TJ's Pre-K school year ended on the 5th of June and she was extremely sad. She would not even look her teachers in the eye to say good-bye the last day. For the first couple of weeks after school was out, she would ask "can I go to school again?" I let her know that she will go to Kindergarten in August, but that the teachers and students need a break for summer time fun. She seems okay with that answer.
We had TJ's birthday photos taken at Sears and I just love this one.
During the 2nd week of June myself, Rey, my brother (Robert) and the kids, all went camping. We decided to go to Turner Falls in Davis, Oklahoma. The day we got there was beautiful (we arrived about 9 am). We set up camp, ate lunch, then went to lounge in river. The water was so crisp and cool and clear. TJ had a blast, MA, on the other hand, did not like the water at all. We don't know when that started because he usually loves water, but he would not go in for anything.
The 2nd day we went to see the falls and hiked in the mountains. We saw some caves and did a little swimming. We even managed to see the stone castle on the side of the mountain. Turner Falls is a beautiful place.
We planned on staying for two nights and three days, but are plans were changed by mother nature. Severe thunderstorms and high winds gave us any early trip home. About 2pm the on the 2nd day thunder started rolling in. We weren't too concerned, but decided to start loading anything we didn't want left out in the elements and closing all the door and window flaps of the tent. We were about a 1/4 the way thru our stuff when the park rangers came by and told us we should probably move the truck (Ford Expedition) to the other side of the low water crossing just in case the water became too fast to drive thru. Again, no problem, we thought we would pack a few more things then move the truck.
Literally 15-20 seconds after the ranger left the heavens opened up poured down on us. So we started throwing the towels, blankets and such in the truck (not packing, throwing)! As Rey and Robert were putting the kids in the car, I went in the tent to pick up the pillows and MA's bear. Just then a gust of wind came through and collapsed the tent on me. Rey is yelling at Robert "get your sister, get your sister!" I am just trying to find the door. Robert pulls up the tent enough that I can get out and throw him the stuff in my hands. I go back in the tent and start gathering everything else, because I realize that we won't be able to sleep in the tent for another night.
Rey, Robert and I grab as much as possible before just saying "forget it". We leave some stuff and the tent at the campsite and decide to walk back up for it once the rain dies down. The three of us are drenched to the bone and now worry that we might not make it over the low water crossing. So I drive 2 miles an hour down the side of a mountain in pouring rain. We did make it across the crossing and parked in the parking area for day visitors.
We sat in the truck for about 30 minutes before the rain died down enough for Rey and Robert to walk back to the campsite. While they are gone I am trying to calm the kids and "pack" things so that we have room for the tent if it is still usuable.
After about 45 minutes I get a call from Rey that they made it to the campsite and it looks like everything is still there but it is all soaked.
After another 30 minutes or so it is safe for us to drive the truck back to the campsite, so the kids and I go to pick up the boys. Once we got to the site Robert told me that they just threw away a mattress pad we had for the kids because there was not a dry inch on it. We picked up shoes that had lost their mates and shook out the tent as much as possible. Then we loaded up everything and left.
We had dinner at Burger King and while waiting for the food, my dad calls and says that there are tornados pretty much on every route back to home. So we end up driving as far as we could before stopping again. This time we stopped at a rest area just on the Texas side of the Red River. We sat there in the pouring rain for about an hour before the rain let up enough we could see where we were going.
We made it home and the kids dropped into bed. The boys and I unloaded the truck, matched shoes, threw out some things and tried to dry as much as we could. Then we fell into bed and not a soul was up before 8:30am the next morning.
After our vacation we started gearing up for TJ's 5th birthday party. On her actual birthday she got to chose where, what we ate. For lunch we had McDonalds happy meals and play time at the play place.
For dinner TJ requested pizza so we went to Pizza Inn just down the street. They have a little play area and both TJ and MA love the food. TJ even had two servings of chocolate pudding for dessert.
TJ's party was held on Saturday the 20th and was a big success. She invited tons of her classmates and a few family friends. We had 17 children show up and they all seemed to have a blast. TJ picked out her own cake and helped decide what to give as party favors. Rey and I are so thankful for all our friends and her friends that made it so special.
We also had my birthday and Father's day somewhere in there, but nothing to exciting going on there. I did go out to eat and got a new digital camera. Rey got a new GPS for Father's day and has been playing with it since.
This past week it has been pretty quiet, which is OK by me. We finally have a date for TJ's scoliosis surgery. She will be admitted on September 3rd and the surgery will be September 8th. We are excited and scared, but know that everything is going to good.
Friday our adoption case worker came by for her quarterly visit. Nothing new going on there, but we have decided to put the search on hold starting August 1st because of TJ's surgery. We will need to spend our time focusing on her and that would not be right for a new child to come in the family at that time. We will resume the search November 1st.
One last bit of TJ news is that on Saturday she got her birthday gift from Rey and I. She had her ears pierced and she looks so cute and loves the earrings so much. She was good at the piercing so she had ice cream when we were finished.
There are so many other things also going on but for now, this is all the good stuff.
