June 11th was our Forever Family Day! Gotcha Day (the day we picked C up from the orphanage) will always be very important to us, but June 11th was the day we finally got to be HOME and ALL together. So it is a day we will always celebrate. I will never forget our first day home last year. It was like a switch was flipped inside of C and he was suddenly smiling and laughing and seemed genuinely happy for the first time since we had picked him up from the orphanage. I really do think he knew he was finally home.
Anyway, for Forever Family Day this year, we decided to surprise the kids and take them on a road trip to visit family in the Washington D.C. area and to spend some time at the museums downtown. D and I packed everything while the kids were sleeping the night before the last day of school. On the last day of school (the day before Forever Family Day), C was invited (by the sweet bus driver) to ride on the bus with the big kids. C was soooooo excited- he had watched the 3 big kids get on the bus all year long and had always wanted to get on with them. So he and I rode on the bus (he LOVED every second of it) and when we returned, the car was packed and ready to go. The kids were so surprised and just thrilled when they found out where we were going. We had a wonderful trip out East! Washington D.C. was so much fun and the kids also got to do a lot of swimming and playing with their cousins. We got some great pics...
Last day of school
Caleb about to get on the bus
So cute!
A few hours into the trip
In the mountains of MD
Playing with cousins
Reminds me of the pic we took of Andrew in Russia in front of St. Basil's
Museum of Natural History- the kids LOVED this museum
Riley in the Metro
Caleb at the National Air and Space Museum- see the Russian missile behind him? There were actually people speaking Russian right behind us and I said to him, "Do you hear them talking? They're speaking Russian". He gave me a completely blank look and said, "What?????".
Riley- I love this pic
Riley posing with the Wright Brothers
Andrew- nobody wanted to pose with him... they were all VERY tired and grumpy by then
So I took this pic so I could prove we had actually been downtown 
Swimming at Grandma and Grandpa's pool
1 comment:
Yay! How fun and what a great way to celebrate! Love that you did it as a surprise, too.
Was it Miss Judy who let Caleb ride the school bus? She's awesome.
We plan to have your gang over once we get settled in. Alex and Jami want your kids to spend the night in a large way.
Let's get together soon!!
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