What's the deal??

I swear that the airlines are out to drive me bonkers. On our recent flight to SLC the airline decided to switch my chosen seats so that they had Maisie and I separated by four rows and on opposite sides of the plane. This obviously wouldn't have worked as Maisie wouldn't have sat away from me with strangers, nor would I have allowed it to happen. Online there were still plenty of seats side-by-side so why they made the change is beyond me but thankfully it didn't take long to correct as I could make the changes online. Then about two weeks ago I got an email from British Airways letting me know that our December flight from Atlanta to London had been cancelled. Guess they didn't have enough passengers booked or this is their cost savings plan so they re-booked us two days later with our same return date...yeah thanks. Cut my time in London down by two days, I don't think so. So after a nice long wait and a nice little chat with customer service we're now flying over two days earlier than planned so we get a little extra time there. Then today I get an email regarding our Aruba flight letting me know about a time change, nothing major right? Yeah right! They didn't just change the flight time a little they actually took us off our original flights and put us on different flights. WHY?? Our original flight times changed by a few minutes and we had/have multiple hour layovers so it's not like we're not going to be able to make the connections and here too, there are plenty of available seats on our original flights. So after an hour on the phone with "customer service" we're back on our original flights and all I can do is hope that there are no more major changes and time on the phone with customer service. Okay whinge over.

Maisie is enjoying her final week of gymnastics camp and probably like last year, she'll ask me for months about when she can return to camp telling me how much she loved and misses camp and why can't it be all the time. I'm so happy that she loves it and desires to be there but reminding her that it only happens during summer vacation for months and months gets tiring. Her favorite place is the gym and her twice weekly practice just isn't enough gymnastics to fill her need to be there, but that's how it is until summer camp 2010.

When we were in SLC Maisie just loved using Eliza's Leapster and a few times since we've returned she's played with A's during the drive home from camp. She's been asking for one of her own but I honestly never saw myself buying one of these because I just don't get them and they tend to drive me crazy...trust me, it's a short trip. But I relinquished, found a good sale and got the girl her first hand held gaming system, oh my! I'm telling you the girl loves it and I know that there's an educational aspect to it so it's here. But I do have an ulterior motive with this toy. Since our trip to Florida back in June, I don't think that Maisie has spent an entire night in her own bed and since we returned from SLC she hasn't even wanted to go to bed in her own room so has been sleeping with me. That's where the Leapster comes in and hopefully Maisie understands the new rule. She sleeps in her own bed, all night long and that next day she gets the Leapster. Hopefully this is enough incentive to get her back into her own bed but please send good wishes and keep your fingers crossed that this new plan works, I really need some whirling-dervish-kick-free sleep and Eammon needs to sleep full time in our bed and not the Princess bed!

What else has been going on? We had a nice weekend with fabulous sunny & dry weather so there was a lot of outdoor and pool time which was fun. Saturday I met up with my friend Judy, whom I haven't seen since Maisie's 2 year birthday party. We had a nice brunch together at Cafe Intermezzo and then did a little shopping together. Sunday morning K & A's Mom and I went down to the international farmer's market where we both loaded up on foods, spices and various ingredients from probably twenty different countries so our larders are full. We each bought some prepared Asian foods so that night after an afternoon at the pool we assembled a nice little buffet and had a nice dinner together. While at the market I scored some Rainier cherries for $1.99/lb and oh the pity, I'm the only one who likes them...woohoo I'm in cherry heaven! I also purchased a cantaloupe that was close to the size of a watermelon and it's amazingly sweet and tender so Maisie has been loving it. I've been getting Maisie outfitted with the necessary clothes for school and tomorrow while she's at camp I'm off to purchase her required school supply shopping list. Guess that sums it up for this post, life in our home and with the little gamer Maisie.

Skin the cat

Truly not the most graceful of dismounts but I've got to appreciate the strength of my little girl. Maisie is just loving gymnastics camp and it's especially fun that her next-door-neighbor friends K & A are there with her all day. I'm telling you Maisie holds her own at camp with the big kids, check them out as they wait for their turn on the rings. Next week is the final week of camp then we'll have two weeks off where I plan to spend lots of time with my gal, hopefully at the pool and doing lots of fun activities. I'm hoping that our fabu weather of warm days with almost no humidity continues because the weather here in Georgia has been unbelievably gorgeous. School starts in just 26 days, I can't believe that summer is almost over :-(

Back in the groove

Maisie and I had an easy trip home from SLC. During the flight from SLC to Dallas Maisie ate her snacks, looked out the window and played the entire flight. On the flight from Dallas to Atlanta she slept, from about five minutes after we took off until about three minutes before landing she was out. As soon as we were in the car heading home from the airport Maisie started asking what her neighbor friends K & A were doing and if they were home and could she play with them and what would they do together...on and on until we arrived home and as soon as possible she raced over to ring their bell to see her friends. Unfortunately they all couldn't play together right then but the next morning they were all going to gymnastics camp together and that thought alone sustained Maisie through the night. It's great to be home but we are missing our SLC friends and can't wait until the next time we are together again.

Wednesday morning I had to do the almost unheard of task of waking Maisie up for camp as her poor little body was still two hours behind on Utah time. She got a full nights rest but the time change messed her up a bit. Maisie was totally psyched because I would be taking her, K & A to camp in one car and she just loved that idea so even though she was still tired she was up and running within minutes.

This morning K & A's Dad had to run out early so the kids came over and joined Maisie for breakfast and they came bearing their toothbrushes so after breakfast brushing their teeth became a group activity! I then took them all to camp where they had a FABU day. While the kids were at camp I went off and did a little school shopping for Maisie and as you can see from the piccie, the theme for Maisie this year is Kai-Lan. I of course only did the fun school shopping as I didn't have the required school supply list with me so that will have to be a trip on another day. Maisie's so excited to start school and use all her new things and I can't believe that there's only four weeks left to summer before school starts. I can't believe how fast the summer break is passing. We did three week long vacations and Maisie's had three weeks of gymnastics camp already and she was home for almost two weeks before any of that began...but still, where has the time gone?

Final days in SLC

Sunday morning after a good nights sleep for all, we hung around the house in our PJ's debating what we should do with the day. Once the girls were both awake and fed they played together and did their silly word games.
Solomon decided that he was old enough to play on the computer and tried to take over on my laptop.
Tiffany was debating if she was up for church or not, as her time slot happens smack dab in the middle of nap time, but when I said that we'd go with her if she wanted, she decided to go. We all put on our Sunday best and then walked over to her church. Through the years I've been to many different Synagogues and Churches of various denominations but this was my first time in a Mormon Church and I have to say it was different than any other service I've attended but also interesting. I'll also say that I'm glad that we only attended the one hour Sacrament meeting and headed home without attending the additional two hours of classes as I, along with the little girls had reached our limit and nap time sounded like a great idea. Our timing was also perfect in that we made it home just minutes before the skies opened up and torrential rain started.
The girls slept together again for naps then we had a play filled afternoon. Come bed time the girls jumped into the bathtub and had a fun time splashing and playing together. I was looking back at a slide show from our last visit which includes some bathtub piccies and I just can't believe how much they've grown but they still love bathing together. The girls both had another good nights rest allowing their Mama's to get some sleep too!!

Today I had plans with Susie as she was taking me to the open house of the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple. I figured it may be the only time that I'd have the opportunity to go inside a Temple so I was so grateful that she arranged for us to go. I'm also thankful that Tiffany offered to watch Maisie so that I could go out and spend time with Susie. The Temple was beautiful and really interesting to see and Susie was able to tell me the meaning and symbolism behind a lot of the things I was seeing. After the tour we headed out for lunch and her husband Scott suggested we go to Z'Tejas which was a great choice and I absolutely loved my meal. After lunch we headed back to Tiffany's and while the little ones napped, Susie, Tiffany and I visited.

After naps Eliza's teacher Destinee came over to watch the children so that Tiffany and I could go out for a few hours sans children. We headed over to the Gateway Center to do a little shopping including a stop for treats at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Next we headed out to get pedicures and then we enjoyed a quick dinner of gyros. Our time was limited but we then headed over to Lisa's for visit and to check out how cute she decorated Tate's room and to see her lovely, recently refinished hardwood floors. It was a quick visit though as we had to get back and relieve Destinee but Lisa was going to head over to Tiffany's to spend some time with us. When we arrived back at the house we could immediately see that the girls had had fun as the driveway was covered with chalk drawings and we could hear giggles coming from the back yard. The girls were whooping it up in the pool and said that they had had fun while we were away.

Lisa & Tate came over so we got to spend a last visit with them and before we knew it, it was bedtime for all the wee ones so we said our goodbye to Lisa & Tate and all the children went to sleep. I'm all packed and early tomorrow morning we head back to Atlanta. I know that Maisie will be delighted to see her Baba and to be back in her own home but she'll definitely miss her friend Eliza. Hopefully Tiffany, Eliza and Solomon will make a trip east and visit with us soon and I know this won't be our last visit to SLC as we always have such great fun with our Utah friends.

On a final note, Tiffany is giddy shopping Gymboree online and channeling Julie Andrews singing My Favorite Things...and she just won't stop...OY!! Guess it's good that we're packed up and heading home tomorrow! Thanks Tiffany and all our Utah friends for a great visit!

Oh the price we pay...

For keeping the little girls up wayyyyyy past their bedtime. Even after going to bed after midnight my girl still awoke Saturday at 6:30am. I'm telling you, the girl is out to kill me with her sleep...or lack there of. It was a bit of a rough start to the morning with two cranky little girls but by late morning they were in the back yard running around together splashing in the pool, jumping on the trampoline and being silly...in the buff mind you. While the girls were happy and playing I ran over to Cafe Rio to pick up some salads for Tiff and I and then after a quick lunch it was nap time.

The girls decided to sleep together in Tiffany's bed. They talked and giggled for a few minutes but soon were fast asleep.
Solomon too enjoyed his second nap of the day.
And it wasn't just the little ones who were out for the count, Tiff & Beau enjoyed a little snooze too.

After naps we headed over to Tiffany's friend Marji's home for a little pizza and pool party. I never pulled out my camera but another of Tiff's friends Marque, took the pictures I'm posting. The girls were in the pool for four hours, jumping & swimming and having a great time. It was another late night, close to 11PM before we all got into bed and we told Maisie that the rule was, no one out of bed until 8am and I had my fingers crossed that she would last that long. Imagine my surprise when she awoke at 8:11am looked at the clock, put her head back down and then slept until 9:15am!! Ahhhh, the joy of a little rest makes a happy little girl and an even happier Mama!
Eliza is a little fish in the water and has no fear, she was jumping into the deep end with the big girls and just had a blast.
Maisie doing her silly grin.
Eliza is a hoarder collector and the booty of the day were all the swim goggles she could get her hands on.
Nora & Liza
MiMi
YuYu
Marque & Solomon

Return to Salt Lake City

Maisie and I flew into Salt Lake City on Thursday and just like our visits in 2006 & 2007, we're having a great time. Waiting for us at Tiffany's house were Julie & Tess and Lisa & Tate. It was so fun to meet Tate & Solomon for the first time and oh my gosh, to see how big both Eliza & Tess have grown. Lisa & Tate had a family get-together to attend but the rest of us hung at Tiffany's and had a great time chatting and catching up as well as watching the girls play in the pool and run around together like best friends. Maisie, Eliza and Tess just had so much fun together, playing and whooping it up like they knew each other forever and were best friends. We then headed out for dinner at Cafe Rio and the Pork Barbacoa salad was as wonderful as I remembered and I'm sure to enjoy another one before heading back to Atlanta.

Before leaving Atlanta, Wednesday night Maisie was just too excited to sleep. After a struggle she finally went to bed at 8PM but then awoke at 10PM and stayed awake until 12:45am, thus depriving me of all but a short sleep because we had to wake up Thursday at 2:30am EST for our obscenely early flight. After almost no sleep, about eight hours of travel including two planes, a layover in Dallas, getting the rental car, hanging and playing with friends, dinner out and a two hour time zone change, by 8:30PM local time (10:30PM to our bodies) Maisie was begging to go to sleep and I was oh too happy to oblige, within minutes we were out for the night.

I was totally bummed that Julie's plans had changed due to unforeseen circumstances so instead of being able to see her for a few days, our trips now only overlapped by about a day so we tried to get in as much time together as possible. Friday morning before Julie's flight Tiffany and I along with the kids met up with Lisa & Julie and the girls at Liberty Park so that the girls could play. It was a gorgeous day and the park was beautiful so it was a fun time. Even with all the sprinklers, water features, climbing equipment, swings & slides the girls had the most fun of all playing on some large rocks. It was sad to say goodbye to Julie & Tess after a much to short visit but hopefully we'll see them again soon...I'm thinking a trip to out to see them along with a visit to Mall of America may be in our future.

All the little kidlets were just so very tired so nap time was next on the agenda and a must as we had big plans for the evening. Laurel had invited us along with numerous local adoptive people over for a BBQ so Friday night we headed over there. Laurel's home and yard are gorgeous and it was a perfect place for a fun evening. The older children played volleyball & basketball and chased each other around with cups of ice while the younger ones happily played in the stream, on the playground equipment and the trampoline.

We really enjoyed the evening and a huge thank you to Laurel and her family for hosting everyone. I especially loved that I was able to see our friends Kim Brown & Susie along with their families as well as meeting so many new people as well. All in all there must have been close to 40 people all hanging out, eating and having a great evening. We were all having such a good time we didn't get back to Tiffany's place and into bed until just after midnight and the kids did really well so lots of fun, fun, fun! More piccies and fun times to come!

Maisie & Grace dipping their toes in the stream.
Scott, me, Maisie & Susie.
Solomon, Eliza, Tate, Pearl, Kai, Emily, Grace, Maisie, Maylin, Anya, Xanthe.

Fourth of July weekend

We have enjoyed a really nice 4th of July weekend. It started Friday afternoon/night when we joined with some of our neighbors for dinner and a BBQ. Maisie of course had a great time playing with K & A and it was nice for the adults to be able to sit down together, relax and laugh. Eammon left the party early in the evening as he had prior plans to join a friend to help celebrate his birthday but Maisie and I stayed and played until she came to me and said she wanted to go home because she was tired and by then it was close to 10PM. Even though she went to bed over two hours after her usual bed time, the next morning she only slept about 30 minutes later than usual...OY!

Saturday we didn't have any plans for the 4th nor plans to attend any fireworks displays as neither Maisie nor I like crowds and the sound of fireworks scares the pants off of Maisie. Since she was extra tired from the previous night she went down without any fuss, for an early nap and then she and Eammon spent a few hours at the pool. We've been having glorious weather here in Georgia, bright sunny days with no humidity, perfect for enjoying the outdoors. After the pool we went out for dinner followed by a little playtime at home, then it was bedtime. I was happy that Maisie fell asleep before people in the neighborhood started setting off firecrackers as she was able to get a good nights rest.

This morning we headed over to Trixie & Roger's home for brunch. It's been forever since we last saw them so it was great to catch up and to finally meet their daughter Danielle who will be 4 months old in just a few days. Also it was fun to see how much Andrew had grown, he's such a big boy now so much more so than when we saw him the beginning of the year. We all enjoyed a delicious brunch and it was a nice relaxing time together and with the children. Trixie made a spinach & tomato pie and a wonderful corn relish, Roger grilled some Carne Asada to perfection and to the mix I added a potato crusted garden quiche. It was fun that both Trixie and I used veggies that we had grown in our gardens, love those home grown veggies! Danielle was such a cutie, so alert and following everything that was happening around her. Roger introduced Maisie to cheesy puffs, which she loved and is now disappointed that we don't have such fun junk food in our home and may be planning a trip back to raid their pantry.

I had hoped to take Maisie to the pool this afternoon but after all our wonderful weather of late, today is a rainy day. Instead of the pool we're just spending time together and I guess I'll get caught up on laundry and some cleaning.

Hope that everyone had a wonderful Independence Day.

Playtime at the zoo

Much to Maisie's delight neighbors K & A came over to play this morning. Out came the stuffed animals, tiaras and feather boas. Add to that a gourmet lunch of chicken hot dogs on wheat rolls, veggie chips and grapes, all combined it equalled three very happy children.