Baikal Adventures

     We've been planning for a couple of months now to make a trip to Uzbarguzeen to visit a pastor and his family there and hopefully bring a little encouragement.  But when we were making the plans, we remembered how long it took to get there the last time we went (7+ hours) and with bumpy roads and carsick kids and kids who nap and kids who need to stop and go potty, we were anticipating even longer.  Needless to say, we decided to make a little family trip out of it and stop halfway there for a little family vacation on Lake Baikal.  We decided to just try to find a place along the way to stay.  Our tent isn't big enough anymore for our size of family and we knew to book through a tour guide would be expensive.  So we prayed and knocked on doors and found this grandma and grandpa who had a little cabin that they rent out to people.  Usually places here charge per person instead of per room, but they didn't even charge us for the kids!  It was perfect.  While Leif and I were unloading, Anneka invited herself and her siblings inside the couple's home.  We found them drinking fresh cow's milk on the veranda and eating homemade waffle cookies that the lady had made.  They all made themselves right at home.  In the picture above, you can barely see Ike under the chair, chasing the cat.

     There was no vacuum cleaner in sight, so Ike grabbed the next-best thing.

     And Anneka fell in love with the cat.  The kids also got to hold goslings and interact with bigger geese, pigs, and chickens.  

     Apparently the place we stayed isn't the favorite place, but we loved it, as the beach wasn't packed and we had a couple of sunny days.  These guys drove by in their boat and asked us if we wanted a ride.  I thought it would be fun for the kids to have a boat ride.  Leif guarded our stuff and Ike and us girls went for a spin... and it was a spin!  I hadn't noticed that they guys had been drinking.  I was happy Ike wasn't in the boat with us, because I had to really hold onto the girls so they didn't fly out!  They drove really close to the shore and even between two swimmers.  Craziness.

     Nettie brought us marshmallows from the States, so the second evening, we made a fire on the beach and had s'mores.  It was so fun.  This grass was up next to the beach, and I thought this picture was fun of Anneka.

     It was was rainy the next day, so we watched a movie in our little cabin.  Ike fell asleep, and Ella wanted to hold him.  He was SO out of it that he didn't stir with her kisses or tugs.

     There was a building down the road that said "Cultural Center" on it.  I thought it would be fun for our family to get some culture.  But it turned out to just be a little auditorium... not the museum I was thinking it would be.  But we had a nice walk in the rain.

     I read a fun novel that Leif bought me for my birthday on the kindle.  It was fun snuggling with little Ella and reading.

The kids just loved being at the beach and playing in the water!

     Because of the rain, the grandchildren of the couple who's house we were at came (their family had been camping in tents and got water-logged).  Our kids enjoyed playing with them.  This little couch was outside and was a fun place to sit.  Here, Anneka was teaching the kids how to play "Rat-a-Tat-Cat".  I'm not sure how she did that in Russian, but they all seemed to be playing it and having a good time.

     We left Friday morning for Uzbarguzeen and stopped again along the way to play on the beach.  Leif made this sand castle with the kids.  =)

Ike loves playing with water!

Such joy!

Our happy guy

Always busy

Leif and I both went out in deeper water with Anneka.  She loved that time with us!