October 20 - Fly Toronto to Vancouver
October 21 - Fly Vancouver to Shanghai
October 22 - Arrive Shanghai, 2pm. Pullman Shanghai Skyway Hotel
October 23-24 - Hang out in Shanghai (with no kids!!!)
October 25 - Fly Shanghai to Nanchang, arrive 3:15pm. Head to Gloria Grand Hotel. Zoë will be brought to the hotel at 6pm!! She's ours!
October 26 - Adoption paperwork at local government office in morning.
October 27 - Free day in Nanchang
October 28 - Sightseeing tour of Nanchang in morning.
October 29-30 - Free days in Nanchang
October 31 - Fly Nanchang to Beijing, arrive 12:55pm. Zhaolong Hotel.
November 1 - Tour Great Wall
November 2 - Medical check-up for Canadian immigration in morning
November 3-4 Free days in Beijing
November 5 - Fly Beijing to Toronto, arrive 6:40pm
Friday, October 16, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
test blog entry
This is a test entry. I'm anticipating that blogger will be blocked in China, so I'm testing my ability to e-mail blog entries onto the blog.
Attached is a photo of Jacob, emerging from a tunnel - also a posting test.
By the way, tomorrow I'm hoping to post our itinerary. We have our tickets booked - heading to Vancouver on Tuesday and then to Shanghai on Wednesday.
New! Hotmail sign-in on the MSN homepage.
Reports of my death...
I turned on the radio in the car today and heard, "Hazel hit the Appalachians and died in the mountains" - rather jarring. It is, of course, the 55th anniversary of Hurricane Hazel ravaging this part of the country. If I'd been a bit more tempestuous I would have loved that as a nickname. Maybe Jacob will be able to pull off Hurricane Hazel.
We spent the Thanksgiving weekend here with Dan & Al and the cousins - a great time despite Kate working and the various colds that Kate and the kids are afflicted with. Here are some photos:
- the big pumpkins at Chappell's Farm
- my two three-footers
- Molly in the sand pit
- Jacob on the construction site
- picking our pumpkins
- tractor ride with my guys
- this is becoming an annual photo with the Brown-Rheault side of the family
- Jacob with big cousin Maeve
Five more sleeps until we leave for China!!!
We spent the Thanksgiving weekend here with Dan & Al and the cousins - a great time despite Kate working and the various colds that Kate and the kids are afflicted with. Here are some photos:
- the big pumpkins at Chappell's Farm
- my two three-footers
- Molly in the sand pit
- Jacob on the construction site
- picking our pumpkins
- tractor ride with my guys
- this is becoming an annual photo with the Brown-Rheault side of the family
- Jacob with big cousin Maeve
Five more sleeps until we leave for China!!!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
My Kind Twins
Jacob is the kindest two year-old I've met. He wants everyone to be happy. But today, Molly stole his kindness thunder. Jacob woke up from his nap completely inconsolable. I brought them downstairs to the couch and went back up to gather library books for our afternoon outing. Coming back downstairs I could hear Molly reading Jacob a book, and when he sniffled, she said, "it's okay Jacob, you're not crying, you're a big boy". Love that girl!
On the Zoë front, the twins understand a lot, but perhaps not everything. They may believe that we're adopting two babies, one named Zoë and one named Mei-Mei. If I explain that I'm building the crib for Zoë, Jacob nods solemnly and says "and Mei-Mei". My mom gave us a beautiful Chinese doll, who Molly immediately named Zoë. She lugs little Zoë around the house, feeds her, reads to her, and puts her down for countless naps. But when I say that Kate and I are going to China to get Zoë, Molly says, "no, Zoë downstairs napping". There also seems to be some confusion between Kate helping mamas get babies out of their tummies and them asking "mama has baby in tummy?".
I played my first hockey game since moving from Vancouver. I wouldn't say that the three year layoff has improved my game. I'm still sore from our final soccer game last weekend, and I think I pulled a groin muscle during the pre-game stretching. Luckily it's a 38 and older league, so I wasn't alone in my lack of limber-ness.
On the Zoë front, the twins understand a lot, but perhaps not everything. They may believe that we're adopting two babies, one named Zoë and one named Mei-Mei. If I explain that I'm building the crib for Zoë, Jacob nods solemnly and says "and Mei-Mei". My mom gave us a beautiful Chinese doll, who Molly immediately named Zoë. She lugs little Zoë around the house, feeds her, reads to her, and puts her down for countless naps. But when I say that Kate and I are going to China to get Zoë, Molly says, "no, Zoë downstairs napping". There also seems to be some confusion between Kate helping mamas get babies out of their tummies and them asking "mama has baby in tummy?".
I played my first hockey game since moving from Vancouver. I wouldn't say that the three year layoff has improved my game. I'm still sore from our final soccer game last weekend, and I think I pulled a groin muscle during the pre-game stretching. Luckily it's a 38 and older league, so I wasn't alone in my lack of limber-ness.
Monday, October 5, 2009
We're Going to China!!!
No sooner do I submit a morose post about still waiting, and we get an e-mail from our adoption agency advising that China sent our permission to travel just before they went on holiday. So, it looks like we'll be leaving here around the 20th (yes, that's just TWO weeks from tomorrow), meet Zoë on the 25th and stay in China until around November 5th.
So, of course now we're panicking about all the things we have to get ready between now and then!
So, of course now we're panicking about all the things we have to get ready between now and then!
Still Waiting
China is in the middle of a week-long holiday (Autumn Moon Festival), so our approval to travel won't be mailed until Friday at the earliest. Which means that we obviously won't be travelling by mid-October as we had hoped. The end of October now seems quite likely.
Since near the beginning of this adoption process, Coldplay's "Til Kingdom Come" has been our Mei-Mei song. They wrote it for Johnny Cash, but he died before he could record it. It wasn't written about adoption, but it is all about waiting for a loved one, and the words seem especially poignant during these final weeks of waiting to go get our little Zoë.
Since near the beginning of this adoption process, Coldplay's "Til Kingdom Come" has been our Mei-Mei song. They wrote it for Johnny Cash, but he died before he could record it. It wasn't written about adoption, but it is all about waiting for a loved one, and the words seem especially poignant during these final weeks of waiting to go get our little Zoë.
Til Kingdom Come (click for Youtube)
Steal my heart and hold my tongue.
I feel my time, my time has come.
Let me in, unlock the door.
I've never felt this way before.
The wheels just keep on turning,
The drummer begins to drum,
I don't know which way I'm going,
I don't know which way I've come.
Hold my hand inside your hands,
I need someone who understands.
I need someone, someone who hears,
For you, I've waited all these years.
For you, I'd wait 'til kingdom come.
Until my day, my day is done.
And say you'll come, and set me free,
Just say you'll wait, you'll wait for me.
In your tears and in your blood,
In your fire and in your flood,
I hear you laugh, I heard you say,
"I wouldn't change a single thing."
The wheels just keep on turning,
The drummers begin to drum,
I don't know which way I'm going,
I don't know what I've become.
For you, I'd wait 'til kingdom come,
Until my days, my days are done.
Say you'll come and set me free,
Just say you'll wait, you'll wait for me.
Just say you'll wait, you'll wait for me.
Just say you'll wait, you'll wait for me.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tell Me Why I Don't Like Moneydays
We're now the not-so-proud owners of a mini-van (taking delivery at the end of October). With 3 kids under the age of 2 1/2, we really didn't have much choice. We chose the Toyota Sienna, in either red or black depending on which is available. At one point Kate said, "the black one looks pretty cool". We exchanged despondent glances and she said, "We'll never be cool, ever again. It's a mini-van". Only Jacob seems truly excited.
In other news, they seem to be learning the days of the week at school. But Jacob refers to the first day of the week as "Moneyday".
My father's visit ended this morning. In return for his yeoman's work with the twins, we gave him a lovely parting gift - the kids' cold. No good turn goes unpunished around here.
And still no word from China. Yes, it's killing us.
In other news, they seem to be learning the days of the week at school. But Jacob refers to the first day of the week as "Moneyday".
My father's visit ended this morning. In return for his yeoman's work with the twins, we gave him a lovely parting gift - the kids' cold. No good turn goes unpunished around here.
And still no word from China. Yes, it's killing us.
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