day 19 - more fun at the orphanage

Another beautiful day in Kiev. Mark took a translator (book not Anastasia) with him and was able to get FRUIT pastries this morning - yum!

We had fun at the orphanage. We hung out on the grounds for a while, then walked over to the playground again. They found some sidewalk chalk on the way, so spent some time playing with that. These kids are surprising as in some ways they are so wordly, but in other ways very immature and play with things (like pipecleaners and sidewalk chalk) that you wouldn't expect to entertain at 15 year old. At the playground we were once again brought to tears (I'm sounding sappy I know, but we really were) as Zhenya would physically lift Anastasia off equipment when she got stuck. At one point they were playing tag and she was "it" and could not for the life of her catch anyone, so Zhenya let her catch him.

Luda was funny too. She was finding places to hide while they were playing tag - but whenever she found a good spot she'd holler out to me "KEEEM" which would then give away her place. She has no trouble keeping up with the kids. They love to have us watch them and give them thumbs up or a wave when they do something cool - or when they just want someone to say "hey!"

When we got there today the younger kids were raking leaves and sticks into piles and digging holes. No clue what the holes were about cause after they dug them they filled them back in. The older boys weren't digging or raking, but they were continually being yelled at by the orphanage workers (we're guessing they were being told to dig and rake) but we could tell by their response, and lack of movement, that they declined.

Maxim and "little" Zhenya. Precious little faces.

It's sweet how the big kids take care of the little kids. Here is Yura giving a piggy back ride - so sweet.

These kids spend a lot of time just sitting....

People make fun of me always bringing pipecleaners everywhere (people at home - not these kids) but as you can see all ages were enjoying them.


Sasha likes detective books so Mark found her an Agatha Christy book in Russian today. She was very pleased to get it!


This game was very similar to our American Four Square (they even had the squares on the pavement) but they use thier feet instead of their hands!

Anastasia and Luda either had their arms around each other or were touching in some way most of the way to the playground. They know their time together here in Ukraine is coming to an end. Anastasia and Luda have spent time talking about what it would be like if they both lived in America with families. We think that would be really nice.

Sasha was very relaxed today. After playing tag through the playground with Yaroslav, Zhenya, Luda and Anastasia, she took a break. We wondered what she was thinking about as she lay there. On the way over to the playground the kids were talking about family, America, home, school.... (those are the words I could make out in Russian). Sasha was also telling them her name Sasha Bow-toe Grace (oops - that's Anastasia's middle name not hers). ANastasia did correct her. It's a bit confusing cause over here they say last name in the middle

Yaroslav and Zhenya checking out Anastasia's book.

this has turned into a really sweet spot where Anastasia gets into some pretty deep conversations with her buddies. A couple days ago she and VIktor sat up here for a long time. Today it was Anastasia and Zhenya. She said he asked her if she remembered going to Italy (they were hosted in Italy together one summer) and asked about some other stuff from when they were in orphanage together. THen he started asking her what it's like to have a family, what it's like to live in America.... then he told her that he too would like to live with a family. We don't even know who of these kids are available for adoption and who aren't. But I think for many of them who have been afraid to even dream of having a family, having "Nastya" back has given them some hope. They lived with her in the orphanage - she was an orphan - but she's an orphan no more. When she was in the orphange she said kids didn't talk much about their families. She said Sasha was the only one she ever talked to about family, but here on the top of this playset over the past few days, she's had some really deep conversations. We're praying big prayers here. We're praying that they all get families.