luggage in the overhead bin and I guess I was in the way. I now have a bruise the size of a grapefruit on my thigh. Nice...but she looked like someone that was not to be messed with so I just limped on to my seat.

We flew Delta this trip and have decided Aeroflot was nicer. But either way its still a 10 hour flight and it cant end soon enough.

Our driver met us at the airport and we took the train and then the subway back to our hotel. Last time we drove but he said the traffic was so terrible that this would be faster. It was a 30 minute train ride and 4 subway stops so not to bad.

We took a nap and then ventured out to our standby Sbarro. You really cant go wrong with pizza! Our driver had mentioned checking out Red Square at night with the ice skating rink that is there this time of year. It is right across the street from our hotel so its a just a quick walk underground to pop up on the other side. Pictures below are from our night time tour of Red Square. It was snowing and was truly very beautiful!

The last picture below is a picture of our hotel which we love staying here! It is across the street from Red Square and we have found several restaurants that we enjoy close by.

~The Rileys

13 days until takeoff

We leave in 13 days for Russia!!!!! Hooray!! Our flight leaves on February 14th.  Nothing says "I love you" like a plane tickets to Russia! Our schedule will go something like this:

02/14  Leave for Moscow
02/15 Arrive in Moscow and stay the night
02/16 Take the overnight train to Kirov
02/17 Visit the orphanage
02/18 Hopefully visit the orphanage again(we are still waiting for approval for a second visit. they usually do not allow any visitation on the weekends but we are hoping for a exception...fingers crossed!)
02/19 Hang out in Kirov
02/20 COURT!!!!!!(pray,pray,pray!!!) we would then leave on the overnight train to Moscow
02/21 Arrive in Moscow
02/22 Leave for the US

So excited!!!

~The Rileys

Gathering paperwork for trip 2

We got the news we would need to update our physicals and background checks when we returned home...again. I know our doctors are so sick of us! We go almost every three months and have them fill out the same paperwork and run the same blood test. Hopefully this is the last time!!!

Everything was sent to Russia to be translated and ready for court!

~The Rileys

Trip #1 Moscow 11-11-11

We arrived back in Moscow in the morning. Our driver picked us up at the train station and took us back to the hotel. We spent the day walking around and seeing a few more touristy things.

Sunday morning we left for the US. It was a long, long plane ride home. The three ladies behind and beside us made for an entertaining flight. They were a riot! We so thankful and glad to make it back!!!

There is nothing like having a BIG cup of ice water!! Who would have thought we could miss ice so much?!

~The Rileys

Trip #1 Kirov 11-10-11

We returned to the orphanage the next day and spent a couple of hours playing with our little guy. He is so full of energy!! We love it! He loves to play ball and work with his stacking cups and rings. But mostly he loved Scott turning him upside down...cannot wait until we can post pictures of this!

Afterwards we signed our intent to adopt. AWESOME feeling! We then traveled to a notary were they finished our paperwork and we officially decided what his name would be. What a great,great day!!

We left on the overnight train back to Moscow...14 hours back!

~The Rileys

35 days...

There was a long time in between post! We do apologize but we miss our little guy so much!! I promise to wrap up trip #1 this week!
But...in 35 more days we go back and have our court date!!!! Counting down the days until February 20th!!

~The Rileys

Trip #1 Kirov 11-09-11

We took the overnight train from Moscow to Kirov. We left late in the afternoon so most of the ride was during the night. The two "beds" were comfortable and we got some sleep. We were super excited!!!!...so sleep did not come easily!! We did not really take any pictures on the train except for the one below. We promise to take more next time!

All the clothes behind Scott got wet because it was snowing so we had to lay them all out to dry on the way to Kirov.

We arrived in Kirov and our translator, Helen, meet us at the train station. She is truly an amazing person, who was so genuine and kind. Her English was also excellent!! We then headed to our eight doctor exam

YES...eight doctors to see!! Well eight doctors to approve of our physical condition and read over the lab test and chest x-rays we brought. We didn't have to see all eight some reviewed our paperwork and approved us. It was a strange experience. We went to a clinic were we saw a neurologist and immunologist to name just a few. The good news is we passed!! We had to return later that afternoon to see the psychologist which is a whole another story but we survived!!!

After our medical exams we went back to our hotel and got to clean up and rest before we went to the orphanage. The orphanage was located about 45 minutes away...longest ride EVER!

We arrived and were greeted by some of the staff and then lead into the music room. It was a very bright and cheerful place. We cannot post pictures now but after everything is complete we will post some. The caregivers brought "L" in and placed him in my arms. He is AMAZING!! We are totally in love and cannot wait to share pictures! We got a lot of good play time! He is an active, happy two year old! We played with blocks and balls. There were lots of laughs!

He also had a physical from a pediatrician from the American University in Moscow. She traveled with us and reviewed all of his medical information with us. She was great! L loved her and so did we. We also were able to speak to the social worker and she gave us a lot of information that on L's background.

After playtime we had tea and cake with the orphanage director and our translator and the pediatrician that traveled with us. Which was a cool experience! Then we headed back to our hotel for dinner at the restaurant in our hotel. The food was great...there was only one menu that was in English so there was a lot of pointing involved.

It was an AWESOME day!