Funny Head

This turtle has a funny head! 

POOL!

Oh, now I get it! A bath with clothes on! 

Weekend Fun

Who doesn't love a holiday weekend?? I know I do....especially when it's a 5 day holiday! Yee haw! The Kid and I had about as much fun as you can possibly cram into 5 days. We played at the park, we had Hawaiian Ices (It was almost 90 degrees all weekend!!!) All kinds of outdoor summer fun. Some of the special mention highlights from the weekend...

The Kid went to her first official Birthday Party on Saturday. Miss Gracie K turned 3 and the kids partied hard at her Strawberry Shortcake soiree. Miss R enjoyed a orange popsicle, took some time out of her busy schedule to pose with the Birthday Girl (the cute blonde in the polka dot dress sitting next to The Kid) and some of her friends and continued to party like a rock star at home in her wicked bad Strawberry Shortcake sunglasses.

Today, Grandmumsy, Auntie J, The Kid and I, got together for an impromptu picnic/swim. Auntie J got a turtle pool for R to enjoy. All R knew of swimming was what I had been telling her..."It's a bath with your clothes on." Anyway, she was so excited to get in the pool that she wouldn't eat her lunch. I have some pool pictures, but Blogger isn't playing nice so I'll post them later. Stupid Blogger.

Round and Round

The Kid and I went to the park the other day. We started out on the swings. As you can see, she wasn't too crazy about them.



Next we tried out all the rocking animals. This seemed to be much more of a success.

But then, R spotted some boys on the merry go round. She marched right over to them and climbed up onto the merry go round and plopped down right in the middle of them. All three of them got off and stood off to the side with their arms crossed and sulking. I apologized to the kids and told them that R would lose interest quickly and then they could have the merry go round back. I gave the merry go round a push and R just squealed with delight and then she laughed and laughed. I kept my eye on the boys, who were still being surly, and everytime R would go by and laugh, one boy in particular was having a hard time keeping his scowl on. After a couple more rounds, the boys climbed on with her and I pushed them all around and around for what seemed like about 20 minutes. They were having fun and R was enjoying getting to hang with 'the big kids'.

Everytime I let it slow down, R would say "Moooooowwww!" which means more and the boys would look at me and say, "She wants to do it again!" After awhile, R was having a hard time keeping herself upright. At one point, one of the boys put his arm around her to hold her up. SO SWEET!!! Shortly after, the mother of one of the boys came to pick them up, and as they ran off with the mom, one of them turned around and said "Bye, LADY!" And not like Jerry Lewis, either. It was a sweet afternoon.

Poor, poor Britney

I just read that Britney stumbled and nearly dropped Sean Preston. And once again, the press is all over her. I can totally relate. When I almost fell and dropped The Kid at TGI Friday's, it was just a good thing the paparrazi hadn't gotten there yet, or it would have been all over the tabloids.

Imagine what other famous moms would have said about me then! Oh, the horror.

Take me to your leader.

 

Anime

Another of Auntie J's cool pictures (enhanced slightly by moi). We think she looks like an anime character. 

Awww!!!

The Kid was so tired at Mother's Day lunch that she just put her head down on the table and slept through the whole lunch. With her hand in her food.... 

Cheesy faced Angel

 

Sleepy

Eventually, The Kid AND Auntie J fell asleep. 

Happy Mom's Day

If you would have asked me 5 years ago if I would have thought that I would be spending the day with the greatest kid in the world and my family all around me, I would have laughed my fool head off. Of course I always wanted to be a mom and I always HOPED that it would happen, but I don't know if I ever really believed it. Heck, even as I was getting off the plane in China, I was sure that it had all been some sort of mix up and I really wasn't going to come home with a daughter. I just can't help but feel like I am incredibly lucky....somehow, I was chosen to be the mom of this sweet, goofy, charming, independent and tempermental little girl. If that ain't like winning the lottery, I don't know what is.

As I put The Kiddo to bed tonight, I couldn't help but think of her birth mother. I will never know the circumstances that led up to me being R's mom, and I can't imagine having to make the decision that she made, but I hope that somehow she knows that R is happy and healthy and loved. And I would also like to tell her Thank You.

So, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all you moms and moms-to-be...and especially to my mom (You are the best!)

**I should have a couple of pictures from Mom's Day luncheon in the next day or so....and they are hilarious! Seriously, you just might crap.**

A couple other pics I forgot

All of the newest batch of pictures are courtesy of Auntie J.












Dame Edna made an appearance at the Renaissance Festival!!!

May Fest

Just down the road a spell from the Renaissance Festival, another of the Amana Colonies was having a Mai Fest. There are tons of neat little shops and it was a beautiful day.



Beautiful Architecture.







Flowers.


















May Pole Dancers!














A real live Polka Band!













The Kid's preferred method of sitting. ANYWHERE.

Huzzah, m'lords and m'ladies!

TheKid meets a nice Fairy. She gave her a Fairyberry necklace.












I'd like to remain anonymous here, if you don't mind. These people scare me.












I'm only wearing this little hat thing that you spent $7 on for 2 minutes while you take a picture, mom. Then I will pitch it aside like trash.










Yikes. Harem pants AND saggy boobs?? This IS medieval. Or MC Hammer has made a comeback.











I'm still not getting this head thing, mom.












M'lord! I would like to introduce you to Sir Alberto. He has invented a HOT OIL TREATMENT that I think you might enjoy.











If you know me, you know that one of my favorite things is people watching. And I especially love people watching when it's a bunch of Lord of the Rings weirdos. Oh, and I love giant turkey legs. So, over the weekend, I was thrilled beyond belief to be able to take The Kid to her first Renaissance Festival. Above is a random sampling of some of the sights.

Interestingly cool

Here is a link to a family that is bike riding from Florida to Washington state. They are adoptive parents themselves and they are on the 'ultimate' family vacation, biking across the country on a triplet (a bicycle built for 3). They are raising money for Half the Sky Foundation, which provides individual care to children in Chinese orphanages.

Check it out! Its been fun following along with them.

From then to now