You’ll have to keep checking on this post, because I’m still here and still taking tons of photos! I’m off to the lake again today. The weather is the best ever!! Long hot days and cool crisp nights. So much to do and everyone is smiling. Winter is just a thought from the past. Right now it’s time for sandals and wildflowers!!

Here are just a few photos from the Chelyabinsk region:

Katya poses in front of a ferris wheel, located in a park in downtown Chelyabinsk city.

A fountain bursting with summer vigor in the Miass River, downtown Chelyabinsk.

A colorful trolley bus in downton Chelyabinsk.

A bumble bee and some insects hanging out on a flower in the forest.

A small slice of Miass City as seen from a nearby forest.

Check the photo album and be sure to come back as more will be added in the near future. Do me a favor and be kind enough to vote and/or comment on some of the photos!

Also, if the budget holds, I’ll take you with me to Saint Petersburg!

A pair of dolphins jumps high and amazes this crowd in Chelyabinsk, Russia.

The show lasts about 45 minutes and includes a surprise guest appearance from a small sea lion.  He mostly shows off his balancing skills and walks hand-in-hand with the trainer.  But the dolphins have a wide range of tricks up their fins.

In the front row of the tiny stadium, people hold a long plastic blanket in their laps.  Shortly after the start of the show, their reaction times are tested as the dolphins jump and land with a huge splash near the edge of the tank.  It sends a big wave into the audience and if your reflex to raise the plastic is short, you’ll be doused with some mild salt water.

The dolphins then swing into a dance routine.  They sway around the indoor pool and do their best imitation of a couple’s slow dance.  Pretty good job!  They have a range of routines that they go through, almost all show off their accuracy, balance and power to leap high into the air.  But a few different talents include singing and speaking.  Well, it’s not exactly music to the ears, more like screeches and high-pitched glass shattering squawks, but their voice is very powerful and a real treat to hear.

This was the dancing part of the dolphins' routine.

After some more acts with tossing rubber balls into the audience, they relax a bit and paint on a sketchpad held by the trainer.  He places a brush that’s already swabbed in paint and the dolphins take turns creating a colorful work of abstract art.  The announcer of the show then starts and auction for the piece.  This is one part of the show that I could have done without.  It just seemed to drag on and I would have rather not paid for that time.  More tricks, more flips please!

At the end of the show, for a small fee, people are allowed to pose with the dolphins for a snapshot. The onsite professional photographer offers print enlargements and/or CD’s. But he will also take a shot with your camera…well, he did for me at least.

Two dolphins put their trainer on a pedestal.