Girls up at 6am but I pretended not to be. I listened to them whisper and giggle, so grateful that they had each other there to talk to so they didn't have to listen to me repeat the one word I knew in Russian thus far. After about a half hour, I got up and they greeted me with swallowing hugs. We tried our best to be quiet but Jaxon got up soon after so we played a friendly game of UNO. One by one, the others awoke and we all went down to eat breakfast in the hotel.
Other host families were at breakfast so instead of helping my kids navigate the buffet, I set out for some socializing. When I finally arrived at our very large and full table, I cracked up to see that all 7 of the kids had piled their plates with bacon and strawberries. Period. I wonder if I should have guided them through their second introduction to American food? Nah. I think the more important introduction here was to my parenting style. Aka "I'm here for ya kids, but you've got this."
After breakfast it was a race to get back to the room and use their brand new electronic toothbrushes for the second time. Yes, you read that right. The Collins family may forget to wear helmets when we bike, or eat 5 servings of fruits and veggies every day, but we have our oral hygiene priorities straight. It was an endearing sight to see the kids use the toothbrushes for the first time. Lots of giggles and even more toothpaste spattered about the mirror and countertop as they tried to figure these strange little machines out.
After the long ride home from Dallas came the introduction to our home. Eyes as big as saucers scanned the yard, their new bedrooms, and the seemingly unlimited amount of toys in the garage. They jumped on the bikes, scooters, rip sticks (Sasha already knows how to rip stick!), hula hoops, rollerblades, skateboards...all in rapid succession and with complete bliss written all over their faces. Out of all the toys, I think Sasha's favorite was the leaf blower. He couldn't get enough. Then as all the kids made their way back to look at the pool, an unsuspecting Alina pushed fully clothed Jaxon into the pool. Sasha witnessed the crime and served up a bit of justice to Alina by pushing her in the pool. Chaos ensued and before I could utter the word "swimsuit", nearly all 7 kids, pushers and pushees, were in the pool!
One by one I got them out, dried them off and showed them their new swimsuits we had purchased for them. Ilona was fairly disappointed in her 2 options and would not wear either of them. I'm not sure what the problem was - she was pointing to her chest making a "poof" sound, so I was thinking what a wonderful thing it was that she wanted to be even MORE modest than what we had offered. Later I found out this wasn't the case. Luckily we were able to pick through my drawer of swimsuits and find a couple that she would settle with.
After the swim we explained showers and were met with resistance. We knew this would be a hurdle as they only usually shower once a week in Ukraine. We tried to explain to the girls that they had to use shampoo to get the chlorine out of their hair but they would just say, "It's OK." Well, really it's not. Let's go through this again. We ended up having them all shower in their swimsuits in the outside pool shower so we could show them what we meant without being creepy by climbing in the inside shower with them.
What they must have thought of our next adventure, I'd love to know. We all piled in the RV, the toilet tank ripe from our last week's trip to Florida, and headed to a friends house to dump the tank in his septic field. Charades just couldn't explain what they were about to witness. Even though they had no idea what was happening, all 3 of them just followed happily along. When we got to Tom's house, Sasha jumped out and followed Aaron, put on a pair of gloves just like him, and carried pipes to their proper place. When Tom opened the valve to start the dump, there was a slight malfunction and rotting bathroomness spurted out on the driveway. If the sight wasn't enough to turn your stomach, the smell sure was. But Sasha didn't break stride. The other kids held their noses and ran to the backyard to play. The whole process took more than an hour and we just had to shrug our shoulders to communicate to them that we were sorry and we promise we are only white trash sometimes.
After the dump we headed to Costco to stock up on groceries and other random items such as church shirts and underwear. When we asked Sasha to pick out a color for his button down shirt for church, the look on his face was pure horror. If he thinks the shirt is bad, wait until he figures out he has to wear it for 3 hours on Sunday! They enjoyed the big store and especially the large servings of pizza in the food court. When we returned home they all naturally carried groceries inside and put them away. These kids know how to help, which is going to be an important survival skill in our pack.
The time was late and we all got dressed for bed. We gathered all the kids together to kneel for family prayer. Utter confusion on their faces. We tried to explain what we were doing, and I really do think they were pretending to be more confused than they actually were. Aaron offered the prayer, the Ukrainian kids giggled and looked around, and our kids smirked as they watched the scene. After prayer it was hugs all around and then everyone dutifully walked to their rooms, shut their doors, and fell fast asleep.
Other host families were at breakfast so instead of helping my kids navigate the buffet, I set out for some socializing. When I finally arrived at our very large and full table, I cracked up to see that all 7 of the kids had piled their plates with bacon and strawberries. Period. I wonder if I should have guided them through their second introduction to American food? Nah. I think the more important introduction here was to my parenting style. Aka "I'm here for ya kids, but you've got this."
After breakfast it was a race to get back to the room and use their brand new electronic toothbrushes for the second time. Yes, you read that right. The Collins family may forget to wear helmets when we bike, or eat 5 servings of fruits and veggies every day, but we have our oral hygiene priorities straight. It was an endearing sight to see the kids use the toothbrushes for the first time. Lots of giggles and even more toothpaste spattered about the mirror and countertop as they tried to figure these strange little machines out.
After the long ride home from Dallas came the introduction to our home. Eyes as big as saucers scanned the yard, their new bedrooms, and the seemingly unlimited amount of toys in the garage. They jumped on the bikes, scooters, rip sticks (Sasha already knows how to rip stick!), hula hoops, rollerblades, skateboards...all in rapid succession and with complete bliss written all over their faces. Out of all the toys, I think Sasha's favorite was the leaf blower. He couldn't get enough. Then as all the kids made their way back to look at the pool, an unsuspecting Alina pushed fully clothed Jaxon into the pool. Sasha witnessed the crime and served up a bit of justice to Alina by pushing her in the pool. Chaos ensued and before I could utter the word "swimsuit", nearly all 7 kids, pushers and pushees, were in the pool!
One by one I got them out, dried them off and showed them their new swimsuits we had purchased for them. Ilona was fairly disappointed in her 2 options and would not wear either of them. I'm not sure what the problem was - she was pointing to her chest making a "poof" sound, so I was thinking what a wonderful thing it was that she wanted to be even MORE modest than what we had offered. Later I found out this wasn't the case. Luckily we were able to pick through my drawer of swimsuits and find a couple that she would settle with.
After the swim we explained showers and were met with resistance. We knew this would be a hurdle as they only usually shower once a week in Ukraine. We tried to explain to the girls that they had to use shampoo to get the chlorine out of their hair but they would just say, "It's OK." Well, really it's not. Let's go through this again. We ended up having them all shower in their swimsuits in the outside pool shower so we could show them what we meant without being creepy by climbing in the inside shower with them.
What they must have thought of our next adventure, I'd love to know. We all piled in the RV, the toilet tank ripe from our last week's trip to Florida, and headed to a friends house to dump the tank in his septic field. Charades just couldn't explain what they were about to witness. Even though they had no idea what was happening, all 3 of them just followed happily along. When we got to Tom's house, Sasha jumped out and followed Aaron, put on a pair of gloves just like him, and carried pipes to their proper place. When Tom opened the valve to start the dump, there was a slight malfunction and rotting bathroomness spurted out on the driveway. If the sight wasn't enough to turn your stomach, the smell sure was. But Sasha didn't break stride. The other kids held their noses and ran to the backyard to play. The whole process took more than an hour and we just had to shrug our shoulders to communicate to them that we were sorry and we promise we are only white trash sometimes.
After the dump we headed to Costco to stock up on groceries and other random items such as church shirts and underwear. When we asked Sasha to pick out a color for his button down shirt for church, the look on his face was pure horror. If he thinks the shirt is bad, wait until he figures out he has to wear it for 3 hours on Sunday! They enjoyed the big store and especially the large servings of pizza in the food court. When we returned home they all naturally carried groceries inside and put them away. These kids know how to help, which is going to be an important survival skill in our pack.
The time was late and we all got dressed for bed. We gathered all the kids together to kneel for family prayer. Utter confusion on their faces. We tried to explain what we were doing, and I really do think they were pretending to be more confused than they actually were. Aaron offered the prayer, the Ukrainian kids giggled and looked around, and our kids smirked as they watched the scene. After prayer it was hugs all around and then everyone dutifully walked to their rooms, shut their doors, and fell fast asleep.
 |
| Ilona & Alina Bedroom |
 |
| Sasha Bedroom |
No comments:
Post a Comment