So much to blog - so little time!

It has been two months since I have made a post on here.  Booooo!  Shame on me!  Well, since then, I began working full time and we have had so many weekend activities - Natasha & Alex came for a visit, Dima & Alona had their baby girl, family pictures, baby showers, and we drove to GA/FL THREE weekends in a row.  Yes - threeeeee.  It's an 8 hour drive one way!  Totally worth it though.  Here are some pics from all our activities.  Livin' the life + trying to blog about it! 

AW!  Can't remember what this was for, but Misha bought me the most beautiful flowers.  :-)

Natasha & Alex flew from Miami to ATL and Misha picked them up Thursday night.  The three of them hung out Friday (I had to work until 2:00).  Friday afternoon, the four of us went for a hike at Moss Rock Preserve near our house.  Very cool!  This is us by our favorite spot.  

Friday night - BBQ Festival + Music in Downtown Birmingham.

The free BBQ was delicious!!!!

Day 2 - Boating!!!  We took the boat out to Lay Lake.

Natasha & I floating in the lake.  Very relaxing!

 

The boys decided to go fishing.  This was their only catch of the day!  LOL!

Day 2 - Saturday night we grilled shashlik and made a delicious dinner.  BTW, we used to have a grill, but my husband sold it on eBay before we moved.  That was when he had his eBay addiction.  Yeah - you can read about it here.

Day 3 - We visited the Vulcan Statue (the world's largest cast iron statue and considered one of the most memorable works of civic art in the United States).  What a gorgeous view of the city!

Group shot at Vulcan Park

 The unique thing about Birmingham is that you can find the three ingredients to make steel which are (coal, iron ore and limestone) all in the Birmingham area. Birmingham has the closest radius to all three elements to make steel over anywhere else in the world.  This pic shows where all these elements are located. So this is Misha and I posing where our house is at in relation to those elements.  I think we are on iron ore?  

The history of the city is in the steel industry.

After Vulcan Park, we toured the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.  It's always a favorite.  It's one of the most interesting places to walk around to view all the beautiful plants & nature.  Plus - it's free!

Our quick visit to Gainesville was on August 28th to see baby Julia.  Here she is - just precious.  Born August 24th weighing 7 lbs 14 ounces.  She has Dima's lips and Alona's eyes & nose.  She is a beautiful & happy baby.  Already smiling!  Aunt Missy & Uncle Misha are so proud.  :-)

 Isn't she a precious little thing?  She is already a month old at the time of this post!  

 

Here is a video of Julia.  She had hiccups!  

 It was also Livika's birthday, so we got to join in on the fun.  Grilling out, volleyball, swimming in Blue Springs = FUN with the gang!  Always a great time in Gainesville!

 Our second trip to GA/FL was for Labor Day weekend.  We had already had this planned b/c we both got four days off work.  We left Thursday after work and spent the night in Georgia.  Friday, Mama & Daddy and Misha & I went to see Susan's new office and she took us on a tour of the new courthouse.

These books she works with are MASSIVE.  No wonder Susan has such toned arms!

The fam eating at one of our Valdosta favorites - Las Banderas!

After lunch with Susan, we headed to the Okefenokee Park in Waycross.  Of course, we had to stop by and get some boiled peanuts from the peanut man.  It's tradition when you are in Waycross!

 I seriously hadn't been to the Okefenokee since I was in grade school.  It was really neat to go back and tour the swamp.  This was the lookout tower in the middle of the swamp.  You could see for miles!

YiKeS!  Yes, I am holding a three year old alligator.  

I guess I can cross that one off my bucket list!

Yeah, this is what it grows up to be.  You won't find me holding this one, that's for sure.

Same Labor Day weekend - headed to Gainesville.  I got to hang out with Alona, her mom, and baby Julia Saturday afternoon while Misha took care of some things he had to do.  That night, we had dinner with Bill and Lyuba then went back to spend time with the Kistens (Dima & Alona).  Sunday we woke up waaaay to early, met Sasha & Dasha and drove to Cedar Key for some scalloping!  No, this is not how you scallop, but the guys did try out some spearfishing. 

Group shot!  Me, Misha, Kolya, Dasha, and Sasha.

The guys getting ready to dive in to search for scallops.

We caught ZERO scallops, but we enjoyed eating them at one of the local restaurants!

Yeah, no scallops, but we did catch several blue crabs.  I promise the most beautiful blue color before you cook them!

Yes, this is all in the same trip.  That night, we drove to Ocala to celebrate Anastasia's birthday.  It was a great time - dinner, dancing, and hanging out with friends.  

 

Our third trip to Georgia was for family portraits by Lindsay Colson and for Anya's surprise baby shower.  More family pics to come later - probably a separate blog entry.  Anya's shower was so much fun!  We had yummy food, played hilarious baby shower games, and gave her gifts.  Great fun with great friends!

Wow - even after this post I am exhausted.  I didn't realize exactly how much we have done in the past month.  All that PLUS starting a new full-time job and private Russian lessons.  No wonder the month of September flew by!

Since then, Misha has been traveling for work.  He was actually at his plant in GA for a week.  We had a weekend to ourselves (blog to come later) and here we are already in the month of October!

Now that I have gotten somewhat used to my new schedule, I certainly won't let two months go by without blogging!  There are so many fun things coming up!