After a couple of weeks off-camera, Arend Feenstra has finally popped back into view.

While Anneesa and the six youngest kids have been living in the family’s RV at a campground somewhere in Florida, Arend has been back in Ontario with the three oldest offspring — Ben, Cora and Wes — while working hard to earn some money for the family.

But with Anneesa’s birthday coming up, Arend planned a surprise for her. Piling into Ben’s van, the four of them took off for the long trek to Florida, even using Ben’s credit or debit card for gas along the way so that Anneesa wouldn’t see any charges to their joint account. Good thinking!

Cora got to do some of the early driving while still in Canada, but had to hand the wheel over to Dad and Ben before reaching the border, as she is not licensed in the U.S. And for the rest of the 27-hour trip, the two men took turns driving straight through, finally reaching the campground and locating their RV without the rest of the family being any the wiser.

And when they knocked on the door . . .

Later, everyone settled down around the fire to roast hot dogs and marshmallows, took a dip in the pool, and explored the area before the weary travelers headed indoors for some much-needed sleep.

As of today, the only update has been a video of Arend’s visit, with some of the children, to a Florida dairy farm — again, keeping their activities within their comfort zone. As I’ve said before, I do wish they would take advantage of this opportunity to open the kids up to new experiences. From my own years of travel, the best times — the ones I still recall most vividly — were the ones in which I was able to see, hear, taste, smell, and participate in lifestyles that were completely different from my own. It didn’t change my way of life when I returned home; but it did broaden my perspective, it was educational, and it left me with some wonderful memories.

However, as I’ve also said many times, to each his own. I can’t say the Feenstras aren’t adventurous; after all, they did move permanently to Russia. And they think nothing of traveling around the U.S. with six young children, in a 30-year-old RV, on a limited budget. So, good for them!

At the start of this latest road trip, Arend said they would only be able to stay in Florida for a few days, as he, Ben, Cora and Wes all needed to get back to work in Canada. There was still no mention of when Anneesa and the six littlest kids would return to Ontario . . . or when they would all be heading back to Russia.

It is now nearly April, and even in Nizhny Novgorod the snow will soon start to disappear, ushering in a new planting season. Judging from the videos posted by their tenants, the Pulleys, it’s been a rough winter, and there’s likely to be a lot of work ahead.

But with conditions in Russia being as they are — drone attacks reaching from Ukraine all the way to Moscow, internet communications being disrupted and shut down completely, and a new military mobilization being talked about — I worry about their returning at all.

I wouldn’t try to second-guess anyone else. But in the Feenstras’ place, I know I’d be giving serious consideration to saying “do svidaniya” to Mother Russia, and settling back down in the safety, comfort and security of their native Canada.

Of course, that’s easy for me to say.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/26/26