Two Zoos and a Beach

Holy Hamburgers! Have we been busy! I'm not complaining.....we've had a blast and I've loved every minute of it.

We started with our 1st zoo adventure with Logan's class to the Akron Zoo. I was so thankful that Curly took the day off from work to join us. He and Logan rode out on the bus and Devon and I drove out in the van. We had so much fun with his friends from school. We've been to the zoo plenty of times but this was the 1st time that Devon "got" that you were there to see animals. She was off the hook jumping up and down in her stroller shreiking "doggy" and "kitty" at all of the animals that were neither doggies or kitties....lol.

On Friday I had a "Girl's Night" and I haven't done that in eons. My BFF's and I went to a salon for mani's and pedi's. I treated myself to French on the nails and toes. I broke my will and had pink and white acrylics put on. I haven't worn them since Logan was born and I looooooove them :)

Hanging in front of the waterfall
Logan and his teacher......tomorrow is his last day of pre-school :(
Mama's little Happy Feet
Soooo cute :)

On Saturday we headed to the Cleveland Zoo for an annual picnic that our adoption agency has. It was so awesome seeing friends that we made on our visit and pick up trips and fellow bloggers. The weather was beautiful! We had a parade behind our country's flag throughout the zoo and then came back to the pavillion to the song "Coming to America" by Neil Diamond. It gave me goosebumps. Devon was a dancing fool! My girl has mooooooves! I was so impressed that our agency invited Dignitaries from Guatemala to see how happy the children and families were. We wanted to put a face to the paperwork, so to speak. Right now, adoptions are on hold for new cases in Guatemala and friends who started before the closing are in a terrible holding pattern waiting to bring their children home. I really hope that it changes for the better. It keeps me up at night thinking about the children who cannot be placed and don't have room in the overflowing orphanages.

Thumbs up for balloons and cotton candy!
Oh pu-leeez! No autographs! LOL
Marching in the parade of nations.
How pretty is she her?
Dancing her sandals off!

I am sooo happy that the weather turned out OK today. They were predicting rain but we ended up dodging it. We took out Uncle Shawn's new boat and caught some rays. We did a little swimming but the water on the lake was still kind of cold from all of the rain and cooler temps in the past weeks. We cooked up and ate, ate, ate!! A few of my favorite things :)

Bathing beauty alert!
Here wanna eat some of this sand?? It's tasty.....NOT!

Logan, Daddy, Aunt Fannie and Uncle Shawn on Unc's new boat. Sweet ride!
Aunt Schell's in the smoking section on the boat
Vogue!

Giggles Devon and Aunt Fannie :)

Well, tomorrow is Logan's last official day of pre-school. I cannot believe that my little man is growing up and on to Kindergarten next year. We have another fun filled week in store and I wouldn't have it any other way :)

Devon's Re-Adoption Day ~~ We're Official!

Exactly 1 year and 3 days from getting out of PGN was Devon's re-adoption ceremony and name change. We officially added Devon to her birth names that have so much meaning to us.

Wow, it was such a beautiful day and what a difference a year can make in your heart. We are beyond blessed to be this sweet child's parents and we love her with every ounce of our souls. To know her is to love her. She's that special and we are that lucky :)
Of course no day would be complete without some Logan-ism's....lol.....so here are a few for ya: He sat in the witness chair and tapped the mic and said “Is this thing on??”. Then he told the judge to “spank her hammer down” (the gavel). She asked him if he was excited that his sister was going to officially be adopted and he answered “Yes judge. I want to be a doctor”. (He wants to be a back Dr.). He can make you smile no matter what.
We were so happy to have Curly's mom and Sis and my Brother and Sister-in-Law there with us to celebrate. Our attorney was none other than my fabulous college roommate. It was so awesome to have such great support.
Afterwards, we went out for an early dinner and my folks met up with us. We went for a little Italian which is one of Devon's favorites.

Ahhhhh, today rocked!! In the parking garage with Daddy. We waited to put her dress on once we got there after experiencing the massive "take off blow out" on our flight home....lol. We are so wise!
So happy!

More in the parking lot....camera happy momma!

Don't they look like they are dancing here?

My Silly Boys

Monkey-ing around on the steps is as fun as you can get in court

Steps are SOOOOOO fun!

Me & Mi Princessa :)

2 Kids trying to bolt from their parents

Aunt Fannie, Logan and Uncle Shawn

Do you love this stink face or what???

All of us

More all of us :)

Pushing down the County Seal as a FAMILY!

Devon's still pushing!

We're done!

Outside the court room

I want pizza, pasta, meatballs, cheese and juice please :)

Phew! All of this re-adoption business can wear a girl out!!

Bust My Buffers! Day Out With Thomas

Today was a great day. We went to a really cool event called A Day Out With Thomas. This was our second year going and Logan brought one of his best buddies along. It's been terribly rainy here in Ohio but we lucked out. The rain stopped as we parked the car and didn't start again until we were packed up and leaving. The boys and Daddy rode Thomas while Devon and I stomped around in the muddy muck. It really was a blast. Thomas "steaming down the line".

The boys posing with their #1 train

This is Devon's new favorite past time....pushing her stroller full force. She always has her head down and she plows!

On the train and happy

Oh! Devon had her 18 month well check on Tuesday. Guess how big my popcorn (remember when Logan nicknamed her that??) is?? She is 25 pounds and 32 inches. I cannot believe how she has blossomed. She is so beautiful and amazing. Tomorrow is her re-adoption ceremony and I am giddy!

It's Official: I am a Soccer Mom!

There are some things that you take for granted when you have a typical child. He or she will have friends, probably do things like go to the prom, date, etc. The same is true when you have a kiddo with special needs but you sort of put it in your mind there are some things that you won't do. I don't mean for that to sound like I am not an optimist. Those of you that know me know that my glass is always way more than half full. It's just that you have so much to get done on your "short list" that you rarely have time to look at the "long list". For me one of them was seeing my son play sports on a team. I never, ever thought that I'd be a "Soccer Mom". Well maybe that was because Curly is not a soccer guy.....he's a football, tough-guy-sport dude....lol. Today, it happened.

An awesome man and his wife in a neighboring community who also have a child on the "spectrum" formed a league called "Soccer 4 All" where anyone can play. High school students from the area team up with the kids and are their buddies on the field (it's called a field right?? I don't know sports at all....lol). We worked on getting Logan used to the idea for a few weeks now and he was stoked! He had his shorts, spikes, shinguards.....he was ready to rock. We woke up to sunny skies here in Cleveland today which was awesome because the 1st game, last week, was rained out. Those of you that know Logan, know that he is extemely sensitive to light. We hooked him up with two pairs of glasses and Daddy's baseball hat and he took to the field like a champ. A really sweet girl named Molly started to engage with Logan by working with him and showing him some moves. It was awesome! They warmed up and then started the game. He was so focused and in to the game unlike anything I have ever seen. He loved it, he really, really loved it.

Wanna hear the "kicker" (pun intended...lol). LOGAN SCORED A GOAL!!!!!!!! It was so sweet and special seeing him do it and also seeing how excited he was after he scored. My baby!! It was a great day!

We ended the day by going over to Curly's sister's house to celebrate her 50th B-Day (Rock on Weezie the Geezie!.....lol) and Mother's Day with my Mother-in-Law. We had a really nice time just hanging out and talking. My BIL, makes a mean margarita! Y-u-m-m-y!!

Before the game giving "The Fonz"

Molly helping Logan with his laces

Molly and Logan (how cute is she???) Wonder if she babysits???

Running down the field with the ball

He's going in for the shot!

Getting ready to........

SCOOOOOOOOOOOOORE!!! (if only that kid in the red pants wasn't blocking my shot) Hi-5's from Molly

Little Miss Sunshine

Oh wait....she's eating rocks! But she sure is cute doing it, huh?

We All Scream for Ice Cream

Oye! What a week! Curly was out of town at the beginning, it was Grandma Jan's B-day, Logan started with a new OT (LOVE HER!!!) and we had his IEP meeting on Thursday. It was a big one because he needed to be re-evaluted every which way before starting Kindergarten in the Fall. I really liked the new SLP and Sp. Ed teacher and look forward to meeting his new teacher (we are going to miss his pre-school teacher big time!).

We went to a pretty cool Latin American restaurant called Paladar for Grandma's b-day. It was pretty good and was more of a nuevo Latin American cuisine. The chef kindly made chicken tenders and fries for Logan (not on the menu) and Devon feasted on black beans and rice and sweet plantains (I helped her out with those!!! They brought me back to Guat). After dinner we went back to my brother and SIL's house to open presents and have cake and ice cream. Tiffany made this awesome cake called a Hummingbird Cake (??). She said it was Southern.....I said it was AWESOME! Devon just enjoyed the ice cream :) Yummy!
Ahhhh, ice cream soup!
Sweet Logan, my brother and Yukon (he has the big "C" and might not be with them much longer :( )
Logan and his Aunt Bannie
Logan lovin' on Grandpa

Devon had a really cool 1st on Thursday night......Her 1st ice cream truck frozen confection! Boy oh boy did she love it!! Logan of course went for a Spongebob popsicle. I am in so much trouble when they hear that tune-ful truck coming down the street playing that electric circus song. Can I tell you that there are 3 ice cream truck trolling my neighborhood??? Do they take credit???? LOL

Me likey
Me lovey
Me messy!!
Logan Squarepants