Dan took Olia and Dasha camping for a week.  Renee and I went for the last two days.  Olia and Dasha LOVED camping.  They met two nice girls and spent most of the week riding bikes with them and playing on the playground.  Dasha often does not like Olia to play with anyone else and she sits and withdraws from the group.  This has happened on numerous occasions. I am not sure if she only likes to play with one child at a time or she wants all of the attention, or if she feels left out.  I can hear the other kids inviting her to play, even at camping. I asked her if she plays with all of the kids at the orphanage and she said no, just one or two.  Olia had a great time playing with the other two girls. She kept inviting Dasha to play. They were Olia's age and they seemed very much like her, kids who want to play, not just try to be cool. 

  Dan's niece brought her dog and Dasha loved playing with him. My son also brought his dog and Dasha loved playing with him, too.  Olia loves Joe's dog; he is a very friendly beagle and looks like Underdog! 

     Early Sat. morning Dan, Renee, Olia and I drove to Renee's university and helped her move from last year's apartment to her new apartment.  The new apartment was in the same building, she just moved from the ninth floor to the tenth floor.  Renee's roommate was at the apartment when we arrived. Renee and Kelsey had not packed one thing at the end of the year.  So we all packed and cleaned and carried for several hours!  Dasha and Olia happily carried and helped with everything.  They both are good workers!  We went up and down the stairs because Renee's apartments were right next to the staircase.  Olia and Dasha can walk faster than Dan and I so they were usually at the top of the steps before us.  Dasha kept asking me what the fire alarm was and I explained it to her and told her NOT to touch it.  She ran up the stairs before all of us on one trip and all of a sudden the fire alarm went off!  And we were on the tenth floor!  I asked Dasha if she pushed or touched the alarm and she kept saying she didn't go anywhere near it.  Dan ran down to the office and found out that the alarm on the 10th floor was pulled by Dasha.  There are video cameras in the hallway.  The people in the office were mad; there is a $350 fine for false alarms.  I let Dasha know that we knew she pulled it and that she lied about it and that the police would come if it happened again and I would tell Vinny if it happened again.  Vinny is the head of the hosting organization and Dasha loves him. He has been one of the few people in her life who has shown her unconditional love. The police respond to every fire alarm. I know that Dasha is fascinated by new things, but she needs to learn to listen.  I think that she is definitely trainable and could learn to be more receptive to directions.  But I don't want to spend the summer getting her in line by always punishing her.  I want her to have a nice summer so I try to blow off most of the things she does. We spent the entire day moving Renee and Kelsey into their new apartment! Olia, Dasha, and I stayed overnight in Renee's apartment; Dan left about two o'clock in the afternoon to go back to the campsite. At one point, Olia, Dasha and I went out to get pizza for the girls and for us to eat.  As we were driving by the side of the road, we found a TV stand that someone had left out to be taken by others.  College students usually just leave things they don't want by the side of the road for others to take.  So the girls and I lifted the TV stand into my trunk for Renee's apartment. Later when Renee was in the car with us, we found a "like new" small bookcase which the girls really needed.  At the end of the day we all ate pasta and watched movies.  Olia particularly likes dance movies; we watched Step UP and Center Stage.  Olia and Dasha spent part of the night dancing to the songs on Kelsey's IPOD.  The aparment looked really good by Sun. morning.  We took Renee to Walmart before we left so that she could food shop and get a few more things she needed.  Olia and Dasha and I mostly sat in the shoe aisle and they tried on every high heel on the rack! It was easier to keep them contained there because Dasha touches everything she goes by.   OLia and Dasha were both doing cartwheels and handstands in every aisle.  Renee wanted them just to walk beside the cart. Renee doesn't understand that an 11 and a 12 year old don't sit still long or wait long in the store!  We dropped Renee off and said goodbye to her.  Dasha got a little bit upset when she realized that she wouldn't see Renee again.  But we all hugged her goodbye and headed home.  Dasha spends most of a car ride looking out the window and shouting "look at that!"  She is quite amazed by things we see and take for granted or think are just normal.

   When we were eating pizza in the University town, I showed Dasha where my college apartment was.  And I told her that Dan and Joe and AMy and Erica and Renee all went to the same college.  She asked Olia who Amy was and Olia told her that Amy is her older sister who died.  I showed Dasha a picture of Amy(and I got teary as usual) and Dasha stroked my arm and kept saying sorry.  So she really does have a very sweet heart.   Dasha kept sayign"she looks just like Renee."  And she does. Dasha has gone to the cemetery with us several times because Dan and I go together every Sun., but she never knew AMy was buried in the grave.  We stopped at the cemetery on the way home and Dasha and Olia  got out with me.  When we got to the headstone, Dasha said  "Amy?"  and I said yes.  She just said, OMG and asked me if she could kiss the headstone because she had seen me do it so many times.  And of course, it was fine with me.