June 23 - Kiddie Park
We had plans to go to Kiddie Park 2 years ago when we visited Oklahoma on our way home from Texas (our very first visit), but for whatever reason didn't make it there. Since the kids have been talking about it ever since, we definitely knew we wanted to put it on the schedule. What we hadn't counted on was the 105+ heat wave or the fact that Camden is now too tall for some of the rides.
We decided that wouldn't stop us, and I'm glad we went. Just look at all the fun! You can't really beat .25 rides and cotton candy, drinks, and popcorn for $1. Did I mention no admission fee?
As Becky pointed out, our motto for this night was clearly "shoot, then shoot some more" and I have more pictures than I know what to do with. I haven't even been able to make myself upload Becky's pictures because the sheer volume of what I have myself is overwhelming. Here are just a few.
Rory slept the whole way to the park, and after we arrived, she was in no mood to play.
Clearly, she got over it.
The roller coaster was a big hit.
This picture is out of focus, but it shows how quickly they were all moving (and how dark it was).
What were we thinking letting Rory get in a body of water. She does not have a good track record. Thankfully, she made it just fine.
It's hard to get snap all 4 kids at once if you can't tell.
And the Rory glimpsed the dress-up Elmo, and the tears started.
Have I ever mentioned she is deathly afraid of clowns and mascots?
Aaannnddd, there are the tears.
This one makes me so happy.
As does this.
The 4 kids waited all night to drive the bumper cars. The adults made them wait because we couldn't make ourselves stand in line any longer than possible. Did I mention it was 107 Saturday, which is why we didn't even arrive at the park until 7:45.
Such a fun night!
Our experience with other adoptive parents has been pretty minimal. Usually when I see other families in public spaces, I might make eye contact, but it's not really in my nature to strike up a conversation with a stranger. At Kiddie Park, I had noticed 2 Asian cuties, and really enjoyed it when their dad piped up and told us how beautiful Camden and Rory were. He was such a proud papa of his own two children. They're starting their family over at the age of 46 and had just adopted a little boy and girl - both from China and about 26 months old.
Comments
This past school year, a little girl was placed in Lilly's class that was adopted from China and they shared the same birthday. Lilly didn't know much because she speak much English...so we made a few assumptions and waited for the upcoming Mothers Day Tea and hoped her mom would be there. Turns out that the little girl was adopted from China a few months earlier but was actually 12! They put her in the 4th grade hoping she would learn some English instead of dumping her in the 6th grade. The mom talked with me for about 2.5 minutes and it was obvious she was itching to run out the door. Kind of sad, because the little girl really liked Lilly and they live really close to us.
Whatever...I'm 47 years old and I've learned not to try and force friendships. It does make me feel bad for Lilly and trying to explain it to her without making her feel like she did something wrong was hard to do.
I hope things went well for you on the 5th and you are feeling as well as can be expected.
Tracee