Saturday, July 3rd, we go to a summer camp kick-off party at Little London Preschool, and Neva gets to check out the classrooms, the pool, the tennis courts, the pool, the gym area, and did I mention the pool? She even enters a swimming race and ties for 2nd place in her heat (out of 4 kids). Typical of Romanian organization, the contest is arranged by lining the kids up by height, and then sending them, 4 at a time, into the pool to race.

Grammie is scheduled to leave in a few days and we’re desperately trying to take advantage of having an extra pack mule to help us move. So, I pack up all of our stuff (for the third time in as many weeks), and we shuttle the bags out to the corner to hail 2 taxis. Mom rides alone in one, following Neva and me in another after I give the address to the drivers. My driver races through the city, and I try to remind him that the other driver is following him, and he does slow down about 2 km/hr.

It is HOT! After venturing out to explore the parks and track down the grocery stores a few times, Mom, Neva and I retreat into the relative cool of the apartment. Neva gets an early birthday present of Barbie rollerblades, which of course necessitates the purchase of Disney Princess pads and a helmet. When she gets all geared up, we can hardly see Neva through the pink. We have been venturing out to the sidewalk in the relative cool of the evening for her to practice and she is starting to get the hang of the movements and can really take off now.

As my second full day in Bucharest winds down, I thought now would be a good time to take a moment and catch up on how things are going on our "Big Adventure" as it has come to be called. Our flights were fine, and Neva even made friends with another little girl in the airport. She was so excited to come tell me, "Mom, she speaks English!" Of course, we were in London, so our chances were pretty good, but it was reassuring for her to find a girl from Miami to play dolls with.

After an incredible day at Disneyland, we got up and on the road the next morning headed south on the 5. It was a bit nostalgic for the grown ups as we passed our old stomping grounds in both Costa Mesa and Dana Point on our way to Carlsbad. Neva perked up a bit once she recognized the giant Lego letters on the drive into Legoland and immediately asked if I had brought her bathing suit.