4th of July at the lake

When I was growing up, we used to drive about 3 hours away to get to my grandparents’ house.  They lived on a lake, and we spent a lot of time there every summer.  My sisters and I would spend hours swimming and looking for rocks that we could skip.  We would see how far we could swim out until we couldn’t touch bottom anymore.  My dad would take us all out for boat rides, and we would go tubing or waterskiing behind the boat.   I can remember walking up the hill to Hunts’ drugstore with my change in my pocket; I couldn’t wait to buy candy or magazines.  We would go putt-putt golfing and go to the waterslide.  We went strawberry picking (or raspberries) with my grandma, and we would beg our parents to stop at Zubler’s and the Rocking Chair Gift Shoppe for souvenirs. 

My parents and my aunt uncle own my grandparents’ home now.  We were lucky enough to go up this past week and spend some time on the lake with my parents, my sister, Janice, and my cousin, and his friends.  It was pretty amazing to see the lake that I loved as a child through Zoe’s eyes. 

 

Heading out for a fishing trip…

Fourth of July and s’mores kind of go hand-in-hand for me, but apparently not for Zoe.  She was not a fan.  Oh well. 

Campfire, fireworks, and sparklers…the perfect night!  I think Zoe was super excited to stay up past 8:00 pm, too!  She got to stay up with the big kids.

Zoe’s favorite part of the trip?  Riding on her grandparents’ boat…and trying to help with the driving!  I could really see how much she loved it all when she was out on the lake. 

What have you been up to this summer?

This past Friday was Steve’s follow-up appointment to check on his progress since the open-heart surgery he had done just a bit over two years ago.  We are still waiting to hear news back about his test result, but the visit in the office went really well.  They are very happy with how he’s doing; so are we!  I feel so thankful and grateful that he did so well when he had the surgery done and that he’s doing so great today!

Adoption-related news…I just finished working on a project that is going to be part of Zoe’s birth mom’s birthday gift.  I will post a picture soon; I just want to wait until after she receives it in the mail.  Other adoption news…we applied for the Cade Foundation’s Family Building Grant.  I had heard it about online and had also heard that they hadn’t had many people apply who were adopting.  The grant is given to couples who are doing infertility treatments or adopting.  We won’t know if we received the grant until sometime in the fall. 

(a picture Zoe drew of her birth mom…we’re sending it to her soon.  By the way, that’s an eyebrow – just one – with eyelashes above her eye!)

Other than that, we have been keeping busy.  We’ve been doing some things with our neighbors, going to the pool, checking on our garden, and playing in the backyard.  We found a new place (new to us and relatively new to the area) for Zoe to play – Detroit Kid City.  It was a lot of fun to watch her run back and forth between their post office, bank, recording studio, diner and a few other little places.  We had so much fun there the day of Steve’s doctor appointment that we went back yesterday so we could take some friends with us. 

(planting a garden, just like ours at home…)

(our first peppers…I was just a bit excited!!)

(Hoping we get some strawberries, too!)

(Someone loves to be in the water.  I love watching her go up to other kids and talk to them at the pool.  She’s so interested in meeting them and talking to them.)

What fun things have you been doing this summer?  Anything on your summer ‘bucket’ list?

Adoption Buddies and Our Summer Bucket List

In the blink of eye it is already June 24th.  I’m not sure how that happened.  We have had so much going on this past month, and this is the first chance I have had to really write a blog post.  This weekend and last weekend were just as busy as the first part of June when Zoe’s birthmom was here to visit.  We had friends here from Boston; they arrived this past Friday night, and we were able to show them around our town a bit.  We spent a very hot but fun afternoon at the zoo and a very fun evening (just adults) at a baseball game.

Our friends, L and B, and trying to convert our little one into a Red Sox fan!  They brought her lots of gear to get her started.

The game was really fun to watch.  Our home team won, and they ended the night with an amazing fireworks display.  I have never been so close to fireworks before…exciting and yet a bit scary all at the same time.

Like I said, our weekends have been jam-packed.  Not only were our friends visiting, but I was helping host a bridal shower for my cousins on Sunday, so part of last week was spent helping my family get ready for that.  We also had a few get togethers with some of Zoe’s friends, and we even met up with a new group of friends through our adoption agency.  I had heard from our caseworker that some adoptive moms were starting a playgroup and were looking for others to join.  We spent part of Friday at a local park hanging out with them.  While the kids played, we parents were able to share our stories with each other.  It was a pretty neat day to meet other moms from our agency who have been through the process before.  We are planning on more trips and visits over the summer.

In addition to that, I got it in my head that I really wanted to take Zoe strawberry picking!  Yes, it’s actually on the summer bucket list I have posted on our refrigerator!   One of Zoe’s friends and her family had  just been, and I decided we had better do it before the berries were gone.   We went to one of our favorite orchards on Thursday and luckily they still had “lots ‘o’ berries.”

I loved how Zoe would step carefully over the rows and call, “Here’s a good one, Mommy!”  It was very sweet. 

I can remember picking berries with my parents, sisters, and grandparents; Zoe will have that memory, too. 

I am sort of writing in reverse…so I guess I’ll skip back to last weekend.  We celebrated Father’s Day by going to a local historical place that also had a car show.  It was right up my Dad’s alley. 

Zoe wanted to give Steve and my dad their gifts before we left…a handprint painting  and a photo collage for Zoe’s Daddy and a stepping stone for Grandpa’s garden and a pair of baseball tickets.  We made our own wrapping paper this year…pretty good likeness, I would say!

She looks like she’s grown so much when I look at that last picture…where has the time gone?

The day before Father’s Day was spent on a mini-road trip.  Zoe and I drove to our state’s capitol to meet up with our friends.  M met us there with her son C, and R met us there with her son M.  I am friends with M and R through an online adoption group.  I am beyond lucky and fortunate to know these two ladies and their little ones.  It’s amazing to me how even before we all met, we felt such a sense of connection to each other.  M and I and the kids had met a few times over the past couple of years.  The six of us got to meet each other for the first time last summer when we had a picnic and spent the afternoon at a splash park.

We had a picnic on the grounds of the Capitol building, and the kids had chased each other and checked everything out.  C  had a book about our state, and he knew all about our capitol!

We spent the rest of the day at a nearby zoo and explored the different exhibits…got to wander around, pet some goats, go for a pony ride, and see a white peacock, too!

We may have spied Spiderman nearby…the kids were slinging their “webs” at him! 

And at a few times throughout the day, the ended up hand in hand just like little buddies should.  I am so thankful for our friendship and the way adoption has brought us together.

A visit with her birth mom

We invited Zoe’s birth mom to come for a visit over the past few days.  We were so happy to see her, especially since the last time we saw her was September! 

We met her at the airport, and someone was super excited to greet her…

We had talked with Zoe about what she wanted to do with Z while she was here visiting us.  Her answers weren’t a shock to us:  play and eat ice cream.  I like the way she thinks!  We made sure that the trip included both.  We got caught up a bit the first day and visited.  Zoe probably could have used a nap because she got a bit tired/cranky in the afternoon, but she felt better after getting some rest that night.  We did get to talk about family, school, and how Zoe looks more like she’s in kindergarten and not a 3 year old! 

We met up the next day, and Z and her boyfriend got to see Zoe dance at her tap dance class.  She did a really great job!  (Only one more to go, too…I think we’ll be signing her up again.)  We met up with my parents and sister for lunch and then headed to a place called the Robot Garage.  Zoe loves it there – lots of Legos, Duplos, and other building toys for kids (and adults…we all played with them!)

We spent the next day at a local park and playground.  We had dinner together, and Zoe was thrilled to have a sleepover party with her birth mom.  She had it all planned out!  They painted little birdhouses for each other, ate ice cream (of course!), and watched her birth mom’s favorite cartoon movie. 

Zoe let Z sleep in her bed, and Zoe slept on her little mattress next to her.  She and Z listened to the story book that Z had recorded for her.

Z said Zoe was a chatterbox at bedtime.  She would think she was drifting off, and she would ask her a question.  And another.  And another.

We spent one day at a pool and indoor water park.  I know Zoe loved doing that, and  Z got to spend a lot of time with her there as she splashed around and tried to get everybody else wet, too.  We had fun outside with Zoe’s bike (which she really just started riding for the first time during this visit – Go Zoe!) and drawing with chalk on our driveway.

   

(please ignore the cracks in the driveway and the weeds…)

The last day of Z’s trip happened to fall on Zoe’s Adoption Day.  We felt pretty lucky to spend it with Zoe’s birth mom.  We took a trip to a local pottery studio where she and Z painted a little Hello Kitty figure and a Hello Kitty box.  I painted a little bowl.  Zoe had a very green kitty as you can see from the picture below. 

Every Adoption Day, we plan to do a couple things – let her pick out what we do for the day and to add a little charm to a bracelet for Zoe.  Her first year we bought the bracelet and the “Z” charm.  The 2nd year was the heart charm.  Last year Zoe chose the camera charm because I would take pictures of her and she would take pictures of me with her little pretend camera.  And this year she chose…drumroll please…an ice cream charm!  I know, you’re shocked, aren’t you?

The visit ended with a fun lunch at a Mexican restaurant, a trip to the bookstore, a piggy back ride, and lots of hugs and kisses at the airport.  We’re so glad we had this time with her.  She’s planning a move back to our state when she’s done with school, and we’re so happy – for her and for us.  We wish her all the best in everything she does, and we’re so proud of her.  I am so glad that we have an open adoption with Z.  <3