A Totally Terrific Time at the Zoo...Costumes, Candy, Camels, and More!

The pictures say it all! Fabulous weather, fabulous fun, and a nice pile of candy for dinner!

A Fabulous Fall Weekend!

Well, just when you think you’ve experienced everything to your satisfaction, you re-create an experience through the eyes of a child! There’s nothing more fulfilling than the spontaneous squeals of delight that come from a child as they participate in a new adventure like a hay wagon ride, a pumpkin patch, and an opportunity to later help carve that pumpkin. Here I was, this weekend, thinking that $7.00 per person was a lot of money to ride a hay wagon and pick out a pumpkin, at the children’s farm we haven’t visited in a while. Then, I started thinking, yeah, but it’s such a beautiful day to be outdoors and we still don’t have a pumpkin to carve, and this farm is always a great time, and Kayli’s cousins, Jake and Nick are planning to be there, and… ok, I’m in. So, we’re at the farm, we’ve loaded up into the wagon, Kayli is on my lap, the horses begin to trot, and Kayli is “bubbling over” with joy as she begins “ooing and ahhing” and saying “Wooow, Mom! Look!” She is noticing every little thing and thrilled with it all! So, as the quote from the old credit card commercial goes, “$14.00 for a day at the children's farm, priceless!”

Growing Pains

What is the “true” definition of “growing pains”? Who is doing the growing, and who is experiencing the pain, and what kind of pain is it? Take this weekend, for instance. My happy little girl was confidently choosing the “finishing touch” for her chosen outfit, which was her favorite, well worn, pair of red, sparkle shoes. Today just happened to be the day that we discovered these shoes no longer fit. Kayli refused to accept this unfortunate turn of events, and even after I told her she had grown out of these shoes, I stood in her doorway watching her huff and puff and stuff her feet into these, all the while, mumbling to herself “these match”. But when she stood up and came out into the hall to walk to me, she realized it was a losing battle and sobbed. Growing Pains? Then, there was the early morning this week that Kayli was all snuggled in bed with me, and decided to pretend her fingers were a spider walking up my arm. She said “Mom, here comes the spider” My immediate thought was, she put her “S” sound in the word “spider”for the first time. Oh, yes, this is good news to a speech pathologist mom, but it is bittersweet to a mom who just loved hearing her daughter belt out a rousing rendition of: “The Itsy Bitsy Pider”! Growing pains? Or, how about the fact that this weekend Kayli climbed in the car and buckled her whole seatbelt all by herself (A 5 Point Harness!) She was thrilled. I was thrilled. A slight jolt to the heart, though, of a mother watching time fly by. Growing pains? I’ve seen evidence of this phenomena in other ways, and I know this is just the beginning. I also know that no matter how many times I celebrate a new skill or proudly beam at a new outfit we’ve just put on for the first time, I will be experiencing “growing pains” as I put the “too small outfit” in a bag, to be passed down to a smaller child. So, Kayli and I will “weather” our growing pains together as time passes, but in the meantime, my camera is never out of reach, as I continue to document this growth!

Now, sit back and enjoy the last rendition of the Itsy Bitsy Pider in the video below:

A PUDDLE OF FUN!

All we needed was a raincoat, rainboots, and a big puddle, for our fun today! Oh, the joy of simple pleasures!

Enjoy the video below.

Our Special Day was That and More!

Our special celebration was complete with presents, food, and fun! At home, I laid out two trails of paper ladybugs that lead Kayli to her gifts. She loved this fun game. At the end of one trail she found her special gift from China, a tiny beaded ladybug purse with 4 quarters inside. (We love to save quarters for the small merry-go-round at the grocery store) At the end of the other trail Kayli found her “All American gift” which was a Dora the Explorer DVD. Woohoo! I decided that each year on this day I am going to give Kayli one gift from her birth homeland, China, and one “All American” gift representing her forever home, America. I am also going to buy one book that offers some insight into Kayli’s Chinese cultural heritage. This year, that book was called A SINGLE RED THREAD. This is a very cute book about a baby and her “baby friends” leaving behind the Nannies and orphanage life in China to start a new life in America with their very own Mommies and Daddies and Grandparents and Cousins.
Kayli’s Aunt Suzanne, who went to China with me and recorded the momentous occasion of Kayli meeting her new mama by simultaneously running a camcorder in one hand and a digital camera in the other, joined us for dinner. We went to our favorite place, Chen’s Chinese Super Buffet. Kayli and I just LOVE that place! Kayli loves the noodles and the Ice Cream. I love the crab rangoon and the duck with peanut sauce, Mmmm! We always love “cracking open” our fortune cookies and reading our fortunes at the end of dinner. AND, don’t forget throwing coins in the magic fountain, in the lobby on our way in and out. After some coaching, Kayli throws the coin and says “ Wish my Mom win the lottery!” Yes, that took a little training.
Aunt Suzanne was also the “Hero that saved the day”, with not only one, but two new rubber frogs for Kayli! I picked up one of the frogs and was showing Kayli “a trick” I could make the frog perform, by holding each leg and spinning him. Kayli said “Mom, don’t do that. You pull his leg off!” Oh, yeah, your right, like the frog that was dismembered a few nights ago, while “someone” should have been sleeping. Glad to know we can count that as a learning experience.

So, with frogs, fun, food, and a totally festive night behind us, we can't wait until the next big celebration!