Trip Three of Three

Our last trip was planned for Julia.  For months she has been telling me that she wants to go to a hotel and spend the night with me.  What a perfect way to show her how special she is.  Our trip started with a stop at the farmer's market, Avila Farms, Josh and I went to on our trip.  Only Julia was not that interested in looking around.  She wanted to feed the animals!  She fell in love with the little goats so we bought five bags of food.

This little goat(above) seemed to really like Julia.  He kept wanting her to pet him.  I wish I could have recorded all her oohs and ahhs.  It was really cute.

We went on the hay ride and saw berries growing.  We both wished that we could pick some to eat. 

(Look at the boy behind us doesn't he looked thrilled!)

And of course we got Julia some ice cream!  Yummy!

While on the hay ride I told Julia that I had another surprise for her.  She wanted some hints so I told her "PINK".  She had no idea what I was talking about.  I figured she wouldn't.  Anyway, on the ride over, to our next surprise, I struggled to come up with the perfect way to share the secret and came up with a plan.  Here's what I did.....

I pulled into the inn parking lot and stopped.  Julia asked me if this was a place to sleep.  I answered with a simple yes and said quickly that there was a lot more to do too.  She was content with that answer, still unaware.  I went to the back of the car and asked her to come help me with something.  I was pulling out our suitcase and planned on asking her to help me carry it to our room.  She came around the car more confused than before and smiled.  I asked her if she knew what the suitcase was for and she said, "yes but I'm not going to tell you".  This is Julia's way of expressing that she really doesn't know for sure.  I asked her if she would like to stay here for the night and she said yes, she screamed with excitement, jumped up and down and screamed again.  Oh the look on her face!!!

I bet you would like to know where we stayed huh?

(The sign makes this place look cheese balls but trust me it's not)

If you have never seen or heard of this place you have to check out their website  HERE.  We stayed in room 173, Floral Fantasy.   Check the room out HERE .

Julia loved the room! We spent time at their amazing pool and jacuzzi (Julia's favorite part). Ate at there pink steak house ( which is like eating inside pink frosting, check it out HERE), we looked at their shops and Julia rode her bike on their trail.

Julia and I both fell in love with their cool chairs. The colors are so fun.

We played Chutes and Ladders and Connect Four (seven times each game because Julia is

turning 7-Julia's idea!).  Julia wore the rob from the room and owned it.  She had so much fun.

Julia was really cute.  She wanted to keep all the doors in the room closed because "then there is more pink".  I love how she pays attention to detail.

And look at this...

a pink bike rack!  It doesn't get better than that.

Julia and I had some really special moments. I wish I had time to write about them all. I am happy to know that she felt loved and very special! Every moms wish.

PS  I decided that I can't leave this one precious moment out of our story.  Shorty upon entering the room Julia noticed a picture on the wall with a mother and daughter sitting in a garden.  She instantly told me, " Look at this picture, it's perfect for us because it's like you and me".  If that doesn't melt a mamma's heart I don't know what will.

Trip Two of Three

The second trip was the one Josh and I took alone to Morro Bay.  We have not been on a trip alone since I was pregnant with Hannah and I don't really count that trip as going alone.  This trip, however, was just the two of us and it was a blast.  We stayed at The Inn at Morro Bay and I could not have asked for a more perfect place for us.  It was quiet and charming.  This is my favorite vacation spot now!

This was the view from our room.

Although we did not have a total bay view we could still see the rock and we enjoyed the trees and sky that we could see.  We slept with the door and shutters open.  It was very bungalow beach feeling.  I loved it!  Here's the view of the sunset from our room.  Beautiful!

We went on some great bike rides too.  We rode five miles to the area Josh would like to retire someday. 

We walked on the beach and took some great pictures.  The camera really made this outing fun.

I had coffee in a glass mug.  I don't know why but it felt very fancy and I loved the way it looked.  So fresh and cheery.  Strange perhaps but look!

We ate at some really neat places.  On our last morning we had breakfast at the little coffee shop called Coffee Cottage that overlooked the bay.  Then we bought Taffy and I took more pictures.

On our way home we made a few stops because we wanted the day to be full of "us" time.  Our first stop you will learn more about in the next post "The Third Trip".  Then it was off to Avila Beach where we walked the pier and ate lunch.  The pier was kind of creepy because the boards had about an inch and a half gap between them.  We both felt like we would fall through.  I know it's impossible but it still made us uncomfortable.

Our last stop was this great farmer's market just off the freeway at Avila Beach.  They had an ice cream shop, vegetables, candy, jam, homemade pies, animals, hay rides and a whole lot more.  We will definitely be going back to bring the girls.

The best part about this trip was reconnecting with each other.  We spent a lot of time enjoying each others interests, for Josh cycling and for me learning to take good pictures.  It's not a trip I will soon forget!!!

Wish we were there now!

Trip One of Three

Since baby number four will be here "soon".  Josh and I thought it would be a great idea to take Sarah and Julia on a special trip, individually, and for us to take a few days away.  So here's what happened.

Trip number 1....

Sarah's day came first.  We surprised Sarah with a day in Solvang.  We started out with lunch at her favorite restaurant, Paula's Pancake House, so she could get the omelet she calls "the best omelet ever"

We then headed over to the main street so we could find the Surrey rentals.  This was so much fun.  We laughed a lot, pedaled a lot and made Sarah happy.

After our fun ride we decided to get some ice cream and check out the local shops.  Isn't she cute.

Then we went to the miniature horse farm.  The horses were so cute.  Sarah wanted us to take one home and didn't think $2000.00 was very much to spend on one.  At least she got to pet one!

On our way to the farm we saw this really cool park so, you guessed it, we stopped and played on our way back.  It had the coolest swing I have ever seen.  I even enjoyed it!  We played hide and seek and Josh spun her on the tire swing.  She had a blast!

It was a perfect day for Sarah.  She loves to go go go and that's just what we did.

Trip number two coming soon.

September 6th

We received our letter from Homeland Security with the date for our fingerprints.  Yep, you guessed it, September 6th.  Things are definitely moving quicker this side of the home study. 
YAY!

Success

Our garage sale started right at 8am and ended just before 11am.  This is what the start of the sale looked like.....

About an hour later a very sweet neighbor brought the girls some plants and spices to sale too.  She also bought some bread.  This made Julia's day.  She was so excited that someone was buying something.

As time went on we had a few adults come by and buy some bread and someone bought both plants!  After a little while the girls got very silly and a little bored from sitting around.  Sarah got creative with her time....

At the end of the sale we had a good laugh about the fact that we sold no toys, only bread and plants.  It was a great experience for the girls.  I call this a success because the girls had fun!  I also got to sit with them and talk about life.  We made lots of memories!!!  An added bonus was getting to know the heart of a neighbor we barely know.  God made good things happen yesterday!!!

Mini Garage Sale

The girls decided a few months ago that they wanted to have a garage sale.  They wanted to give me the money for the adoption!  My girls are PRICELESS!!!!!  Julia made clay furniture at school and wants to sell them for $9.00, $6.00 and so on.  I didn't know what to do because I wanted to support them but know that people will not pay as much as they would like to charge for the items they have to sell.  It's so hard when your children's hearts are in the right place because I don't want to crush their desire to help.  Julia would love to get lots of money for us.  So after talking with a friend and thinking about it for these few months we have decide to let them have the garage sale, this Saturday form 8-11, but they will need to price their items at appropriate garage sale prices.  I worry that no one will come and they will feel disappointed.  Unfortunately, I can't control the out come of the sale but I can support them and make sure they have fun reminding them how sweet they are for thinking this up in the first place.  We may even bake something to sell?

I will let you know what happens.

Passports

We went this morning to process our paperwork for our passports!  I got butterflies just before pulling into the driveway.  This seemed silly but with each step we take I know it's one day closer to bringing our son home.  Things really seem to be moving quickly.  The check for immigration was cashed so our paperwork must have arrived and hopefully is being processed.  We should hear from them within 30 days.  I will keep you posted!

PS  We have taken some pre-adoption trips that I will share about once the final trip is done.  You won't want to miss this.