Pavlas Family Adventures

And so it begins....

2010-10-31T13:19:00.000+03:00

Kolaches!

2010-10-31T13:15:00.000+03:00

Okay, this was my first attempt, but the Hubby approves!!

I have been into baking lately, trying out different things on my family and neighbors. Winners: apple pie, cherry crumble pie, zucchini bread, strawberry cake (in taste only....the icing was a little droopy), lemon tea cake and now kolaches. Losers: let's just say that my attempt at a chocolate lava cake ended up all over my friends kitchen....literally like a volcano. So yeah, that's off the list.

So here is my first attempt at Kolaches, a traditional Czech dessert/breakfast item that before this were only able to taste in the Great State of Texas. I found the recipe in Texas Monthly and have been wanting to try it but because of the multiple steps was always afraid I'd screw it up somehow. But miraculously, I didn't. I made prune and sausage, my hubby's two favorites. My next batch included some apricot, cheese, and sausage/jalapeno, which were also good. I forgot to take pictures the second time, but I got some of my first batch. There aren't very many here, because we had already dug into them :)

Another Field Trip

2010-10-31T12:57:00.000+03:00

At least the place wasn't so spooky or eerie. My Russian teacher took us on another field trip, this time to the new Russian Orthodox cathedral in the villiage of Troitskoye. The cathedral was named after national Russian hero Alexander Nevsky, and built to resemble tsars' palaces of the 16th century. This cathedral is one of the four shrines planned as "border guards" of Russia (one each in the north, south, east and west). Needless to say, it is a beautiful building.

inside the cathedral with the Отец (father)

outside

inside - notice there are no pews - they stand for the entire service

view from the bell tower

one guy rings all the bells

yes, it was loud....my ears rang for the rest of the day :)

Spooky Field Trip

2010-10-31T12:32:00.002+03:00

I thought this post would be a great one to save for Halloween. My Russian teacher thought it would be fun to take us all to see a cemetery. I wasn't that keen, as they aren't exactly my thing, but I had no good excuse to get out of it. It turned out to be quite interesting. Russians put a photo on the headstones, which is something I have not seen before. Sometimes it's a small photo, and sometimes you will see large, elaborate carvings or statues of the person. Also interesting: Russian Orthodox bury their dead facing west, and they bring gifts, food and vodka on holidays, birthdays and anniversaries. I took some photos of some of the more interesting plots.

fake flowers are common, as is bringing food and vodka

My teacher said that the pictures are often telling....notice he is standing by a car, talking on a cell phone with a beer in his hand....he died at a young age, so it's very possible that it was a car accident

very large and elaborate statue

the red stars signify a veteran

You get quite a bit of information from the headstones....this man was a pilot

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T12:15:00.000+03:00

We actually carved pumpkins this year! Well, Shane did it, and Adam and I watched. I did have the job of "gutting" them (and then cooking and freezing the flesh for Thanksgiving pumpkin-pie...yummm). No, you cannot find pumpkins like these in Sakhalin. The Russian pumpkin is much smaller (about the size of a cantaloupe). My friend brought the seeds back from California and her father grew them at his dacha (a Russian summer house). I think our pumpkins turned out quite nicely....and Adam agrees!

Daddy and Adam showing off their carvings

posing with his pumpkins

all lit up

my little Space Commander

Fall in Sakhalin

2010-10-14T14:33:00.000+03:00

I think Fall is my favorite season in Sakhalin. It's not too cold, the leaves turn beautiful colors, and the sun is out most of the time. There are two things that are bad about Fall, though: the flies, and the fact that it only lasts a few weeks. We have to soak it in while it's here, because Winter is just around the corner!

Pumpkins!

changing leaves

Family pic with our pumpkins

Fall in Olympia

the downside of Fall.....flies!

Back to School

2010-10-14T14:19:00.000+03:00

First day of school - Primary 2!

Cape Velikan

2010-10-14T14:15:00.000+03:00

This was my first Summer in Sakhalin. Last year, we went to Texas in August, but since we are all going there at Christmastime, we decided to stay in Sakhalin for the Summer. The weather here in the Summer is fantastic! I don't think it ever got above 85℉, and the sun was out most of the time. Definitely not any where near the heat and humidity of Texas Summers.

Since this may be our last Summer here, we decided to take a trip to Cape Velikan (meaning "giant" in Russian) in August. It takes about 3 hours by car to get there, and it isn't an easy ride. About 75% of it is off-road. There is a small beach, a river outlet (which had salmon spawning), and some interesting rock formations just off the coast. The scenery and weather were beautiful, but the water was COLD!

Here are some pictures from our day:

how to catch a salmon: just reach down and grab it!

yes, the water is COLD!

Shane trying to rock-climb with a certain monkey on his back :)

Adam watching our driver fish for salmon

Cape Velikan in the background

Thailand in March

2010-10-14T13:47:00.001+03:00

I figured that our trip to Phuket, Thailand, in March of this year deserved its own post. We went to Phuket with our friends and one-time Sakhalin neighbors, the Gormans. Phuket is gorgeous, and we all enjoyed the break from Sakhalin and escape from the horrid thaw season.

Here are some pictures from our trip:

Fun in the pool

All the kids before dinner

having a cocktail at the swim up bar

sunset show at the resort

on the beach at sunset

Phi Phi Island

Monkey beach

Catching up.....

2010-10-14T13:30:00.000+03:00

Okay, my new project: to update this blog. It's pathetic, really. I was so good about it for a long time, and then I got lazy. In my last post, I was on a rant about our internet bill....yes, it's still the same....very expensive is an understatement. Except now, we are not able to monitor it to see when we need to pay. It makes things very exciting, which we need around here, I guess.

So what has been going on around here? Just normal stuff, really....summer break, school starting back, holidays, work, etc. Here are a few photos from the last several months to catch you up with our goings on.....:)

Getting ready for a school play last Spring

First lost tooth!

Celebrating International Children's Day in June

Testing out the bumper cars with Daddy this Summer

Riding the ferris wheel with Mom

Enjoying the beautiful Sakhalin Summer weather

In August, we took a quick trip to Korea to visit some Sakhalin friends

All the kids at the Dinosaur Park in Korea

Blogger vs. Facebook vs. Crazy Internet Rates

2010-07-31T00:31:00.000+03:00

Did you think we fell off the map? Nope, still here. I have been neglecting my blog for two reasons: 1) both of our parents have found Facebook, and 2) on March 1 of this year our internet provider changed and the rates went sky high. Actually, the rates were already pretty high, but the new provider just realized that we found a nice loophole in our plan and remedied that. We were on the "Unlimited Midnight-6 am" plan, which meant that we could use as much as we wanted between those times. We had that plan because that was the only one that was fast enough to handle iTunes downloads (which is how we watch our favorite television shows). The rest of the time, they charge us by our actual usage, or at least that's what they do now (the old provider never did). That's right....no flat rate plans over here in the Siberian wasteland. So if we don't watch it, we could be spending hundreds of dollars on internet each month. Crazy, right? I think so. So something had to go. It just so happened that right about this time my Mother-in-law joined Facebook, the last holdout from our family. When I considered the time it takes to upload photos into Facebook vs. Blogger, Facebook won hands down. I upload via iPhoto, and it takes seconds to do a whole album. Blogger, however, was taking 10-20 minutes for just a few pictures. And yes, our "fast" internet is still pretty darn slow. Not that I'm complaining ;-)

Sapporo Snow Festival

2010-02-17T04:11:00.000+03:00

The Sapporo Snow Festival is something that we really wanted to attend while we were here. There are massive sculptures made out of snow and ice, and they are fantastic to see in person. They had a whole area set up with ice and snow slides for kids, mini-golf, and food booths from all over the Japanese island of Hokkaido. We all had a great time and are glad to have been able to attend this year!

The streets of Sapporo were decorated like Christmas

It was pretty cold out there!

I got sprayed with snow going down the slides

Shane on an ice slide

Adam coming down a slide in a tube

Mini-golfing in the snow

Shane and Adam with their clubs

Adam checking out the ice sculptures

Shane liked the mermaid

This ice sculpture of Iolani Palace was impressive

Disney snow sculpture

Animals of the North snow sculpture

Odori Park at night

Adam riding another slide

Dresdner Frauenkirche (German church) sculpture

Baekje Royal Palace of Korea sculpture

Adam on an ice slide

Riding on a train

Ramen Alley

A bowl of Sapporo Ramen soup....yum!

Bailey Being Bailey

2010-02-17T03:33:00.000+03:00

I came home one day to find Bailey sitting in the box we keep our hats and mittens in...

Ski Season!

2010-02-17T03:29:00.000+03:00

All the snow that fell in Yuzhno while we were gone means that it is prime ski season! We have been skiing on the mountain every weekend and my neighbor and I have been cross country skiing in our compound when we can. Skiing is one our favorite activities to do here, and we are trying to get as much in as we can before Spring arrives and all this nice snow turns to slush!

Cross-country skiing around Olympia

Kate and I at the base of the mountain

Shane and I at the base of the mountain

Shane and I at the halfway point with a pretty good view of Yuzhno

Shane the pro!

beautiful view from the top

I love the way the snow sticks to the trees

one of the trails

Back to Siberia, I mean Sakhalin

2010-01-11T07:38:00.000+03:00

While we were in Hawaii, Sakhalin received massive amounts of snow, especially for this time of year. When we got back, our house looked the same as it did at the end of March of last year. There was at least 3.5 or 4 feet on the ground! And it was still coming....there was a blizzard expected the night we arrived and it continued for 2 days. Since then, the temperatures dropped.....WAY down. I don't remember experiencing subzero (and I'm talking Fahrenheit, not Celsius) temperatures last year. This morning my thermometer read -16 F! Yikes, that's cold. That's probably the coldest weather I've been in. Last year the lowest I remember seeing was 1 or 2 degrees Fahrenheit. So who knows what the rest of the Winter will bring us...all I know is I'm ready to hit the slopes!

Adam is dressed for the cold

Our house when we returned

The snow is piled up!

up to my elbows in snow

Adam and Shane sledding down the street

New Years in Kauai

2010-01-11T07:02:00.000+03:00

From Oahu, we took a 25 minute flight to Kauai, dubbed the "Garden Isle" of Hawaii. It has definitely earned that name...I have never seen so many shades of green in my life. Most of the scenery looked straight off of a postcard, painting or a movie. It was all so picturesque. The beaches in Kauai are very different from Oahu, and in the winter months they can can be especially dangerous. So we didn't hit the beach as much as we did in Oahu. Instead, we explored the island as best we could with a car. What we couldn't see by car (only about 20% of the island is accessible by car), we saw on a helicopter tour and boat tour. We saw some incredible things on the helicopter ride, one of which was the so called "Jurassic Park" falls that was featured in the movie. It was beautiful. We also saw parts of the Na Pali coast, which is the northern coast of the island that is all cliffs. We also decided to do some horseback riding, and much to our surprise, Adam rode his own horse! A year ago he would have been terrified, but he got up there without a second thought. We drove up to the north shore and visited one beach that looked okay, but within 20 minutes a storm started coming in and everyone took off, so we took the cue and left as well. One thing that everyone told us, if there isn't anyone on the beach, there is a good reason. Rather to be safe than sorry I guess. Shane was even able to sneak in a round of golf at the Princeville golf course, which was something that he really wanted to do. After our boat tour of the Na Pali coast, we drove up to the Waimea Canyon (dubbed the Grand Canyon of the Pacific). We had flown over it in the helicopter, but it was different viewing it from the ground. Our vacation was wonderful, and we hated to see it end, but alas, the real world was calling....

the scenery was beautiful

Adam with his horse and guide

the "Jurassic Park" falls

flying over part of the Waimea Canyon

Hanalei

waterfalls everywhere

picturesque lighthouse at the northern-most tip of Kauai

on the beach with all the lava rocks behind me

Adam playing on the beach

Shane and Adam on the boat

Na Pali coast

The captain let Adam "drive"

Adam at the Waimea Canyon lookout

Shane playing golf in Princeville

fun in our hotel pool

Christmas in Oahu

2010-01-11T06:17:00.000+03:00

After braving the cold Sakhalin winter last year, we decided to spend Christmas in a warmer place. Hawaii was the chosen destination, as it was only a 7 hour flight from Tokyo. Actually, our flight there was just shy of 6 hours, but our return flight was a little over 9, but whatever. Neither of us had ever been, and it was definitely on our list of places we would like to go, so we booked it. My parents and brother decided to join us for part of the trip, and it was really great to see them. I didn't really get to spend that much time - quality time - with them when we were all home in August. Anyway, we all met up in Honolulu a few days before Christmas. A friend of mine in Sakhalin had recommended a really nice condo/time share hotel (Marriot Ko Olina Vacation Club) on the west coast of Oahu, and it was fantastic. The man-made lagoons were perfect for Adam to swim in without us having to worry about the currents. The weather was near perfect, with only 1 day with clouds and a few sprinkles. When we weren't laying on the beach or playing in the water, we visited other parts of the island. We went up to the North Shore to see the enormous waves, visited the Dole Plantation, went snorkeling, went to a Luau, and even went parasailing. Needless to say, we had a great time in Oahu! My only regret is that we missed out on seeing Pearl Harbor. We went, but unbeknownst to us, there are only 4000 tickets to the Arizona Memorial per day, and they were all sold out by 7:20 am....we arrived at 9. Next time, we will put it at the beginning of our trip instead of the ending....

Here are a few selected pictures from our time in Oahu...

Adam ready to hit the beach

relaxing on the beach

Shane trying to get some color

Fun in the water

we found Santa Claus!

Mom, me and Joseph at a luau

Snorkeling

Shane and Joseph feeding the fish

family pic on the North Shore

Shane and Adam watching the huge waves

getting ready to parasail

looking out on Waikiki

sunset at Ko Olina

getting ready to board the Pineapple Express train

sunset on the beach

Adam loves these "rocket ships" at Pearl Harbor

Making friends on Waikiki beach

The Great King Gaspar

2010-01-11T05:27:00.000+03:00

Adam's class put on a nativity play for the end-of-term assembly before the Christmas break. Adam played the part of King Gaspar, and he was very proud. He even had a line to say, which he did twice in case we didn't get it the first time! The play was really cute and the kids did a great job.

Adam as King Gaspar

The Three Kings

Sinterklaas

2010-01-11T05:16:00.000+03:00

The Dutch celebrate Sinterklaas on December 6, which is Father Christmas' birthday. Since Adam goes to a Shell School, this holiday is celebrated in a big way. Father Christmas has these helpers called the Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) that go down the chimney for him to deliver gifts and candy (and are black because of the chimney soot). They are mischievous and usually leave behind a mess, I guess so that the children will know that they were there. Another Sinterklaas tradition is the children leave their shoes by the door so that the Black Pete will leave them a present inside. Kind of like us leaving stockings hung on the chimney I suppose. Anyway, there was a big Sinterklaas celebration at the school, which I found fascinating. I don't remember seeing it last year, which is odd because I know we were here. Adam spoke for weeks before the assembly about Sinterklaas and the Black Petes, and I had no idea what he was talking about until I asked the teacher. For the Sinterklaas celebration, Adam's class performed the Macarena, which was hilarious. Throughout the assembly, the Black Petes performed tricks and handed out papernotes (Dutch cookies that remind me of a cross between a snickerdoodle and a gingersnap). Adam had a great time, and kept asking me when the Black Petes would visit our house...

Adam's class left out their shoes for the Black Petes

Father Christmas and the Black Petes at the Sinterklaas celebration at school

Black Pete giving out papernotes

Adam and his class getting ready to perform for Father Christmas

Doing the Macarena

Getting Ready for the Holidays

2010-01-11T04:12:00.000+03:00

Okay, so first off, I have been really lax about the blog lately. I am not too happy with the new version of blogger....it is much slower and it seems to take forever to get the posts done. I am considering changing, so if anyone has any ideas, I am open to hearing them.

On to what this post is really about....getting ready for the Christmas holiday season. As we do every year, we put up our tree and decorations the weekend after Thanksgiving. I dressed Adam in a green shirt (red would have been better, but he doesn't have a plain red shirt) and talked him into letting me take his picture in front of it. Trust me, it wasn't easy. Our Community Center requested that all the kids come up and decorate their tree, which they were all thrilled to do. Of course, when they were finished, all the ornaments were located at the bottom of the tree, but hey, a good time was had by all. We also went to our fair share of holiday parties....the major one being the one ENL hosted at the Santa Hotel. It was a nice party, and it was also nice to get dressed up, leave Adam with a sitter and go out and celebrate with friends.

Adam in front of our tree

family picture

the children came up to help decorate the tree at our Community Center

all dressed up for the ENL holiday party

Happy 5th Birthday, Adam!

2009-11-23T06:26:00.000+03:00

Adam turned 5 this week! He had a very eventful week. He started off by getting a black eye two days before his birthday! He was jumping on my neighbor's sofa and fell and hit his eye on a table behind the sofa. By the next morning, it was completely swollen shut and black and blue. Poor thing, and right before his birthday! He had a party at school in his classroom, and we had a big party on Saturday at a mini-golf place near our house. The kids ate pizza, cake and played golf....it was a great party!

He was very excited about taking cupcakes to school on his birthday

you can almost see his shiner

5 years old!

Shane and Adam playing mini-golf

Adam hitting some balls

Pizza party!

Adam's cake

Playing mini-golf

All the kids

Make a wish!

Where Are We???

2009-11-22T03:42:00.000+03:00

The City Mall has been under construction for a long time, and now it is finally open. The only stores open are a supermarket, a Christmas shop, and a few cell phone stores. There are going to be more stores added, but for now we are happy with the supermarket. The number one thing it has going for it? It's location. It is only located about 15 minutes away from Olympia, which is much more convenient than going all the way into town, which can take up to 40 minutes. It is also enormous in comparison to all the other shops here. And the shopping carts are "regular" sized....and not the Walgreens minis that we find at the other stores in town. I know that this may not seem like much, but to us, it's a lot. I felt like I wasn't even in Yuzhno anymore....

The City Mall

It is HUGE!

They even have carts for kids

It looks like a real supermarket!

Winter is Here!

2009-11-22T03:30:00.000+03:00

It's heeere....the beginning of Winter, the longest season in Sakhalin. Adam was so excited to see snow again! It is so beautiful when it snows. I took some pictures of our first snow of the season....

Adam at School

2009-11-22T03:20:00.000+03:00

I chaperoned a school field trip to a market in town a few weeks ago. I had about an hour to kill between morning drop-off and the departure time, so the teachers asked me to come in and watch the class. The kids have circle time first and talk about the day of the week, that day's weather, and the day's activities. After that, they had some free play, so I decided to take some pictures. Here they are:

Sakhalin Bonfire

2009-11-22T03:12:00.000+03:00

The 2nd Annual Sakhalin Bonfire was lit on November 7. The guys in charge of it worked for several weeks to get all of the wood cut and the bonfire built. The bonfire was a mini-replica of the Texas A&M Aggie Bonfire, but since Olympia is such a diverse community, it was set up to include everyone. A few of the ladies painted the outhouse, which goes on the top of the stack. It had all of the college and university logos from our community painted on it. Here are some pictures:

The bonfire stack

Adam and the fire

All lit up

Amanda and Adam

Family pic....don't you just love Adam's face?

All the Aggies with an Exxon Neftegas sign

Another picture of it lit up