Clean Up Day

Towards the end of April it is customary for people to get together to clean outside in preparation for the Holidays at the beginning of May. Throughout the city each community of apartments sets a date and time when they clean up the garbage around their apartment building. Saturday, April 24th, was the date set for cleaning outside our apartment building. Unfortunately it was quite cold and windy on that Saturday. We did take our children outside and helped for a little while. Below are some pictures.

Nicolas thought it was great to play with the broom and dust pan.
Valera was cleaning up along the curb and picking up garbage.
Alexander also enjoyed pushing the broom.

Our children and Spring

It is finally warming up outside! Our children are excited, but wanted to have one last time to go sledding in the park.

Alexander enjoyed walking in the puddle of water from melting snow at the bottom of the hill.
Zarina pulled the sled back to the top after her slide down. Yes, this first time she went right through the puddle on the way down and decided to just pull the sled right through it on the way back up.
Nicolas enjoys sleeping outside.
When he woke up, he also enjoyed swinging with his grandpa.
Zarina and Alexander had fun going down the slide together.

Alexander had a funny way of riding the merry-go-round.
Nicolas also enjoyed the merry-go-round with a friend.
On the way home from the park, Alexander turned to the side like this and said, "I go to sleep." He did.
About a week later it got even warmer outside. Nicolas began going outside for walks in his stroller with his grandma or grandpa. He loves it outside. We were even able to open the balcony door although it is still a bit cool on the balcony. Nicolas was thrilled that he was able to find a way to escape to the outside a little! He is not sure why he has to wear the hat though!
Dreaming of the outdoors!
One day Nicolas decided to choose what he wanted to wear. He brought both of the shirts he is wearing in the picture below to me, so I put them both on him.
He knew something wasn't normal about that, so he tried to take the one off again.
No, the snow hasn't melted completely yet. There are still some spots of ice and snow where the sun hasn't penetrated as easily, but most of it is gone. Spring has finally sprung here in Russia!

From Winter to Spring

Spring is almost here! We have been having above freezing temperatures this week.

A few weeks ago, I took this picture of the beautiful design on our balcony windows.

The snow is finally melting, leaving much water everywhere! Below is a video clip taken near our apartment. Still a bit wet to play outside, although we've seen some children enjoying the big puddles.

Sledding one cold winter day

Below is a family picture we took while in the forrest near Korta.

Zarina posing for a picture.
We found several nice places for the children (both big and small) to sled. The one in the picture below was VERY steep. Valera is climbing up and slid down one time. There were some smaller hills that the children went sledding on.
Below is a video of the children sledding as well as Valera's slide down the big hill. In case you are wondering what Valera is saying in Russian when he gets to the bottom...he said he's not going to do it again.

Ice castle

Below is a video of Zarina & Alexander in the ice castle in the center square. See the next post for more information.

Ice Sculptures in Central Square

Right before the New Year each year, many cities in Russia make ice sculptures in their central square as well as places for children to play on. This year we didn't have a lot of snow, so they couldn't make a snow slide as usual. Instead they brought in metal slides. Zarina and Alexander had fun sliding on them.

Alexander ready to go down.
It was quite foggy, so the picture below is a little spotty, but this is the way we dressed up to go out. It was a bit chilly after a while. Nicolas really enjoyed his ride on the sled. He slept for a little while. He loves being outside even if he can't move when he's all dressed up!
Zarina peeking over the top of the ice castle.
Zarina & Alexander inside. Valera had to lift them up into it. They loved it!
There were a few big piles of snow for the children to climb on. They had also made a big snow house.
A tight squeeze!
Valera's father just came back from a trip he took to Siberia to visit his brother who lives there. Below are some pictures from the center of Krasnoyarsk where he was.
Above is a girl with a castle behind her. Below is a cannon and to the right a lighted bell. These are replicas of the tsar cannon and bell in Moscow.
Below is a replica of the Kremlin in ice. They don't do such fancy sculptures here in Yoshkar-Ola, but throughout Russia you will find them around the New Year. They are beautiful!
The following is a short video clip of the big Christmas tree they have in the center. They also had an ice sculpture of a tiger. People put coins on it for good luck. (This year is the year of the tiger.) Many people gather around the tree to bring in the New Year. They also give rides on sleighs pulled by horses.