Day 14 – Saturday, 19 August, 2006

We took Saturday as our only opportunity to sleep in for the week, and we let Masha sleep until nearly 9:00! While she slept, I ran to the store to get milk and fruit and laundry soap, and Mark started to make pancakes and fried eggs. Masha was up and going by the time I got back, and we thoroughly enjoyed Mark’s culinary handiwork.

Following breakfast, we drove up to Auburn to introduce Masha to my mom, step-dad, and brother Scott. We showed them all of Masha’s photos, shared some stories from the past week, and watched the video from the performance of the group on Friday. Because of the Benadryl she’s been taking for a little skin irritation, Masha was pretty dazed, so we left around 12.

After lunch and a bit of a rest, we went to Becky & Eric’s for play, swimming, and ultimately, Laura’s birthday. Masha stayed pretty mellow until the kids hit the pool after gifts and cake. The water woke her up a bit, and she swam with Rachel, Jared, and Julia for over an hour. Finally, hunger drove the kids from the pool, and after a short snack of pretzels and cheese, we headed out.

On the way home, we stopped at Meijer for a steak and a bag of salad for dinner (and some string cheese!) As Masha and I walked through the store, ! Her eyes popped, and she caught her breath…she spotted the lobster tank. She ran over to it and started pointing at the critters crawling around in the water; it was almost as if she was asking to take one home as a pet. I pointed too, then rubbed my stomach and said “Yum.” To my surprise, she got a big grin on her face, rubbed her stomach, and gave me a big thumbs up. Seems she knows that lobster is really good! A giggle and a kind “Nyet” and we were back on our way to the steaks. Where most kids would ask for candy or cookies, on the way out, Masha begged for kielbasa, ground beef, pepperoni, and sweet corn…what a kid!

When we got home, we fired up the grill and threw together steak salad, shucked and boiled the corn, and toasted some garlic bread. Masha gobbled it all up like she would never get to eat again, and then raced downstairs to watch Shrek in English. I fell asleep right after Princess Fiona was rescued, and slept right through the final credits. Mark and Masha woke me up and prodded me off to bed.