Disney in a Day

We just spent a fun few days using up some old Disney park hopper passes! We left for FL on Saturday after the girls swim meet. We had no specific plans for Sunday other than to get settled into our hotel and swim and walk around Downtown Disney. We made it into the Disney store and a couple with 2 girls asked us if we would like to have their last day of Universal tickets! We said, "um, YES!" So, quick change of plans! We dropped the shopping and headed out! We got to Islands of Adventure about 1 PM and changed over to Universal Studios about 5'ish. "The Mummy" was our favorite! Returned to the hotel about 9.

On Monday, we started early and were at the gates for Blizzard Beach at 8 AM -- rode every water slide we wanted to (several times) by 11 AM! That's when it started getting crowded! We spent the afternoon by the hotel pool and had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe to celebrate the girls' report cards and our 18th anniversary.

Tuesday was our Marathon Day -- I'm calling it "Doing Disney in a Day" because we hit all 4 main parks in one day.

Magic Kingdom -- 8 AM - noon'ish. We rode Space Mtn, Buzz Lightyear, Stiches' Escape, Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan, Small World, Mickey's Philharmagic and Minnie's House.

We headed to Animal Kingdom next and got in line for Expedition Everest (new roller coaster). The wait was 70 minutes and the fast passes were gone. We then hopped in the single rider line and took our chances. About 5 minutes later, Lauren and I found ourselves sitting on the coaster one seat apart; followed by Sara and Daddy on the very next car! Not bad. Then we did Bug's Life show and ate lunch.

Then it was on to MGM - with another short list! Rockin' Rollercoaster broke down while we were in line, so we bailed and did a boring movie ride. Then we headed to the Tower of Terror to cash in our fast pass. It was a disappointment to all of us - we are such thrill seekers! By the time we were done, the roller coaster was open! WOW -- what a thrill that was! We voted it as our favorite of ALL.

Epcot was next at about 6 PM - but by now ALL of the fast passes were gone for the rides that were on our list, so we kinda bombed out at this one. We only rode the Mission Space (which was OK, but I won't be on that again!). Oh - we did the earth ride - boring.

Today, we started at Typhoon Lagoon at 8 AM and did all water rides several times by noon! Now we are on our way home.

What does all this have to do with Ally? Every park and every ride, we were hoping that some day she will be a roller coaster loving crazy person that will fit right into our thrill seeking family! And if she isn't quite ready, we rode the Dr. Seuss roller coaster and the One Fish Two Fish rides in her honor!

Another Update

The CCAA just updated again today -- this time it affects the second date - they have finished reviewing dossiers sent before Oct 31. 2005. This means that they have checked them for accuracy and completion. From the review room they (the dossiers) stand in line again to wait for the matching room. So, a little more progress! Hopefully, we will be to Ally a little sooner than we had at one time thought (yes, that was the pessimistic side coming through!)

CCAA Update - A tiny bit closer!

I checked the CCAA website this AM (as I usually do) and they did their monthly update of where they are in processing dossiers. It moved from June 15, 2005 to June 28, 2005. In the review room is still thru Sept 30, 2005. This means that the families who had their dossier logged into the CCAA by June 28 last summer are going to receive their referrals in a day or so! They progressed 13 days in the last month - which is better than the previous months where they have only moved 6 days, 7 days and 9 days. Maybe/hopefully things are getting back on track and will return to the rate of a month for a month or better!

So they are sending referrals for the end of June from last summer -- we were logged in at the end of Jan this year (7 months later than these people), so who knows. Yet again, I say that! At least we can track their progress and have some idea of what is going on!

We miss the Millers, but still know that once "our day" comes and we meet up with them to get our daughters in China, that we will have an even more special bond with them!

Swim meet and Father's Day

Sara and Lauren both swam personal bests in their breaststroke races at the meet yesterday! It was a long, hot day. These are a few pics from the meet. Lauren is with one of her new "little friends" Allison. She is really cute (love the name!) - her mom is Japanese. We have enjoyed getting to know their family this summer.

For Father's Day, we gave Daddy a gift certificate for a cooking lesson at the LSL (Lucy, Sara, Lauren) Chef's Academy! We "taught" him how to make an Italian meal! It turned out great and we had fun doing it. The girls enjoyed wearing the chef hats.

This is another holiday that has come and gone - and I'm thinking ahead one year, still wondering if we will have our little Ally by Father's Day next year. Part of me says "of course, we will" but I am realizing that there are few certainties in this adoption process! So, I'm a little sad as this day comes to an end - another reminder of what we don't know. But, I'm also reminded that this is an opportunity to trust. In SS this AM, our lesson was on God's promises and how sometimes it takes patience to wait on God's perfect timing! It was reassuring to me, knowing that He has chosen our little Ally just for our family, and it's just not time yet. Anyway, I am still hoping that by next Father's Day we will be celebrating with our 3 beautiful girls!

Meeting LiLi

We had so much fun yesterday meeting LiLi - she is the 16 month new daughter and little sister of our friends Dan and Debbie Layden and their son Ian. They just returned from China last week with her! She was really good and so cute. Debbie brought us lots of cool things to see from their trip including their final adoption papers from China. It was so encouraging to actually see her in real life! It made me realize a little more that we are really doing this. It's exciting to think that one day we will have Ally. Maybe she and LiLi will be friends. They will certainly have quite a bit in common.

This is a picture of LiLi with Lauren and Sara. They were quite excited to think that one day they will have a little sister to make laugh! By the way, LiLi's laugh is compliments of her brother Ian pretending to fall down.

Sara's Locks of Love

Since there is not much to report on the adoption front, I'll just post some family events and info!

Last Friday after school was out, Sara made us very proud! For the past 2 years she has been growing her hair out for the purpose of having it CUT for Locks of Love. This is an organization that makes custom wigs for children who have lost their hair as a side-effect from treatments for cancer. The hair that is donated has to be at least a 10 inch pony tail. So, these are the before and after pics! She is getting used to her "new doo"! She never hesitated! Lauren was more nervous than Sara was!