Home away from home

Traveling with 5 girls has increased not only the noise, but hotel accommodations. Most hotels will not allow over 5 people per room. Yes, we could fudge a little and sneak in a couple of girls, but then that makes for 7 people in one room with one bathroom. Not my idea of a vacation! I am also not the camping out kind of girl...not that I can't or won't do it....I would just rather have more comforts of home and more stretch room!

We have decided that when we travel it would be easier for all of us to get two rooms. Yes, it does cost more, but Mom and Dad get their rest that way and less grouchy parents=happy girls! This is our home sweet home for the next 5 days. And it is divided up...Dad with ZoraLin and Tessa in one room, Mom with Rae, Jordis and Kendalan in the other. Not saying that is how it will be the whole trip, but for the first couple of nights it has worked.




We arrived in Green Bay mid-afternoon after a stop over in Oshkosh to visit with Daddy's family. The girls were chanting "Can we go swim?" "Can we go see the water park?" So after a very quick job of unpacking things and getting reorganized...it was off to Splash!



I was thinking that because I don't tan...just burn, peel and repeat...that an indoor water park right at the hotel would be a great idea. Unfortunately I was not thinking how hot and humid an indoor pool/water park would be! If I don't sweat off a few pounds on this trip something is seriously wrong! But the girls had a blast for an hour at Splash and since it is just a short walk from our room there, I am sure that they will be spending quite a bit of time there! Guess Mom will have to break out the swimsuit that I have a hate/hate relationship with!!





We are anxiously waiting for the rest of our travel group to arrive! There were five other families who traveled with us in 2000 to China when we met RaeAnne. This was our first trip to China and first baby for each family and we have bonded so well with these families. We have had a reunion every other year since we arrived home with our beautiful girls, but life happens and this will be our first reunion in four years. We are so HAPPY to meet up with them this year again....FINALLY!!! Bring on the reminiscing!!

Tonight we were impressed that "Jimmy Johns" delivered our supper in 20 minutes and it was WONDERFUL!!!



Now bring on the sleep!!!

Betcha can't figure out where we are....

Yepper....we are in Wisconsin! Left home about 7:30AM and drove to Sun Prairie. Staying at a very nice Quality Inn. The girls swam for over one hour and they are now supposed to be sleeping!! Only two are doing that....Jordis Li



And Kendalan....I think she may be faking it!!



RaeAnne is still getting in game time on her Nintendo DSi....Mom is ready to drop!



They had all sorts of things to do in the Suburban today to keep them busy...



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Tomorrow we will arrive early in Green Bay. Can't WAIT to see our travel buddies again!! It has been four very LONG years!! Let the reunion begin!

~~Road trip~~

It is almost time for us to hit the road. The girls have been ready for weeks and we have heard "How much longer before we leave?" over and over again! The calendar had to be repaired with tape as it was being looked at so much that the page was ripped! Even though I have told the girls that I don't want to pack until the day before we leave, they have their suitcases ready to roll!!




Maybe our cats will get some rest while we are gone. The girls have been driving them bananas. I think that the cats are getting used to the things they have to put up with from the girls. But they have stooped to a new low with Eegan the other day. He was being such a good sport about it all.




Yes...those are stuffed mice on poor Eegan's head. I could tell from the look on Eegan's face that he was quickly loosing his patience Poor cat, I really can't blame him...at least they haven't thought of dressing him up in doll clothes....like I did when I was the girl's age!!

And our girls look like such angels at times!!

Candy anyone???

Guess you can tell what kind of chocolate I like!! More photos coming soon!

Swimming lessons

The girls had swimming lessons last summer at Kay's Aquatics and we were impressed at how much they had learned in the short period of time they were there. All the girls are pretty good swimmers now and we had already decided last summer that we would sign them up again this year to reinforce what they had learned last year and to learn more.




We also wanted Tessa to learn to swim. It was apparent to me while we were in China that she had been swimming, but it was hard to tell just how much she really knew. She didn't have much fear of the water.



The second day of swimming lessons the instructors were really impressed with how well Tessa was doing. All the girls wanted to jump off the diving board and Tessa was right there wanting to do it too. That was Tessa's last day of swimming lessons. Her instructors didn't get her back up out of the water fast enough and she swallowed some water. Her faith in them was lost. We tried to convince her to give them another try, but it was a no go. I can't say that I don't blame her. She has suffered some pretty severe losses throughout her short life. We will let her wait until next summer and then see how she does. She is not afraid to put her head under water and swim around, but she just doesn't trust the instructors to be there for her. I am super glad that she still likes to spend time in the water!!

So Friday was graduation at swim class. The day that the parents can come into the pool area and watch in awe of the progress they have made in a short two weeks. The instructor says that Jordis has a very fast stroke and would be excellent in competetion IF she had a bigger lung capacity. Hmmm....the couch potato side of her is showing!! They all did great and can swim the length of the pool twice which puts Rae, Zora and Jordis ready to start level 4 and Kendalan ready for level 3 next time. They also LOVE to jump in off the diving board.






They start the lesson by doing 15 "bobs". Kendalan has this down pat!!

We have a family pass to the Carbondale Pool this summer and in less than two weeks we will be going to Wisconsin where we are staying has an indoor water park! Bet the girls will love that!!

Independence Day

I had to work July 4th. Daddy bought the fireworks and invited Bubby out to help shoot them off. We found out that our friends and their kids were going to be in the area...what a great chance to see them again! Charlotte and Maggie are from China and Caleb was adopted at birth in Kansas...just like Nick!

I was home from work before Dan, Julie and the kids arrived. The girls couldn't contain themselves and kept asking "When are they going to get here?" "Are they here yet?"

Once they arrived the kids couldn't wait to start the fireworks! I was a little tired...just worked three-12 hour days in a row! I was a little concerned that all the kids had a lit punk. But being the good wife I am, I kept my mouth shut and let the husband be in charge. This was Tessa's first July 4th at home. She said that she had seen fireworks in China, but had never gotten to do them herself! She jumped right in! The smoke balls were a big hit and of course the smoke blew right towards where the adults were sitting!

The kids were running wild, they couldn't get the smoke balls and other fireworks lit fast enough. It was almost like a race to see who could do the most! I kept reminding all of them that their punk was "hot" and to be careful where you were holding it! The big kids always have to have their toys too and my husband and son are no stranger to wanting to make things boom loud! Daddy has a "thunder mug" which you put black powder in it, light it and get the heck away from it before it blows! Bubby was in charge of it. The kids had done most of the fireworks that you need to have partial light to see....parachutes, smoke balls, poppers, etc. It was just starting to get dark enough to do the real fireworks. Bubby and his Dad decided to set the Thunder mug off one more time. The kids were scattering to get away from the area that it was in....because it is a big BANG! Just about that time...the accident occurred. Zora and Maggie ran into each other. I saw Maggie laying in the grass and I asked Julie if she was okay. Julie thought she was lying there laughing. Then we realized she was crying. When Maggie and Zora crashed into each other, Maggie hit the driveway with her right arm. She said she couldn't move it!!

That was the end of the visit and the fireworks! We could move it, but it was swelling even with ice on it. They decided to take her to the ER to have xrays. It was decided that it was a bad sprain and not broken, but still not a good ending to the festivities.

Even our cat, Oreo, had sympathy pains for Maggie!! She curled up on the floor holding her legs!



We did enjoy the neighbors display. We had a couple of good arial bombs that we saved for the end. Poof...there went another 4th...up in smoke. God Bless those who help us remain free!!

Happy Birthday Tessa!

The past couple of weeks have been a busy blur at our house! Throw in work days and that puts me seriously behind on our blog!

June 30th a friend of mine took the girls' pictures at a park. When I set up the date for the photo shoot the temperature was in the 80's. The day of the shoot it was almost 100! It was late in the afternoon so it will be interesting to see how the photos turn out. The girls were sweating...I mean glistening....and the smiles were pretty forced.

We then headed out to eat at Tessa's choice for supper as it was her 7th BIRTHDAY!!! No photos from supper as we were all a little grouchy from the heat. This is Tessa's first birthday home with her forever family and we can't imagine life without her!! Daddy even admitted tonight that he would have never guessed how much life this girl has brought to our home. They weren't kidding that she loves to play jokes! And she is so ticklish that you can just look at her and she starts giggling!





Somehow I had managed to sneak home a cake for Tessa. Once we arrived home we sang Happy Birthday to her and she opened her presents. My cousin, John, who was here visiting from San Diego surprised her with a Barbie that she really likes! She also now has her own "Tessa" suitcase and a scooter!





Happy Birthday Tessa!! We love you! XOXO!!