Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
I am a Lucky Girl
Remember these guys? The Keiki? Well, believe it or not, it's almost been a year since I got to meet them. It's also been almost a year since I said good bye to them, crying as I hugged their mom and dad for the last time.
The first time I was a surrogate mother, I gave birth to the twins, said goodbye in the hospital and have never seen them again. I get occasional email updates and photos, but though they are living only 2.5 hours away, I have not visited with them at all. And that's Ok. I respect the parents' wishes and privacy and am happy to hear from them when I do. Their family will always hold a special place in my heart.
This last time, however, is already proving to be different. You see, the boys' birthday is coming up in just a couple months and I just purchased a plane ticket to go to San Francisco, where I'll hop on another plane headed for Honolulu. The Makua invited me for a visit for their Baby Luau and I am so excited that I can go! Shawn and the boys aren't coming, not this time. We plan on a family vacation to Hawai'i in the next five years or so... but this time it'll just be me.
I'm excited beyond words to see them and watch them play and interact together. I can't wait to hug the Makua and meet their friends and family who will come to celebrate their first big milestone.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Picture Pages
Our summer is going by in a blur! I am trying to do as much with the boys while I can, since I'm lucky enough to be home with them this summer... We're marking things off our "fun stuff to do" list right and left. My plans to catch up on books and magazines and finish the socks I'm making for a friend aren't happening quite as I thought they would. But it's been good and we're having so much fun.
Shawn picked out his own Father's Day present, but the boys wanted to make him something, too...
Each boy made a necklace and they did the mask together. I'm not sure why they wanted to make a mask... but they had tons of fun doing it!
We saw the 3D version of "Up", which the kids absolutely loved. Unfortunately, we got there a bit late and had to sit in the 3rd row of the theater!
We enjoyed some cherries at the Farmer's Market, too. Gavin didn't think to ask for a napkin and ended up with cherries all over his face, hands and clothes. There is probably cherry juice all over the car as well.
We thought a little weekend getaway would be fun and we headed down to Colorado Springs for a couple days to revisit some old favorites and see some new stuff, too.
We went to Garden of the Gods...
The boys helped hold up the Balanced Rock.
... we walked around and looked at the cool red formations...
... and posed for a picture together.
We also went to my favorite zoo, ever ~ the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. It's very hands on, which is the best part in my opinion.
You can do things like feed giraffes...
... hold birds on feeding sticks...
... and pet a baby wallaby.
They had a tipi...
... walked around in the dwellings...
... and did some dancing.
For the holiday weekend, we started off with a drive to Grand Lake, Colorado and hiked around the Shadow Mountain Lake. It was gorgeous!
We saw lots of wildflowers...
Stood by the lake...
And ran through the rain.
We also enjoyed the Cherry Creek Arts Festival and dinner with friends, as well as two fireworks shows! I also did my first ever 5K run ~ a neighborhood event. I hadn't trained as much as I would have liked to, but I didn't die and I didn't come in last. Those were my two goals. Next year, I hope to run the entire 5K, rather than walking when I was tired. We'll see how that goes.
Other than that, we're playing at the pool, watching cheap movies, running at the park, going to museums, catching toads, picking strawberries and just squeezing in as much fun as we can (with a little reading and writing in there, too, lest we forget what we learned last year).
Hope your summer is going well, too!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
