Different Trips to the Same Place

This is something I remember reading I think in one of our agencies newsletters a while back. Even though it doesn't pertain exactly to our situation, I really like it.

Different Trips to the Same Place

Deciding to have a baby is like planning a trip to Australia. You've heard it's a wonderful place. You've read many guidebooks and feel certain you're ready to go. Everyone you know has traveled there by plane. They say it can be a turbulent flight with occasional rough landings, but you can look forward to being pampered on the trip. So you go to the airport and ask the ticket agent for a ticket to Australia. All around you, excited people are boarding planes for Australia. It seems there is no seat for you: You'll have to wait for the next flight. Impatient, but anticipating a wonderful trip, you wait - and wait - and wait. Flights to Australia continue to come and go. People say silly things like, "Relax, you'll get on a flight soon." Other people actually get on a plane and then cancel their trip, to which you cry, "It's not fair!" After a long time the ticket agent tells you, "I'm sorry, we're not going to be able to get you on a plane to Australia. Perhaps you should think about going by boat." "By boat!" you say, "going by boat will take a very long time and it costs a great deal of money, I really had my heart set on going by plane." So you go home and think about not going to Australia at all. You wonder if Australia will be as beautiful if you approach it by sea rather than air. But you have long dreamed of this wonderful place, and finally you decide to travel by boat. It's a long trip, many months over many rough seas. No one pampers you. You wonder if you will ever see Australia. Meanwhile, your friends have flown back and forth to Australia two or three more times, marveling about each trip. Then one glorious day, the boat docks in Australia. It is more exquisite than you ever imagined, and the beauty is magnified by your long days at sea. You have made many friends during your voyage, and you find yourself comparing stories with others who also traveled by sea rather than air. People continue to fly to Australia as often as they like, but you are able to travel only once, perhaps twice. Some say things like, "Oh, be glad you didn't fly. My flight was horrible: traveling by sea is so easy." You will always wonder what it would have been like to fly to Australia. Still, you know God blessed you with a special appreciation of Australia, and the beauty of Australia is not in the way you got there, but in the place itself.

We have flown to Australia, and it is beautiful! We have spent 5 long years trying to get another flight because it is so wonderful. We do have many friends who have flown 2 or 3 times more during this time with some people who got flights they didn't plan for, and a couple who canceled their flights. At times it just didn't seem fair and all the while, I was feeling sorry for myself and I had to think, do I need to fly, or do I just want to get there? It took a long time to see the beauty of traveling by boat, but we are so excited to have set sail. I'm glad I finally realized that it doesn't really matter how you get there, it's the end result that matters. We are so fortunate that we were able to fly, and equally fortunate we are able to take this different route. Who knows what the future holds, we may fly again, we may travel by sea again, but for now I am so excited for this journey, anchors away!

The Fraize Home for Wayward Frogs and Toads

We have quite a selection of frogs and toads around our yard; Ian and his friends have been very busy capturing and studying them for several weeks now. We have big ones (like Hermie who last summer would sit on our front brick steps and eat the bugs that were attracted to the light), and tiny ones (very cute actually), and then there are the very loud tree frogs. When we first moved here I thought we had some weird nocturnal bird in the backyard. Turns out they are the tree frogs and they are attracted to our pool. I swear there are tree frog parties going on on our pool deck nightly! We even had one get into the house a month or so ago (the one clinging to the wall, that's our living room). The boys have not yet captured a tree frog but toads and frogs beware! The latest fascination is "froggie" (the big one Ian is holding) who lives in a tree in our front yard. He was captured every day for three days straight last week. The past few days he has not been home, I wonder if he up and moved!

I only have a few rules regarding amphibian capture.

1. All captured friends must remain outside at all times.
2. No running while holding a captive.
3. Captives may only be detained for one hour after which they must be released safely where they were found.

Ian is now asking for a pet frog for his birthday....should I refer him to rule number one?

Blast Off!

Ian and I bought Greg a model rocket for his birthday. It never ceases to amaze me how I can buy presents that are equally suited to my 5 year old and my 33 year old! He's such a big kid, but that's one of the things I love most about him and what I think makes him such a great dad! Anyways, he was very excited to try it out. He and Ian worked diligently to assemble it; Greg was in charge of super glue, Ian was in charge of decorating it (good choice daddy!). The park was just too busy to launch this weekend so we took a ride down after dinner last night and it was completely empty so we went for it. The first two tries were a bust, and Greg was puzzled. He got out the instructions and confirmed that everything was set up correctly so he decided to change motors and ignitors. That was the ticket, Ian's countdown was this time followed by a hiss and a lot of smoke! The rocket ended up landing in some trees and we had to do some hunting but it was found safe and sound. If we had more motors with us we would have tried again but we didn't so Ian is anxiously awaiting the next time we go. The kit we bought Greg had two rockets in it. The one we did last night shoots to 1400 feet, the other to about 600 but that one has a parachute on it so I am excited to see that one go. Maybe I'm just a big kid too!

New Glasses

Ian has new glasses and I just think he looks so handsome! He lost his old pair and we just got sick of searching, oh and Wal-Mart had an offer we couldn't refuse! So we now have two new pairs, one that Ian picked out and one that was my choice. I have to admit, I was a little leery of the plastic frames that Ian picked out, but I am so happy he chose them. He just looks so stinkin' cute, yes I'm biased but I'm his mother and I'm allowed to be. You be the judge.

Belated Happy Birthday!

This past Wednesday was Greg's birthday. Ian decorated the house and the cake all by himself. Ian chose the cake pan, a Scooby Doo one and the soccer ball and letter decor. Scooby Doos neck and collar had to be amputated before we decorated because Milo the wonder dog decided to sample the cake while it was cooling on the stove top (see picture below). Anyways, just thought I'd share Ian's creations with you all.

***So now is where I leave a message for my husband. If you can't stand mushiness, please disregard the rest of this post.***

Sorry I didn't get to this on your actual birthday honey, but I just wanted to let you know how much I love you! I feel so fortunate to have you in my life. For all the ups and downs the last few years have brought, you have always been my support. You know when I am feeling down almost before I realize it, and I just want you to know how lucky I feel to be your wife. I love you, Happy Birthday!

Saving Dragonflies

Just wanted to share Ian's latest quest...saving dragonflies from drowning in our pool. We have a lot of dragonflies in our yard and unfortunately many end up in the pool. Ian to the rescue! He's been fishing them out and blowing on their wings until they are dry enough to fly. Now, if I could just get him to stop leaving the already dead ones lying on the deck.....

Pictures, as promised...

Okay, car's unpacked and here are some pictures of our NY trip as promised.

On Wednesday, we went roller skating. It was just Irene, Ella, Ian, the owner Ellen and me in the whole rollerdrome. Ian was given skates with tightened wheels to help him get used to them but he was unimpressed. He had much more fun playing with Ellen and the hula hoops after he took the skates off!

On Thursday, we tie-dyed and went to the fish hatchery where the kids got to feed the fish and play on a great playground. We made pizzas for dinner that night and when Ella was putting her pepperoni on, she took a bite out of each one. It was really funny, that girl loves pepperoni!

On Friday we went to Ithaca and visited Taughannock Falls. I believe it's the highest waterfall in the state. We had a picnic and were visited by a duck that Ian and Ella fed bread scraps to. The walk was 3/4 mile down and back so needless to say the kids were wiped by the end. It was neat to see the falls again, we used to visit it often in college, oh and I got to eat my favorite food from Aladdin's!

Saturday we spent the day on Luke's dad's boat. It was such a nice day, we had lunch on the boat and toured all the way up and down Owasco Lake. We stopped at a shallow area where the kids were able to get out and play in the water with the dads while the moms enjoyed the sun on the boat. The best part for the kids was that a mother duck and her nine ducklings joined us and they fed them hot dog rolls and other scraps from lunch. Oh, and they were allowed to drive the boat a little bit as well. All in all a great day!

Sunday, it was time to come home. But on the way, we decided to visit the zoo since Greg had Monday off and we didn't have to hurry home. Irene, Luke and Ella joined us and it was a nice way to end the trip. Irene put the kids on a mission to find the monkey with the blue butt...Ian was thrilled (maybe it's because he got to say the word butt, I don't know). We saw most of the animals, (Ella's favorites were the penguins and Ian's was the poisonous blue dart frog, go figure) and the kids got to try to swing like apes from a rope gym outside the primate house. It was really a fun day!

Getaway

We just got back from a mini vacation to Upstate New York to visit my best college friend Irene and her family. It was such a nice week! Ian and I traveled by train last Tuesday and Greg drove out to join us on Thursday afternoon. Traveling by train is nice, though it is very unpredictable. We were delayed 3 hours along the route and didn't get into Syracuse until about 1 am (we were scheduled to arrive at 9:45, ugh). Strange things always happen when Irene and I get together and the strangeness started right away this visit! As we were driving to her house (without my luggage by the way, did I mention my luggage was left back in Albany?) a fox decided to venture into the road, and I don't mean he darted across the road, he ran down our lane directly in front of us for several minutes! Every once in a while he would run into a left turn lane, we would try to scoot around him and he would dart back in front of the car. Now maybe it's because it was 1 am, I don't know, but we both found this very humorous.
We had so much fun last week. We tie-dyed t-shirts (Ian's new favorite shirt), visited a fish hatchery, went hiking and had a picnic at Taughannock Falls in Ithaca (I got to enjoy food from Aladdin's my favorite restaurant!), we spent all day Saturday on Luke's dad's party barge, and even got in a trip to the zoo on Sunday morning before heading home (I'll be posting pictures as soon as I get the car unpacked). All in all it was just what we needed to get away for a bit and refresh from the craziness that has been our lifes the past few months. Thank you Irene, Luke and Ella for sharing your home with us and trucking us around for the week. We had so much fun and can't wait to see you guys again, we love you!
Before I end, just wanted to give a quick update. We received a letter last Wednesday from Wide Horizons for Children (our adoption agency) stating that our paperwork is in order and that we are officially on the waiting list as of June 14th. There were a few papers that they said we could correct if we wanted to be ultra safe (one is a misspelling by the NH official that certified one of our documents, arrgh, which will mean getting a new letter written, re-certifying it and re-authenticating it, oh and don't forget the $20.00 it will cost to do both of those things!. We will do it though because we don't want to have our paperwork booted from the Guatemalan government and have that delay bringing our daughter home! The wait is long enough as it is!