Monkey Business

Yesterday Anna went to Monkey Business for the first time. What about the playgrounds in China where she cried or just watched the other kids? Those are a thing of the past. She had so much fun walking and walking and walking. That's what she does. She doesn't like to climb too much. Mia is our climber. Anna walks, observes, touches a few things and then keeps on walking.

Anna painted her first masterpiece. I was going to bring it home, but Mia's painting was still very very wet (she painted the entire page all the way to the corners) and I didn't want it in my car. And I couldn't just bring home one girl's work. Well, I could, but I wasn't in the mood to deal with a meltdown. So I'll save the next one.

Someone else has really turned their behavior around and got to go out for ice cream!

Reasons

A lot of people have been asking me lately about why we would want to "start over". There are a lot of reasons. But here's two of the best...

White Fence Farm & Wanda

Tonight the girls and I met my friend Wanda at White Fence Farms for dinner. Wanda and I taught together at the same school in California. She was actually one of my master teachers. She is out here visiting her sister-in-law.

I have been wanting to take Mia to White Fence Farm for some time. First we had dinner in the restaurant. It's served family style, fried chicken, potatoes, bean salad, etc. Not too healthy! There were also corn fritters which are really mini donuts. But they do keep the kids happy!

Then we went outside to see the animals. First we washed our hands in the old fashioned hand washing machine. Of course we realized later it's best to do this AFTER you've fed the animals.

Next we fed the animals. Mia is not afraid of any animal...ever. Anna laughed every time the goat poked his head out of the rail. It was great to see her relaxed and not afraid.

After the animals we headed over to the playground. Miss Anna let Wanda hold her and we even got a smile!

There was a small creek they played in.

We had so much fun and I was so glad Wanda got to meet the girls!

Service Project

The worst Colorado wild fire, Waldo Canyon, is about 30 miles from our home. We love to do things in that area like go to Garden of the Gods, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and Silver Falls. So today we decided to do a little service project. We left early in the morning and headed off to Walmart to pick up items for evacuated families and firefighters.

After a quick stop at the Post Office to mail a few packages, we headed down to Colorado Springs. From the freeway we could see several helicopters dumping water on the fire.

We dropped our donations off at a local collection place and then went over to Garden of the Gods to see how close the fire had come to it. Many roads were blocked and Garden of the Gods was closed, but the fire had not gotten that far south. I was glad to see it hadn't been touched! Flying W Ranch did burn down, a touristy BBQ and show place that we went to a few years ago.

Garden of the Gods....Safe!

After a lunch, we went to look at a few model homes to get ideas for kitchen cabinets and granite. The girls love to play in the fake exercise rooms.

A very productive Saturday!

So I have found out that if you are viewing this blog on a PC, the enlarged pictures are just horizontal lines. On my MAC they look great! But I think I have fixed the problem.

Just a Little Bit

Just a little bit of my life:

By the way, the phone does not change the channel no matter how many buttons you push or how good you are at pointing it at the TV. Just thought you might want to know.

Doctor Visit

Anna had the second half of her International Adoption doctor visit today. She only cried once, when the doctor took her across the room so he could watch her walk to me. That is a HUGE improvement from the screaming at the doctor visit in China and last Monday here. All her labs were normal and she only needs one vaccination which we will wait to get until her two year old check up. I'm so glad she is coming out of her fearfulness because on July 12th she has an all day cleft lip/palate evaluation!









She's even feeling adventurous and walked this far away from me at the park.