Last Day

Yesterday we went to the aqua park, but only after buying a new swimsuit at the Akropolis. Audrute had given hers to a friend who wanted to go swimming, but didn't have a suit. She put off telling us and was pretty nervous when she did. But we thought that was a nice gesture ... her friend probably could use one and had little or no way of getting one. Luckily there were still some swimsuits in the stores! Since we were at the Akropolis we decided to have Chinese and the girls were up for trying it ... Kornyte ended up having a plate full of freshly made potato chips. We can't wait to start ordering for her because she can't read the menu!

After swimming, we walked next door to a mall called Ozas that has just opened. It's actually bigger than the Akropolis and has a game place called X-Planet. They have video games, but also bumper cars, a magnet wall, high ropes course, etc. The girls both tried the X-Jump ... you're on a trampoline, but you're also harnessed into bungee cords. You jump higher and higher and you can even do flips! It looked like a lot of fun! I would have loved to have tried it myself, but we had just eaten dinner. Oh well. For dinner we had kababas ... they're called kababs, but they're more like a cross between burritos, wraps and gyros. They were really good (and big ... we actually had leftovers!) and KC I had wished we had known about them earlier.

Today we went to see the movie Fly Me to the Moon in 3-D. Kornyte wanted to see one more movie before leaving Lithuania. Since then we have been packing up and settling up with Elona and our landlord, Donatas. Elona gave us a whole new stack of paperwork ... all the originals of everything. Donatas ordered a taxi for us in the morning ... we leave the apartment at 4:45 am! Yikes! None of us are looking forward to traveling. It's going to be a long day. Pray that both girls (and KC!) don't get too motion-sick and that Kornyte's ears won't hurt. This is going to be a long day indeed!

This will probably be our last post, so we wanted to thank everyone again for all your prayers and support! This whole journey has been such a God-thing! We definitely give God the credit for all He has done in bringing us through this adventure. It will be exciting to start on the next adventure He has for our family! God bless you all and see you soon!

Michele

The US Embassy, Part 2

Labas! Today we went back to the Embassy with Rasa to pick up the girls' passports with visas. They had told us to be there at 11:30 and so we were. Unfortunately, the paperwork was not ready due to technical difficulties ... their computers weren't working. So the five of us had to wait outside in the blazing sun or huddle on a bumpy ledge under some sort of palm plant to be in the shade ... it was pretty hot today! We waited quite a while and got to see the Embassy's yoga instructor arrive ... our tax dollars at work! And then several people, including the lady who was giving out passports/visas, left for lunch. Nice. Finally another lady came out and gave us all our paperwork ... about 5 pounds worth! Oh well, at least that was done!

Next we went to some registration center that was like a souped up DMV to change the girls' names on their property paperwork. That took awhile as well because ... well, for many reasons. But finally we were done, paid and on our way! We said good bye to Rasa and walked back to Old Town.

We stopped at a restaurant on Vilniaus street called Pompodora which serves pizza and pasta ... they also had cold lattes! At least it was a different atmosphere, but I think the girls are getting tired of pizza. Eating is rather hard here ... the food just isn't that good and ordering pop is just easier that asking for water ... they always give you a funny look, then ask if you want sparkling or still. Tap water doesn't exist here ... it's always in glass bottles.

This afternoon we traipsed around the souvenir shops and bought some artwork from a local man (in the photo). He is very talented and we were happy to buy from him ... he was also really nice and quite thankful. He draws pictures of the local area in pen and ink and then fills it in with color. He was so sweet I wanted to hug him, but I settled for a handshake and a photo. It will be nice to have good souvenirs of the country where our girls were born. Okay, I just realized that Kornyte's eyes are closed in this picture! Arg.

Tonight we had Family Movie Night with hot dog spaghetti (Kornyte's choice) and nectarines for dinner. Have I mentioned that I'm looking forward to the food back home? Red Robin's could make a killing here ... at least on the tourists. So could a broom company ... most street sweepers use brooms made out of sticks. But I digress. For movie night we had bought the first Narnia movie at the Akropolis. The girls had never seen it and they liked it very much. It was a good night.

Well, two more days and then we fly home! Tomorrow we're going back to the aqua park, so that should be fun and take up most of the day. Sounds good to me!

Good Night!
Michele