A Mini-Vacation

The kids were so excited last weekend as we bundled everything into the car and headed to Great Wolf Lodge for a long weekend of water park fun! The resort was all decked out for the holidays, complete with a giant Christmas tree, a visit from Santa and a life-sized gingerbread house in the diningroom (we actually reserved it for breakfast one morning......the cost went to support a local charity so it was all worth it!). The kids had a blast at "storytime" in the Grand Livingroom each night..........there was a Family Dance Party one night and a Family Scavenger Hunt the next. The hotel has their own Children's Spa and Claire enjoyed her first professional manicure and pedicure.
We came home happy, tired...........and a tiny bit sore........oh, that was just me!
Enjoy the pics.............

Eating breakfast in the gingerbread house!

First trip to the Spa

Cozy in their jammies and waiting for storytime to begin

National Ballet

Yesterday Claire and I headed into the city for a production of Sleeping Beauty at the National Ballet of Canada. She's been waiting (and so have I) since last year when we went to see a production of Nutcracker at the Ontario Ballet. This was by far more exciting. Bigger sets, more spectacular costumes, and of course, the best dancers in the country.
I was very clear about my expectations for behaviour (sitting quietly, no talking etc) and Claire did not disappoint. She did great for the 3 hour performance and it made me so proud that we were able to share this special experience together. I just love this little girl to bits!
Enjoy a couple pics from our day together....................

My little "beauty" all set to go

Mommy and daughter day!

Before the ballet! A great venue at the Center for Performing Arts

Ready for Sleeping Beauty to begin...........so much fun!

A Long Overdue Update

I began my blog as an opportunity to capture precious moments of day to day life with our 3 kids.

The other purpose of the blog was to document our adoption from China.......

What began as a 12-14 month wait (as indicated by our agency) has morphed into an almost-24-month wait (Our LID is Jan3). It now seems that there is no end in sight in regards to the slow-down. It makes me sick to have to actually type that we are looking at another 3-4 YEAR wait from now.

We have just renewed our paperwork (at an additional cost, of course) as our approval from the Ontario Ministry of Social Services requires that we update everything every 2 years. It was an expense we were not totally prepared to handle. But we managed......and in 24 more months I imagine we'll somehow manage to scrounge up another $1K to renew again..........and again...........and again if that's what it takes to fulfill this life dream of adoption.

We are not prepared to "give up".............the CCAA (China Centre for Adoption Affairs) can make it as miserable as they want to..............even if I'm a middle-aged old hag (almost there anyways) I'm going to continue to wait............and eventually.................I WILL BRING LAUREN HOME!

In the meantime we continue to focus on our three great kids, our crazy busy life of work and renovation projects. As a family, we don't talk about the adoption that much............I think we all feel pretty numb.........as if the joy and happiness of this adoption has to some extent been sucked from us. That does not mean though that we are not committed and totally "in-love" with the little girl that waits patiently 1/2 a world away.

In our thoughts................

Always................

Because.............

She is already our daughter in our hearts.......................

Gearing up for Halloween

The kids are so excited that Halloween is just right around the corner. I promised Claire a special costume this year. We trolled through the costumes registered on Etsy (wonderful handmade creations). Claire finally settled on the Princess Poodle costume. I think she makes a pretty cute poodle. What do you think?

Pumpkin Patch Official Photo...........

Today we headed off to the local patch to choose gourds and pumpkins (I just can't resist those cute little gourds). The little ones were lookin' cute and were well prepped about the forthcoming photo shoot. It is almost time to put together the yearly Family Calendar that we distribute to grandparents at Christmas. I'm feeling a bit stressed this year............number one: the year went way too quick; number two: I just don't have a tonne of great pics this year.............too busy to pull out the camera I guess...........I'm also finding that getting 3 kids to all smile at the same time is like asking for the moon...........it ain't gonna happen!

So here is the pic that will make it onto this years calendar. Considering it was windy and freezing cold they did a pretty good job............now if I could just get the "big kid" in a few pics...............

Another 1st Day of School!!

Officially ready for the first day of school (actually he was ready at 3 am!)

Lookin' so good!

Three lunches to pack now............

First Day of School........

Claire was sooo excited to head off to school Tuesday morning! Alec was excited but not actually running on-time.......hence the wet hair and the bare feet in the official "photo".
Evan will begin next week. Pics of the exciting day will be coming (of course)!

Herb Lake (Part II)

Our first canoe/out backing trip as a family of 5!


One kid fell into the lake....................


What do you think?


Was it the 4 year old who can't swim and is scared of the deep water?

Was it the 5 year old who is fearless of the water?

Or the 12 year old who can swim but is too cool to want to?


Well.........................

Family Memories.....on Herb Lake (Part I)

This is what we found when we arrived home

We arrived home from my parents last Sunday night to a sky that was as black as night, depsite it only being 8 pm. As we drove through town we commented on how strange it was that neighbours, friends and residents all seemed to be standing in the dark street looking somewhat strange. It was then that we realized that trees were lying in yards, over cars and in the streets. We worked our way towards our street our neighbour met us with "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" Hmmm.....not the best greeting ever. Turns out that the tree they had been meaning to cut down.....came down....into our driveway during the storm. Amazingly, it missed our car, our air conditioner, and the basketball net. The other amazing thing was that had we not stopped along the highway for a quick "pit stop" we would've most definately been sitting in the driveway when the tree fell. The rest of the night also held some excitement as our (other) neighbours tree that grows up over her house fell on wires, causing them to arc and set the tree on fire. So at 3 am all the neighbours were back outside calling 911 and watching the tree burn. Thanks to a well-timed rain shower the fire was extinguished and another disaster diverted. It has taken the Town the last 1.5 weeks to clean up branches, repair wires etc. And this is the most excitement I hope we see for a long time...........................

Canada Day...A Birthday Party...and a new friend!

This post is a total mish-mash of events but if I don't "catch up" then inevitably it will be Christmas and I will wonder where the last 6 months went! We celebrated Canada Day and had a fun evening with the kids enjoying the celebration our Town puts on every year. The only disappointment was that Claire was susposed to accept a "Civic Award" on behalf of our family for our efforts in picking up garbage along the local ravine. Unfortunately just 15 minutes before the ceremony the sky opened up and it poured. Not just the regular type of summertime sprinkle but a full blown torrent of rain. To add insult to injury, the kids were already in the line for the bouncy slide so we agreed to one-more-time down the slide. What was I thinking? It was a virtual water slide! The kids were soaked, we were soaked and we HAD to bail on the ceremony (I'm sure most people did too!). After drying off, we snuggled the kids into their jammies, and found a place to watch the fireworks from the comfort of the car.....perfect.......no rain...........no bugs! Ahhhh...........the fun.........can't wait till next year (and I'm only being a bit sarcastic).

It seems our family is hounded by rain and sure enough the weather for Evan's birthday was calling for 90% chance of showers and extreme heat/humidity. Not deterred though we held off till the last possible moments before committing to setting up the games and buffet table outside. Depsite very dark skies, the rain held off until the end of the day and Evan's Star Wars party was lots of fun! Out little guy is 4 years old!! Still can't believe it!

And I'll let the photo of our newest family friend speak for itself!

Enjoy................

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

TRICKIER THAN IT LOOKS

PROVING THAT EVAN CAN DO ANYTHING HIS SISTER CAN

ATTACK OF THE CLONES

I AM READY TO FACE YOU, DARK LORD

A COOL PHOTO CAKE THAT TASTED GOOD TOO!

TRANSFORMER M&M..............TOO BAD HE WASN'T REAL.......LOOKS TASTY!

Our Graduate!

A beautiful sunny day at the end of June was perfect for celebrating Claire's Kindergarten Graduation. Adam took the day off and accompanied her to a local Provincial Park for a day of fun, games, and friendship. Although I had to stay home and "man the homestead", Claire made me an awesome video about her special day. We are so very proud of you Claire!!

Our Weekend Was...........

lots of fun and busy, busy busy! Saturday morning after my 5k walk we headed off to the strawberry patch to pick some yummy goodness. Unfortunately the "goods" weren't quite as bountiful as previous seasons. Apparently a late frost had damaged a large majority of the plants. The result? Picking was labour intensive but the kids were not easily deterred and after an hour we still had 2 large and 2 small baskets to show for our labours. In the afternoon, Claire went to a "swimming birthday party" at the local park while I got caught up on chores missed during the week (oh yay!) and prepared for a backyard barbecue in the evening. My brother, who the kids haven't seen in a couple of months came over and we had a blast recounting funny stories from when we were kids! We ended the evening with a little campfire, some marshmellows and weiners (veggie dogs for my brother) and then it was time to put the tired little ones to bed (the big ones weren't too far behind either). It has been a very crazy (read: stressful) week in our house and I think everyone appreciated a fun, low-key evening with family. Enjoy the pics.......

Future Major Leaguer!

I'm Back...............

If only I'd been away doing something exciting.............I could spin a tale of travel, adventure, and mystery...................but, the truth is I've been here.................slugging through busy "daycare" days.......wiping noses, bums, and boo-boo's. I've really felt like there is nothing too worthy to report. You can see by the ticker on the bottom of the blog that we are over 16 months waiting for "baby Lauren." It looks like we are looking at least another 18 months ahead of us. At the end of this summer we'll be renewing our paperwork, doing a Home Study update with our social worker, and be re-fingerprinted etc. Right now, all referrals have been suspended because of the flu outbreak and risk of travel to China. And so we wait.....and wait............and wait!
On a cheerier note! The kids are great and life continues in a blur of gymnastics practices, T-Ball that is beginning this week, and signing up for swimming lessons. Alec is gearing up for the end of school and getting ready to head to California for the month of July. We are going to keep busy with trips to the Zoo, Santa's Village and Centre Island! Should be fun!
Since I can't sign off without a couple of pics............here you go...............

Enjoying the first dip of the season.......in the wading pool

Claire performing at "Grandparents Tea" with her classmates!

Yay Claire!!

Claire had her 1st gymnastics competition today. It was a bit of short notice as she had been sick and missed several of the classes leading up to today. Despite all that she did great, winning 1st on the beam and 3rd in the floor routine and vault. Overall she placed in 2nd place and won the silver medal. Great job honey!

Easter Pics and Another Project Finished

"Found another one Mom"

The hunt is on.........

Always happy to stop and smile

IT'S DONE..............

So it's been a very busy (aka:crazy) couple of weeks here! Two days before Easter the weather cleared and Adam geared up to built the new playstructure for the children. The manual gave an estimation of 8-14 hours of assembly time (based on 2 people working). The wood came in three large (read: extremly heavy) boxes. None of the wood was labelled, the nuts bolts and screws were randomly mixed into a couple of plastic bags and there were quite a few "mystery pieces." But my "super-husband" wasn't deterred and after 40+ hours and some help from my Dad who joined us over Easter weekend the job was completed. Adam even installed a solar panel so the kids can have light in their club house in the late summer evenings. Yay! And the smilely faces of the kids made it all worthwhile. Since the above photo was taken we've added a sandbox underneath for lots of digging and sandy fun! It's going to be a great summer! Thanks Adam!

The kids had a fun Easter morning with an indoor hunt and an outdoor hunt. From the bunny they received baskets with lots of treats, new Spring clothes, and new bikes for lots of fun this summer. We were joined by family for a yummy Easter dinner!

Our New Toy................

The kids have outgrown our Little Tikes climber/slide and we have decided to "upgrade" for some serious backyard fun. We are hoping to built it over the Easter weekend...........pictures of construction to follow!

The Bear went Over the Mountain......

This post is a little bit late....but better late than never! :0
Two weekends ago we decided to take the kids out for their first BIG hike. We had hiked alot with Alec when he was little but then something happened and we sort of got away from it. Well I know what that something was........3 kids......mini van........house to renovate........multiple jobs to pay for the before mentioned.........you get the idea.
Adam and I were interested to see how the kids would handle an afternoon of "roughing it." No indoor potties......no video games.......this was going to be hard and I mentally prepared myself on the drive to the trail head.
Always lovin' to be proved wrong, the kids did great. The first hill in the shot below was a duzzie! Claire and Alec sprinted to the top, Adam and Evan kept a slow and even pace and me......well, lets just say there was alot of heavy breathing and creaking of bones!
After a quick rest we hiked the rest of the loop (about 2 hours), discovered deer tracks (and poop! - very exciting for poop intrigued children), found bird feathers, and managed to gather a bag full of interesting rocks and sticks.
All in all it was a wonderful afternoon made even better because there was no whining (or need for bandaids etc).
We were so inspired that when we got home we booked a wilderness canoe treking/camping weekend in August. Let's hope the positive attitudes continue!

Part of the mountain (ok....maybe a big hill) we climbed. There is another level after this one!

Evan was determined to keep up with Alec (who was determined to get the hike over with as quickly as possible)

Claire found a cool hideout on the trail