Culture Camp and other summer fun

It has been a very busy summer so far, packed full of fun! We recently attended the East Coast Culture Camp and had a great time! What a pleasure to spend time with so many Ethiopian children and adoptive families (some old friends and lots of new friends). Some highlights of the camp were . . . sharing a dorm suite with 5 other toddlers + their families; listening to a panel of Ethiopian-American teens share their experiences on being adopted, growing up in the U.S., maintaining their culture, fitting in, and generally finding their way; shopping in the mini-Mercado; and the Ethiopian banquet complete with Ethiopian food and a live Ethiopian band. The environment was rich with thought provoking conversations and opportunities to share and learn from each others experiences. And the kids had a great time just playing together and having fun, barring the occasional melt down of course! Here are a few of the captured moments:


some soccer fun in the big field



The first annual "Road Race" in honor of the many recent Ethiopian runners winning medals and marathons



and the runners are off . . . now my girl LOVES to run so I was certain this would be a highlight of the camp for Little Miss, but as fate would have it something about the scene at the line up freaked my girl out and she insisted on being held. Okay. Had she simply wanted to be held it would have been odd, but ok. But no, she insisted on being held while running . . . that's right, I had to "run" the race (if you can call it that) while carrying Little Miss the whole time. Now it was a very short, little kid, race course, but that didn't stop us from coming in dead last. Seriously, 2 year olds were blowing past me! My sister managed to capture that on video (note video is conspicuously absent from this post). While it was certainly not what I had expected of the road race, it did give us something to laugh about!

Little Miss holding my, ahem . . . I mean her ribbon for running the race


just having some fun with sunglasses




getting decked out in her Ethiopian dress - ready for the banquet


Little Miss with Auntie enjoying the music at the banquet

Little Miss with her buddy and dance partner - how cute are they!

make it a trio - and it only gets cuter!

Little Miss had a blast dancing to the Ethiopian music. She loves to dance to begin with, but I have never quite seen her like she was this night. In the background of the picture above, you can sort of see the circle of Ethiopian teens and adults dancing together. When Little Miss understood what that circle was all about, she muscled her way passed the outer ring, and the next layer, until she made it into the center, and then began dancing like crazy. Once she made her way in I could barely see her anymore, but what I did see in quick glimpses was a very happy dancing queen. As we watched in amazement, I turned to my sister and said, "She's with her people!". What a hoot!


The campus grounds were lovely and we were very fortunate to have a fellow adoptive mom and friend, who happens to be a professional photography, take our picture!



The other summer fun . . .

Little Miss had her first experience at a big amusement park and she loved it!!











And when time has allowed (and because it has been so hot), we've been doing a lot of this . . .












And there is still more summer fun to come! We are blessed!

"I wanna be a ballerina Mama" - ballet days

Little Miss has always loved to dance, but as of late, she is all about being a ballerina. She asked to wear this ballerina outfit in the morning and refused to take it off throughout the day . . . almost slept in it, but I had to draw the line. She did play outside in it, nap in it, ride her bike in it, and go to the grocery store in it, much to her delight!




We had a chance to go see the ballet of Cinderella recently. Little Miss was riveted! She sat on my lap the whole time and watched the entire performance. During the intermission, she danced her way through the lobby. I tried to get a decent picture, but the girl was in constant motion.




You gotta dance when the spirit says dance!

Dinner time

Little Miss's dinner tonight - prepared by Mama . . .




Little Miss's activity tonight while dinner was being prepared . . .




Little Miss tonight when dinner was ready!!

Some outdoor fun

A little outdoor fun thanks to some lovely spring weather!

Playing bubbles in the yard . . . fun to catch, but an open laughing mouth, yikes!





Hanging (well climbing and hanging actually) at Grammie's house . . .







A visit/fund raiser at a local rescue farm

"That's a cow horse Mama!" - clever observation Little Miss


A farm is as good a place as any for some running!


Playing hide and seek with the big horsey - I think he can still see you kiddo!


A zany, happy girl on the swing.


A relaxed, pensive girl on the swing.


Fun in the sand


Fun in the sand with her buds


More park time . . . this little girl needs to move!!

And the girl keeps growing up . . .

Yesterday, for the first time Little Miss did PEE-PEE IN THE POTTY!! We've been very low key about the potty. We've had the potty in the bathroom, talked about the potty, sat on the potty at times (both while dressed and undressed), placed stuffed animals and baby dolls on the potty, brushed teeth while on the potty, read books about the potty, etc, but never really pushed the issue at all. I figure when it's time, it's time. Then, last night during one of our "Pee-pee are you coming?" songs (a little ditty, sung to the tune of "The bear went over the mountain", made up by Mama to encourage a little time sitting in the poised and ready position), the pee-pee surprised us both by actually arriving in the potty! Poor Little Miss was quite scared by this sudden happening, but came around to the idea after seeing the praise, shouts of excitement, and potty party dancing performed by Mama (and Auntie). It was probably a fluke, but it's certainly a start!




The proud pee-er getting a closer look to admire her work


There have been other signs of my girly's persistent maturation as well. She is slaying me with her language, her recall, and her perceptive observations.

A few recent quotes:

While in the bath tub talking to herself, "Wash your body, wash your knees, wash your elbow, wash your freckle".





While driving in the car and looking out at the buildings we pass, "That's the grocery store . . . that's the bank . . . that's Target - pictures taken (we went to the portrait studio there about 4 months ago) . . . What's that store?".


Because sharing is an important concept in our lives right now, Little Miss makes a point of having all her babies share toys, blankets, etc. She shares her food, drinks, etc. with me or anyone else who's nearby. She's all about doing things "a-gether" (translation: together) - very sweet!


Little Miss and her cousin hanging "a-gether" at the playground


And being the clever little girl that she is, she has now figured out that "need" trumps "want" in the world of communication. So Little Miss now needs quite a few things. Examples: "I need milk", "I need cal-ca-later (translation: calculator) - seriously?, "I need a go the park".




Life with a toddler is so entertaining. My brother always says, "If I lived with her, I would laugh all day" and I always tell him I do!! So while growth and maturity are snatching my little baby away, they are simultaneously revealing this crazy, amazing, wonderful little person who lights up my life!

Morning jam . . . and other pics

Not grape jam . . . but rather a musical jam! This girl loves to take care of her babies and loves to jam, making music out of just about anything! I didn't get the audio this time, but trust me it was loud.



Easter morning - checking out her loot from the Bunny.



Dressed and ready for church . . . after a few pics of course!



Enjoying a beautiful day at the park with this crazy, goofy girl!






She's a nut, and I love her to pieces!