Road Trip and Disneyland

When the kids first came to live with us in April, we knew that the earliest we could finalize their adoption would be October. And even that depends on the government working quickly, which may or may not happen. (Although I do have to put a plug in that we have been extremely impressed with all of the workers that we have encountered in relation to these kids. They have been prompt, courteous and clearly care about the best interests of the children.) We also knew that we would not be allowed to leave the state with them until the adoption was finalized, unless we received court permission. We pursued this early on, but then dropped it deciding that it would be okay to stay home for the summer. As things started to fall into place, and a new case worker from the adoptions unit was assigned, we started to realize that we very much wanted to leave the state. None of our family live in the area, and the kids had only met their Great Grandma Boyce, my Aunt Laura, and their Grandpa Kovar. So, I asked the new case worker and a week later we were approved to leave the state. We quickly decided to jump into our car and road trip. Our destination started as Utah but ended up to be California.

It was a two day road trip each way. If I ever do it again, (which is questionable,) I will make it three days each way. The kids did awesome in the car. The only meltdowns occurred on the last day on the way home. And they were easily solved because of the way I had stocked the car. I had two Rubbermaid bins between their car seats... full of toys. I also had about 6 books in those bins, napkins and tissues. We had a DVD player hung between our seats and watched about 7 movies during the whole trip... including Charlie's favorite, the Little Einsteins. We had a big, flat box, from Costco juice boxes that had long been consumed, which we used as a desk and/or tray for coloring, practice school work, or anything of that nature. We also had my iPod plugged into the car stereo, filled with kids music... including their favorite, Queen's Greatest Hits. (They love We Will Rock You, We are the Champions and Bicycle Races.) On top of that I had a whole Rubbermaid bin full of snacks so that I could keep their tummies from growling. So, I think the kids were kind of in heaven because they had so much that they could do.

We arrived in Riverside on Tuesday at some time that was close to midnight. We spent an hour or so with my parents and then all went to bed. In the morning we woke up and drove into Anaheim too spend two days at Disneyland. I think it was the first time that I had spent more than one day in a row at Disneyland. I was very excited! The kids were too. All Charlie knew was that we were going to meet Mickey Mouse, and that was enough for him. Lynnae was beside herself with excitement, squealed so loud that I feared for the health of my ears, and every now and then seemed a little nervous. The nervous part grew as we got closer to the park, and then really grew when we entered the gates and Cruella DeVille was standing right there. But, once she got onto her first ride (Star Tours, my favorite,) she was in heaven.

We closed the park on both days, leaving close to 12:30. Our kids are night owls, just like us... and prefer to sleep in just like us, we are so lucky! We did every ride in Fantasyland except for Dumbo. (And Small World is closed until November... boo hoo.) Their favorite rides were the Astro Blasters, which is a cool ride in Tomorrowland where you go in little cars on a track, and each of you has a gun to try to shoot the Zurg from Toy Story. You can spin the cars around to aim better, and you get a score at the end so that you can compare your skills. We did that twice, and they really wanted to do it again. They also loved the big train and the Casey Jr train. Andy and I love the Haunted Mansion, so we had to do that twice... and Charlie's favorite ride? Peter Pan, definitely. It was a priceless moment for me, sitting next to him, as we "flew" over the rooftops of London and I saw him smiling bigger than life and screaming, "I'm flying, I'm flying, we did it!!!" Andy said he was screaming so loud he could hear him in the next car.

This year Disney's theme is, "Year of a Million Dreams." They are doing little things all over the parks all day to basically just make your day. As we were stepping out of the Haunted Mansion on the second day and heading over to New Orleans Square for lunch, we saw two employees handing out lanyards in front of the train station. We all received free "pin trading lanyards" complete with two pins... the kids were really excited. It's always fun to get free stuff. We made a big deal out of it, and the kids wore their lanyards proudly all day. It was special enough that we thought we would save them and get a new pin for each person each time we go. So Disneyland was successful at getting us to buy stuff with their gift. :)

Disneyland is definitely different with kids. We had to find the bathroom more often, and it was a lot more important to find hydration and food timely. We also stuck more around the kiddie rides and Toon Town... but I didn't really mind that! On the second day we were there, we headed over to Fantasyland at 11:40... when most of the other small children were gone. We hit Alice in Wonderland, Mr Toad's Wild Ride, the Carousel, Pinnochio, and snow White. it was a whirlwind of kids rides, and we were getting into them so quickly... it made it difficult for us to want to leave! As we walked out of Snow White, I looked at Andy and realized that we hadn't gotten ice cream (or dessert, really,) the whole time we'd been at Disneyland... and that is just a tradition for us. So we stopped at the Ice Cream parlor on Main Street and got a scoop for Andy, Lynnae and me. I gave charlie two bites in his stroller. With the second bite he just smiled real big and then fell right asleep with a smile and ice cream on his lower lip. It was very cute!

We headed back to Riverside and hit major bumper-bumper traffic outside of Corona... at 2am. Ugh! For many reasons, including traffic, I am so glad that we moved out of there. We got home and crashed and woke up very late the next day. While we were in Riverside Lynnae got to go shopping with Grandma Boyce for her birthday, we went to meet great Grandma and Grandpa Hayman, and we had a birthday celebration for Lynnae as well. There will be more updates to come, but this one was primarily to talk about Disneyland! I apologize for the bulk of what I wrote.... actually I could have written twice as much, but exerted some self control. Since the kids have come to live with us, I find that I have so much to share!

.... Pictures to be posted after adoption is finalized....

We went to go see "Honey I Shrunk the Audience" on the first day. The kids were so excited to see a 3D movie, but both of them became scared at some point during it... with big dogs and lions coming right at them.

Charlie was so excited to ride the big train around the park. Lynnae was too, but Charlie loved it so much that we did it again the second day.

This was on the Casey Jr train, which they also loved. It was going quite a bit faster than I remember!

We did Autopia also, of course. Lynnae was too scared to drive, so I had to drive our car. Charlie and Andy went together. Charlie was in heaven!

Both kids loved the carousel.

Lynnae was super excited to pick out a horse for herself.

Of course, we spent a lot of time in line as well... I believe this was outside of the Haunted Mansion.

And this was probably outside of the Haunted Mansion too.

And this was going into the Peter Pan ride. We were trying to find ways to keep the kiddos entertained while we waited. The new rides are better at that because they have stuff to look at!

We spent quite a bit of time in Toon Town on the second day. Charlie was needing some good old-fashioned play, so I took him to Goofy's Playhouse while Andy and Lynnae did the roller coasters in Toon Town. He loved it!!!

After Goofy's we headed over to Mickey's house. This was one super-excited kid!!!

We got lucky with Mickey and had at least 5 minutes with just Mickey and Charlie in the room. Mickey traded hats with Charlie. Charlie was so excited and happy when we left the room. Andy and Lynnae came through about 10 minutes later... but I missed being able to had the camera to him. :(

Right after getting the free pin trading lanyards.

Waiting for dad to come back with Fast Passes to Indiana Jones... she was staring at the tree house longingly. Unfortunately, we forgot to come back to the tree house... next time!

This happened a lot both days, so I took a picture of it. We're still mastering the shoe tie thing.

Had to get the traditional picture. I like to take it on this bench because you usually don't end up with other people in front of those you want to see.

Had to include a couple of my favorite scenic pictures. This is from the side of the castle.

This one was while we were in line for the monorail... it was perfect timing!

Fourth of July

Andy and I moved into our new house two years ago this August. We absolutely love our new neighborhood. Almost everyone has kids, a lot of them work from home, and they're just generally very friendly people. However, we were warned by the sellers of our house that things can go a bit over the top on the Fourth of July. All the neighbors come out into the cul-de-sac, have barbecues, and set off their own fireworks. one of our neighbors likes to make some of his own. In addition, we have a fading 16-year old shake roof... perfectly prone to catch fire. i think in order to appreciate how paranoid I get on the Fourth of July here, you also have to understand that I grew up in Southern California, where amateur fireworks were banned due to fire hazard. There, you had to watch one of the big shows to get your fireworks. I also heard a lot of propaganda about how fireworks start fires and injure people. So, naturally, they are already not my favorite thing in the world. Add overzealous neighbors, teenagers lighting fireworks unsupervised, a shake roof, and a wind that blows all fireworks in the cul-de-sac right at our house... and you have a great recipe for a Dzana panic attack. Of course Andy is aware of my freakish paranoia, so he is telling me about how we can move the car, how he's gong to hose down the roof and keep the hose out during the night, etc... all in an attempt to keep me calm.

I appreciate his efforts, but last year it didn't really work. I had to go inside because it was all making me so nervous. One of our neighbors had really pulled out all of the stops. There were homemade concoctions, reservation bought items, and very few mild firecrackers. What made me most nervous were all of the kids running around with fireworks setting them off wherever they pleased. So, this year I was trying really hard to be excited... but I was actually incredibly nervous for the week preceding.

The day started out really nice. Andy's dad was still in town. We had a very lazy and wonderfully relaxing morning and afternoon. Lynnae and I made cupcakes and then she and charlie frosted them. Charlie was especially funny with the sprinkles. When we ate them we had to brush some of them off. He used a whole bottle of sprinkles on 6 cupcakes! it was hard for me to keep him from eating what he was supposed to be frosting, he was very excited! The kids played outside for awhile, I took some pictures (of course.) Andy and his dad barbecued carne asada for us and we had a little Mexican feast... it was very good! Every year since we started dating, Andy and I have enjoyed the Twilight Zone marathon on the Fourth of July... first on KTLA and then when it moved to the Sci Fi channel. (We are both obsessed with the Twilight Zone, and even though we own every episode on DVD, the marathon is an important tradition we don't miss!) We weren't sure how the kids would take to it... but they loved it! So we watched a few episodes of that as well.

Then it was zero hour, time to go outside, socialize and deal with the neighborhood's fireworks. I gave Lynnae about a 15 minute lecture on firework accidents. And then I let her loose. Charlie stayed with Andy, me, or grandpa the whole time. You know what? There were still some really idiotic kids doing stupid things with bottle rockets and roman candles... but they were farther away from us this time. And the other fireworks were way more in control than the previous year. Lynnae had fun with all the neighborhood girls as well. Boone was outside enjoying his socializing with the other neighborhood dogs for most of the night. Overall it was a great holiday!

............Pictures will be posted after adoption is finalized....................

Swimming

Growing up in California, swimming was something that we did every summer. I loved the water and some of my best summer memories took place in a swimming pool. I still love the water, but... since we moved to Washington, swimming pools are not as available to us. however, we do belong to a club that has a lap pool, a small therapy pool, and an outdoor sundeck. It is important to me that both Charlie and Lynnae be very comfortable in the water, especially with so many lakes and rivers in the area.

One of the things that is weird about acquiring someone else's children is that you don't really know what their capabilities are. We knew, from one of Lynnae's previous foster moms and a picture from last summer, that Charlie did not care for the water at all. And when Lynnae told me that she was "like a fish" in the water I believed her. I have learned, gradually, not to take such statements at face value.

One day about a month ago, I packed up the kids in the car and took them to the club with the intent to use the outdoor sundeck. When we arrived a the club we learned that the sundeck was closed due to a problem with the heater. (Yes, in Washington we actually have to heat the water in outside pools because it is not warm enough otherwise.) "No problem," I thought, "I'll take the kids into the little therapy pool, make sure Lynnae is good and then she can go into the big pool." Well, let me tell you, she is NOT "like a fish". For the first 15 minutes I had Charlie clambering to keep as much of his body out of the water as possible while Lynnae tried to show me how well she could swim... sinking with each first stroke. Good thing the pool is only 3.5 feet deep!

I was just about to surrender and exit the pool as quickly as possible when Charlie miraculously calmed down. I saw little life vests near the pool and grabbed one for him. This gave him the security he needed to have some confidence and relax in the pool. Then I was able to start working with both of them. We have gone swimming several times since. Charlie now propels himself around the pool in the life vest... he gets mad when I even touch him because he's so independent. he loves to go under the water, and in fact tells us all the time, "I want to go under the water!" (He also puts his hands up, take a deep breath and then mimics holding it while going under water... really cute!) I'm trying to teach him how to respect the water as well by removing the life vest and letting him float... and see what happens if he pushes me away without the vest. He actually has done a back float and is kind of getting close to the doggy paddle. Lynnae can do the dead man's float and float on her back... Mostly I have had to teach her to relax and use larger, slower movements when swimming. At first she was so frantic and tense that she would sink like a brick. I have actually been able to let her into the big pool lately. She starts lessons in two more weeks... and I'm hoping she'll be a confident swimmer by the end of the summer.

I have really enjoyed my swimming time with the kids. It has been good bonding for us, and a great outlet for energy. We also were fortunate to receive a backyard swimming pool as a gift from the Stutzmans, and the kids have been enjoying it as well. I don't have pictures from the big pool because I am actually in the water too... but here are some of my favorites from our backyard pool. Thank you Carleigh and Joe... they love this pool, especially the slide!

...........Pictures will be posted after adoption is finalized.....................

Grandpa Kovar's Visit to Washington

This summer we all had a fun treat, Grandpa Kovar packed up into his trailer and drove the 1200+ miles from Riverside to Snohomish. He arrived at the end of June and spent nearly two weeks with us, leaving just after the Fourth of July. The kids have lived with us for three months now, but had not been able to meet a lot of family due to the fact that we are all so spread out. They did meet their Great Grandma Boyce and my Aunt Laura a couple of months ago... but other than that, we hadn't been able to introduce them to any direct family. So, naturally kids are excited to see grandparents... but they were even more excited to meet Grandpa Kovar and learn a little more about their new family.

Grandpa hit it off with them imemdiately, and they were in love with him from the first moment. While he was here we were able to get some projects done. The best for me was the completion of painting in our downstairs bathroom/laundry room and the painting of Miss Lynnae's room. Lynnae wanted so badly to have a blue room, (it is her favorite color.) Now she has a nice "Robin's Egg" blue... and she even got to help with the painting! Grandpa also took everyone out to the swap meet, where Lynnae got a "moon" ring. She was so proud to show me her "moon" ring when she got back, I think I crushed her when I explained that it was actually a "mood" ring. While he was here we made it to the Seattle Aquarium for the first time and celebrated both grandpa's birthday and the Fourth of July. of course, we also did some of the random normal things... like visiting the park and going to dinner. We were so glad that the kids and grandpa hit it off so well, they were a little crushed when he left... but we are expecting they will get to see him again at Christmas!

.......Pictures to be posted after adoption is finalized...............

The Many Faces of Charlie

So - I am finally catching up on going through my pictures! I haven't had a lot of time at the computer in the last couple of months, and I have struggled with keeping up with the monstrous amount of pictures I have taken. I just wish that I could post them up... instead, for now, I will tell you about them. :)

One of Charlie's favorite things to do is to make faces. He makes them constantly. He has so many I can't even count them. (I think we may finally be able to stop teasing my sister about the looks she used to make... Charlie is definitely just as full of expressions, if not more so!) Here are a few of his favorites. Some day I'll have to get the one where he rolls his eyes back in his head.

.......Pictures to be posted after adoption is finalized.......

This is the "surprise" face. Usually he puts his hands on his cheeks too, but this day one was too full of grass and the other was keeping him up.

This is "bashful" Charlie.

Got a guess? Yep, this is sad. He puts his lower lip out just right.

This is "mad" Charlie. I get this look every time he goes in timeout.

Say hello to "thoughtful" Charlie.

This is "whazzup?" Charlie.

This could be either a good or a bad sign. This is the face of Charlie when he is pleased.

And this is our absolute favorite face.... Happy Charlie!!!

Call Me Lynnae

Charlie, (that's my brother in case you didn't know,) just came into my room and told me that he posted to the blog to introduce himself. My mom really has been taking too long to do it. I think Charlie had a great idea, so I'm going to do the same thing too.

You can call me Lynnae. I know most of you know me as Mie Mie. Don't worry, I've decided that Mie Mie is now the name of my tummy and the rest of me can be Lynnae. Actually, since I came to live here almost three months ago, I have been telling Dzana and Andy that I wanted to change my name to either Jayne or Lynnae. Those are two of my middle names. My mom was kind of rooting for Jayne, but I am almost 8 and I can make my own decisions, so I have chosen Lynnae. Last week I told my parents that it was about time that they start calling me Lynnae. Dzana asked me if I was sure. So I told her that I had a whole body vote, and that everyone except for my tummy agreed. That's why my tummy is still Mie Mie. I can't officially change my name until I am adopted, so for now, Lynnae will just be a nickname.

You might not know that my birthday is close. I will be turning 8 on July 13th. I have been talking about how I am "practically 8" for months. I'm very excited. My mom and dad are planning to throw me a luau birthday party in our backyard at the end of July. If you live close-by you will be getting an invite. But I probably told you that you were invited to my party the day I met you. I can't even remember how many people I have invited to my party that way!

I like my new house. It's starting to feel like home. I have lots and lots of friends here and I have done a bunch of stuff here for the first time. I've been to the zoo, the library, a baseball game (Aquasox,) the aquarium, downtown Seattle, a play (High School Musical,) and I've started taking my first class at a college. Actually, I can't believe I'm admitting this... if you ask me tomorrow I will deny it... but I'm getting much better at school. My report card was so good that I actually got $10. It was 100% better than my last one. And... I kind of, actually, unbelievably, like to read. That's the class that I'm taking at the college. It's a reading class that will help catch me up for next year. My favorite series are the Magic Treehouse and Junie B Jones. I also really, really like Green Eggs and Ham and the Monster at the End of this Book.

Well, I figured I tell you about some of my favorite things like Charlie did. I can't wait to meet more of you! I ask Dzana when I can meet my cousins and grandparents almost every day. Later.

....Pictures to be posted after adopton is finalized...

1. My favoritest thing in the world is to make friends. I have lots of new BFFL's since I moved here. (In case you don't know, that stands for Best Friends For Life.) This is Madison. She lives kind of far away so I don't get to see her much, but I wish I did. My other new best BFFL's here are Candice and Kari. Kari lives next door. Candice is actually one of Dzana's best friends. Sometimes I get jealous when they go out without me.

2. Ah, three of my favorite things in one picture! I love being lazy. In fact, Dzana and Andy keep telling me I sleep later than any other kid they've ever known. If they didn't drag me out of bed, I could easily stay there until lunch. I also love Coconut. That's the monkey on my head. Candice gave her to me. (Yes, she's a girl. Practically EVERYTHING I have is a girl.) And, I LOVE Hannah Montana. I get in trouble for repeating the same lines out of the same episodes again and again.

3. I like pets. This tank used to hold my pet fish. Unfortunately, fishy died and we need to get a new one. But I really liked putting the tank together!

4. I love my Andy time. You might notice that sometimes I call him Dad and sometimes I call him Andy. That's because I can't decide what to call my new parents. They told me that I could call them whatever I was comfortable with, but it is hard to make that decision.

5. Dzana made a game for me to help catch up in school. I am going through these Hooked on 2nd Grade workbooks. I get prizes when I hit mega games, and a big prize when I get to the end of each book. I am more than halfway through one of them! (I really want my prize!!!)

6. I love having my picture taken. I like to pose for the camera a ton... so much that my mom has to tell me to just relax sometimes.

7. While I am getting better at reading, I am definitely a math and science girl. Dad and I have been learning about geology. When I was star of the week at school, I took my rock kit, (with the chisel, rock hammer and everything,) one day. Now all the boys like me. And I guess they don't have cooties after all. I even told Chandler he was invited to my birthday party.

8. I have a lot of energy. Sometimes my mom and dad tell me to "run it off." So I go outside and literally do. I like to taste the air when I run. I tell my parents it tastes like water.

9. I really like plants and weeding. I like to go outside with Andy and work on the yard with him. But I get tired after about 5 minutes. Our poor tree lost it's branch in a windstorm, so we had to take it off and throw it away. (But first I begged Dzana to let me pose for some pictures!)

Call Me Charlie

Hi There People!

Let me introduce myself to you. My name is Charlie. That's short for Charles. You might have known me as Nigel. Well, technically that's my name until I am adopted... so for now, let's consider Charlie a nickname. My family had a vote a couple of months ago and decided that Charlie suited me well. Why Charlie? Well, it is one of my middle names... the last of my middle names to be exact. And my mommy tells me that she has an Uncle Chuck that I remind her of. Plus, my sister really thought it would be a good name for me!

For those of you who might not already know, I am two and a half years old. My mommy taught me to tell people that I was 2, and to hold up two fingers while doing it. She said it was real cute at first. Now she tells me, "That's enough!" Do you think it is because I do it at least twenty times a day at the top of my lungs? My birthday is December 9th. I am really excited to turn three before Christmas!

I came to live at this house almost three months ago. My new mommy and daddy have taught me a lot of stuff. They also take a lot of pictures. All the time. (Literally.) My mommy keeps saying that she has been really bad about posting updates, so I thought I would help her.

I have made a lot of new friends here. I keep telling my mommy and daddy that I am going to marry Natalie. She is exactly two months younger than me and very cute. They just keep laughing at me when I say that though... I wonder why? I also really, really like Gwen... and her mommy, Anna Marie. At nursery in church I like to poke the other kid's eyes out. (Not really, and I have behaved much better since the first time. I was just trying to point to their eyes for them!)

Mommy and Daddy figured out that I stay out of trouble as long as I am learning. So, I have learned a lot. I can count to 10 with ease and recognize all of the numbers. A lot of times I will scare my mommy by shouting "4!" when I am right behind her and she didn't know I was there. It usually takes her a minute to calm down, but then she finds the 4 that I saw and seems real happy. I also have learned my alphabet song and can recognize most of the letters, both upper and lower cases. My new favorite game is to build the letters with my blocks. And, I've started to help mommy when we read at night by saying the words I know, like "it" and "the".

My favorite, favorite thing about me cannot by captured in a picture. It is my voice. My mommy has a video that she took on her cell phone that she says she wants to send out. Maybe someday she will so that you can all hear how well I can yell my numbers. (Especially the number 10, it is my favorite!) I talk all the time. Well, my mommy keeps telling me that I am yelling too loud and says something about an inside voice a lot. Doesn't everyone want to hear my beautiful tenor all the time???

Here are some of my favorite things... Thank you for taking the time to learn a little about me.

............Pictures to be posted after adoption is finalized...............

1) This is my dog Boone. He is my best buddy. I like to yell, "Ready, set, go!" Then I run into him at full force. Unfortunately, he usually turns right around and starts running after me.

2) This is one of my kitties, Tiger. (I have a brand new kitty named Ziggy too.) I am a cat person, just like daddy. Tiger and Ziggy are my buds.

3) Coloring is the coolest thing in the world. But... I don't know why there are lines already on the paper before I start coloring. I just draw new and better lines all over them.

4) Okay, I have a secret to tell you. I love to read. I mean, I really love to read. Really. I have a lot of toys, but my mommy and daddy are always catching me with books instead of toys. I like to climb up, grab George, and read a book to him. I will point to the pictures and ask him questions about the story. He never answers though.

5) I also believe that food is not just for eating. You may not know this, but food is primarily for rearranging. For instance, if mommy gives me crackers, I must dutifully stack them before considering taking a bite. I love rearranging my food. That's why most of my meal times are longer than an hour.

6) Ah, the job of running... especially with Natalie.

7) And the best part about running? If you pick your feet up real good, so that you don't trip, you can stick your arms out and pretend to be a plane. I just love that!

8) I also really, really like balls. Not for throwing. Throwing is not my strong point. I love to stick my head on them and roll over them. I also love to kick them. My daddy and mommy keep saying I'm going to be a soccer star. What's soccer?

9) And, of course, I love sticks and rocks. I mean, come on people, I am a boy! I like to pretend like my sticks are walking sticks. Just like my daddy. I like to weigh my pockets down with rocks and other berries and pebbles too. My mommy never seems happy when she finds them though.