Friday morning we got the kids up, got them dressed, and planned for any other 'normal' day. We packed Madeline a lunch, helped her study her spelling words, and got everyone dressed and hair styled. With some lame excuse why we had to stop by the library that morning, we got the kids all packed up, buckled up, and into the van. (Matt and I had just almost pulled an all-nighter with packing and preparing to leave the farm behind and set up our 'farm sitters' for a successful week). When we drove right past the school, Madeline was quite confused and thought maybe we forgot where we were going. So we surprised her with a visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house for the weekend. They were so happy! No school for Madeline, and all three were elated to be able to go see two of their favorite people in the world. We arrived in Tecumseh and kept the kids distracted while we packed up G & G's bags, and then headed over to Dundee for lunch. During lunch, we revealed to them that we were at the start of a little vacation - a trip to Tennessee to see the mountains and to finally show them where we (Matt and I) used to live. (Charlotte has been curious lately and has been asking to go see Tennessee after we showed her some of our photo books.) Madeline didn't buy into it right away; she had her heart set on swimming in G & G's neighbor's pool. But she eventually gave in and we got back in the van and all settled into a movie and got on I-75 and started our big trip.
Ohio was long, and we napped. Kentucky was more interesting (who doesn't love fields and fields of horses?!) and it was just about dusk when we arrived at the Kentucky/Tennessee border and saw the sign: "I-75 CLOSED AT JELLICO, FOLLOW DETOUR". Oh, no! We got online and quickly discovered that due to a 'bridge safety issue" the entire freeway was being closed and diverted from Jellico to LaFolette, through September 2012! Instead of following the posted detour, which would put us about 30 miles off of our route to get us back to I-75, Matt found an alternate to the alternate route and guided us (I was driving at that point) away from the other cars exiting the freeway through three tiny little mountain villages, up and down two separate mountains with hair-pin curves with tiny little road rails to keep straying cars from falling off of cliffs. Did I mention at this point it was pitch black outside, too? I think I just ran a qualifying time for Talladega Motor Speedway. I'm waiting for NASCAR to call me. I'm looking for sponsors right now.
Finally, we made it to LaFolette and back onto I-75 and we were in Knoxville by 11:15pm. We got back online to look for the best deal on an available hotel room near our old house in Farragut, TN and as it turned out it was the Red Roof Inn off of Cedar Bluff Road just west of central Knoxville. It was kind of sweet because that is where Matt and I stayed for nearly two weeks when had just arrived from San Diego and were trying to set up a home and jobs for ourselves and get me into nursing school. We were all asleep within minutes.
The next morning, we ate a quick breakfast and drove up the familiar roads to the 'old' house on Black Road where we lived when we were first married.... My heart was smiling the whole time, remembering those GOOD years and finally being able to show it to the kids.
Then it was back on the road again, I-75 through the rest of Tennessee and through Georgia. As luck would have it, I drove most of Georgia while everyone else caught up on beauty sleep and that included Altlana. Seven lanes in each direction, 70+ MPH, weaving this way and that. Total crazyness.
We stopped about 30 miles north of the Georgia/Florida border at a Subway for a late lunch/early dinner. The kids were under the impression we were just about to Tecumseh and were making plans with each other to go swim in the neighbor's pool again, when we interrupted their conversation to hand them two white envelopes (Elliott was totally engrossed in playing with Grandpa, so we didn't interrupt him.) with pictures inside of them above text, in big black letters, saying "WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!" At first they didn't understand that we were going now. Maddie asked, "But WHEN, Mom!?" and when I told her "Now, honey! Now!" it still took a minute to sink in. Then she started running willy-nilly all over shouting "hooray!" When I told Charlotte that she is FINALLY going to meet the 'real' princesses, and that we are actually going to have breakfast with them INSIDE of the castle on Monday, she was so happy she couldn't speak. She just smiled, hugged her paper, looked at it again, then smiled some more. The kind of ear-to-ear smile I was hoping to see. The kind of smile you pay big bucks for. The kind of smile you remember forever.
Back in the van, one more movie, and we had arrived in the Ocala, Florida area. I got to point out to the girls where I lived for a half year, but didn't get off of the freeway to show them the acutal house and they were Okay with that. We arrived at our destination at 8pm, tired and hungry. We threw our bags in the condo, changed into swimsuits,and grabbed a little dinner by the pool and swam from 9 to 10pm. The kids were thrilled but exhausted, and were asleep within two minutes of laying in bed.
Today we just relaxed here and explored this great condo community - tennis, six pools, basketball, shuffle board, and so much more. There is a big garden tub with jacuzzi jets that sits in the corner of the master bedroom and the kids just love it. They've taken two baths already today! Mom and I went grocery shopping and filled up the fridge and cupboards with goodies to sustain us for this week. Madeline got to see her first wild lizard and Charlotte has been enamored with the variety of birds here (she has been quite intersted in bird watching lately). Elliott has been trying hard to impress and entertain Grandma and Grandpa with his amazing tricks and truck noises, and I am so proud of how well he is listening to us and trying hard to behave. He has come really far in conquering his fear of the water and even ventured out of my arms and walked across the baby pool by himself this afternoon. That was a pretty big achievement. He has been a little too friendly with strangers lately (something that adoptive parents know is a problem but unfortunately everyone around him thinks is cute) so we've been a little protective of him. Handling his 'special need' in a totally different environment and while traveling on the road using rest stops has been easier than I was anticipating. Madeline is in love with the pools here, and we just about had to fish her out of the water with a net this evening; after three hours of swimming she still didn't want to come out! Charlotte has been practicing her swim strokes and is almost independant.
We have been so blessed to have this week to bond and grow as a family. I haven't had a full week to spend with my parents since I left home at age 21, and I am really enjoying this time with them. As are Matt and the kids. I hope that this week will be filled with great memories and strong family relationships. We have surprises planned for the kids throughout the week, but this trip tomorrow to the Magic Kingdom is by far the biggest.
In another completely unrelated topic, I received an email this week from another family who has recently adopted from Harbin. They were going through about 80 photos they received of their daughter and came across two that had Elliott in them, too. She recognized his face from posts here on my blog and took the time to contact me and send them to me. What a WONDERFUL gift! We have only four other photos of him from birth through his entrance into our family, and this is a treasure for all of us. It's another little peek into his past life. What made me sad was how his face, in neither photo, had any real emotion in it. To look at his face today, and to see it in those photos, there's no other way to explain the difference. It's the same face he had for the first month after coming to us. Lost. Shut-down. Not the happy, energetic, fun little boy we know and love now. Seeing those photos makes me realize more and more how much he has changed since then, since our first meeting day. He's self-confident now, and happy. And that makes us so very happy, too.
Big day tomorrow! Stay tuned!
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