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...........................