Why I wish Ohio was closer to Virginia

This has taken me weeks to post because apparently blogger was not a fan of how many pictures I wanted to put on here!  Last month the girls and I made the trek to Ohio.  It used to be an annual event until life got in the way and an eight hour drive with the kids seemed too overwhelming! It had been a few years and it was finally time to go back, especially since we were going to be staying with some awesome friends! 

I made a lot of preparations for the drive including travel tickets and car games found at this site.  They did help pass the time and encourage tolerable great behavior!  As soon as we pulled in to Columbus I was overwhelmed by the freeway.  I have been spoiled living in a small town and the most freeway driving I do is on 64, so the insanity of Columbus's freeway system was too much!  In addition we were hit by a MAJOR storm as we rolled in.  Yes, I was the one driving 40 miles/hour with my  flashers on!  Way to roll in to my old stomping grounds!

We arrived at Shawn, Theresa, and Mali's house damp and frazzled.  The girls, of course, made themselves right at home.  Theresa was kind enough to let me invite my friend Angie to drop by with her triplets for a few minutes.  Angie's family was headed out of town the next day and I didn't think I'd get to see them again.  Angie and I have been friends since high school and her triplets were born just 2 months after Laurel.  It was always stunning to think that she was handling three "Laurels" at the same time when I was barely pulling through with one and my toddler Sierra!  After they left Sierra, Laurel, and Mali headed to the pool where they spent most of their time when we were at the house.  (I guess we didn't need to spend money for our in-ground pool... they were just as entertained by the blow-up one!)  We relaxed that evening which was nice after a 10 hour road trip.

Friday we headed to The Columbus Zoo, home of Jack Hanna.  I think most of the animals were as hot and tired as we were as they were pretty inactive.  We all had fun though, seeing the animals that were out, feeling at home in the place where I grew up going to school trips, watching the kids play.  Theresa and Mali headed to speech therapy so Shawn got to join the girls and I on my trip down memory lane.  We drove around Westerville and my old neighborhoods as I pointed out place after place, memory after memory.  The girls grunted ooh'd and ahh'd when I was excited about something.  I guess the sentiment wasn't there for them, or Shawn for that matter, but he was a good sport!  That evening we headed out to Uptown Westerville's Fourth Friday shindig.  We went to the Dairy Queen that I frequented in high school when my best friend worked there.  On the way home we stopped by and saw some of our old neighbors.  We spent Thursday and Friday evening setting off floating lanterns, having glow in the dark egg hunts, and finally after the kids were asleep relaxing with a drink and chatting.

Saturday was off to breakfast with my mom and her old coworkers.  I grew up knowing these friends of my moms and it was so good to see them again!  One of the craziest things about our random friendship with Shawn and Theresa is that they live in the neighborhood that I grew up in and it is connected to the  neighborhood where I lived throughout my high school years.  When the kids and I got back to their house Saturday Theresa and I took the girls out for a walk around both of these neighborhoods and a great path in the woods that connects them.  The girls got to play in the same park and same creek that I grew up playing in as Theresa got an ear full of my younger days!  We discovered that Theresa adopted her dog from the animal shelter that I used to volunteer at and then randomly some volunteers walked by us taking dogs on an outing at the park!  Not only do we have obvious things in common (girls adopted from China) but we seem to keep finding all of these other tidbits that link us.  Not to mention that all of us (husbands, kids, etc) get along fabulously, we feel so lucky that Shawn, Theresa, and Mali have found their way into our lives.  Sometimes connections with people happen so randomly and turn out so awesome, it can seem meant to be (like the red thread!) I think the feeling is mutual!

Playing in the pool

Floating lantern (as far as we know it didn't land on anyone's house!)

Shawn made a friend at the zoo

I thought trying to get a good picture of my three kids was hard.  Try four!

These HUGE bears were playing

Feeding the birds

Sierra and Gramma

Sierra overcame her embarrassment at getting up in the firetruck if I wouldn't call her "my baby" anymore

Mali and Cadence got a lift!

Awesome sunset

I don't know what they enjoyed more.... eating donuts from Schneiders or being silly!

Cadence loved to hide things in this cabinet.  Like balloons, her blanket, my purse, the room key!

One of my very favorite pics ever!  Do you feel the love?!

The creek behind my house in Strawberry Farms that I used to play in

Being silly at the hotel pool (the loudest place EVER with 4 rowdy kids!)

Being silly with Gramma and Papa

Saturday night we checked in to our hotel and I went out to dinner with my friend Kim while my parents watched the girls.  Although I've loved bringing my girls with me, being a single parent while living out of a suitcase can be exhausting.  It was great to get away for a few hours and enjoy some drinks and memories and catch up.  When I got back to the hotel I found out about another freakish, random meet-up.  My brother and dad ran into my brother's high school girlfriend (and fiancee) as they were walking in to the hotel.  She currently lives in Wisconsin and was in Columbus visiting family... and staying in the hotel room right below us!  Even more weird, the day before we had left for Ohio she had messaged me on Facebook, although I hadn't seen it yet since I just had my phone.  Crazy!

On Sunday I head out to see my friends Jody and Kim and their girls. The kids swam while we tried to  talk.  It had been a busy weekend and was definitely catching up with my three kids.  Our visit was too short but I had to get back to the hotel to meet up with my brother.  I briefly stopped to see another old friend from high school.  It's so strange to think that our times together were soooo long ago!  When I see my friends, though, it sometimes feel as though no time has passed at all... things are just as they were way back when!  Our meet-up with my brother fell through and Shawn, Theresa, and Mali came to the hotel and brought dinner and we swam in the pool.  It was good to see them one last time before we headed home to Virginia.

Monday morning we had breakfast with my brother.  It was great to see him and the girls love being with him.  I just wish it happened more often.  Maybe he'll eventually make his way to VA!  I made one last stop before we left Ohio to see one of my best friends from high school.  We've know each other since 7th grade and have been through so much together... from getting caught sneaking out in high school to being in each others' weddings.  Her oldest daughter Mia was my first "unofficial" niece.  Even though we don't talk all of the time, I know that our friendship will be lifelong!  The girls and I finally headed out of Ohio.  I had checked out www.roadsideamerica.com to break up the trip on the way home.  It's a very cool tool that I highly recommend if you are into weird stuff that sort of thing!  We saw the pumpkin water tower and stopped at a pet cemetery.  Who knew so many people used a pet cemetery?!  There were all sorts of animals and gravesites to check out.  By the time we were in the area to check out the much anticipated Batboy statue the kids were exhausted and so was I.  Maybe next time we'll hit that one. It was good to get home after a wonderful long weekend with friends and family.  I am blessed!

Kim and Jody's adorable girls at the pool

Misti and I (this is what happens when Sierra takes the pic!)

Sierra, Cadence, Laurel, Mia and Mallori

Breakfast with Chris

Beloved pets

Pet mausoleum?

Big pet cemetery.  It's "For sale" in case you are interested!

Weekend visitors part dos

Indoor water parks are my happy place!  A few years ago, when Brad was in midst of grad school hell, we went to Massanutten Water Park for Mother's Day.  We ran, we swam, we had a blast!  And for the first time in 10 months the words "I have to get home to study" were not uttered.  I am not kidding... that phrase was a staple in our life for 3 years.  Never hearing it again (at least from Brad's mouth) would not be a day too soon!  No one argues, few people cry, and we always have fun when we go!

So when our weekend guests were here we decided to head to Great Wolf Lodge.  Mali and Cadence loved the slides, Sierra and Laurel (ok, and Brad and I) loved the big slides, and I think Shawn and Theresa enjoyed their first taste of one of the happiest places in Virginia!  Naps aligned beautifully with arrival and departure, we had a great dinner at a BBQ joint where the kids ran around like wild and we did our best to ignore them, the kids finally got to play Magiquest and the little girls listened to the creepy  quaint storytime characters that night.  The girls loved their "campout" bunks as well as having the freedom to go out "on their own" to do one of the quests.  It was a great way to end a wonderful weekend with our new friends!

This pretty much sums up Cadence going down the slides!  But she did it over and over!

Mali and Cadence swimming

Mali checking out the slide

...and the fountain

So much joy, happiness, and even playing together!

Checking out the bunk

Relaxing on our bed

Magiquest

Look what a large piece of overpriced plastic can do!  It can open and even larger piece of plastic!  But the kids loved it.

Storytime (this was right about the time a little girl, 4 years old maybe, turned to me and said "No flash photography"  Really?!)

We found something new (and probably against the rules) to do with the room decor

Brad gives Mali a lift

Shawn gives Cadence a lift

Laurel loved her some Mali!

Our weekend visitors

Shortly after we received Cadence's referral in April 2010 an old friend from high school messaged my on Facebook and said that a friend of hers had recently adopted their daughter from China and would I like to have her contact information.  I wanted all of the information that I could get and the fact that their child had an unrepaired cleft lip and palate just like Cadence had me even more intrigued.  I contacted Theresa a few weeks later letting her know who I was, information about Cadence, when we were planning to travel to China, etc.  She shared her wealth of knowledge with me about China, clefts, adoption... all nuggets of wisdom that gave me strength during a very stressful time. 

At some point after we returned home from China Theresa and I became "Facebook friends" and followed each others' blogs.  The similarities between Cadence and her daughter Mali were sometimes startling!  Their clefts were on the same side and especially when they smile they look very similar.  When Cadence sees pictures of Mali online she often thinks it is herself (and the same with Mali).  But their personalities are so much alike it's crazy!  The same strong-willed, stubborn, determination that they exude all of the time.  They have the same enthusiasm and sense of humor.  In Theresa's blog posts about Mali I can see Cadence doing the exact same thing... it's scary sometimes!

So, we decided that we wanted to try and meet up.  We looked into meeting in Washington DC for the cherry blossom festival but that didn't work out.  They live about 8 hours away so it was going to be tricky.  (They actually live in the neighborhood that I grew up in!)  Eventually I decided to invite them to stay the weekend with us.  Mind you, we had only ever spoken on the phone once by this point.  Here was the conversation with my husband:


Me:  So you know that family in Ohio who has the little girl with the same cleft lip as Cadence?  They brought her home just about a year before we met Cadence.  I've shown you Mali's pictures before on Facebook and their blog and talked about how similar their personalities are.  We had talked about meeting them in DC...

Brad:  Yes. (Distractedly) 

Me:  I don't think DC will work out so I thought that we could invite them to stay the weekend here at our house.

Brad: (I had his attention now!)  And how do you know them?

Me:  She is friends with a friend from my high school.  We read each other's blog and are friends on Facebook.  (as if that is explanation enough)

Brad:  You want to invite them to stay?  For the weekend? (completely skeptical)

Me:  Yes.

Brad:  Ok.  I guess.


I was pretty stunned that he agreed this easily!  If you had told me a year ago that I would invite a family that I had never met and only spoken to on the phone to come sleep at our house I would have said that you were C-R-A-Z-Y!  But here we were!  And not only did I feel very excited about it but also completely comfortable (ok, maybe 99% comfortable - there was some nervousness!). 

To make a long story, well, long, Theresa, Shawn, and Mali came to visit us this weekend.  They stayed a couple of nights, we went to a wine festival (how bad can people who love wine festivals be?), and then went to Great Wolf Lodge for a night.  And, I think I can say with confidence, that we all had a blast!  Despite telling Theresa when she texted to say they were almost to our house that I felt like I was meeting a blind date, everyone fell right in step when they arrived.  Cadence and Mali got along great all weekend (a sometimes challenging feat for a 3 and 4 year old).  Sierra and Laurel dotted on Mali like she was their sister.  And it felt like we were hanging out with old friends while we hung out all weekend with Shawn and Theresa.  I'm still a little shocked to feel so connected to a family that we just met in person a week ago.  But, I am feeling very lucky, indeed, to have met them.  I have a feeling that they will be in our life for a long time!

Mali and Cadence starting up the car

Gee, can you guess what will happen next?!

Oh my goodness they had a good time driving (Thelma and Louise as Theresa said!)

Laurel keeping an eye out

These two girls LOVE to laugh!

Except when squished in a Barbie car

Shawn was good natured enough to be the water balloon target

...and laugh!

She figured out quickly how to work the water squirter

Not sure how Mali feels about this

Sierra teaching Mali how to play Xbox

Silly girl!

Side story:  Sierra and Laurel found face painting at the wine festival.  They each wanted $9 to have a "whole face" done.  I told them that there was no way that I was spending $20 for them to get their faces painted.  I gave them $10 and told them to get their cheek done.  We walked over a few minutes later to see Laurel's face covered and Sierra smiling excitedly with her.  Sierra said that she gave up her face painting so that Laurel could get her whole face done.

My heart melted.  Sierra is a sweet, loving child, but honestly, to do this for her sister isn't completely in character.  How else could I reward that (after a huge hug and telling her how proud I was of her) except to let her get her whole face done too?  I would have preferred that they picked something other than "Dia de la Muerta" (Day of the Dead) to have on their faces, but I'll take selflessness where I can get it!

My girls!

Of course Cadence followed suit with a skull on her face (although I asked the woman to make a little "pretty")

Theresa and me (she's doing her Marilyn Monroe impression!)

Our crew!