Saying goodbye to summer

Okay so maybe summer isn't over by the calendar, but our kids go to year round school and start up next week. We have had a fun and exciting summer, but in a way time stood still because we want to get Shella May home.
Some of our summer highlights:
Lance took a cool zoo camp in which he got to go behind the scenes at the zoo. He got to learn about different jobs at the zoo and even got to take care of a couple of animals.
Liam took his day camp at the science museum (big surprise to those that know him, right?) He is there this week learning how to be a spy and a marine biologist. He loves riding the bus into downtown every day with daddy.
Both boys played community soccer and took soccer camp. They improved their skills and had a great time playing a team sport.
We did fun family activities on the weekends. We went to the county fair, a historic learning center, and just spent some quality time with friends.

Overall, it was busy and we had a lot of fun. The waiting got tough a few times, but we tried to enjoy each moment for what it was. Lance will be in 7th grade this year and is a little nervous even though he is at the same school. Liam will be in 2nd grade. We have a spot for Shella May in kindergarten and we are hoping they can hold it for her until she is home and ready to go to school. Let the fun and hectic schedule of school begin.....

Bad News

We just got an email from our adoption agency. They called ICAB and they have rescheduled her medical and visa appointments for Aug.3rd and Aug.7th. We have spent countless hours waiting for the results of the medical appointment she was supposed to have last week, making plans to make flight arrangements. Now we are back to square one. I can't even write right now to be honest because there are too many feelings.

The big day (night)

Shella May has her medical appointment scheduled for July 13th. This is a big appointment because this is the last thing that could stop her from coming home. If they find she has certain ailments we will have to wait until they have treated her, but if they find that she is healthy we get to go get her in a few weeks. So it is a very exciting day in her life and ours. The only bad news is that we will not find out if she passed her medical for a week or so. After her medical, she has her visa interview on Friday and then we wait for when they issue her visa. So tonight while we are sleeping they will be examining her halfway across the world and hopefully finding that she is healthy.

Playing tourist in our own backyard

Today was a beautiful MN day and we decided to take advantage of it with an outdoor activity. They always say in this economy we should be tourists in our own area and that's what we did today. There is a historic site only a few miles away from our house that we have never been to. It's strange because we have driven out of our way in IA and other states to go to sites like this and we have one right by our house. To make it even better the library has free passes for different places around the cities right now. So we went to the historic site which is made up of buildings constructed around the mid 1800's. We walked the mile out to the city, looking at things along the way and then we took the trolley back to the beginning at the end. We had a great day with wonderful weather and some fun education. I did feel a little old at times because there were things there that I remember from my childhood that my grandparents had in their homes.
Riding in the horse drawn "trolley". Liam had to preach when we were inside the church.

They got to build boats at one of the houses. They really did float when we got home.

Enjoying the day by the river. Liam thought the sun was too bright to look forward.

Liam had to be the "girl" it was 1st grader funny. Looking at the chickens...city kids.

Playing old fashioned playground games outside the school.

Adoption Update

So....we got news today, finally. When we called the Embassy last week they said that they were going to give ICAB the list of names at the end of the week. ICAB makes the medical/visa appointments for all of the children. We waited for a few days for our agency to call and ask when Shella May's appointment was and they finally emailed someone yesterday. Her medical appointment has been set tentatively for July 13th and her visa for July 17th. Not exactly the dates we were looking for (we wanted something sooner of course) but we are happy with just having dates now. Of course they can change, so we have to keep an open mind about it. After her visa is officially done we can travel to get her. So, now we have a new milestone to wait patiently until. Hopefully all will go well and she will have her appointment and pass it on the 13th.