All Done! Or...Santa Claus is a Con Artist

No boring title today!  We went to the Embassy to pick up the boys' visas and immigration paperwork. During the (very friendly) final interview and signing all the FINAL papers, I found myself giggling.  It is DONE.  Victor will be here at 3:00am on Friday to take us to the airport.  In the meantime, we are having fun with Anya.  Today she took us to a new place called Ocean Plaza.  It's a beautiful, upscale mall with ocean-themed artwork and a gorgeous shark tank.  We had an early dinner at a seafood restaurant adjacent to the tank.  You can imagine how exciting it was for the boys to eat their meal while watching the fish swim by.

We stopped by Independence Square and walked through the Christmas market on the way back to the apartment.  Yes, it was cold, but it was worth it.  Once.  :)  As we walked back towards our apartment, we came across two very young, aggressive Santas.  They talked me into having the kids' picture taken with them for 20 hyrvnias (about $2.50).  Cheap!  They said.  The boys were excited about it.  Alright.  The Santas kept posing, encouraging us to take more photos.  You know what happened next, right?  Yes, they were counting the clicks and demanded 20 hyrvnias for each photo.  I gave them just a little extra and we walked away.

Tomorrow we will visit the Lavra.  When we get back we will PACK.  I am giddy.