Around-the-World-Guests and Camping with People from Church

     We were so excited to welcome Don and Devon, as Ulan-Ude was one of their stops as they travel around the world (all boats and trains and buses... no planes!)  We met Don at Addy New Life Christian Center, as they are one of our supporting churches.  Devon is Don's nephew.  Don invited all 28 of his nieces and nephews for this 4.5 month trip, and Devon was the one who came.  Their train was to arrive at about 11:00 on Thursday night, but it was late (trains are rarely late in Russia), and with needing to do laundry, this meant that they didn't get to bed until 4:00am!  We left our place at 8:30am to join up with others from 2 churches heading out to Lake Baikal for the weekend.  The guys packed up their wet clothes and were troopers to come along with such a short night's sleep.  The van that we were caravaning with broke down about 45 minutes into the drive (on a pass).  Incidentally, Ike and Ella had recently fallen asleep... a dream when the trip is 3 hours long, but not-so-nice when we all had to get out.  Leif drove back into Ulan-Ude with Sasha to get a part while the rest of us explored.  I headed up the hill right away with the kiddos.  Some ladies yelled at us, saying that it was better to wait by the road, that there were ticks up there.  But after a few minutes everyone else came along, too.  There was a great field on top of the hill.  We set up camp with our picnic blankets.  Everyone shared snacks, and the guys hung their laundry out to dry.  And we went exploring.

We found this shrine in the woods to a Shaman witch doctor. 

     Then a little farther, there was this river of rocks!  There was no water, but many of the rocks had soft, spongey moss on them.  The kids were just fascinated.  And they enjoyed exploring with our new guests!

     After awhile, we heard people shouting that the van was ready to go, so we tried to get back as quickly as possible.  Don and Devon were champs to carry the girls on their shoulders.  Many of the rocks were wobbly, so it made for slower traveling.  I had my flip-flops on and Ike in my arms, so I was grateful for these strong guys!

     5 1/2 hours after we left home, we arrived at camp!  Amazingly, Ike fell back asleep and no one got car sick.  Also, when we got there, people who had been there earlier in the week had already made lunch!  What a happy surprise!

     After lunch, we took advantage of it being a sunny day.  It's never really "hot" at Lake Baikal, but when it's not "cold" then you take advantage of it and get on the beach.  The water was very cold, but we had fun anyways.  There were so many kids at the camp.  I just loved seeing all three of our kids playing and playing.  I had to constantly keep track of them, as they were happily going in and out of tents and playing with others. 

     Leif's friend, Greesha, came to the camp, too.  Leif met him 13 years ago when he first came to Ulan-Ude.  I took this picture of them talking behind my shoulder when they weren't looking.  =)

     Boy, does this boy love to be outside!  Ike's mind is always thinking-thinking-thinking.  It's so fun to watch him explore and play with sand and rocks and sticks.  And he's always trying out things to see what happens when he does this or that.  He's also really growing in his vocabulary.  Every day he says at least a couple of new words.  Today he said, "silly Mama" to me.  And after being with all of the Russian kids, he says several Russian words now.  But his favorite phrase (and what he says all the time) is "nye nada", which means "don't do that" or literally "no need".  Ella says that to him a lot.  And at camp it came in handy because he could use it to defend himself if anyone tried to take one of his sand toys.  

     Saturday Leif and I were in charge of the food (for about 60 people).  Both of us had made grocery runs on Thursday to get everything and there were others to help us make the food.  But I've discovered that meal planning and preparation over a fire for a bunch of people cooking food that's not what I normally make is definitely a stretch for me!  Here, Leif and this boy were scrubbing this big pot so that we could use it on the gas stove.  They eventually took it down to the lake and used sand to get the black off.  They did an amazing job!

      We made cream of wheat with apricots for breakfast, borscht and salad for lunch, buckwheat and pork for dinner, and apples and cookies for a late night snack.  Here I am cutting lots of meat. One of our guests was a vegetarian.  Poor guy.  He was a good sport about it, though!  It was fun to meet new people at the camp that were either new to the church or friends/relatives of people in the church. 

Anneka helped a little with peeling potatoes.  Then she fell in the hole that held all of the leftover food and slop.  Oops!

     Leif and Greesha did a great job getting the fire ready for the tea and the food...  

...and getting water from the lake for cooking, making tea, and washing dishes.

     Someone had set up this rope between two trees for people to try tightrope walking.  Not such an easy feat, but fun to watch people try!  Anneka made it across holding Leif's hand.

      And Leif made it a couple of feet!   The same people who set up the rope did a fire show for us one night.  We let the girls stay up to watch it (until midnight).  It's fun to see people using their talents.

     Anneka LOVED it when Nettie buried her in the sand!  

     And Ike loved the sand no matter where we were.  I love this picture because he was saying "Mama!" when I took this picture of him.  And then after a few pictures he said, "cheese!" (without me prompting him).  So funny.

     Every morning and evening we had a little church service.  I took this picture before everyone had assembled.

      The kids played and played during the services.  

     Sometimes Ike insisted on feeding himself.  When we're camping, we pack way more clothes than we should need, and it turns out just about right.  =)

     Some of the guys (Leif included) went on a fishing trip after the camp.  They got the rafts out to see if they were all in working order.  The kids enjoyed going for rides in them!

     We lost Ike's baseball cap before came and then during camp we lost his other hat, so he wore shorts on his head.  He really liked them, too.  If we were in the shade and I tried to take them off, he made it very clear that he wanted them back ON his head.  I love these two guys!

     On the last day, Nettie and Sasha took a bunch of the kids fishing at a pond a short drive away.  The fish were so plentiful that they caught them with pieces of bread.  Ella caught 2 and Anneka caught 5 or 6.  It was SO nice of Nettie to watch after our girls and invite them along!  They've been dreaming of fishing all summer!

     Devon made Anneka this little basket and headdress out of grass and flowers.  She brought them home (along with many other "treasures).  The kids and Don and Devon and I came home while Leif stayed on for his fishing trip.  We had a fun next day showing them around Ulan-Ude.  Unfortunately I left my camera in the car!  I'm so thankful that after the long cold winter, we have this season of being outside and connecting with others in fun ways!