We had a wonderful opportunity that is rather rare for China adoptive families. After meeting another adoptive mom online whose son is also from the same orphanage at the same time my son was there (which in itself is a gift just having these connections online), we got to go and spend a 3 day weekend with them in their city a week ago. It was simply wonderful! Thank you so much, Elizabeth for having us!
What a blessing for us both and what a future cool connection for our boys--neither of us has any info about birth history/families so the boys will grow up w/ this connection to each other--having been at the same place at the same time as little babies and young toddlers. Their son came into the orphanage only about 2.5 months before our son did. They're just 2 months 3 weeks apart with little Will being older. They got their son just 2 weeks before we got Jamie. We found out the boys were taken care of at the orphanage by different nannies and by comparing our pictures with each other no kids are overlapping in the background in the photos so they were in different groups at the orphanage, but it is so cool they shared that commonality and they can continue to be connected! We hope to see our new friends 1-2 times a year (if you'll have us back up by your place we thought it was one of our most enjoyable vacations! How about next fall?)
We drove up one day and spent the night at a, as Jamie would call it, teh tell (hotel as we would say.) I loved him saying teh tell over and over. He was delighted to have that experience with us but it was hard for him to sleep at night w/ our snoring. Oops, lol. Poor boy. He had a great time anyway. Will has 3 siblings aged 7 and under (and a couple of older sibs in their 20's.) It was so cool to have Jamie with the four other kids all under 7 playing together for 3 days. They had a blast! David got right in the fray---he entertained the kids and I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with Elizabeth. Elizabeth had some great outings planned that the kids loved. There was a great apple cider mill & farm that was having their annual fall festival type of thing where kids and parents can go through corn mazes, and small hay bale mazes for the little ones. Lots of things to do including hay rides, a large slide down a hill lined w/ hay on burlap bags, etc. We all had a great time and I loved getting to know my new friends. Man, I wish we all lived near each other b/c I love you guys and Jamie is still smiling when he sees Will's picture! We hope to see each other each year and keep this connection for the boys as they grow.
What cute kids, eh? By the way, Will is so smart & so laid back and easy to please (kind of Jamie's opposite on the laid back quiet and easy to please part, lol.) I couldn't get enough of watching our two adorable boys together. Will taught himself the whole ABC alphabet song just by listening to his 4 year old sister Ana! He is really something!
