Sitting in the Surrey

September 14, 2008

Sitting in the Surrey

We are at the beach and having a wonderful time. Oliver absolutely loves it. He loves playing in the sand, sitting in the surf, and being held out in the water. Waverly is more hesitant and would rather wander around the beach. She doesn't have an attention span that allows her to sit and play for more than a moment.

We also rented a surrey last night. The kids sat in baskets up front and they were totally adorable. We were able to get some wonderful photos and I will post them tonight or tomorrow. That is going to be a memory that is going to stay with me for a lifetime.

I had so much fun on Friday getting together with my old friend, Katie, on Friday. It was nice to have someone who has read about the kids for so many months, to finally meet them. We have some very good friends flying in next weekend and we are anxiously awaiting their arrival. I am really looking forward to reconnecting with people.

Comments

Kecia said…

That is really good for you guys as a family to spend some times out of the ordinary rotine!
Hope you all have a nice time!! Looking forward to see the photos!

September 14, 2008 at 12:26 PM

spence said…

Hi Shannon,
Just thought you may want to know that you can find me on facebook. I know you're busy, but it would be nice if we could chat or you can just see what I'm up to like I check in on you. No pressure.
Glad all is going well for the most part for you. Happy 10th and many more!

Love,
Christy Anderson

September 14, 2008 at 6:19 PM

Welcome to Holland

By Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland.""Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.