To Minsk (Минск) and Beyond!

Week in Review

Sunday was a very nice day.  The weather was beautiful (except for about a 3 minute downpour during the middle of church), so the travel to/from church was not bad.  I didn’t have much by way of English translation at church, so I spent most of the 3-hour block reading the lessons/scriptures on my iPad and helping David and/or Kaylie.  After we got home from church, the kids had a snack, we watch a conference talk, and then David went down for a nap and the girls had a rest time (Jacque and I too).  It was a peaceful afternoon, followed by dinner and video chat with Grandma and Grandpa Westover, then the kids went to bed and Jacque and I enjoyed the evening together.   

Jacque did not sleep well Sunday night, so I was up with the kids and we had a nice morning of a mix of playing and work.  At lunch time we went to the playground for a little picnic and the kids had a great time playing.  The weather got a bit worse in the afternoon, so after rest time we mostly stuck around the apartment and also did some grocery shopping.  We had a nice FHE after dinner and had yummy no-bake cookies for treat!  Once the kids were in bed, Jacque and I had a nice quiet evening. 

Tuesday was a good day.  I had my visit to the U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Office, where I spoke to around 30 educators from Minsk Regional Retraining Institute (like Jacque did last month).  It was a lot of fun!  I was home by lunch and then we got kids down for rest time.  It was a little more overcast, so we didn’t dare being too ambitious with our afternoon outing.  We ended up at the dinosaur play land on the top floor of the main train station.  The kids had fun and it was nice to get out.  Below are a couple pics and you can see more here. 

Wednesday was also a rainy day so we stuck around the apartment most of the day.  I was able to get some work done and we also played a lot.  Early afternoon the kids were all up from naps and the rain stopped and clouds cleared for a little bit, so we decided to try going out.  By the time we got everyone ready and packed up and outside, it started raining again, so we changed plans and walked over to the grocery store for a little shopping and to look around the mini-mall on the second floor.  It was raining, so we all got wet, but not too wet so it was kind of fun!  We looked around the shops for a little bit before heading back home.  We had our normal evening routine and Jacque and I enjoyed a quiet evening once the kids were in bed.  

Thursday was another overcast day, and also my long work day on campus (with evening classes).  So we just hung around the apartment in the morning and I was able to get a bit of work done before heading off for campus.  Jacque and the kids just stuck around the apartment and did their thing.  I got home shortly before 10 pm and Jacque and I got ready for bed.  It was a boring, yet productive day.

Friday was a gorgeous day!  After a normal morning, by around 10 am we headed out for the Minsk Botanical Gardens/Park.  It took a while to get there, then even a bit longer to find exactly where we were trying to get to (a lot of construction blocked off certain paths).  We finally got to where we wanted to be and spent the next hour and a half enjoying the beautiful scenery!  We grabbed some lunch on the way home and finally got back to the apartment around 2 pm.  The kids had late rest time and then we played a bit before dinner, followed by Friday ice cream night at the park.  It was a great day!  Below are a few pics and you can see more here.

 

The weather was beautiful again on Saturday.  We had a rather lazy morning, but then we ventured out to the circus in the afternoon!  The kids were mesmerized by everything (lots of acrobatics and trained animals).  We got home a bit late, but we did all of the evening stuff and got the kids in bed and then Jacque and I had a nice evening.  Below are a few pics and you can see more here.

 

Today is another beautiful Sunday morning and we are just getting ready for the day and we will start the weekly trek to church in another hour and a half.  That's all for now.