Yuzhno, Sakhalinsk - Pobedy Square, Government Square, & Lenin Square

Last night we went out on the town to view all the different lights and displays. I was really excited about this outing because we really have not gone out with the kids without it being a trip to the grocery store or somewhere like that. 

The first stop was to Pobedy Square. I am going to definitely go back there during the day. Gagarin Park is close by where there is a zoo and little carnival like rides (so I'm told). This Square was right in front of the major ski/snowboard mountain. It was pretty cool driving through and seeing people just walking through with thier boards and skies. 

It is a bit hard to see but this is the main run on the mountain

Pobedy Square had several very unique ice sculptures. Mike was all about the Pirate Ship. By the looks of the picture you can see how thrilled my daughter is :-) She wanted to explore and posing for pictures was not on her "to do" list. It was also dam near 0 degrees Fahrenheit, so no one was happy with how cold it was. 

One of the many trees in the city

Next stop was the Yuzhno Government Square. This was so beautiful. All the trees had lights strung through them, so many horses for kids to ride on, ice slides.... just beautiful. But again.... COLD!!!

I know, two of the same picture but every few minutes the colors changed and it was pretty :-)

Obviously we had to take a Government Selfie

We even found Cinderella's Coach!!! Clearly, Ash was happy

This tree was huge!!

Grandfather Frost (similar to the American Santa) & his Snow Maiden

All along the street were lit trees

Ash and Mike in awe at the tree

Last stop, and the one I was most excited for, Vladimir Lenin Square!

Tree at Lenin Square

And there he is folks... LENIN! I may be crazy but I am a history teacher and Russian History is just fascinating. Even the ugly parts. The statue in Yuzhno is the second largest in Russia. Tallest obviously located in Moscow. 

CJ and I with Lenin

Plaque on the side basically stating the company that made the monument, that it is a monument to Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, and built in 1970

I just had to get this man from all angles 

Walking through Lenin Square. We started at 5pm and ended at 8pm. At this point all kids were crabby, miserable, and extremely cold. 

But... despite the coldness... they still had some time to jump in the snow with the other kids who were with us :-)

Christmas Pt. 1

Santa came and it turned out to be a very nice Christmas. Kids woke up a a reasonable hour (630am) compared to the normal 530am wake up. We listened to Christmas music and opened up presents. Michael kept peeking in the closet so he knew of two presents that were under the tree :-) He asked several times "Can you show me where the trains are please" and he happened to see Will sneaking through the front door with a dragon and announced to the whole house "YAY! Daddy brought me a dragon!"... He's terrible. The Santa mystery might be debunked early for him. 

They are adorable!

First gifts!

What do you get the little girl who is obsessed with Frozen? Toddler Elsa!!! She loved it

CJ's Russian Fisher Price computer :-) 

And of course we bought Mike some Nerf like guns :-)

Even Ash is on board with the right to bear arms! She has military veterans for parents.... What did y'all expect :-)

And there it is folks... A train station from his favorite show,  Chuggington. Complete with a few more trains to complete his collection

Doc McStuffins doctors kit with Lamby

The young one got some trucks that he just pushes all around the house and walls 

With that smile you just know he loves what is inside

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - 1993 Edition (All 4)

Ash got Tinkerbell, Periwinkle, and Zarina from "The Pirate Fairy"

Tink's "bling" boutique

She loves to accessorize these days.. So we got her some bracelet and necklace making kits so she can string her own

Mike's Dragon "Toothless" from How to train your Dragon. Obviously it was a hit!

This was for all three. It is a chalk/white board they can write on. Also comes with mathematical signs and numbers.  Ash will probably get the most use out of it since I am homeschooling her.

They got some other stuff and I did not take pictures of everything. Will and I also exchanged gifts. He bought me a pair of boots and a beautiful sheepskin and mink coat. When in Russia, it is a must to own a fur coat! Will got some athletic clothes, jump ropes for the gym (the ones that are in the gym are to short), and an Armani watch. 

I Was Called Scrooge :-)

So, yea... the title explains it all. I'm not going to lie, this time of year has been pretty hard for me. So much has happened this year, so many changes, moving and adapting to a new place right before the holiday season... It has been a lot to process. 

Normally, I am itching to put my Christmas Tree up before Thanksgiving, there is Christmas music stations in the car, Christmas music playing in every store, driving through neighborhoods and seeing all he lights... I miss it. 

I did not put a tree up until 2 weeks ago. Not like me at all. It has been difficult being away from family and everything that was "normal". All 5 of us miss my mother-in-laws AMAZING sugar cookies!!!! Pretty sure Will has asked me daily to procure sugar cookies for him. I still have not mastered the baking products and spices yet so I have not done a whole lot of baking. 

I even had an emotional breakdown last night while shopping for presents. I went to 2 two stores and a "walmart" like store and could not find wrapping paper anywhere. Yep... came home with tears down my cheeks. My husband surely thinks I have lost my marbles by now. So we went back today and found some basic wrapping paper. My kids presents are wrapped in Mickey Mouse Soccer paper and Minnie eating ice cream. It works and its cute. 

I cam out of my funk today and we had a great day. We had brunch with some friends and let the kids run wild. It was nice. For the past 6 years my mother-in-law has made chili on Christmas Eve. So I kept with the tradition and cooked up some chili sans corn bread. It was delicious and all the kids loved it. We also drove around on Christmas Eve to look at the lights back home so I figured, lets go into the city and check out their lights display, huge tree, and ice sculptures around the government building and Lenin Square. I found out that Olympia is organizing a tour Saturday night to take the residents to all the same places that I was going to try and go to tonight so we postponed our adventure until Saturday. It will probably be easier than trying to organize the cars to take us to several places and haul kids, carseats, and strollers. 

Here are some photos from today. Merry Christmas Everyone! 

I think this is the best shot I have ever taken of them. At least they are all somewhat with the program

CJ has had enough

God forbid they get close and act like they love each other :-)

My beautiful little girl

Ash and her daddy

Ash and Mike are cheesing hard in this photo

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

We are closing the night with The Nutcracker Ballet. I always loved this ballet when my mom and grandmother would take me and can not wait until I can take Ash. So the next best thing is to watch The Nutcracker Ballet movie made in 1993 with the NYC ballet and Macaulay Culkin. Good Night!