Lyena Visits North Carolina

This momentous occasion deserves its own post. My sister, Lyena, finally made it to the US for a visit. After very stressful 9 months, her escaping from Ukraine to Turkey, then back to Ukraine, it’s been kind of crazy. We were all so happy that we could be her sponsors for the U4U program (she could have come and stayed for 2 years). After our failed attempt to get her a tourist visa, this was the only way for her to see us. 

She arrived at RDU!

My mom was already here, so it was all of us together, finally! 

And now fast forward four weeks... after a whirlwind of a trip to NYC, getting sick for Christmas, ballroom dancing, shopping, working lots with MG, hanging out with the boys and me, she had to go back to Ukraine. 

Our selfie with no masks finally...

Don’t know how long it will be before we can all be together like that...

Her plan was also after Ukraine to go to Turkey and get settled there for a bit as the electricity/internet has become so problematic for her at times and she needed it to keep her job. She speaks Turkish too.

Oh yes, and, of course, we couldn’t just send my mom and Lyena back to Ukraine with no humanitarian help. United Airlines were so helpful! MG pulled some strings and they let them take ten suitcases to Poland for free. All of them full of headlamps and uniforms, fleece, medical supplies and hand warmers. It was incredible and helpful! 

And this is how this page of the story ended. My mom and Lyena arrived safely to Poland and then still had to take a bus across the border back to Ukraine. Crazy world right now...

 

Mark Turns FOURTEEN

And just like that our youngest kid turned FOURTEEN! How is this happening so fast? I usually don't get all sentimental when thinking about our kids growing up, but looking over these pictures and remembering how little Mark used to be, I feel the timing is speeding up in this whole raising kids gig.

We always try to make Mark's birthday separate from Christmas, to keep it special. 

One of Mark's biggest presents was a new tennis racket. It was his fourth racket of the same kind. Mark keeps breaking strings often during the week so by adding an extra racket, we were giving Robert an extra day or two from stringing. 

 

Mark also incredulously received this coveted gift--a special ping pong paddle in a signed case by Pongfinity--famous Finnish YouTubers from Finland! 

More stuff for convenience of setting up a ping pong game with any table. 

And turning fourteen means caring more about dances and dancing with girls--so getting the first cologne. 

As a tradition, Mark gets the World Records book each year. 

And, of course, what sort of celebration is without Mark receiving Hi Chews?

Looking at all these pictures, I can't help but think that we need to branch out with our gifts--but that's exactly what Marked requested on his wish list. 

One more of Mark's favorites--crème soda! 

This year, we got Mark a book about Rafael Nadal, one of Mark's favorite tennis players (but of Roger Federer will always stay on the pedestal!). 

Here is Mark with all of his treasures.

A couple of pictures for his Instagram page. This one actually got reposted by Pongfinity that has millions of followers:)! 

And this one was for Team Dunlop as Mark is supported by Dunlop. 

For dinner we went to Carrabbas!

 

Mark got his free cannoli-birthday dessert. 

So grateful Babusia and aunt Olena were there for the first time to celebrate Mark's birthday! 

And keeping it real with mama. As we found out later, I was actually just getting over Covid;).

Cookies and cream kind of cake for Mark! 

And Life is Still Good! 

Mark's amazing mysterious look captured accidentally-hahaha. 

And blowing out the candles Covid style still works! 

Height: 5’ 8’'

Favorite sport: Tennis

Favorite sport to watch: Tennis

Favorite Book: "Last Chance"

Favorite movie: Stranger Things

Favorite Color: Blue

Hobbies: playing darts, cornhole, ping pong

When I grow up, I want to be a professional tennis player

Mark, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! We are so happy you were born into our family and your place as the third and youngest kid is just perfect for what you are trying to accomplish! We love your funny sense of humor and kindness, your quiet confidence and determination to overcome hard things. We all are looking forward to this year and watching you grow into a great young man. 

Christmas 2022

It is amazing to be living here, in North Carolina, during Christmastime. It’s a bit surreal, STILL! The weather is usually mild but it feels very festive. This year, we have had quite the plans! My mom AND my sister, Lyena, were going to stay with us for a month! Well, we should call her Olena, or Lena, she is my sister, formerly knowns as “Lyena”, because it sounds too Russian;).

Soon after she arrived, we were invited by MG to his majestic lights display here in Apex. MG is the guy who has been helping hundreds of Ukrainian refugees to get to the US with miles, helping them find sponsors too. And my sister has been the catalyst in this huge undertaking, being able to speak both languages and knowing how to work with flights bookings. So MG puts on a famous Christmas lights display in Apex every year, with cars lined up for hours to see his lights. He organized a private event for all the refugees and their sponsoring families so they could get together, see the lights and have a dinner. 

They also all got to meet Lyena whom they had known from Zoom and now finally could speak to in person.

The Christmas lights display was super cool!! We stayed at the house for several hours, meeting so many refugees... so many struggling to find jobs, adjust to their new life and find the a comfortable place here. 

We also had Robert’s Christmas party! Rachel, one of the assistants, volunteered her house again which made it very comfortable and fun! We love their dental staff! 

They all are like one big crazy family! 

When I first saw these pictures, I was convinced someone was holding a frog behind Robert’s head so it looks like it’s on his head-hahaha. But, it was merely a bouncing frog decoration hanging from the ceiling! 

And here is another epic picture! Hilariously, the tiny hat the frog is wearing is now the tiny hat on Robert’s head-hahaha. 

Okay, back to Lyena. We went to yet another Christmas party thrown by our financial firm and this time we went bowling! Everyone had a lot of fun! 

My mom also left on a cruise for a week, so we got to hang out with just Lyena during the time. Although she was still working a lot because of her job with MG...

I was trying to get the kids to read some of our Christmas books that we pull out every year and attempt to review them.

Robert and his Solo stove that he loves. 

Yeah, we kind of look similar but also so different:).

Oh! And then! My mom came back from the cruise...sick...with Covid as I tested her right away. 

And then...we went to NYC for a few days (that’s another blog post) and when we came back, Lyena tested positive for Covid! So all of that really-really stunk as we couldn’t be really together for all the celebrations...

We still managed to eat together, although it had to be pretty much me cooking our Ukrainian dinner, sadly. We now do our big Ukrainian feast on Dec. 24th. 

Christmas Eve was quiet...I got these five gnomes, just for our family. And now I can’t even remember who belonged to whom. 

I think they are hilarious and cute at the same time. 

Christmas morning! Missing Katya as she is looking ontomus from the side table:).

Mark wearing MY fuzzy zip up, wrapped in a Christmas blanket. 

The boys BEFORE opening gifts. 

And Lyena was invited for the gift opening ceremony...as long as everyone could still social distance. 

So it was definitely not the Christmas that we had hoped for. It was quite sad that it was dampened by annoying Covid. After all, I kept not feeling great but testing negative, although I had so many symptoms. I think I actually ended up testing positive, but by then my 5 days of symptoms were pretty much done. I am glad I was taking precautions and wore a mask while cooking our Christmas dinner....

Despite all the unexpected events, I am so happy that my mom and sister were able to visit us in North Carolina! Last time my sister came to visit was when we lived in England, in 2014! Hope she won’t wait another 8 years to come again.

Lyana. 

 

Watsons go to NYC! Day 2 and 2.5

 On the second day in NYC we booked a free walking tour of the SoHo, Little Italy and Chinatown. Best decision ever! We would have never gotten as much out of walking around this area as we did with a guide. It was absolutely freezing (hand and foot warmers came in really handy!). 

We learned all about the history of SoHo, an acronym for South of Houston Street. We learned about how these magnificent buildings were once factories with tall ceilings, that later they stood untaken care of for years until people started remodeling them and selling them to artsy people, thus making it more of an art district. And later it has flourished with famous brand name stores on the bottom as well, driving the price of real estate upwards. A few celebrities own properties in the area, which creates extra popularity and demand for SoHo. 

We found this area charming, very different from the busy streets near Times Square. 

We also had an overview of Little Italy, the neighborhood laced in history of hard working Italian immigrants and mafia. We had THE most expensive cannoli at the recommendation of the guide. It was fantastic! Definitely better than Harris Teeter:))

And we got acquainted with Chinatown, a rather large neighborhood next door. We discovered that Chinatown is pretty much its own town as everything is done in Chinese and you could pretty much live and work and go to the doctor and school and shop--all without leaving this part of Manhattan or speaking English. It's quite incredible.

It's also incredible that this lady at the "Fried Dumpling" is so famous, or rather infamous, for being very non-nonsense and borderline rude to her customers...as in it comes with the experience and those who live in this place are used to it and support it. But first timers--it wasn't very pleasant. The dumplings were indeed fried and pleasant though. 

After the tour (and the dumplings) we ventured through Brooklyn towards the Financial District and 9/11 Memorial.

We walked over to the Brooklyn Bridge and walked on it for a bit before turning around as we didn't really need to go to Brooklyn:).

Where we did need to go was to Joe's Pizza.

It's famous so it's crowded! You just place your order and hope to find a seat. 

We ended up sitting outside--the pizza was delicious! 

After this snack, we made our way to the 911 Museum. We had an appointment for 1 pm, so we got in line, got through security and then started our self-guided tour. 

I won't write too much about it because really, the emotions we all felt at the museum were simply overwhelming. It was the totality of this horrible event, the aftermath, the details of people's lives, and the reality of how it all happened that broke our hearts all over again. 

These are the flags of all the countries whose citizens perished in the attack. 

I know our kids needed to see this museum and learn about this terrible disaster. 

This was most touching and real--learning about people who that day woke up and went to work just like on any other day. 

Pieces of the foundation from one of the towers. 

Demolished firetruck. 

After a while it was hard to breath...it was hard to be with so many people and such heavy emotions. Outside, we caught the last rays of sunshine at the reflection pools. 

In place of the twin towers, they made two pools filled with water. 

Here is another picture. The walls of the pools carry the names of all the victims. 

We all held each other tighter after the visit, celebrating life that we do have. 

We were close to Wall St., so we decided to follow the map to find the bull! 

And we found it, but they line to take a picture with it was too long. So we kind of improvised. 

Seriously, what's so special about this charging bull!? Oh! It's a symbol of courage and can-do spirit of Americans and New Yorkers in particular. 

Just a nice selfie with Christmas lights. 

And Lyena with the Fearless Girl statue that we kept looking for and not noticing. 

We walked, and walked, and walked...pass Chinatown and beyond, all the way to the Ukrainian village, all with one reason-have some Ukrainian food for dinner! 

Veselka is the name of the famous Ukrainian restaurant. It's perfect for tourists and those who want to sample some pretty authentic Ukrainian food. 

We managed to get seats but outside, in a heated and covered "booth". It was getting crowded! 

The food was very expensive compared to Ukrainian food in Ukraine, of course. But it was worth it!!! 

I recommend it to anyone who wants to try some of the Ukrainian dishes. 

We had to satisfy our sweets craving though so we found a cozy gelateria! 

It was the perfect end to such a busy and fulfilling day! 

In the morning of our last day, we checked out from our hotel, Lyena got her coffee, and we took the subway to New Jersey where we rented a CAR! 

It was super economical for us, for just $120 to rent a car for 24 hours to drive home. We picked it up at the mall in NJ, which was located just a few minutes from the Statue of Liberty Park. It was so simple to get there and we really did want to see the Statue of Liberty. Picking up the rental car in that location made it super easy. 

First, the monument is called Empty Sky. It's a memorial to the NJ victims of 911. It's situated just across the Hudson river from the World Trade Center towers. 

One of the most amazing city views! 

It was a particularly windy and cold day! No way we were getting on a boat to go to Ellis Island. 

A temporary Statue of Liberty lying down:). 

And of course, here is the Statue of Liberty! Biggest surprise? It looks a lot smaller than I had imagined! 

Yet, it's so famous and so recognizable! 

Mark with the Statue of Liberty. 

Alex with the Statue of Liberty. 

Lyena and the Statue of Liberty. 

Lyana and the Statue of Liberty. 

Yeah..we took a lot of pictures, and very quickly, because we just had to escape that wind!!! 

We felt like our mission was completely accomplished! We did everything we set out to do in those 2.5 days and we did it pretty successfully (with minor adjustments plus no ice skating). 

Our minivan was waiting for us, so we quickly ran to the warm vehicle and enjoyed our VERY LONG drive home. Seriously, it showed us it was an 8 hour flight at first, but as the day went on, it got longer and longer...traffic got worse and worse. I am still glad we drove and saved hundreds of dollars plus saw a bunch of other states, but we have also realized how much easier it is to fly, for sure... 

I am looking forward to going back to NYC and see more!