Pirogovo

What can be more American for the 4th of July than visiting an outdoor museum of Ukrainian architecture of the 19th century? At least I dressed up the kids in the flag shirts. Patriotic enough, right? When Jeff and I visited here in 2005 we also came to this museum and Jeff loved itt, so we this was one of tthe must places to visit. Andre and Jeff in the wheat field
My Dad and Harper
We decided to dress the boys in their Ukrainian outfits (minus the shoes, we figured crocs would do). They looked very cute and anyone passing would ooh and aah, and take pictures of them. I am pretty sure some of the people thought they were part of the exhibit.
Andre wasn't very cooperattive and most of the time wanted and did run away, leaving me in the dust. Luckily, I snapped enough times that we got a couple of decent shots.
With uncle Vanya

This guy playing the 'gusli' (I have no idea what this instrument is called in English) was absolutely amazing
Young cossak

I was selected to 'show off' my pottery skills. Well, actually the guy asked my Mom and she didn't want to participate, so I came to her rescue. The guy pretty much guided my hands through the whole process.
Here is the result - old Ukrainian style candle-holder
I think this is the only picture of Andre smiling

My Mom helping Harper with his costume

Snack time - medoviye pryaniki
No, itt's not beer, it's kvas - a ukrainian non-alcoholic drink

Vanya in the tree

Harper thought it was hilarious to climb on top of me and attack me - gentle little creature

Water mill

The zoo

Since Harper has never been to the zoo, we decided to take our boys to Kiev zoo. Both of them had a blast. The best part was probably seeing the brown bear.You could tell Harper was going to have fun from the minute we walked in
Looking at the birds

Watching the bear take a swim

The boys in front of the ostriches

Chocolate chip cookie?

Pointing at the tarantula

From the second we walked in to the zoo, Andre demanded to see the lion. And even after 10 minutes of watching a very active bear, he still persisted on seeing a lion.

Harper pointing at the cayman

We got to go into a petting zoo. The price including the food for the animals was less than a dollar, and the kids were free! A great deal! Harper had a blastfeeding the animals, Andre on the other hand was hesitant, after being pushed out of the was by a few goats and pigs.

Chasing chickens

Harper feeding the bunny. He was quick to figure out how to do it and was very proud of his accomplishment.

Rhino in the background

Adnre was treated to a choo-choo train ride at the end of it all.

Ballet

Though I thought I wouldn't need any time to adjust to the new time zone - I was wrong. And we did take our first day in Kiev easy, including all of us taking extended naps. Our first outing was on the 2nd. Jeff and I left the house and our kids in the early afternoon and went on a date. We first walked the beautiful bordwalk by the river Dnieper in my parents' neighborhood to one of Jeff's favorite pizzerias - Celentano's. After that we embarked on our journey of exploring downtown Kiev and later in the evening we had a ballet performance to attend at the National Opera House.

Jeff and the walkway along Dnieper

I love my parents' neighborhood

Andriivs'ka church

Us in front of it

Altar and other stuff inside the Andriivs'ka church

Statue of a cossack leader - Bogdan Khmel'nytski

Just one of the buildings downtown

Sofia - one of the oldest churches

Jeff in front of the "Golden Gates" - the main entry way to Kiev- back in the days of Kievan Rus (ca. 900 ad)

Yaroslav the Wise, one of the rulers

Jeff and I were able to go and see "Forest song", which is a Ukrainian ballet in 3 acts. On this picture you can see colorful Ukrainian costumes.

The theater's architecture is not only beautiful outside, but is matching in beauty on the inside.