After Silas’s court date, we were blessed beyond belief when he was allowed to stay with us during our waiting period. I stayed in country until that Friday and Mark stayed the rest of the time until Silas could come home. Hopefully, eventually, Mark can blog about his time in Ukraine. We were thrilled that they got to be there to celebrate their Independence day and that Papa was able to fly over to spend some time with them and seeing Ukraine!
For now, here are some photos from our adventures while I was there.
We found a great park in Bila Tserkva with a fun ropes course.
Just because he was standing there all handsome.
There was a park near our apartment too. Plenty of space for soccer and basketball…
And climbing!
Cotton candy in Europe is a bit different than the US. It was straight up just sugar. No flavors, no artificial dyes etc. Not our favorite but still edible.
My cooking went up a notch thanks to Google translate making sure I grabbed the right seasoning packets.
The sign in our elevator let’s us know not to use the bathroom in there. Just an FYI.
Silas insisted we grab these tiger hot dogs. Mark said they were terrible and only after he cooked them did he realize the stripes needed to be peeled off.
When I made it to the airport for my journey home, these beautiful art pieces were on display. A photographer had taken classic art and re-shot them with Ukrainian scenes. So much patriotism and pride for the country could be seen in each photograph.
Riding the train from the airport to City Centre.
Our first glimpse of Vienna.
A small metal model of the palace grounds.
The gardens were fair game for picture taking. And just as gorgeous as the inside!
Speaking of the subway, we enjoyed the art. It was fairly clean and easy to navigate. 
For supper, we headed to City Centre. We saw St. Stephen’s and just basked in the beautiful architecture.
And the crowds. It was so busy!
We made sure to bring a few toys that would be fun to share and goof around with. These silly glasses were a hit.
Silas almost always had a friend with him. We enjoyed getting to know D. His English was okay and he enjoyed trying to talk to Zoe.
There was a river across the street from the camp. 
Mark got in the river one day and they had fun. Zoe and I both forgot our swimsuits and purchasing them there was not really an option.
I managed to get some snuggles in between venturing everywhere.
One day, the older boys took us to a lumber yard area (Zoe said it said something about animals) and they convinced the owner to let us come look. We walked over to the gate and saw a forest of boars. Lots of them. From giant ones to little babies. Lots of fun to look at and all the boys were super excited to show us.
Silas writing his letter stating he wanted to be a part of our bunch.
We brought our lunch each day but the director of the camp was insistent that we eat with them. We were able to try some very interesting and authentic food but we all agreed it was very yummy.
Before
A quick picture with Papa before Zoe gets some stamps in her passport!
Watching the sun rise over the Atlantic Ocean.
A German McDonald’s Breakfast
We had several pick ups, thankfully, so we didn’t have a garage of over 100 bags for 90 days.
This is me trying to stay awake. My pants make look funky but they were oh so comfy and perfect for a long flight. I just look rough but I thought I would keep it real.
Monday, however, was a different story… 
St. Micheal’s Cathedral
Mark enjoyed playing around the grounds with the kids.
All of his friends were super nice and loved to talk to us a mile a minute. In Ukrainian. They worked some on their English and laughed when we tried to speak Ukrainian.
We brought a small amount of toys and they were eager to see what we had for them. They were grateful and sweet with them.
Y’s buddy N. They are a close knit group of kids.
Our playmates on Saturday. They don’t have school on Saturday. We were able to spend a bit more time than the previous two days but it still wasn’t enough for us, of course.
Not our apartment building but similar to it.
Two sets of cute plates in the kitchen we were in.
This was close to a Ukrainian dish. Pelmeni and veggies with cheese. And homemade sour cream.
My birthday was on Saturday and Mark and I thought we would celebrate with cupcakes on Friday. Well we thought they were cupcakes…
My birthday supper. They call these pancakes but they are thin like crepes. Stuffed with mushrooms and chicken. 
Grilled veggies
This is the look I give when I want Mark to stop taking pictures. I did actually cook in our apartment a bit.
