July 26

The kids’ passports were picked up today.  They will be taken tomorrow to be registered.  This will allow us to leave the country on Saturday!  Yeah!

We had nothing on our schedule again today so after a morning of swimming and playing, we took the kids out to lunch, some shopping and out for dinner. 

We walked around the grocery store first.  We grabbed a grocery cart and Mike picked Asa up to put him in the seat and he immediately freaked out.  He was not sitting in that cart. No way.  My first thought, “Well, this will make grocery shopping at home fun…” 

As we walked around the store, Asa insisted on being carried.  He was simply overwhelmed at all of the sights and sounds and people.  He truly looked scared for the first several minutes we were there.  As we walked further and further, he began to feel more comfortable. Daddy was able to put him down.  He picked out a stuffed puppy and was so proud to carry it around the store.  At one point, he reached over and touched the grocery cart.  He could see Bakyt and Kolya riding in their grocery carts.  When we got to the checkout line, he reached up and wanted to push the cart.  And shortly after, he asked to sit in the cart.  Yay!

There is a toy store in the same building as the grocery store and we let Asa pick out some cars.  He truly loves cars and trucks.  Machinas!  He was very proud to carry around the sack with his puppy and the other sack with his cars.

We had lunch in a restaurant on the floor above the grocery store.  Asa had his first French fries with ketchup. I think he’s a fan!  We also had chicken and lamb kabobs and he wolfed it all down.  He also insisted on having some of my Coca Cola.  Yeah, I think we have ruined him ;)

After lunch we came back to the guest house for a rest time.  I put Asa in the bed between us and he cried and cried.  Once Daddy got his cars for him, he settled down and fell asleep.  He napped for 3 hours and we had to wake him to go eat supper!  Napping/sleeping with a large 4 year old, 2 stuffed dogs, and 12 matchbox cars in a less than queen size bed is certainly interesting. 

We had dinner tonight at a nice restaurant.  They have outdoor seating and the weather was wonderful.  The kids all enjoyed it.  The restaurant has a large outdoor play area, but our kids had no idea that they were actually allowed to go play, so having them sit and eat was no big deal.  We had chicken and cheese ravioli, French fries and cheesecake.  Again, he loved every bit of it!  After supper we let them all go play on the playground and they had a great time.

We came back to the guesthouse and Asa played with his cars for a while.  When it was time to go to bed, he happily gathered up his cars, climbed into bed and laid down without a single tear or protest.  He laid between us for an hour holding his cars and occasionally switching them from one hand to another.  He fell asleep with a contented look on his little face.  This was the first tear free bedtime we have had since we got him on Monday. 

Tomorrow we have a nice man coming to the guesthouse to give the boys haircuts.  Their haircuts now are quite bad and a friend offered to have her friend come and trim them up.  We will spend time swimming, blowing bubbles and cutting up a watermelon we picked up at the market. And packing.  We might walk to a neighborhood park and see how riding in a stroller appeals to him.  And since tomorrow is our last full day in Kyrgyzstan, we will go out for supper.