We are halfway through the Summer Olympics in Beijing, and I wanted to point out a few differences between the two so that there is no confusion out there.
1) All judges in the Baby Olympics (namely, the two of us) are American. In the Beijing Olympics, the judges can be from many different countries.
2) The age limit in the Baby Olympics is under 18 months, while there is no age limit in many of the sports in the Beijing Olympics (with the exception of women's gymnastics where they have to be at least 16).
3) In order to win the Baby Olympics, the scale is slanted toward being cute, vs. having natural athletic ability.
4) The prize in the Baby Olympics is a family vs. a medal.
5) The official languages of the Baby Olympics are Russian and English, vs. French and English.
But don't worry folks, because there are a few similarities.
1) Russia and the United States are both powerhouses.
2) Coordinating and colorful outfits (thanks in large part to Brandon).
3) Very emotional for the participants and the people connected to them, ensuring tears being shed (especially by the Moms).
So I hope this little lesson helps to more clearly define these two wonderful events.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Friday, August 8, 2008
How much fuel does it take to fly a baby from Moscow?
Assuming all goes well at court and the medical reviews on our upcoming trip to Russia, we will have to make another trip shortly thereafter to finalize everything and bring Alina home. The good news is that we scrounged up enough miles to cover our airfare (plus the applicable taxes & fees, etc). So I started checking on how much that next trip will likely cost us, and called the airline's customer service desk.
One thing that we now have to consider is the idea of the "lap child". Well, flying domestically, apparently you don't have to pay for a lap child. However, for an international trip, you have to pay 10% of the base ticket price of an adult ticket. In our case, from Russia back to Dallas, that will be like $75. Not bad, right? Well, that's not all.
The customer service agent said "you will also have to pay for fuel surcharge, and as you know, fuel has gone up a lot in reason years, and the fuel surcharge has gone up like 300%." Well, can't say that I follow the gouging that is the "fuel surcharge", but I do follow regular gas prices (which, for the record. have only gone up like 200% during this same time frame). I'm thinking, okay, that will like double the price maybe. Oh no. It will be an additional $385!
So I start trying to rationalize this out. People can load like 40 lbs or more into a carry on bag and get charged nothing. You can load 50 lbs into the first bag you check and pay like $15 (I think), and yet transporting our little 20 lb. baby, who will be eating only food that we bring with us mind you, will cost nearly $500 all-in? Holy cow! She's not even getting a seat! Will that extra 20 lbs actually burn THAT much more fuel? Crazy.
One thing that we now have to consider is the idea of the "lap child". Well, flying domestically, apparently you don't have to pay for a lap child. However, for an international trip, you have to pay 10% of the base ticket price of an adult ticket. In our case, from Russia back to Dallas, that will be like $75. Not bad, right? Well, that's not all.
The customer service agent said "you will also have to pay for fuel surcharge, and as you know, fuel has gone up a lot in reason years, and the fuel surcharge has gone up like 300%." Well, can't say that I follow the gouging that is the "fuel surcharge", but I do follow regular gas prices (which, for the record. have only gone up like 200% during this same time frame). I'm thinking, okay, that will like double the price maybe. Oh no. It will be an additional $385!
So I start trying to rationalize this out. People can load like 40 lbs or more into a carry on bag and get charged nothing. You can load 50 lbs into the first bag you check and pay like $15 (I think), and yet transporting our little 20 lb. baby, who will be eating only food that we bring with us mind you, will cost nearly $500 all-in? Holy cow! She's not even getting a seat! Will that extra 20 lbs actually burn THAT much more fuel? Crazy.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Russia Trip #2
We found out today that we will be heading back to Russia on Aug 23 for a week. On Monday and Tuesday, we will go to Moscow first to be seen by 8 doctors for various medical examinations: a requirement for the adoption. Tuesday night we will travel to Alatyr to see Alina on Wednesday before going to court in Cheboksary on Thursday. Thursday night we will travel back to Moscow overnight, and we'll be there until we come back on Saturday.
The reason we will be coming home is that there is a 10 day waiting period after our appearance in court before the adoption can be finalized. If all goes well, we will be headed back to Russia about a week later to go to court again.
So awesome to see things continue to progress.
The reason we will be coming home is that there is a 10 day waiting period after our appearance in court before the adoption can be finalized. If all goes well, we will be headed back to Russia about a week later to go to court again.
So awesome to see things continue to progress.
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