Lagoon

When Jayson decided that he would take the youth group to Lagoon, he sort of decided for me that the kids and I would go. Don't get me wrong, I love Lagoon and I love the rides. But the thought of taking two kids to an amusement park in the August heat felt a little overwhelming. So we got all packed up in three vehicles (we took down 11 teens and all of their belongings, and tents, and food) and headed to Utah! The ride down was uneventful (thankfully) and we got to the park, set up tents, and started making dinner! The next morning we were at the gates at 8:15... well... most of us were. Some of us took a little longer to get ready for the day. I will leave it up to you to decide who that was :). 

Here we are all ready for a fun day in the park!

 

After our worship service in the park, we headed to the rides! The first stop was the Odysea. It was a kid ride and I figured that Ava and Ryan would be scared. They weren't. Turns out we have hard core thrill seekers on our hands!

Here is Ava and me on the ride. Not such a flattering picture but ya know, you can't win them all!

Next stop was the tea cups. Since I took both kids on the previous ride (which happened to be a water ride that Jayson wimped out on :) ), Jayson got the tea cup joy. I figured it might put a damper on our day to have me losing my breakfast on only the second ride of the day. Me and the teacups don't mix. Aren't they cute?!

Next we thought, hey let's let them go on rides that they can go on by themselves! They will probably like them better! NOT! Bulgy the Whale was not a hit. Ava smiled for the picture, but the rest of the time she just sat there with a bored look on her face.

 

Ryan had this look of anticipation at the beginning, but then it turned into one of confusion as he waited for the real ride to start. As soon as they got off of Bulgy they both said "Let's go find a real ride now. Ok?"

 

So we found this. This ride is a little intimidating to me with the going upside down and what not. But the kids were stoked! I kept asking Ryan if he was afraid and he just kept saying "nope". I rode with Ava and Jayson rode with Ryan. Jayson flipped their cage once and Ryan shouted "Boom, bam baby!" I chose not to flip the cage and Ava said "Mom, are you kind of a big chicken?" It's a sad day when you are more afraid of rides than your 3 year old and almost 6 year old. :)

 

Here is a picture with me and my girl! She was pretty hyped that we finally found an actual roller coaster that she was allowed to ride. Apparently Puff the Little Fire Dragon didn't count as a roller coaster. I think by the time the day was done, they had ridden this coaster 4 times. 

I tried to get a sweet picture with Ryan too, apparently he was tired of taking pictures :).

Me and my favorite guy. Isn't he cute?!

I jumped out of the seat to grab this picture and almost got kicked off the ride. I didn't have time to make sure Ava was looking :).

 

Speaking of getting in trouble... I ended up having to buy these shoes from the discount bin because I got a lecture about riding rides in flip flops from one of the workers. It even included a wagging finger and a warning not to try to ride any more of the rides that let your feet dangle until I got appropriate shoes. They were two sizes too big but hey, I got to ride the rides!

 

Overall, this was such a fun trip! The kids were awesome in the park and when we started overheating, we just visited the splash pad! I am hoping that if/when we go back next year the kids will be able to ride the bigger rides. Ava has her heart set on the Colossal with it's two loops! I was quite proud of these little turkeys. It's crazy to think that the last time we were able to come down with the youth group, Ava was 11 months old! I wonder if next year we will have another little one to take with us!!!

Perspective

I have started searching for new adoption blogs but this time I started looking for blogs that were written from a perspective that I don't know so well. I started looking for blogs written by former birth moms. I read a blog post that a friend shared with me a while back and it opened my eyes and my heart to the heart of a birth mom. You can read the post for yourself here. This blog post so profoundly affected my view that I quoted it in our letter to birth parents that they read while they are looking through our family book. Because of this post I figured more of them had to be out there somewhere. I want to know more about what they think, about what they struggle with, about their motivation to place their child. I eventually found a blog that I have been reading called The Happiest Sad. It is written by a former birth mother to help other birth mothers. But it has helped me. It also helps that she is funny. Several different times I literally was laughing out loud. She is a witty one.

One thing I want to take a minute to address (I learned this from reading various blogs) is that when a girl/woman decides to place her child for adoption (not give up her baby, note the terminology there), it is not because she doesn't love her child, or that she doesn't want to keep the baby. It's because she does love her child. She loves that baby enough to put herself through the most difficult thing so that her child can have what she cannot give. It is not something to look down on her for. It is something to applaud her for. Not every pregnancy is planned by people, but every life is planned by God. It's her job as the mother to do what is right for her child, even if it hurts her. It's not a shameful act, it's selfless and beautiful.

Sorry for the randomness of this post. It kind of fits how my mind has been going. :) We are at almost five months in the waiting pool.  Ava informed me the other day "I just want a baby so bad I don't even care if it's a boy baby!" Folks, that is some serious desperation right there! She quickly decided that she still wants it to be a girl baby. Ryan is still rooting for a boy baby and says he "wiw be so angwy if it's a giwl baby". One of them will be happy! Me, I just want a baby. Maybe we will be placed with twins and they will both be happy. Alright, I am done blogging now because just the thought of twins is overwhelming!

~Andrea