An evening at the theatre

Tonight was our big night out at the Theatre.  Six of us were waiting outside the Kazak theatre for the other 4 to arrive.  While we were waiting, we were taking some pictures and a police officer showed up with his family.  When I was here 4 years ago I really wanted to get a picture with a Police Officer but they always look so serious and I was afraid to ask.  As I was there with other people I got my nerve up and approached him, he could not have been nicer, he smiled (his family all smiled too and offered to take the picture for us!) and obliged us with our request.  He asked where we from and smiled when he heard "Canada".  See our picture posted with this nice officer.   A few minutes later a cell phone rang, it was the other 4 wondering where we were "uum in front of the theatre…"  turns out they were at the other theatre where they had obtained the tickets, it seems there were 2 dombra performances here tonight in 2 different theatres.  We walked quickly to the other theatre (the blue on with the statues on top) and went in.  It is beautiful inside, we found our seats (very comfortable) and a little while later the show started.  While we had no idea what was being said or sung, it was a good show…2.5 hours and no intermission!  There was one main gentleman dombra player/singer and he received many speeches and awards, flowers etc.  There were 3 different Kazak dance segments, women in gorgeous Kazak dresses and hats.  There was, I think 3 or 4, other dombra players that came out and played and sang as well.  Ciera was very good, she started to get fidgety for the last ½ hour but I think we all were J.  The fun part was getting our coats from the coat check.  No orderly lines, it was literally pushing and shoving from people in suits and dresses,  we stood back and let the crowd thin out, there was one Kazak woman who stood back with us and she just kept smiling and shaking her head at the others, I wonder if she understood what we were saying.  I think I have about 75 pictures from the show…….at least 50 of them will be unusable as Ciera was taking lots of pictures

 

As we had not eaten we headed down the street to Johnnie Walkers Pub,  where we bumped into a group of 3 families (6 adults!) from the US who are adopting from the other babyhouse.  It felt odd to be out talking to a large group of people who all spoke English, it was great to meet them as some of their names I know so it's nice to put faces to names!!  The Canada contingent stayed until after 10:00 chatting away, it is so nice to get out.  Ciera was beyond tired when we got back home and I had to carry her up the 5 flights of stairs, but somehow she still managed to ask at least 20 questions once she was in bed.  I had to threaten her with no Halloween tomorrow to get her to stop.  I hope her expectation is not too high for Halloween but I do have surprises in store for her, so I hope she is not too disappointed that she is not at home.  Around 3:00AM this morning I was awoken to "mama?" "yes Ciera" "is Halloween the day after tomorrow?" "yes Ciera, go back to sleep", then at 6:00AM "mama?", "yes Ciera" "Will it be Halloween in Canada too?" "yes Ciera GO BACK TO SLEEP!!!".  She was not this excited to Christmas last year!!

 

It was another beautiful day here, 16C was the high today!!  So we were once again allowed to take Mr. Baby outside, she definitely must have been out sometime over the summer as she takes it all in stride.  She was more like herself today, laughing and smiling more so I am assuming it was the flu shot that had her "down" the past 2 days.  I noticed today she does not cry anymore when I put her down for her nap, seems she already knows and trusts that we will be back.  She is ready to start feeding herself a bit, again today I was distracted talking to Ciera and the spoon of food was within Mr. Baby's reach, all of a sudden I felt this little hand on mine pulling it towards her mouth and she got it in!!!  I can't wait to get her home and start getting some finger foods for her.  She is managing to hold the bottle if it's not too full and she now reaches for it when she wants a drink, so it's always close by.  She is also getting steadier on her feet, she can stand for a minute or so while holding onto something, now mind you I have to place her there but I can let go and she stays (unless she tries to move!), but considering how she was 5 weeks ago the progress is, to me, amazing.

 

It is so hot in our apartment, we are leaving windows open, even at night.  It's a combination of the mild weather, it has been very sunny for quite a number of days and also we cannot control our heat.  The radiators though make for a fabulous way to dry clothes, they dry in no time and add some moisture to the air in here!!

 

Today Pictures:

-       Mr. Baby and I hanging out

-       Ciera and I in front of the Kazak theatre, I do want to go to a show there so we'll have to find out when there is another one there!

-       Ciera and I with the kind Police Officer  (I love their uniforms)

-       The main dombra player  at the show (we will ask tomorrow about what show we actually saw)

-       One of the dance numbers

-       A larger shot of the detail of the inside of the theatre

-       A closer view of the detail of the inside of the theatre

 

P.S. I asked today about where we ate dinner last night and it was not the Aladdin Café so now we will have to go back and find the Aladdin Café, although Ciera wants to go back to the one we were at last night.  She is going to miss all this stuff (and taxi's) when we go home.