9/23/04

Hello Friends,
Tonight we are whooped. It’s been a long day!! We started off at about 5:15 am, much earlier than normal. Karleigh had a hankering for a bottle. I gave her a fix and she promptly went back to snoozerville. Jeff and I caught a couple more hours sleep so all was not lost.

We played for a few hours in the morning and took the necessary time to prepare to go to the zoo. Instead of a quick dip in the shower, we now consider bottles (check), diapers (check), camera (check). It’s really not that bad once you have done it a few times, but we forget to add in the extra energy it takes.

Emil was here at 2pm sharp and we were ready at 2:10 sharp, pretty darned good for rookies!! We headed out to the Almaty Zoo. Emil helped us with tickets, found out about rest rooms (do we have to pay? How much?) and we let him off the hook for another WPA family visit to the zoo. The cost was 200 Tenge each ($1.50) kids were free. There was no charge for the bathroom, but he warned that they were bad. This worried us, as when we used the facility at the hatchery it was a hole in the floor w/ running water – and he didn’t seem to mind that.

We entered the zoo, up three flights of stroller friendly stairs. To the far left there was a very ingenious invention that I have not seen at home. Let’s see if I can explain it. There were mini steps built into the center of a ramp – the wheels of the stroller straddled the stairs and the pusher could follow behind in step. Did you get that? I wish we took a picture, but at the moment our hands were full and we were going upward like two kids who are on an escalator for the first time.

I would love nothing more than to paint you a wonderful picture of the zoo, unfortunately in this case, we have to call it like we see it. First, the animals were well cared for and fed – but their surroundings were less than desirable. The cages were old, small and mostly concrete. The grounds were unkempt and screamed – zoo fundraiser and weed whackers needed. The pavement walkways were severely damaged and made strolling a conscientious effort. It saddened me to see rose bushes that had one long stem and a single blossom, knowing that they were once given the attention they deserved – but have not seen miracle grow and a trim back in a very long time. In many places in Kazakhstan the grass is not trimmed back, we are used to seeing this – at the babyhouse, in yards and in the city. We can over look that because the grass is very green and it appears healthy – however, in the zoo, grass has been overtaken by a mix of weeds and dry patches. We enjoyed our day though and see hope here and in Almaty as the future is changing and it will be brighter and better as the country moves from its infancy to adolescence. We do encourage other families to take the time to go to the zoo, there are many opportunities for very up close looks at a wide variety of animals, including; bears, lions, tigers, many birds, reptiles and an impressive display of monkeys. It’s a great way to spend a few hours in the fresh air and sunshine. Jeff took a few snapshots today – one in particular reminds me of my brother Lance, can you guess which one it is??

After we got back the kids were wired! They didn’t want to sleep, eat or play. Not only did we blow the schedule - we need to consider that it must be very hard for them to experience such new and different things. This was their longest stroll and the animals and smells were completely foreign to them. We took frequent breaks to check in with them, and assure them things were ok and they gave us smiles and snuggles so no fear – we have not traumatized them forever! We did pay the price though…sleepless one and two stayed up for HOURS! Fuss, wet diaper, fuss, crank, fuss, snuggle, fuss….wet diaper…FINALLY at 7:30pm they crashed and burned. Jeff and I looked at each other and collapsed on the couch. Believe it or not, we are too tired to even drink wine. We are sipping on a large warm cup of Lipton’s finest and enjoying a quiet and hopefully long break.

Each day we are feeling more and more like parents – it’s not all fun and games yaw know!? We have 11 more days til’ court and 8 days til mom comes. The time is really flying. In one way I want it to slow down so we can continue to suck in as much Kaz as possible. In another way, I really want you all to be able to share these beautiful babies with us! We are also dying to spoil our dogs! The best we can do is reflect on each day, hour and moment and capture some of them in time. What we can absorb is what we will have to give our children when they ask about their birth country.

Well, that’s it for tonight. I think I’ll go pour us a second cup and enjoy my sweetheart (the big one) while we have a few more minutes to ourselves.

All our love, Colene (and Jeff)