The week after our trip to Brampton, we celebrated Benjamin's 3rd birthday. We all went to STARR Gymnastics and let loose and party! Olivia definitely let loose. She loved it. She loved it so much she managed to have a couple of time outs. hahaha. Sigh, life with a "spirited" 2 year old. I would walk her down to where the group was, talk to someone, and then couldnt' find her. She went back to join another pary on the trampoline! Then as we were eating, Olivia managed to "crash" another birthday party in the other room. We were looking for Olivia and then we heard "Does anyone know who this girl int he purple belongs too?" Ugh. William, on the other hand, enjoyed following the others and enjoyed running around. It was just great seeing our friends again, and it was a perfect venue to tire the kids out - more so of the parents.
Then Valentine's Day came. A day that maman and papa don't really celebrate (even though it's our wedding anniversary too). This year was different because Olivia was old enough to write (or at least make an "O") on her Valentine's Day cards. This marked a new event in her school journey. It was her first time to deliver cards to her friends. So the night before, we made cupcakes for her class and teachers and put her cards in her mailbox to be delivered. Love is in the air. :0P Then at night we got a special treat. We ate at Hockey Sushi for dinner with Nalina and Fa because Papa was away for work. Then came home and had a bath and then picked up Lola at the train station. She was down to help maman with the monkeys. When the weekend came around, Lolo and Tita Melissa arrived. Tita Melissa said she wanted to celebrate her birthday with us.
On the weekend, we made a trip downtown to the market to eat at The Keg. We got there at 5pm and there already was a 90 minute wait for the next seating. So we decided to put our name down and walk around in the market. It was fun and it was William's first time. We finally got our table (2 hours later with free appetizers) and had a nice steak dinner. As you could imagine, we were out from 5 to 9pm. So the kids were great at the beginning, but whoa boy by the end it was near disaster. :0P We packed up in a hurry and went home, while Lola and Lolo and Tita Melissa felt lucky and decided to head to the casino. They came back empty handed. Too bad! The next day we decided to do the birthday cake for Tita Melissa. It was a birthday weekend for their lovely aunt.
End of February is now hear and today we went to talk about our journey to Korea at an Adopt Talk session with our adoption agency. This workshop is mandatory for all families in waiting during the process. It was our opportunity to give back and it was very special to us. Not only because we made lots of memories on BOTH of our trips, but it also falls on Olivia's GOTCHA Day. She came home 2 years ago on February 25th. We made a powerpoint presentation made up with tips, maps, short clips, and pictures for these waiting families. Working on it with Martin brought so many emotions. We told ourselves we should watch these videos of our GOTCHA days often to remind us how each one is a miracle and blessing in our lives.
Hi, you don't know me but my husband was at the Adopt Talk (I had to stay home with our little guy). Your presentation was very helpful as the age spread between our two will likely be the same as yours. We've also enjoyed reading your blog. Our son is from Vietnam so while we are familiar with international adoption the country experience will be totally different. Thanks for the info!
ReplyDeleteMeg