Stranger in Moscow

It was 10 years ago this August that I sat alone in a train station on a rainy day in Moscow. I had returned as a head teacher a week before my fellow American teachers. I knew so so so so little Russian, and the world swirled around me. Sitting in my lap was a Sony portable CD player and Michael sang to me this. I listened to this song over and over and over. My wait for my train was about 10 hours. Adding that to a 10 hour jet lag effect and you can see I was feeling a little strange. I felt like he knew my vulnerabilities and was singing me through them. I'll never forget that day or how this song helped me out. Strange, I know. Here's to the king of pop. His out of this world talent was heard and appreciated all over the world. May he finally be at peace and no longer be a stranger in his own life. If I didn't have this big ol' belly I would probably be busting out my rollerskates just for old time sakes and heading to Classic. Ah. memories.

"The Lagoon"

This place has held so many places in my heart...from fantastically awesome as a youngster to practically the scourge of the planet as an adult. It has officially returned to being fantastically awesome. Maybe it's because I didn't have to stand in line behind half clothed individuals bringing PDA to a new level. Or maybe it's all these smiles that my girls just couldn't hold in all day long. If there were a perfect day, it would have been Monday. It was supposed to rain (but was a mild 75ish degrees with sunny skies all day), so I think it scared people into staying away. Which=short lines, which=more rides to fit in, which=sooo soooo many smiles.

Waiting for the train.

Malia was her daddy's little ride buddy. We couldn't believe how brave she was!

I guess about 11.5 years from now this will be what we'll have to look forward to...hopefully sans bumping into other cars.

Best Sisters.

Puff the Magic Dragon. Even mom got to enjoy a few rides. Malia thinks the baby had fun too.