Weekend fun - from KC

On Friday we all (Allison, me, Heather and her girls) visited a place called Wonderscope. It's a children's hands-on museum located in an old elementary school. Each room holds a different theme (shopping, nature, medicine, science, art), and it's all for kids! The girls had so much fun, and I think Hanna (almost a teenager) had a great time too! The girls were so involved in the activities that Heather and I actually had opportunities to finish our own sentences. If you're a mom to a preschooler you know that this is often difficult to do!

After Wonderscope we grabbed lunch at an Italian place where the girls could try out their new little animal chopsticks we bought at the museum. Good times! We planned on napping afterwards but instead decided to do some shopping- back at The Legends where I'd been Tuesday morning. It was just as fun this time around! That evening we headed back to their hotel for more crafts and some swimming. It was a very full, very fun day!




Claire picks out some fruit at the pretend grocery store.



Allison models her new dress in the production room.



The girls do some painting in the art studio



Allison coerces Hanna into reading her a book about ants. God bless you, Hanna!



The girls got some cute chopsticks at Wonderscope. Claire was a total pro! Allison? She went for the fork immediately!



We were amazed at how making paper clip necklaces entranced both our children. They could have done it for hours! Check out those looks of concentration!



The evening ended with some fun swim time in the hotel pool. The best picture is of Heather will all the kids, but I promised not to use it (friendship being more important than a great picture!), so here's a shot of Claire showing off her swimming talents to Allison.

Thursday held a LOT of fun in KC

Our Thursday plans in KC fell through, but I came up with a Plan B quickly, and we had SO much fun! We headed out to a place called the Deanna Rose Petting Farm (a favorite place of mine for years!), and boy did Allison have a great time. This is her 3rd or 4th trip there, but it's different every time because there is so much to do. You pick and choose different things each time. You might recall some earlier pictures of her feeding baby goats or playing with cow bells. The highlights on this trip included fishing (I even put worms on hooks for her- ICK!!!), and riding a BIG horse!

That evening my China travel buddy Heather and her 2 girls, Hanna and Claire (Claire is just a few weeks younger than Allison) came for a weekend visit from Omaha, so we met them at their hotel and did some arts and crafts and got re-acquainted. I have a feeling that if we'd had the room next door (as opposed to us being at my parents' house) we would have been up all night talking. It was so great to see Heather again, and her daughters are just delightful!! Enjoy the pictures!






Allison could have played in the sand for hours. She was in heaven!



Getting instructions on how to hold on tightly- and boy did she! Look at the size of that horse!



I was glad to see the guide checking on her periodically. It was tough to watch from afar!



At the end of the ride they stop so moms and dads can take pictures. Check out that smile- one happy little girl! Worth the $3, I think! :)



We ducked into the little one room schoolhouse to get out of the heat. I can't wait till she goes to "real school"



"Look, Mommy! I made an uppercase and lowercase F with my chalk!"




It was so fun for the girls to play together again. Heather brought tons of arts and crafts for them to do. They both enjoyed coloring this little wooden picture frame.



The girls made little flower bouquets made from foam stickies. What a cute idea! Allison gave half of hers to Nana and the other half to Daddy. Hanna helped the girls make adorable flowers- what a great big sister she is! It looks like Allison is really hogging the flowers, but I promise we divided them up evenly in the end. :)



As the evening winded down, at about 10:00, the girls enjoyed a fun snack. Hanna gave them both little nylon backpacks all decorated with their names on it and everything- what a GREAT gift. Inside were tons of little activities and snacks. Seriously- this family is SO thoughtful!!

Ice Cream, bowling, and my brown-eyed girl

We had a really fun Wednesday in Kansas City. We met my friend Lisa and her 2 year old daughter, Teryn, at a place called The Legends- a BIG outdoor shopping area. I cannot believe I didn't take pictures of Lisa and Teryn- what was I thinking??? The only pictures I took were of my child, joining the field trip group to learn more about dinosaurs. I think she just would have gone right in with them if I hadn't stopped her. How cute does she look in the middle of all those yellow shirts? She was listening intently as the guide taught the kids about different types of dinosaurs. She was fascinated! We had a great time with them, just shopping, talking, and eating, of course.

Later that night we headed out for ice cream (AGAIN!), and Allison enjoyed a cone, which is a rare treat. I'm the mommy that gets the cup for my kid, NOT the cone! Nana had to continually lick the cone so it wouldn't drip all over, but I don't think she minded doing it. It was yummy ice cream!

I've determined, after several attempts, that kids really aren't ready for bowling until at least four years of age. :) I really do have fun when I take Allison, but she's really just too little. We started out with normal lanes, but after several gutter balls, we ordered the bumpers. Leave it to my child to get a gutter ball WITH the bumpers- you've got to work hard to make that happen! And how cute are those little bowling shoes? I just had to get a shot!

Stay tuned for more pictures from Kansas City tomorrow!

Oh, I wanted to post a couple of stories too...

1. background information- we've been reading a book where fowl is mentioned. I've told Allison that's like chicken. Okay, so today we were at the mall (YES, AGAIN!), and we were sharing our usual Panda Express meal (orange chicken, rice, and crab rangoon), when Allison says, "Mommy, can you please pass me some more fowl?" My friend looked at me and said, "Did she just ask for more fowl?" We were both cracking up!

2. To date, Allison has not asked a lot about her heritage. She knows she was born in China, and we've read several books on adoption, but so far she hasn't really inquired about being born to someone besides me. She has compared our skin color and commented on how it's different. She's also asked a few times what color she is, to which I've replied that she's kind of light brown. Today when we were shopping her little mind was working overtime. First she asked what color she was. Then she asked what color her eyes were. Then she asked, "Mommy, where did you get your green eyes?" I knew what was coming. I told her I got them from Nana- that Nana has green eyes and she gave them to me. Then she said it, "Where did I get my brown eyes?" I almost cried, right there in the store. Instead I'm crying right now. Geez, pull it together, Laurie! I really wanted to tell her they came from me. I wish they did. They are really pretty eyes. I told her the mommy she had when she was in China gave them to her, and that they must have been really beautiful eyes because hers were so pretty, and I left it at that. She was fine with that answer, thank goodness. I know I couldn't have handled any more at that time. But I know her. She will be processing that and will have follow-up questions before I'm ready for them. You can read 100 books on how to respond to these types of questions- how to help your child understand their adoption, but in the end, your heart just talks. All I can do is pray that God will help me find the right words.

Home Sweet Home

Tonight we arrived home after a one week trip to KC to visit family and friends. I had SO much fun, and so did Allison. We were able to see several friends and do lots of super fun things! It will take me a few days to post the pictures, so come back every day if you want to see all the neat things we did and meet some of Allison's friends. :)

The first day we just hung out, went to the mall with Nana, and fun stuff like that. Then on Tuesday morning we met up with our friends Kate and Elle. We had a blast swimming at a really cool pool and then had a yummy Applebees lunch.

I'm way too tired to put sayings underneath the pictures, so...

Picture 1- heading out of St. Louis. We've got Shay Shay, our thumb, and a great movie on the DVD player. Life is good!
Picture 2- hanging out with my friend Elle at the pool!
Picture 3- playing with medals at the restaurant- was she excited or what???

Stay tuned for more pictures tomorrow night!

A Fun Little Challenge

I noticed that this is my 222nd post. Does anyone remember that show, Room 222? Or maybe I'm just ancient. But anyway, I remember it and thought it was the neatest show. But anyway, since I'm not downloading pictures until I get home I decided to do a little ditty I saw on another blog. Please join me and try it yourself. It's not as easy as it looks!!

You have to respond to the question with only one word. I can't answer ANY question with one word, you all know that, so this will be tough!

1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Your significant other? alone (have to add that it's because I'm out of town!) Look, cheating on question #2!!
3. Your hair? sweaty
4. Your mother? asleep
5. Your father? asleep
6. Your favorite thing? family
7. Your dream last night? dogs
8. Your favorite drink? Diet Coke (does that count as one word?)
9. Your dream/goal? health
10. The room you’re in? computer
11. Your friends? thoughtful
12. Your fear? bugs
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? vacation!
14. Where were you last night? bowling!
15. What you’re not? shy
16. Muffins? Chocolate chip
17. One of your wish list items? clothes
18. Where you grew up? Kansas
19. The last thing you did? ate
20. What are you wishing? sleep
21. Your TV? off
22. Your pets? none
23. Your computer? MAC
24. Your life? good
25. Your mood? fun
26. Missing someone? hubby
27. Your car? smooth
28. Something you’re not wearing? shoes
29. Favorite store? PBK
30. Your summer? HUMID
31. Loves? kids
32. Your favorite word? mommy
33. Last time you laughed? hour
34. Last time you cried? ?

Goin' to Kansas City, Kansas City here we come!

Allison and I are headed out to Kansas City in the morning. We'll be spending the week with family and friends, just playing and having fun! I promise to take lots of fun pictures to share when we return. I hope everyone reading this has a fantastic week and that you'll check in next week for some updates! :)

A Look Back

This week I've been thinking a lot about babies in China, so I thought I'd take a look back at our baby when she lived in China. This was a picture (among several) that was taken with the camera we sent to her foster family prior to traveling. You can see she's holding a pillow with our lovely image on it. We didn't get the pillow returned to us- I hope that's because her foster mother wanted to remember who her new parents were. :) I think of that woman often, as it was obvious that Allison came to us well cared for.

I'm going to go upstairs now and video tape my little angel doing her Lady and the Tramp impression when she's supposed to be sleeping. Bark, bark, bark! Bark, bark, bark!! :)

Ready to go!

We headed out this morning to Katie's house to swim and play in the backyard. Breakfast at our house takes FOREVER (cause I let her watch Curious George while she eats), so this morning I gave her a poptart and o.j. for the road, hoping we could get there before 9:00. I looked back at her on the way there and just had to pull over for a picture. That face just cracked me up!

Story to share:

Allison talks a lot about what she can do at certain ages. I think it started when I told her cousin J.J. would be able to drive now that she's 16. Anyway, the other day in the grocery store, as we're checking out (that's when she always seems to come up with her most interesting thoughts!) she asks, "Mommy, what can I do when I'm 45?" Trying not to laugh at the randomness of the age, I said, "Well, I guess at 45 you can do just about whatever you want to do." She smiled big and said, "When I'm 45 I'm going to go on a SAFARI!!' I said, "Sounds fun- have a good time" She asked if I could go with her, but at 84, I'm guessing I might pass on the safari trip. Sorry kid. :)

Geez Louise!

We interrupt this regularly nice, sweet blog for an ugly little service announcement. I feel strongly that if you do something stupid you should share your stupidity with others to prevent them from doing the same stupid thing. Now, we all KNOW not to hold a HUGE relish jar by the lid, but fess up, you've done it! Well, the other night I obviously didn't quite get the lid on all the way- look at that mess! Scott couldn't believe I took pictures of it or that I would post the pictures to share, but really, I'm among friends. I feel safe. :)

After I cleaned up the mess we headed out to Chuck E. Cheese, one of my least favorite places on the planet. Allison had earned a special reward with her behavior program, and she chose Chuck E. Cheese. Really, it should be a fun place, and it can be. But we need to go on a weekday afternoon, not an evening. It seems to be the place where people come, drop off their 8 children, then kick back and relax at a table, leaving me, and the other 3 parents that are actually monitoring their kids, to take care of everyone. Some would say "Just take care of your own child and don't worry about the other kids". Neat thought, but when unsupervised kids are pushing my kid around, I kind of have to get involved. I think we'll be taking this lovely establishment off our list of places to go when we earn a reward. This mom just can't handle it. :)

I promise to be back soon with some fun pictures and some good stories too, but I thought the relish "incident" could hold you over. And by the way, who likes relish? ICK!! I couldn't have spilled something like chocolate pudding, nooooo, I have to spill nasty relish!!

Leaving Ohio

This will be my last installment of Ohio pictures. I know, I'll miss them too! Allison is already asking when we can go back! On Saturday afternoon we enjoyed hanging out at the local festival in town. The girls had a blast on the rides, and I enjoyed eating a funnel cake- you kind of HAVE to do that once a year, don't you? Well, I do! :)

They won little prizes after they played some games, and one prize was a trumpet that made the most annoying, I mean lovely, sound. Both girls were so excited to play their trumpets as we checked out the arts and crafts booths. I think Kaylei's Daddy may have already "lost" her trumpet, but because Allison has been asking for a trumpet for MONTHS, I'm sure hers won't get lost for quite awhile. It's loud folks- really loud! It wouldn't be so bad if it actually sounded like a trumpet, but no, it's just a high pitched nasty squeaky toy.

While we walked around the festival grounds we were able to listen to the entertainment warm up for the evening show- starring Bucky Covington- from American Idol. I thought he sounded GREAT, and if I was without child I would have stayed for the show. He sounded better than he ever did on Idol, that's for sure. It takes very little (VERY little!) to get me star struck, so it was kind of exciting. :)

On a side note, I always get people asking where I find the time to update my blog so often. Maybe I'm doing it a different way or my computer is fast or whatever, I don't know, but it really takes me almost no time at all. As soon as Allison goes down for rest time I download pictures from whatever we did that day or the day before (it might be a sickness to take this many pictures, but I have fun doing it) which takes about 3 minutes. Then I write a little ditty about the pictures (I type quickly, so that takes about 3 minutes too), and then I upload the pictures. This takes anywhere between 2-10 minutes, depending on Bloggers mood. I usually click to download the pictures and then go upstairs to do some little chore and come back later to publish the post. So all in all, it takes less than 10 minutes every day to do this blog. Like anything in life, we make time for what's important to us. My house is not the cleanest, I am not the prettiest or best dressed, and I have a to-do list that never seems to get done. But documenting my daughter's life is a priority to me right now, so I find 10 minutes a day to do it. So, there's my answer and I'm stickin' to it. :)

More memories from Ohio

On Saturday morning we had some time to kill, so Becky took us to a historical site near their house. It was SO beautiful there, with SUCH tall trees- they were amazing. Allison enjoyed walking around, picking up sticks (magic wands), investigating the insides of damaged trees, and just enjoying nature. Scott took some really cool pictures looking up into one of the trees. He's such a great photographer!

Tomorrow's post will show you little girls having fun at the local festival in town- AND, you'll get to see a past American Idol contestant up close and personal. You're coming back tomorrow, aren't you? :)

Dance, Dance, Dance

This may be one of those "you had to be there" set of pictures, but it was SO fun to watch all our girls dancing together on the dance mat. These are the only shots of all 4 girls that I got, and believe me, we bribed them. "You can have a chip if you come dance!" I just love their expressions-they really are trying to follow along with the steps. And the one with the 3 little girls, seeing just the tops of their heads, is just so cute.

It's moments like this where I wish they'd form travel groups by location- that way we could have our girls grow up living close together. That would be great!

Stay tuned tomorrow for more memories from Ohio! :)

A Weekend to Remember!

This weekend we traveled to Ohio to visit a family from our China travel group. Despite a shaky beginning (traffic back up in St. Louis, a potty accident in the car seat - ewwww!!!!, and very heavy rains), we arrived safely at Darrin and Becky's door at 1:00 AM. Great way to start your visit with someone-keep them up until after midnight to greet you!! The fun officially started the next morning with Allison and Kaylei getting to know each other a bit. It was rainy off and on, so we kept our play inside for the morning. In the afternoon another family in our travel group came over, and then there were 4 little ones running around playing with each other. They were all dressed in their red, white and blue attire and just looked SO sweet together. The weather broke for a bit and we were able to play outside on Kaylei's new swingset. FUN TIMES!!

Between our 2 cameras we took over 400 pictures, can you believe it? Sure you can! Most of them are of the backs of heads as we tried desperately to get pictures of all the girls looking at us at the same time. Not gonna happen, my friends! But we did end up with enough for a few days of blogging. This is the first installment of pictures. It will probably take me 3-4 days to get through the pictures I want to share, so come back a few times this week to check out new pictures of our adventures in Ohio.





Gridlock in St. Louis. This was not due to weekend traffic but to a bridge closing that forced everyone to take another path- OUR path! Luckily, my husband is a brilliant navigator, and he got us out of town by outer roads.



"Come on, Allison! Let me show you around our house!"




Kaylei introduces Allison to a fun new game!




In the afternoon, Faith and Molly came over to join us in the fun! Faith enjoyed the slide a LOT!




"They have a BEAUTIFUL garden", Allison kept saying. She was right- they DO have a beautiful garden!!




Molly also enjoyed the slide. She was SOOOOO good with the 3 younger kids- she loved pushing them on the swings- it was so cute!




Kaylei would have stayed on the swing through dinner and breakfast the next morning, I'm sure! :)




Come on! Look at that face!! :)




The rains brought us inside, where we made some fun 4th of July crafts. Each of the moms brought a craft to share, so we kept the girls (okay, OURSELVES!) very busy! Molly was concentrating very hard!




Allison works on tying the ribbon on her wand.