Day 9 – Monday, 14 August, 2006

There’s only one way to say it…Mondays suck! After a great weekend of relaxing and playing and having fun, reality set in on Monday when Mark and I had to go back to work, and Masha had to go back to camp (Aww…poor girl!). We had a little photo session on the way out the door, with Simon as a very reluctant model!

Masha is becoming quite fond of the camera, and loves being both in front of it and behind it. She has even succefully found a way to enjoy both at the same time, and has taken many pictures of herself. Photography provides great in-car entertainment!

Monday’s camp schedule included a morning of ESL and playing with friends, lunch at the playground at Franke Park, and then an afternoon at the ZOO! Unfortunately, I had already skipped a bit too much work, and had to skip the afternoon’s adventures. I dropped Masha off at camp, avoided leaving as long as I could, but finally drove back home to check the dreaded email.

I trusted Lisa, Khrystyna’s Mom, to capture the joy of the afternoon, and she did not let me down! Judging from the photos, the girls had a blast doing all of the things kids do at the zoo…They rode ponies and the carousel, brushed the goats and held little chicks at the petting zoo, and had an all-around great time.

Masha and Khrystyna are clearly having a great time, and this accurately represents their two personalities!

After camp, Mark picked Masha up and surprised her with a trip to TJ Maxx to shop for a new backpack. After some serious debate, a bright pink backpack with black accents and lots of pockets was chosen. It even has a little pocket for a cell phone…but only a make-believe one!!

When they got home, we gobbled down a quick dinner before Mark’s cousin Stephanie came by to visit. Masha showed off her room, and then played while Mark, Steph, and I caught up for a bit. We enjoyed Stephanie’s visit greatly, and wish we could see all of the Greencastle/Indy family members more often!

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OK, this last bit is just indulgence on my part….I couldn’t settle on just a few photos for today’s entry, so here are a couple more of my favorites. In the second one, Masha stood beside a photo of Mark and me on our first cruise, and took a picture of herself with the picture of us. We both just thought it was tooooo cute!