A good day

You know when a day starts with the double yoke lucky egg it will be a day to remember.

Lucky for us we had planned a great start to Nikki's week off from school with a trip to the Baltika Brewery. They only let us take pictures of the beer factory in a limited number of places, but rest assured Josh was thoroughly excited about the beer brewing process.

Nikki was thoroughly excited about the beer tasting process!
Now here is some happy tour participants.

For the ride home Nikki had always dreamed of driving through the city in a party bus, so the brewery seemed like a logical starting point for this party.

Cooper striking a pose on the party bus.

I think Nikki is a little excited about beer tasting in this photo.

Kyra and Nick look so deep in conversation in this photo, I wonder what they are talking about, It looks like Sue is wondering as well.

September

We apologize for the long absence- it seems that the month(s) are quickly sliding by. Josh and I are both back at school and back to the grind of everyday life here in St. Petersburg. September was a beautiful month here and Josh and I took the opportunity to go sightseeing and take part in some Russian sporting events! I started the month off by running in the annual women’s 10k race. It is a fun event that helps raise money for women’s health. We had a huge turnout for the race and an absolutely beautiful course to run. We began and ended in palace square and running around the major bridges of the city.

Josh had been to a few Zenit soccer games here, but this was my first one. It was an interesting experience, the fans were crazy (even with the no alcohol rule) the seats are terribly uncomfortable, and as with all soccer games it wasn’t terribly exciting. Here are a few photos of the crazy fans- they were setting off flares in the stands to celebrate, no one but the foreigners seemed concerned, even as the smoke from the flares became so thick we couldn’t even see the field. I was happy to make it out of the stadium..

On a much more fun note- we also attended a SKA hockey game! SKA was playing an exhibition game against an American NHL team and we were lucky enough to get tickets! In my opinion it was twice the fun of the soccer games- I definitely see more hockey games in my future! On a cool note, one of my student's dads is the goalie for SKA, here he is making a great save. On a funny note, they even had cheerleaders!

Trip to Tallinn

We took mom to Tallinn to cross another city off her travel list. Tallinn is a beautiful little city, and the drive over is always exciting. We had a fantastic time touring the medieval city, shopping for treasures and snacking on the local cuisine.

We had fairly extreme weather when we were there- most days were super hot, but the second day was raining and super cold! Luckily mom and I had brought our rain coats!

Visit from Mom W.

On my way back from Kansas I picked up my mom in Paris and brought her to Russia with me. The hot weather of Kansas followed me and we had sunny and hot weather the whole trip! We began our adventure at Peterhoff

A side trip to Kansas

After touring around Europe I left the Kaser family and headed to the metropolis of Wichita, Kansas for a conference for school. I actually had a blast there, it was super hot but I loved walking by the river and eating Subway sandwiches. I of course took the opportunity to do some clothes shopping too! My conference was great, and I made a new friend, but the best part of the trip was that my dad was able to come out to see me for my birthday!

Family Time!

Josh and I have had a fun filled month of mom and dad visits. First up was Josh's parents! We started our adventure here in Russia. Luckily we had beautiful weather, only a few days before they arrived we were still in our jeans and sweatshirts, but the Kaser’s brought only sunshine with them! We did all the normal touristy sights; here are pictures from a few of the favorites.
Peterhoff-

Boat touring

And the highlight of the summer- The beer garden!

We then took off to Germany to see the Passion Play! It was truly a once in a life time opportunity. While we were not permitted to take pictures during the play we managed to snap a few before the show began-

After our adventures in Germany we continued on to Lyon, France. It was a charming town full of beautiful cathedrals, and delicious restaurants. And of course, what would a trip to France be without a wine tour!

Miss you guys!