Summer Trip 2017: Day 15 - Last day in Moscow and Flight Home

We had to check out of our hotel at noon.  Our flight back to Kazakhstan wasn't until after 9:00 p.m.  We asked the hotel if we could leave our bags, and they graciously let us keep them in a room in the back.  We went and had a late breakfast/early lunch, and then checked out.  We had decided that we would go and watch the new "Despicable Me 3" movie in the theater.  We had looked at going to ice skating, but the ice arena was too far away, and the reviews didn't make it seem like a good option.

We took the Metro and found the mall where the movie was showing without any problem.  The movie theater was quite small, but nice.  We bought popcorn and water and settled in to watch. The Stice family just had to go off what was shown on the screen, but our girls could understand it.  The movie itself was a bit of a disappointment, it was quite disjointed and didn't seem to have the same heart as the earlier films.

Adan and Eve fountain we found on our way to the movies.

While looking for the movie theater, we went the wrong direction and found this beautiful church!

After the movie was over, we decided we'd go and see the Moscow River up close.  There was a canal and an industrial area right across the street, but a cross street led to the river, so we started walking.  After two blocks, we were at the river, and we found ourselves right across from the Kremlin and Red Square.  The view across the river was amazing, and we spent a few minutes watching the boats come by on the river, and looking at the view.  The Metro station was the same either direction, so we walked across the bridge and for the third time in three days - onto Red Square.

Red Square across the Moskva River

Beautiful

About halfway across the square, it started raining, so we made our way quickly to the Metro station.  We took a quick trip back to the hotel, got our things, and then back to the Metro to the train station.  We took the AeroExpress train back to the airport.  The journey was nice and we arrived at the airport at about 5:30 pm.

We went to the Burger King and had a slow relaxing meal.  Then we went and stood in line to check in for our flight.  We got through that process and had a few hours to wait for our flight.

The flight back to Astana went well.  It was a bit turbulent, but no problems.  We arrived and got through passport control and customs without any problems and were back at our house by 6:00 a.m.  We had been gone for fifteen days, three countries, five cities, and a whole lot of walking and adventures.  We had a lovely time.

Summer 2016 Trip to US Part II - Reunions

We didn't do a good job of documenting our trip to the United States this year.  Part of the "problem" was that we were very busy while we're there, and then we came back and immediately went to Russia.  Yulia and the girls stayed for an extra three weeks and I came back to Astana to get ready for, and begin the semester.  I needed to be here to welcome three new faculty members, and to make sure things were ready for the new semester for the department - I've been the Department Chair since August 2015.

We wrote a post about our big adventure at Disneyland.  That was one of the highlights of the trip. The other main highlight was the opportunity to spend time with our family. We had the wedding reception of my cousin's daughter the first day we were in the states, which was a good opportunity to see family from my Dad's side.  The son of my oldest cousin on my Mom's side also got married this summer.  My mom has been kind of his adoptive grandma while he's been studying at BYU before and after his mission to Brazil, and so it was fun.  We also had our annual family reunion with everyone in conjunction with his wedding.  My oldest niece, Abree also had her mission farewell and left for Peru, so it was a busy time for all of us.

At O'Hare waiting for our last flight.  We were all ready to be done traveling by this point!

Cousins playing UNO at Oma's

The lazy river at the Payson Aquatic Center.  We went here a few times and had a good time.

All of the girl cousins.  Aubree (rear left) getting ready to leave us for 18 months to Peru.

Lina is our nomadic birthday girl.  She is our summer birthday and celebrates it in different places each year.  This year was at Oma's! She got glasses this summer.

Lina with her farm cake. It's nice to have a talented mom. Yummy. 

The cake.

Bowling on Lina's birthday because it was too cold to go swimming.

The twins at the pool. 

We met our friends at Temple Square.  It is nice in the summer.

The girls at the Christus statue.

With our friends.

Playing Ticket to Ride with the cousins.

Cousins having fun at Oma's house.

Trip to Salem pond.

Parents enjoying the shade at Salem Pond.

Trip to Palisades Reservoir.  It was colder than when we were there last year - and much higher.

Hiking to the Grotto up Payson Canyon.

What a crew!

We weren't the only ones with this idea.

Max and Danielle: A lovely couple and a lovely wedding day!

At the reception.

Family reunion at Payson Pioneer Park.

Our girls putting on a show.

Hanging out at Oma's house.

Other highlights of our time in Utah included the opportunity to spend time with my brothers and sisters and our nieces and nephews.  We made a trip to a museum at BYU that was about anthropology, and which had a huge focus on textiles from south America.  It was interesting to see, and was a fun time.

At the BYU Anthropology Museum.

Springville Art Museum.

The museum has a large Russian art collection and we loved looking at it.

Cousins!

We made outings to go see "Finding Dory" and just little trips around town as well.  Overall it was a quick four week trip. We are grateful we have the opportunity each summer to spend so much great time with the family.  Next year we'll do a better job of documenting things while we are there!

Getting ready to fly home to Astana.

Sunset Over the Atlantic. On our way home.

Movie Dates

One of the unforeseen benefits of knowing Russian and living in this part of the world is that we often get to see movies 2-3 weeks before they come out in the theaters in America. Today a movie starring Russell Crowe (it was also directed by him) and a Ukrainian-born actress and model Olga Kurylenko called “The Water Diviner” was released in the US. Spencer and I went to see it 3 weeks ago in the local movie theater at Keruen Mall. Of course we saw it in Russian but it was great! We absolutely loved the movie and would definitely recommend it though it is probably not for kids under 12 years old as there are a few pretty graphic war scenes.

A scene from "The Water Diviner"

It has become one of our favorite activities here in Astana. Usually once or twice a month (depending on if there is anything worth watching at the moment in the theaters) Spencer and I go on a movie date, and every other month or so we take our girls out to the movies and dinner. The kids have really picked up Russian lately and have been enjoying these family outings. 

A night view of Astana and the Keruen Mall where we go for our movie dates.