We're back online

Got up and the puter is working just fine. Sultan has hed 2 pieces of brown bread with peanut butter and is working on 1/3 of a banana and a mandarin orange with apple juice for a beverage. Susan's having a bit of a sleep in.
We saw Nadya yesterday when she came by to get my passport to extend my visa and she said she had 11 families in town. She has to meet them at the airport in the middle of the night, find apartments for them, fix their toilets, etc. We think she's juggling too many balls and we feel sorry for her and hope she can get some competent help beside her daughter Aida.
Today is the consulate at 3 to get Sultan's visa. We'll see the 2 other families we've been traveling with. Yesterday we met Marie. Tamas, and Ben for lunch at the Green Bazaar and had doner kabobs. Then we met Alaina, Andrew, Calvin and Patrick at Tsum, a big department store to shop for souvenirs. There was a display of overhead light fixtures and Sultan loved turning them off and on. The escalator was a big hit too. We had dinner at an Italian place; pizza, lasagna, spinach salad. He ate it all. We didn't bring his stroller, thinking it would be simpler, but he's getting heavy and he was tired so we got a workout. It must be all the carb loading. We've sort of figured out the buses and trolleys. Forty tenge and ride till they make a turn. Yesterday he learned "bus"and he says car or truck often.
We also found a playground with a 3 seat carousel (you know, one of those spinning rides for the bigger kids) that he thought was the best, a big grocery store with carts that look like cars. We found a little stool for him so he can reach the sink (reaching the sink on his own may be a big mistake!). There was a sloped escalator, no steps that we went on while Susan took a turn shopping and we had a minor meltdown when we left. Hard to believe you can have that much fun in a day!
Susan here- we were glad to be social yesterday, seeing the two other couples. A nice break from the fairly apartment-centered world we have been living in, and fun to be able to go farther via buses and trolleys, and see that he doesn't get motion sickness. We are hopeful for the ride home. Oh Beth, he's 3 1/2 this month, so he's definitely ahead of a 2.5 yo.
bye to all!
S & K