We were delighted to welcome my parents to Saint Petersburg for two weeks. It is a blessing to have so many relatives who are willing to spend their time, money and strength to see our daily lives. Our time was full of reading, playing, building a table, seeing the historical sites, and walking (or racing) in the woods. 
On my request, my dad built a table for our plants on the balcony. I meant it to be a small project, for the boys to learn some skills from and spend time with their grandfather. Of course, I underestimated the hours of labor involved in making a simple thing. It will help me keep from complaining when I have to pay for something!
The kids came with us to see the historical beginnings of the city--Peter and Paul Fortress. We accidently ended up there on Saturday, when a group of soldiers does a rifle drill-like- performance. And the daily lighting of the canon--which was quite spectacular. Ella was scared of it being loud, and covered her ears for about 10 minutes before the boom. We said that there would be a puff of smoke--but it was actually a huge plume of flame! Let's just say that wasn't Ella's favorite part!
We were surprised to see Formula One Grand Prix boats racing in the Neva River. Not exactly the historical use of the river, but exciting none the less!
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We were surprised to see Formula One Grand Prix boats racing in the Neva River. Not exactly the historical use of the river, but exciting none the less! - And we enjoyed a delightfully hot day at Peterhof, built to rival Versaille. I was surprised by how impressed I was! The fountains are huge and well designed, the grounds beautiful, and it is a great picture of imperial Russia.
