Last day in Moscow

Sorry again for the lack of posting. Our schedule just got really screwed up in coming to Moscow and Landon can't handle it that well. He hasn't been able to take his naps like normal and we hate seeing him so tired that he can't get to sleep. We will be so glad to get home and let him (and us) adjust to our new and final schedule at home.

Today we took our excursion to some places around Moscow. I have pictures to take but won't be able to look at them until we get home, but here is a play-by-play.

FYI, I will fix the names, etc. as I have forgotten some or will get them wrong.

We first went to the Kremlin area with one of the agency staff as our tour guide. We first saw St.Basil's Cathedral which was real cool in person and a little smaller than it looks in pictures. We then walked down red square with the Kremlin walls on one side, heading towards the Russian National Museum at the far end of Red Sqaure. The architecture of all of this was cool, and the walls and towers of the Kremlin were great. Just say everything was cool, I guess.

We walked to a park nearby and saw the tomb of the unknown soldiers. It was 11:00 am so the guards were changed which was kind of neat. 3 march in a little high-step sort of walk, 2 swap spots with the ones standing, then the 3 walk away. 

We went to another Orthodox church there, I forget the name but will remember it later. We couldn't take pictures inside but it was truly amazing. There were murals painted on the walls and ceilings, big chandeliers, lots of other stuff that I will need to research on the internet to describe to you since I have no pics. Boo!!!!!

We then went to the highest hill in Moscow where you can see over the city and is next to the site of the Olympics in 80-something. It also had a huge building which was one of 6 or 7 (the 6 Sisters) that were built by Stalin(?). They are almost identical and can all be seen from the hill.

We then went to the McDonalds on Arbat Street for lunch, then off to the embassy. The US embassy was a neat looking building form the outside (like many buildings here), but we went into the bottom corner of it so was not too exciting on the inside.

We paid the visa fee for Landon since he needs a visa to enter the US as he is a Russian citizen. We waited in a room with maybe a dozen other families that were adopting. At 2:00 a guy comes out to explain some things. Each family is called up to one of two windows to verify the information like child's name, etc. We then got Landon's original info, like birth certificate, etc. back form them. We waited 20 minutes for the official documents that are opened when we return to the US and we left.

Landon was so tired at this point. His schedule here has been so wacky and he has missed his naps. We have enjoyed the city and the architecture. They have lots of parks and green spaces which is nice. Lots of history of course. I hope to feel better in a few days and write a better post about Moscow including the pics I took. I also hope to find pics on the internet of the things that I couldn't get a shot of. I'll let you know which ones they are so I don't take credit for them.

We leave the hotel in the morning at 9:30 and fly out around noon, getting home at 8:30. We will kiss the ground and be happy to be home, a new family to grow together and share with lots of others.