Vacation!

I'm sitting here in the shade near a heavily-laden apple tree with snow-covered mountains towering in the distance. Everyone is enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon nap except Lev and I. Lev slept through most of meeting this morning and is currently enjoying climbing in and out of a tub of water and arranging his cars, airplanes, ponies and tractors in various "parking lots." Almaty is hot this time of year; it was 100 degrees when we arrived and got up to 106 the other day! The peaceful quietness of a grassy lawn dotted with various fruit trees, a summer kitchen that magically produces an abundance of delicious meals, and a handful of "aunties" and "uncles" interacting with the boys does much to negate any discomfort the heat might bring. To say we are enjoying our time here would be an understatement. The apricot trees are ripe and we are making about a gallon of jam every other day. The cherry trees are nearing the end of their season, but there are still plenty for fresh eating. And the apple trees are loaded with green sour apples which seem to have turned into the latest great water toy for the boys. Finn is pleased to have so many people to talk to and ask what they are doing and then try to tell them how to do it. Lev is getting comfortable and chatty with everyone until someone new arrives

and then he buries his head in my shoulder for the next few hours. Rinse, repeat. At some point in the next two weeks, I suppose, the boys will start to be less cute, but we'll enjoy this while it lasts. I have to say, being here is really surreal; what would have once been the adventure of a lifetime just seems like a rather normal trip to our annual gatherings. I was glad to have some quiet time today to really just soak in how amazing it is to be here. It is also refreshing to be around a mostly English-speaking group of friends and share stories about our experience with the Russian culture and language.

Finn's follow-up with the Gastro almost two weeks ago confirmed that he had giardiasis and we were excited to finally have some answers and start treatment. He was put on a seven-day course of antiprotozoal, antifungal which he finished the day we arrived here. He was really excited to be able to eat all the things (and frankly, we were too), but unfortunately the second night we were here he had another episode of stomach pain and crying most of the night. So, back to the drawing board. I guess there's still hope that his body just needs more time to heal, but restricting his diet in a place where cookies are served five times a day will not be fun for any of us. AT least we got to enjoy it for a few days!