Well, it has been a little time since I posted. Sorry about that. Addie Mei and I have had a wonderful summer. We finished out the school year with nothing spectacular happening.
Over Memorial weekend we had the wonderful oppurtunity to go visit one of the families we went to China with. They have a reunion of their first travel group from 12 years agao every Memorial weekend. They invited us to join in that celebration with them each year so we can stay connected. We went to Holiday World, as they live so close to there. Addie Mei had a wonderful time playing with the other children and also playing with the "big China girls" as she calls them. It will be great for her to be a part of such a great group.
We had a wonderful trip to St. Louis in early June. I had a conference to go to and brought Addie Mei with me. A friend and his wife also went and we shared a room together. My friends wife watched Addie Mei when I had sessions to go to. We were able to go to the St. Louis Zoo and went on our first train ride together to get there. As you can see in the above pictures, Addie Mei decided it would be fun to turn into "Super Addie Mei" and fly between the beds for about 30 minutes. It was a riot to watch. Eventually, she put a cape on and continued.
We enjoyed our swimming pool all summer and I gave swim lessons to a couple of my freinds children. Addie Mei is swimming all over the place. When there is only a couple of people and limited waves in the pool, she swims without any swim vest. She does very well, even though she cannot touch the bottom of the pool. I am shocked that someone so little can swim so well. She LOVES the pool.
We ended our summer with our annual MI vacation. We love going to MI to visit our family. It is nice to reconnect with friends also. We went to MI Adventure with some friends from down here, and my sister and two nephews also joined us. It was so much fun. We also went to a fair while we were there. Addie Mei is a true fair girl. She really likes the animals and the rides. I am thrilled she enjoys the simple things in life.
We enjoyed the IN State fair when we returned to IN. I have never gone before, but enjoyed myself as well. It is large, but very child friendly.
School has started and Addie Mei is in two preschools. She goes all day Monday, Wednesday and Friday to one and half day on Tuesday and Thursday to the other. She loves school and enjoys meeting new friends. She turned four this summer and I can't believ how fast she is growing up. Next year she will be in Kindergarten. My how time flies......
My classes have also begun and I am thrilles to be teaching a SPorts Medicine class. I can use my Athletic Training in the classroom finally and I am loving it! I have great kids and I teach at a great school.
I have been working all summer on writing a Lifebook for Addie Mei. It is a book containing everything that I know about her history and the journey we each took to get to each other. It documents all the things I know so she can have all the information as she pieces together her past. She may not understand these things now, but will need then later in life. It has been very difficult at times to revisit the reality of her past, but I am honored to have her now and be influential on her future. The picture of us together was taken to put in this Lifebook.
I will try to post more often for those die hards out there!!
Love,
Tamie
