9/20/04

Happy Tuesday!
Today was a wonderful day! We started the morning early and the kids had their bottles and played, they started getting tired around 7am so we were able to put them back to bed and catch another couple hours sleep for ourselves.

At 11:30 Emil picked us up and we headed for lunch. We went to an outdoor café at the base of the mountains. The air was very clean and the air had just a pinch of a chill in it. We arrived at the Café at 12:00 and saw a sign on the door saying “open at 1” or something to that sort. Emil told us he would see if they would open early for us. IMAGINE THAT? A few minutes later, he returned to the car, big grin in tact and started helping us out. He apologized to us that although we could go in, the Shish kabobs would not be done for a while longer as they are cooked on a wood fire that has to reach temperature before they start. Like this would be a issue, the man just got the place open for us an hour early!! It was very nice inside, a patio atmosphere with tables in the grass, a section with pavers and more tables and booths under a wooden lean to. Emil really wanted to sit in the grassy area, so did I, but the waitress was sternly suggesting under the lean to. So this is where we headed. After seating ourselves in a booth with seats that had high backs and were covered in velvet the waitress returned with three large blankets, just like the one on our bed!! They were very fuzzy and all different animal patterns. Emil said it is common for blankets to be provided in case we were chilly. Again, IMAGINE THAT!

As the waitress brought the menu, I hopped up to take a few snapshots of the place, being the American tourist what else was I supposed to do?? There were many rose bushes just hanging on to their last blooms, gorgeous colors and HUGE blossoms. There were plants along the wall that were vine like with purple flowers, I’m not sure what they were called but they were growing like wildfire. In the center of the courtyard there was a long water garden with fountains. The fountains were not on, but I imagine that they would be really beautiful at night all lit up with a view of the snowy mountains in the background. I asked Emil if this was a good place for a date. I’m getting kicks out of putting him on the spot lately as he is so shy. He turned a little red so I decided to let him off the hook this time.

All this and the food had not even been ordered yet. Since we could not read the menu it was up to good ole’ Uncle Emil again. He was talking with the server for quite a while then turned to us and asked about salads. Hmmm…I know that was not all about salads, perhaps he was doing a little flirting… Jeff said “no” being the meat and potato guy that he is, and I wanted to hear more about it since a little greenery would do me good. They offered the standard cucumber and tomato salad and I asked if it would be possible for just cucumber. (I’m addicted), again there was a lot more talking than just – ‘can she have only cucumber?’, this time I imagine it was more like ‘this americanski is so picky, can you believe she has the nerve to only want cucumbers??’ nahhh….he would never say that!!

Emil ordered us two beers, and a coke for himself, we had Tien Shien which is 12.5% alc by vol. in HUGE mugs, these were about 10” high. How would we ever finish them? OH PLEASE!

Next we started talking about bread. We ended up with three different kinds of bread (four if you count the beer). The first, regular roll type pieces of bread that are great with a hunk of butter, the second traditional Kazak bread which was like a puff of fried dough, very light and airy. Emil told us this bread is easy to prepare and transport, and in historical times the people were shepherds and moved frequently, this bread could be made quickly each day. The third bread was very different. This bread was made with potato and bits of onion, it was rolled out flat, cooked and was served and cut like pizza. The slices did not stand upright on their own and needed to be eaten with a fork. DE-LISH-US!

Next we had an order of sautéed mushrooms with onions and cheese. This was wonderful, although not the healthful approach to vegetables I was hoping for. Finally, the main course – SHISH Kabobs! We ordered one lamb, chicken and pork. (no horse on the menu – escaped again!) Emil is so cute! We were holding the children so he was leaning over to our plates from across the table and cutting our food for us. I tell ya, is there anything this guy won’t do?? As mentioned in an earlier post, the kabobs are cooked over special wood that burns hot, the meat is very tender and flavorful. Can’t put my finger on the spice, but it was not dill this time. We shared all three kinds of kabob and I think the lamb was my favorite. There were two chops and a few small pieces on the skewer along with tomato and cucumber.

After lunch was finished we relaxed and talked for a while as the kids fell asleep in our arms. I don’t think I could ever tire of that feeling!

Once back to the apartment we put the kids down for a while and Jeff headed for a nap. Karleigh was against that and thought he had plenty of sleep last night. She was fussing and whimpering in the crib longer than usual, I think the lunch out kind of messed up the schedule. We will pay more attention to that from now on.

While Jeff was asleep – bottle play time arrived, my first time at it alone. I started out with Karleigh, she gobbled up the bottle and snuggled in for a little luv’n. Once she was content it was onto the Big Man, he woke with his typical grin and st-reett-ch, then scarfed down his bottle. We all played on the floor for a while, checked and changed diapers and found our happy place. They were so cute squealing and laughing at each other. They are going to be great pals!

McCale had a blast today! I was making noises with Karleigh when he grabbed two big handfuls of hair from behind. He thought this was the greatest, I thought, how do I flip over to detatch him. Somehow the strands of hair got intertwined in his fingers and that made this even more challenging. He was cracking himself up at the fact that left hand pull jolted mommies head to the left and right hand pull did the opposite. My goodness. On top of all this, I was splattered with a little upchuck of formula somewhere back there. So long as I don’t turn my head around nobody will see right??

We have become accustomed to formula stench in our clothes, hair, fingers and feet. Everywhere, they are starting to slow down with their eating, hopefully the backsplash will decrease accordingly. They are really very good babies, they are loving and attaching well. They have a good taste for what cuddling is and can’t seem to get enough. We are making tons of eye contact and both children frequently reach up to touch our face and pull on our lower lips, nose and once and a while eyelid. They are really a pleasure and we are so happy to be their prospective parents. We can’t wait til the papers are signed sealed and delivered. In our minds the deal is done, its very hard to know that someone else makes that final decision.

Well, enough for today, hope you are not terribly bored hearing about what we eat, when we get up and projectile issues, we are trying to give you an idea of what’s going on, and on this side of the world these details are very exciting to us. : ) Miss you all! Luv, Col and Jeff

Nicknames
Karlooshka
Karlooshki
Mishka
Mishoonka
Poopie pants
Stinker bean
Sweet pea