Our post from July 15...

Post from July 15 - This is what I typed but could not post from last Wednesday, July 15.  I know it is late and really out of order, but I thought since I wrote it I would post it...

Well, we are in St. Petersburg!  I am typing this post at 1am I guess Thursday morning.  But Wednesday was a wonderful day.  We got to visit with Andrew, and we had a wonderful visit.  We were once again able to go outdoors with Andrew.  I took him to a covered area, because it was quite warm.  Andrew was in typical baby home clothing.  A pink onesie, shorts, and a lavender cap.  Very interesting combination of clothing.  Anyhow, Andrew really enjoyed our playtime.  I brought one toy that he had played with back during trip 1, and he really took to the same toy.  Then, I found a bouncy ball about 12 inches in diameter, and Vernon and Andrew tried rolling the ball to each other (I was helping Andrew out a good bit).  Andrew is not very verbal yet but during this time he was very verbal and excited.  Then, we began playing with this dump truck.  Andrew was straddling my left leg, his back leaning against me, and as he held onto the truck, he stood up with me only slightly holding him for balance.  We were quite amazed, because even 6 weeks ago when we were on our first trip, this was nothing he could have even attempted.  It was quite encouraging to get a glimpse of what a little parental love and attention can accomplish.  Every few minutes, Andrew would stop playing and look up at us, almost as if to check and see if we were still there. We had a splendid visit with Andrew, and after that was over we left for St. Petersburg.  The train ride was phenomenal, with Vernon and I sitting across from each other by the window.  Some of the landscape was beautiful, but when you passed a town or village, I was struck by the imposing apartment skyscraper buildings – very generic looking and worn down.  Not very attractive at all.  And the housing that we saw was very old looking as well.  I felt like the smaller areas of Russia were probably more economically depressed than the urban areas.

Anyway we made it to St. Pete around midnight.  We had to take a taxi to our hotel because we couldn’t find our ride, but our hotel is smack in the middle of the historic district and we even found a 24 hour pizza place right next door.  Because all I had to eat all day was a pop tart, a power bar and a candy bar, the pizza was a delicious late night snack.

We will go exploring Thursday and report back more later.  Thanks for your continued prayers for Andrew.