(Orthodox) Easter in Ukraine!

[Previous trips to Ukraine with Chase: Winter 2019, Summer 2018, Spring 2018, Summer 2017, Spring 2017, Summer 2016, Spring 2016, Summer 2015]

This year, for Easter, we had a visit from Matt and Katrina so we did fun touristy stuff with them. However, that gave Chase and I the chance to visit Ukraine for the second half of his school vacation (and specifically for the daycare vacation part). In Ukraine, we checked out the flowering magnolias at the botanical garden, inaugurated the summer house for the season, went to a soccer game, and had the chance to celebrate Orthodox Easter at midnight (just as we had done two years earlier). It was definitely fun to hang out with my youngest cousin (Chase's cousin uncle) who is growing up fast!

Chase at the botanical garden, which is very close to my grandparents' apartment.

Enjoying ourselves at the summer house. 

L: Soccer game with Anton; C: Blessing of Easter baskets outside a church; R: Easter midnight mass in an original wooden country church. 

Chase at 5 years old!

[Previous Chase updates: starting school, 4 years, 3 years, 25-32 months, 2 years, 15-20 months, 1+ year, first four months in Cambridge, data analysis from first 2 months, first few months]

I can't believe Chase already turned 5 years old. He had a birthday party with all his friends just a few days after his birthday (as Easter fell late this year, so this was possible!). He had a rainbow cake (which Oksana made) because his favorite color now is rainbow. He is very into numbers, writing out math equations regularly (although not always with the right syntax), he loves riding his bike and playing all sorts of board games. He is still quite shy but also becoming more and more independent. Yay, Chase!

Solo work trip to the US

[Previous solo trips to the US: 2018, 2017 #2, 2017 #1, and solo-ish 2015]

I was able to make a trip home as I attended an awesome conference in Breckenridge, followed by a few days in San Diego, and then a flight out of LA. Breckenridge had a crazy amount of snow, and as we had a free afternoon during the conference, I grabbed some snow shoes and explored the hiking paths a bit. It was crazy!

In San Diego, Katya flew down from northern California to hang out for the weekend (we hadn't seen each other in many years!). Olga also flew over from the east coast so Sakina, Mika, and I could hang out all four of us, as we had done for Sakina's baby shower, our trip to Japan, and my babyshower before that. It was so nice to go hiking and go to the beach and just hang out. It's so re-energizing having a trip home and seeing wonderful friends!

My parents had an oscars party that Katya and I attended. 

L: Mt. Soledad (we also went to Wild Animal Park and La Jolla and other generally touristy stuff!); R: our hike up to Iron Mountain (with Olga and Katya)

L: The beach with Olga; R: Our reunion after 2+ years apart -- so nice!

Copenhagen

Since Chase has a week off in February for Relânches, we took that opportunity to meet up with Boris and Laura in Copenhagen. It was quite cold, but we were able to make the most of it. Overall, Nate and I liked Stockholm more than Copenhagen, but it was still a worthwhile visit. Copenhagen was just as pricey as Stockholm or Switzerland, but we felt it wasn't quite as quaint and interesting as Stockholm was.

The first day, we walked around the city, making our way to Nyhavn and took a boat tour to see the city by water (including the Little Mermaid statue). The next day, we went to the National Museum and Tivoli Gardens. The last day, we walked around the city in general and went up the Roundtower. We had some traditional Danish dishes and enjoyed hanging out with Boris and Laura after many years apart.

On the boat

Around the Nyhavn

In Tivoli Gardens (there was this cool program where the kid could get a wristband, and with that, it would allow one accompanying adult to ride along. We got the wristband for Chase and switched off riding rides with him. Unfortunately, sometimes Chase was not into the "more scary" rides so that involved Nate and I strategising who would ride when to optimize the fun rides for us as well!

At the top of the Roundtower

Lida's 80th Birthday Party

Just as we'd done for my grandfather, we went to Kiev to be at the 80th birthday party of my grandmother. Unlike my grandfather's party, which was on a boat, this was at a very fancy hotel. There was good food, speeches, and dancing. Chase is very shy but, as always, he gets crazy on the dance floor and never wants to stop! We had a great party with all the family!

L: My mom and I; R: Sonia and I

L: Chase with his great grandfather (Zhorik); C: Chase with his great grandparents; R: Chase dancing up a storm!

L: Anton, Sonia, me, Lida, Ivan, Zhorik, Lyuba; R: Nate, me, Ivan, my mom, my dad, and Chase.

Edit: 

I forgot to include that we made two collages for my grandparents for their respective 80th birthdays: 

2018 in Review

[Previous years in review: 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013]

This year was a busy year as usual.

We started off the year in the Midwest (Illinois) and ended it in the Midwest as well (Nebraska).

Between those two points, we traveled quite a bit:
- I traveled to Cambridge, MA in early March.
- We traveled to Stockholm for Easter in late March.
- We visited Ukraine in April for my grandfather's 80th birthday.
- I explored Lisbon and Porto in late June.
- We traveled to Vienna in mid July.
- Chase, my mom and I went to Lake Como in late July while Nate went to Munich.
- Nate and I checked out Amsterdam in early August.
- As usual, we traveled to Ukraine in August.
- I went to a conference in Brighton and visited London in September.
- I went to a conference in Sorrento in October.

Therefore, Chase has earned +2 countries for Sweden and Austria, so he's currently at 3 continents (NA, Europe, Africa), 12 countries (USA, Switzerland, France, Spain, Morocco, Ukraine, Great Britain, Mexico, Italy, Poland, Sweden, and Austria), and 9 states (MA, CT, RI, NY, NE, CA, NV, IA, and IL).

We also did some day tripping in Switzerland, specifically with my grandparents and a few others. Chase turned 4 years old and started school. And, finally, we commemorated our family in 2018 with some outdoor family photos.

Unfortunately, the crafting projects have been sparse this year. I knitted one hat, but forgot to take a picture of it. I obviously hope to finally get more projects done in 2019.

In terms of 2019, Nate will finally be graduating in 2019, so this may be the year we take the next step in our careers and lives. So, we'll see how that turns out for us. For now, we want to make the most out of living in Switzerland and being able to travel through Europe. 

As in previous years, I will leave you with an Instagram collage. Follow me on Instagram, or on Twitter if you don't have an Instagram.

Latest Family Photos

This year, with Chase growing up, I decided we should have family photos taken. We used the same photographer and our same local park like last time, but this time in the fall rather than the spring. It's crazy to see how much Chase has grown, also considering the pictures taken almost exactly 3 years earlier. Here is a subset of the pictures: