Raia's visit (and Bogdan's birthday)

A highlight of the whole first part of this year for me was Raia's spring break visit to us way back in March. I can't believe how few photos I have from then, though. 

When Raia didn't come for winter break, she comforted us by planning to come in the spring. But then it looked like not even that would work out. It's such a long, hard trip, and she was so busy. Then at some point she wrote and said that I could go ahead and get tickets for her. She asked if I could keep it a secret from Bogdan, so that her presence could be a birthday present for him. At the time, I was buying tickets for one of Asya's trips to Kyiv, too, so I thought I would just get all the tickets, and not say anything at all until I got Asya sent off. Will would know, because he would see that I was spending money and calling back and forth with Raia. But he didn't notice. (Raia and I were also doing a lot to renew her residency in Lithuania at the time.) And I didn't say anything to Asya before she left. So, pretty soon Raia and I realized that we were the only ones who knew she was coming, and we liked that, so we left it that way. 

After all the grueling travel, Raia got here on a Sunday morning, way earlier than scheduled, so she just walked to our house, and I let her in. Bogdan was very happily surprised. Will was still asleep, and he woke up to a surprise, too. That night Raia sent a photo of Will and me with Leo to our family group and thought that she messed up the surprise for Asya, but somehow Asya didn't notice. The next morning Asya's train from Kyiv got in about the same time as Raia's friend came in from Kherson, so Raia surprised Asya at the train station. It was all a lot of fun. 

Raia's photo

Then, on Bogdan's actual birthday, Raia went with him on a hike, which was exactly what he wanted. That night we had a little celebration with our small group. 

Then, the next evening Bogdan's friends came over to celebrate more. Will grilled meat for them, and they ate and played outside until it was really dark.

We really appreciated Raia making the effort to come all this way for a relatively short visit, and we treasured every moment with her here. Bogdan had a great 14th birthday, too.