A few pics and our day

We had our first "official" visit with Matthew today. We checked the groupa first (their roooms - remembered exactly where to go from last time), but the kids were outside playing so we headed towards the play area. The caregivers told him we were coming and he ran our way, happy to see us. We spent about an hour with him. I had brought along a water bottle and the kid drank like he couldn't get enough. Just like yesterday, he was enthralled with Maia's lea*frog computer. They both played on the swing. For a while, I sat on the ground in front of Maia pushing her. Matthew came and sat with me and pushed her too. I can tell we are going to have to work on comprehension of the word "gentle." He's got a lot of energy and definitely a boy... those knees are scraped up!! We looked at his picture book and he was already pointing out Papa, Mama, and Maia. When our visit was coming to an end, Mark went to see if the groupa was still outside or if we needed to take Matthew back in. As he was coming towards us, I asked Matthew to go find Papa. He ran off yelling "Papa" - it was very sweet! Mark took him back to his groupa and you would have thought the world was coming to end. He cried and cried. I hadn't said good-bye, so I went to give him a hug and tell him we would be back. He calmed down, although he was still tearful. I was, too - lol!

After that, Vitaly took us back to the hotel so we could check out, then brought us to our apartment. We couldn't get the internet connected and I had a little meltdown about that, but thanks to Alex (one of the drivers) - we are on-line!! We took a walk late this afternoon and found a little market to get basic items. Had dinner on the balcony of our apartment.
It's been kind of a tough day and it's getting late so I'm going to leave you with a few pictures from Kiev.

Cuddling with my girl

The view from our apartment

Outside the SDA (Govt Office)

Cathedral next to the SDA

Shops on the street outside the SDA

Entrance to the SDA

Playing in one of the fountains at Independence Square

Ditto - can you tell our girl LOVES water??

The building in the background is where our apartment was located.

Living/Bedroom

More tomorrow...