Ta Da! (Part 2)

These are a few of the pics from the California part of our trip!

We visited the California State Railroad Museum for the day.

Ta Da! As Promised, Here They Are . . .

These are some of the pics from our Travel Group Reunion in San Antonio

Vacation Pics??

I really do have pics from our vacation! Actually I have about 600 of them. I just have to upload them from my camera & make some magic. I love PhotoShop. I promise to post some pics in the next few days!

Next Stop California!

Erin & I continued on to California - Sacramento to be exact. My dad & his wife Nancy live there, & we go out every other year to see them. Unfortunately, it's too hard for my dad to travel now so I take Erin to them.

We arrived Friday afternoon. Thankfully, Erin is a great traveler. My only complaint is that she kept whining that it was taking too long to get to her Bubbie & Zaydie (grandma & grandpa in Yiddish). BTW, the flight was 3.5 hours. Get the picture?

Saturday we stayed home since everyone needed down time. The air quality was pretty bad, & there were fires that made the national news. Since my dad & Nancy didn't feel well, we all agreed that staying home was best.

Sunday we went to the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento. It was awesome!!! David, Erin & I love trains so this was the perfect place for us to visit. The history that is being maintained in this museum is amazing. As you walk in to the museum, you get to learn about the history of railroads in California. My heart stopped. One thing I had forgotten about was how the Chinese workers were treated. My heart tore. What do I do? How do I handle this? Let's face it. The Chinese were treated very poorly by people. Thankfully Erin didn't notice that the statues were of Chinese people so she didn't ask any questions. I know that we're going to have to deal with this topic but am glad it's been held off for a while. Because this is an indoor museum, the trains are in excellent condition. Nancy took Erin on a tour of the Pullman car & the dining car. My dad & I joined them for a tour of the US Postal car. This museum made the trip for us!

The rest of the week we stayed close to home - relaxing & letting Erin play with my dad & Nancy's dog Gellman. Don't ask. I don't know why this gorgeous black lab has such a silly name. Their last lab was named Henry. Go figure.

Usually we make plans to go & do everything. Then the air quality puts the kabosh on them. In the end, Erin enjoys staying at her grandparents' home visiting & playing with them. Lucky me. I get to laze around, read books & nap. A perfect vacation.

Travel Group Reunion

Hard to believe it, but it's been 5 years since we were all together.

Stephanie R pulled together an amazing reunion in San Antonio, Texas! Out of the 15 families that traveled, only 6 were able to attend. And we had a total blast! Stephanie & her husband Gary really did a fantastic job. They took the time to scout out all the hotels & restaurants & places of interest for us to visit. Then they gave us choices to vote on. There is just no way for me to offer enough thanks to them for all their hard work on our behalf!

Erin & I flew in on Monday, June 16th & checked in to The Menger Hotel - a beautiful, historical, family friendly hotel. After checking in & getting settled into our room, we went downstairs to find the rest of our group. We all ended up out by the pool which was too funny. Erin sat there totally miserable since she wasn't in her swimsuit. My thought? Hey. She doesn't like water & doesn't swim. Why put her into a suit? (Reverse psych 101 works!) We ran upstairs to put on her suit & the dads took care of her in the pool. We got together in Stephanie & Gary's room for dinner since they had a suite which was large enough for all of us to meet in. Dinner was a wonderful BBQ that they brought with them from their hometown. Apparently, Texans really do take their BBQ very seriously!

Tuesday morning we all came down to breakfast & enjoyed a leisurely time chatting & watching the children. Then we got ready to walk around the gardens of The Alamo for some pics of our girls. Afterwards we walked over to the San Antonio Children's Museum for fun & games. After a morning of playtime we took the trolley over to Mi Tierra for some yummy Mexican food. Of course we had to walk off that delicious luncheon in the Marketplace. After a wonderfully exciting day, we napped & then met back in Stephanie & Gary's room for a birthday project. Yup. Stephanie again! We brought enough pics for 15 scrapbooks of our girls & stickers that represent things they are into. And now the girls have a scrapbook of each other. We even put together books for the girls who weren't able to be there. And let's not forget Gary's mother Helen (she traveled with Stephanie & Gary) & his dad Melvin who came to visit with us & brought birthday cupcakes for the girls! Dinner & drinks at the pool! Relaxation at its best!

Wednesday brought about a walking tour of The Alamo - not very long at all. Unfortunately, you aren't allowed to take pictures inside. Me being, well, me I walked over to the information center & asked them why we weren't allowed to. After all, I'm a sight seeing person & want memories of my trip. They looked shocked at my question but very graciously told me that many people consider The Alamo a shrine & get offended when people snap pics. In addition, they are concerned about preserving the artifacts & what the flashes & such will do. Alas, my memories will have to suffice. After the tour, we went back to Stephanie & Gary's room for a delicious & relaxing lunch from a local deli. More time at the pool was ordered by all the children so the adults went for it. Dinner was at Joe's Crab Shack & followed by a Riverwalk boat cruise.

Thursday most of the families left. Erin & I were alone relaxing (a nice long nap!) in our room after days of walking & touring. Amy & Mike joined us with their children Lia & Miles for dinner at The Republic of Texas on the Riverwalk. After that we went for ice cream & then Mike & Miles deserted us so that Amy I could take the girls for a hansom cab horse ride. This is a biggie since Erin has been terrified of horses, but this treat was at her insistence.

It was so much fun seeing everyone who was able to attend!

Stephanie & Gary with Emma, Lissie & Ian

Marilyn with Julianne

Amy & Mike with Miles & Lia

Theresa & Andrew with Joe & Grace

Pam & Luis with Trinity

And, of course, we did miss the families who weren't able to attend! We all had a great time & now we're planning to have another reunion in 2 years. San Antonio will be hard to beat!

Friday morning early, Erin & I left for the last leg of our vacation. On to California!

Two Weeks of Vacation!? What to do? What to do?

I love vacations. Really I do. It's been absolutely ages since I've 2 weeks off at one time. In fact, the last time I had this much time was in 2003 when I had off 3 months for maternity leave. Since then, the only other time was 2 years ago when I visited my dad & stepmother in CA. Even then I had to beg to get that time off.

I have off this whole next week also. I don't know how I got so lucky, but I did. Last week was all about CNY & having time with Susan & her family. This week I have lots of plans.

• Trip to IKEA - my first. Going with my friend Lisa so we can enjoy our first time together. Our friend Mich is never going to believe that we finally made it there so I'll be snapping pics.
• Scrapping - yay! I have some neat pages planned.
• Reorganize the mess that is currently known as my home. Specifically, I'm going to try & rearrange Erin's room.
• Friday I'm going to Erin's school show. They've been working really hard on this, & it's her last so David is coming also.
• Butterfly World this weekend
• Relax
• Relax
• Relax
• Relax
• Have lunch with hubby hopefully

Not much is planned as you can see. I really need this week & am looking forward to not clogging the brain cells with too much.

Vacation Fun

Every year Erin & I go to visit with our friends Art & Susan & their children.

Susan & I met online when our families become DTC (Dossier to China) which is now known as LID (Log In Date). As part of the February Waiting Hearts & the GW DTC groups, we spent a long time chatting online & eventually got to meet in person Christmas of 2002. David & I went to breakfast to meet total strangers who offered to sit with us & answer whatever questions we might have. We to meet the incomparable Hannah & the beautiful Olivia their first 2 daughters. David was won over immediately by their girls, & the rest is history.

We've been home 4.5 years now & have visits every few months between our families. Since then, Susan & Art have completed their family with Erin's orphanage sister Julianna & the sweet Isabella. And of course our family is complete with our beautiful Erin.

Chinese New Year is the one time of year that Erin & I go to visit them. We go up the day before our agency CNY celebration so the I can help Susan with the preparations & also remind her to relax a bit herself. We invade their lovely home, relax, play & have fun. Susan & I hunt down all the Starbucks so we can sip our beverage of choice & just generally enjoy doing nothing much.

Chinese New Year Pics

Erin loved getting dressed up to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Oh! What's in the goody bag!?



S Florida's incomparable Marc & Lori.

Erin & her mama.

(Thanks for snapping this Shannon.)

Erin was hiding under a table outside during the Lion Dance.

It kills me that at times like this, Erin doesn't know in her heart & soul that I'll always do my best to protect her.

Erin & her buddy Ethan.

He's her standard for a brother.

Erin really enjoyed herself at CNY 2008.

Here they are. A few of the gazillion pics I took at the CNY 2008 party. Everyone had a total blast!

Chinese New Year 2008 Party

Wow! What a fabulous day!

My friend Susan busts her buns over this party each year.  And each year she worries about how it will go.  Will everyone have a good time?  How will we raise enough money to send back to China for all the Waiting Children?  Should she sit down & eat or should she socialize.  I'm glad to say that this year Susan sat down & ate.  Yes.  She still worried about everything, but at least she wasn't passing out from hunger by the time we got home last night.  All the girls were exhausted but fighting sleep.  Somehow we managed to stay up & watch Perry Mason.  Man! That movie was old!

My friends from S FL were at the party too.  All of the children had fun running around, screaming & playing.  They looked great in their Chinese finery.  There was an arts & crafts table where the children got to make Chinese lanterns.  There were vendors selling their wares.  And, yes, I purchased.  Oh boy did I spend money!  I can't wait to show everything to David.  You know that he's going to look at me like I'm nuts.  But the money all goes to a good cause.

Since I'm away on vacation right now, I can't upload pics but I promise to upload some soon.

Yay! Vacation Here we are!

We're here! We're here! Yes.  Our trip to Spring Hill has finally happened.  Erin & I finally got on the plane this morning.  No sooner than we buckled up, than Erin asked me where Uncle Art & Aunt Susan were.  She d h to know why they weren't waiting for her on the plane.  I could have died laughing!

At the Tampa airport there is a shuttle that takes you from where the plane lands to the actual baggage claim area.  Again Erin wanted to know where Aunt Susan was.  Before I could answero her, Isabella came running up to us with the other girls following behind.  As soon as we said our hellos, Susan & I headed over to Starbucks.  Yummy!!

The rest of the day has been spent getting ready for the Chinese New Year luncheon.  Shopping for material so we could have red couch photos.  Making name tags for everyone attending.  Seating arrangements.  And so much more.

It's been a great day this first day of my vacation!