Are we going to have FUN?!

When the Frumkins embark on a family adventure, it usually begins with Seymour booming, “Are we going to have FUN?!” (appropriately punctuated as it is both a question and command). Well fun we had when the Frumkins/Morales crew convened in Kazan for a week+ adventure- much food, sightseeing, cousin shenanagins, and of course vodka.

Our first family shot after Baba and Didi’s arrival.

We rented a tour bus and hired a guide to take us to the UNESCO World Heritage site Sviyazhsk for the first time. Sviyazhsk was an island fortress first inhabited in 1550 and used as a base for Ivan the Terrible as he prepared to invade Kazan. The first church pictured dates back to that time. Ivan the terrible prayed there before he and his troops ransacked the city in 1552. Sviyazhsk is currently home to a network of monasteries, fancy dachas, and tourist shops.

We took the ferry back to Kazan after our tour, crossing the Volga and docking by the Church of All Religions, which we will likely come back to explore some other time.

If you are friends with Bonnie or Israel, you likely already saw some highlights of our culinary experiences. I don’t have any pictures of the food, but as you can imagine, we ate a lot of tasty food while they were here, including various preparations of horse. Here are a couple shots of the company at our last dinner at an Uzbeki restaurant.

We visited Victory Park which contains old Russian tanks, planes, helicopters, and even a submarine as well as a small lake and play area. The kids enjoyed climbing on tanks and posing for photos. Seymour particularly enjoyed mounting the model of tank that he drove when he served in the Russian military in the 1960’s. Also note the juxtaposition in the middle photo of guys fishing and glamour photo shoot. This is quintessential Russia in one photo.

Simon and I took the three older cousins and their buddy for a walk down Baumann street to visit the various tourist traps that are part of the “Big Funny” universe. We began at the mirror maze, in which the kids donned plastic gloves and unsuccessfully attempted to navigate through the maze. We moved on to the next location where Mila and Noah opted for the “plate breaking for stress relief” activity and Alden and his friend decided to go to the prison escape. If you can’t read the Cyrillic in the mugshot, Alden’s crime was not letting his parents rest and his friend’s crime was coming home late. Then they all explored the upside down house. At our last stop, they took selfies and other shots of each other as they explored the giant’s house and the interactive painting rooms.