Update

Sorry for the delay in posting. The hotel's business center in Tyumen is closed on the weekends. What's more, as much as I love to write, parenting actually is more fun than writing about parenting. But here's what's happened since I last wrote.

On Friday, we were free for most of the day. At the end of the day, we went to pick up Phoebe's Russian passport. She'll travel home on that passport, and will in fact remain a Russian citizen (despite acquiring U.S. citizenship the instant our plane touches down in Detroit) at least until her 18th birthday. Should we ever travel back to Russia during her childhood, she'll travel on the Russian passport.

We then stayed in Tyumen until Sunday night, when we flew back to Moscow, arriving here late Sunday night.

Today, after the doctor came to visit at 7 a.m. to do the required medical exam for Phoebe's visa, we had the morning free. We did a little wandering, taking in Arbat Street (Moscow's pedestrian shopping area. It's apparently famous, although compared to other pedestrian shopping areas in major cities (Copenhagen's Stroeget, Jerusalem's souk, to name two), Arbat Street is, well, pedestrian.

This afternoon we went to the U.S. embassy, where we obtained Phoebe's visa to enter the U.S. With that task accomplished, all the official business is done. Tomorrow we plan to take in Red Square and St. Basil's cathedral, and possibly Lenin's mausoleum. The last stop is one we may skip. There's little to admire about Vladimir Iliitch, and the whole idea of embalming the dead, much less putting their corpses on display, is one that I find distasteful at best.

We hope to fly home Wednesday, if Lufthansa has seats available. Otherwise, it'll be Thursday, as originally planned. We can't wait to be home and get out little girl into a routine. Not only has she been pulled away from everything she's known, but she has to live out of a suitcase and sleep in three different beds in a week before getting to her new home.