Day 4

Visiting the Sofia Zoo

The first night in the pack'n'play was successful!! We moved him after he fell asleep, but we will work on that first part later. We are keeping to his orphanage schedule for the most part. He's been waking up around 7:45 or 8, eating, then having a snack about 10 or 10:30, lunch at 12 or 12:30, nap at 1 or 1:30, snack after nap, dinner at 5:30 or 6 and then bedtime at 8:30 pm. He slept until this morning in the pack'n'play. Hopefully, tonight goes just as well.

Ani came to pick us up about 9:45am and we headed to the zoo. It was nice to just hang out with her a bit and not be heading to an appointment. Sofia's zoo reminded me a lot of our zoo in Knoxville before they remodeled it. Although our zoo in Knoxville did not have raccoons and skunks included in their exhibits! I had to laugh, because they are so common to us. It makes sense though, because they do not have those in Europe. The skunk exhibit was stinky! The zoo did have a pygmy hippopotamus. I don't think I have ever seen one of those before. I got soooo excited! Bozi's first animal to see was a brown bear. Appropriate since he loves the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" so much.

Bozi had to check out everything. He looked intently at all the animals. He touched the glass and the

Everything is exciting at the zoo!

fences. He loved running his hand through the leaves of the trees as we walked under them, that always made him giggle. He wanted to be carried, rather than ride in the stroller. He wasn't going to miss out on anything. He was captivated by everything he saw. When he wasn't looking at everything around him, he was engaging with us. To quote the girls, "He's so cute!" We ate some lunch at the zoo and guess what? I remembered to bring Bozi lunch! Woohoo! Go me! We left the zoo, he was obviously tired and Ani dropped us off, but not before showing us a new park to visit and a mall with a roller coaster on top! Bozi gave her some love, which is kind of rare, as right now he won't go to anyone other than Kev or me, not even the girls.

We came in and tried to put him down for nap. So maybe, I underestimated his capability for over-stimulation. That poor kiddo would not lay down for nap. He screamed for 45 minutes straight, then he wouldn't lay down. In fact, he sat up until he fell asleep. He's a stubborn little guy. New families, I recommend shorter zoo visits with younger ones, even if they don't appear to be over-stimulated. The zoo is a great and very affordable idea, but just hit the highlights.

No stroller!

After nap, he cuddled on my lap until he was ready to get up and party with the girls in the floor. Then, he had snack, let me clarify, "snack" was a half cup of ayran, a whole banana, half a medium-sized container of yogurt (not the individual-sized one), pretzels and some fish crackers. He eats more than the girls. Then, Kev took the girls out to the park while I FaceTimed with my family before they headed to church. Mom showed Bozi the kitty and he meowed a bunch for her. We had dinner early tonight at our first nice restaurant as a fam. We went to Spaghetti Company. It's near our apartment and Chloe has been begging to go since she first saw it. Bozi did OK--fortunately we sat outside.

Then we walked to the park Ani showed us earlier in the day. It's beautiful and huge. We got ice cream and explored the closest edge of the park. The girls found a little playground. So many of the playgrounds here are metal climbing jungle gyms. They are so fun. Most jungle gyms in our country have been removed. I miss those metal jungle gyms. We also had ice cream. Bozi loooooved ice cream. You cannot eat in front of that child without having something ready for him to eat. In the middle of the walkway, Kev found a random statue of Ronald Reagan. Have I mentioned how amazing the weather is here right now??

Super yummy ice cream in a pretty park!

On our walk back we stopped at a grocery store and grabbed some more yogurt, a jug of water and some snacks. Another random comment: part of the difficulty in getting used to European city life is the adjustment to walking to the grocery store and having to carry your groceries back. It's not like NYC where there are little grocery stores on every corner. Oh, another suggestion for traveling families...  Bring some food with you, at least a little. We brought protein bars, oatmeal and apple sauce pouches. It would have been so easy to stick a salt and pepper travel shaker in our bag, if I had thought of it. Cooking here at the apartment would've been easier initially. I of course forgot to buy salt and pepper the first time we went to Billa, so when I got around to needing it, it meant another walk to the grocery store or just do without.

Tomorrow we go for Bozi's TB test. That is required for him to get his passport. Last time we went to a doctor with him he screamed the entire time. I'm expecting the same experience. Also, I think the appointment is during his naptime... Yay.

House update! Thanks to our neighbors, we have heard that our house seems OK for now. A portion of our fence is leaning, but not fallen. The flood waters rose in our yard overnight but receded this morning. We don't appear to have any water in our home. Thankfully, one of our neighbors checked the inside as well. The power is still out of course, and they don't expect it on anytime soon. So, by the time we get back our fridge and highly stocked freezer will need some serious cleaning out, especially since Interstates 40 and 95 are closed right now. We are so very fortunate compared to many of our friends around us. There is still flooding to come. We are praying for those affected, for peace and comfort. I'm thankful we serve a sovereign God, who is in ultimate control of this entire situation.