Settling in to new life in Kyiv

We have been living in Kyiv for a month now and I think I can speak for all of us when I say we are so happy with the ease of our transition so far.  We have explored the city a bit, met friendly and interesting people, received and unpacked all of our belongings, and gotten the girls registered and ready for school.  We are still awaiting the arrival of our car, but Uber is so easy and cheap here, we aren't too anxious about it.  Here are some of the photos of our first full month in our new city.

Sarah Avery scored a new bike from one of our neighbors who had outgrown it.  We have been pleasantly surprised with how perfect our neighborhood is for the girls to explore on bikes.  

Susannah was jealous because she had to wait for her bike to arrive with our other household goods, but now we all have our bikes and are planning to go out for a ride this afternoon.  

Honey has adjusted to our new surroundings too.  She still barks at every delivery person or visitor so nothing has really changed for her.  ;)

Kyiv is known for it's wide array of green space and parks.  This park, Syretsʹkyy Park, is only a mile or so from us. We spent one of our first Saturdays exploring it.  

The girls loved the huge playground.

And they especially loved the ropes course.  

The courses here are a little more high risk, with the kids being expected to handle their own clips, so we opted for the first two levels that were a little closer to the ground for our first try.  

Both girls loved it and were begging to do the higher levels.  

Brave little climber

Next up was ice cream to refuel before heading home.

The weather here is truly spectacular.  Sunny with bright blue skies every single day. And never hotter than 85 or so. The mornings are always cool too. We saw this rainbow one night out of Susannah's bedroom window. She has a nice view.

Another weekend we headed downtown to explore a bit.  The girls stretched their legs on this square while Peter and I paid our lunch tab.  This was our first restaurant experience since March and it was so nice.  

This is the most famous square in Kyiv, Maidan or Independence Square.  It is really beautiful and spacious. 

After lunch we headed to Shevchenko Park, one of the more famous parks located in the city center.  SA was pumped to see that pony rides were available for $1.  

She liked the swings too.

More ice cream because why not?.......These chairs were lining the walkways of the park and they were so comfy and cool.

COVID has meant no summer camps in Kyiv, but one of our new friends decided to create a little mommy run soccer camp so we have been doing that on Thursday mornings.  

All three of us love participating.  I didn't realize how much I had missed watching them play sports.  

Peter and I have already had some social events that are connected to his work at the embassy.  This was a private gallery tour and coffee morning for some of the other international attache' spouses.  It was a fun and interesting morning.  

Last Friday, we spent the day at "a beach."  Those are very heavy quotation marks because the Caribbean this was not.  But there was sand and water and the girls had a blast.  

Their Summer of 2020 signature pose

The girls have become fast friends with these four.  And I have loved getting to know their mom too.  We are feeling super grateful for all the quick connections we have made. 

Another new friend is Matthew, who lives one street over from us.  He and Susannah have so much in common and his Mom has been so sweet to invite the girls over for fun activities like baking pumpkin bread. 

This past week we took a tour of the girls' new school.  It was beautiful and really impressive.  SA and Peter left after the tour, but Susannah and I stayed so she could take some placement exams.  

Our backyard is flat and perfect for soccer.  The girls have spent hours playing already.  

The rest of our week was spent organizing and unpacking.  It was so good to see all of our things, including the stash of American goodies that we brought.  Although I feel like a doomsday prepper with all these black beans and peanut butter jars.  ;)

All the pictures are officially hung and all the empty boxes have been carted away so this weekend has felt so relaxing.  My only wish is that we could morph all of you here to see it in person.

And now we are going to soak up the last full week of summer break and prepare to celebrate Sarah Avery's 6th birthday.  We hope all of you are healthy and happy. We love and miss you all!