Trek to Red Square

A Happy Girlie
In her bib overalls
Sleeping on the LONG walk to Red Square
At the Kremlin
Daddy's having a GREAT time above!!!

Mommy and Haylie in front of St. Basils Cathedral below

The famous "pink pot"

We decided to do some sightseeing today. We wanted to go to Red Square since it was closed the first time we were here for a military appreciation week and we only got to walk around the outside. So we packed Haylie up in the Hip Carrier and took off. We were told it was about a 20 minute walk. Well it was actually more like 60 minutes to get there. On top of having to heft the baby that far, it was about 18 degrees with light snow intermittantly falling and a brisk wind. Needless to say, by the time we got there, Rich who was toting Haylie was not a happy camper. We all were wrapped up like snow mummies and Haylie was in the pink snowsuit, so we weren't too cold, but we were exhausted just having to go that far.

Red Square was indeed open this time and it was packed with people. Rich really wanted to see Lennins tomb and I wanted to see St. Basils Cathedral. We were wondering around, I'm sure looking like lost tourists when this woman walked up to us and asked if we spoke English. When we said yes, she asked if we wanted to see Red Square and Lennins tomb without standing in line and have a private tour. So, we said sure why not. I asked how much and she told us 1200 rubles. Well everything I had read said to never take their first price, so I tried to bargain with her, but Rich said that's fine... turns out she did a really good job and it was great that she happened along. We never would have figured out even how to get into the tomb. It's pretty bizarre. This guy has been dead since 1930 and his body is supposedly still perfectly embalmed and under glass. We are dubious though--sure looked more like a wax statue. They have all these strict rules to get in, like no talking inside, no hats, no bags or cameras even in the bag, and you can't stop and look. You have to keep walking by the body. We never could have figured all that out ourselves without her telling us. So it was actually a very enjoyable little tour and worth the price.

We then walked down to St. Basils Cathedral which is on the other end of the square. By this time it was really windy and cold, and Rich's was not having a good time, as you can tell in the pictures above. Haylie did pretty well throughout the ordeal and only got fussy a couple of times when she got hungry. Never complained about the cold in the pink marshmallow suit.

We were so tired by the time we finished seeing the cathedral, I didn't think there was anyway we could walk all the way back. We ended up taking the subway back to our area, which saved us. It was pretty difficult to figure out which train to take though. I've ridden on subways all over the world, and I must say this was the most difficult to navigate I've ever been on. Once we finally figured out which train to take, turns out it was only one stop away. By the time we got back to the room, we had been gone for 5 hours in the cold, and when we started out we thought it would only take about 1 1/2 hours!!

When we got back we all took a long nap. I feel like a terrible mother, because after that Haylie who has been kind of fussy the last 2 days, really started acting like she doesn't feel well. She was running a low grade temperature and just lying around. It was really kind of pitiful. She keeps pulling on her ear, so I'm thinking she may have an ear infection. She also wouldn't eat much at all for lunch or dinner. She finally went down for bed after some tylenol, so hopefully she will feel better tomorrow.

I apologize about the potty pictures. My mom wanted me to take a picture of the one we are using here, so she can see if she can find a similar size one for home for us, so that is why there are pictures of a pink plastic potty chair.