Discovering Dinosaurs and Other Great Adventures

I soooo feel for this guy.

We took the kids to an indoor pool and this is the lucky lifeguard that was assigned to the water slide where Sasha wanted to spend his time. Take notice of the ominous sky in the picture. Our original plan was to go to an outdoor pool with a high dive and we had psyched the kids up for the adventure, only to have our plans derailed by a lightning storm. So naturally Sasha pouted and complained and once we Aaron finally convinced him to get out of the car and into the pool, he had to make the adventure every bit as exciting and risky as a high dive. No diving, no running, no sliding, no going down backwards...those rules were all meant for everyone except Sasha.

The lifeguard started out strong. With a floatie tucked tightly in one hand, his other hand proudly holding his bellowing whistle, he would correct Sasha at every misstep. "No running!""Feet first down the slide!", etc. etc. To no avail.

As time went on, the whistle went from a loud bellow to more of a question. The end tone had this inflection that seemed to say, "Hey fella, don't you know I'm in charge here and you're making me look like a fool?" He would shout half hearted commands and then cross his fingers that Sasha would comply.

Towards the end, I watched the emergence of a completely defeated lifeguard. He actually started turning his back to check the clock when he saw Sasha coming down the slide. The energy to stop him was just too much and it was easier to look away and pretend it wasn't happening. 8:25, 8:26, 8:27...all he had to do was make it to 8:30 when he could sound the final blow of his whistle to clear the pool for the night.

And can you guess what I did this entire time? I sat on the side bench and pretended I didn't know him.

Sasha in the black shorts running

The ole' scratch of the head as he watched him get out of the pool to start his sprint

Checking the clock as Sasha plunges into the pool

Judge if you will, but I experienced the equivalent of "bonk". It's a term for athletes described as the sudden stall and depletion of energy. This statue titled 'Tired Man' knows exactly what I mean.

Earlier in the day we took the kids to Thanksgiving Point to check out the dinosaur museum, farm and garden mazes. Do I even need to say it? Total fu.

I typed this to the girls as they craned their necks looking at the T-Rex in the lobby:

Complete bewilderment. I don't think they had dinosaurs in Ukraine.

On to the sand and water table. The water rushes down as you try to build dams and habitats for the plastic dinosaurs scattered about. I got this one:

What??? I told Sasha it wasn't translating right. So Ilona helped him out. "Sasha say this for babies."

OK. On to the farm. Pony rides, goats, horses, chickens, smells...all fu.

Yes, that's Sasha holding his nose

Ilona and Alina were great sports as the pony rides were not the pinnacle of thrilling

After the farm everyone enjoyed going inside and eating ice cream. Sasha loved being with my nephew and it's the first time we've seen him actually look up to a peer for cues, instead of doing silly things to try to impress. That is a huge step in the right direction. As they were sitting at the farm, they tried out some google translate. Sasha asked Austin how old he was. Seventeen. As Sasha tried to explain that Austin was older than him, he typed this:

Good times with Austin, Sasha's new friend

Saying goodbye to some of our Andersen cousins

We ended the day with a trip to our other favorite shake shop, Iceburg. The kids were happy until I accidentally ordered Alina a strawberry shake instead of vanilla. I quickly exchanged it, but changing her mood wasn't as easy. Her sullenness quickly spread to Ilona and they both started their loud Russian rantings as if we were subjecting them to some kind of strange torture. 

Each new day seems to bring me a wide variety of new confusion. Things seem so backwards. These kids are great at saying "Sank You" most of the time, but lack the social graces, or is it gratitude, that would keep them from telling you that everything you plan for them is stupid. They fight against boundaries, yet lax boundaries leave them even more feisty. They expect to be treated as equals, yet they are openly prejudice. They will hurt others and the next minute run to someone's rescue.

It pains me to think of what must be going on inside each precious one of them. Helping someone through a lifetime of hurt and mistrust is not an easy or a quick fix. We continue to be patient with the hard times and positive during the good ones. Sometimes I'd rather take the 'kick me' sign off my back and call it a day, I'm not gonna lie. But I'm convinced there's no better place for the 9 of us to be this summer than right where we are. The work is dirty and it's divine, but it's ours to finish and we power through with all the grace we can muster.