Summer started with several camping trips. For Maddie, these were her first real camping adventures (she had proven her skills earlier in the spring by sleeping in the tent in the back yard with Dad for an entire night).
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| Family photo from first camping trip of summer 2010 |
Our first adventure was a two-night trip. The cool temperatures and fresh air made it easy to leave the "city life" behind. Our campsite was along a flowing creek that provided recreation during the day and lulled us to sleep at night.
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| Maddie and Dad look for critters in the creek |
Mom and Dad took turns playing in the creek with Maddie and she soon made several new friends who also joined us in our splashy (and cold) fun. Maddie was most interested in finding and catching "critters" which included some water bugs (which she called "whirly-gigs"), minnows and crayfish.
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| Mom caught a "whirly-gig"! |
At night, a collection of racoons and skunks would visit a large twisted tree near the camp office to snack on treats left out by the office staff. A crowd of curious campers would gather each night to watch the feeding, but the animals didn't seem to mind.
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Part of the nightly racoon visit |
The first camping trip was a huge success and loads of fun. Maddie was disappointed when Dad started packing up the tent on the last morning so we knew it wouldn't be long until our next camping trip.
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Maddie and Mom relaxing on some rocks in the creek |
Our second adventure was a three-night trip further north (seeking cooler temperatures) to a different campground. Some family friends joined us for this trip which meant that Maddie spent the weekend with two of her best girlfriends.
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| Maddie and girlfriends |
This time our tent site sat atop small canyon walls that overlooked a lake. With our friends just a few camp sites away, we passed the weekend relaxing, visiting and having fun.
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| View from campsite |
Meals were cooked and shared together, and after dinner smores were enjoyed (although Maddie prefers to just eat the chocolate - skipping the graham cracker and marshmallow). This camping trip had lots of excitement. On the first night Maddie lost her first tooth. It had been loose for many weeks and with encouragement from her girlfriend Maddie pulled it right out!
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| Maddie proudly showing where her tooth once was |
Yes, the tooth fairy does make house calls to tents in campgrounds and Maddie awoke with $5 under her pillow in the morning. Maddie also went fishing for the first time on this trip. Although she didn't have any luck (but had lots of nibbles), it was lots of fun and she plans to make the fishing pole and gear a regular part of our future camping trips.
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| Maddie's fishing line gets a nibble |
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| Maddie with snake skin found near campsite |
During the weekend we saw two snakes - a garter snake and a bull snake. As you might guess, this gave Angela "the creeps" but was one of the highlights of the trip for Maddie. Probably the most fun and exciting part of this camping trip for Maddie was (drumroll please...) the tire swing at the camp playground! She and her girlfriends spent several hours at the playground (mostly on the tire swing) throughout the weekend.
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| Maddie relaxing in the hammock with a book |
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| Girlfriends sitting on some rocks at sunset |
After two camping trips, Mom and Dad were ready to go somewhere that didn't require a tent and sleeping bags. San Diego seemed like the perfect destination. Again escaping the heat (notice a theme here?), we enjoyed the cool early summer temperatures of San Diego... okay it was a bit too cool. The hotel pool was heated enough for Maddie and Dad but not warm enough for Mom (but she did enjoy the hot tub). During our seven days in southern California we visited three theme parks: the San Diego Zoo, Sea World and the San Diego Wild Animal Park.
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| Ready for a day of fun |
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| Ready for another day of fun |
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| A day at the animal park isn't complete without mermaid face paint! |
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| Maddie feeding nectar to a lorikeet |
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| Mom and Maddie doing their best imitation of the bat-eared fox |
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| Maddie's favorite animal of the day... a roly poly crawling along the sidewalk! |
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| The dolphin show at Sea World |
Maddie and Dad love adventurous thrill rides (Mom not so much). Even though it was only about 70 degrees and overcast the day we visited Sea World... we couldn't resist this ride. At the risk of being cold, wet and miserable all day, we eagerly lined up for a chance to ride it (and did it again three more times).
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| Maddie and Dad celebrate surviving Shipwreck Rapids boat ride |
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| Preparing to get wet on the Shipwreck Rapids ride |
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| Mom's a good sport to ride Shipwreck Rapids (that smile is NOT genuine) |
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| Journey to Atlantis ride at Sea World - Dad and Maddie in back row |
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| Maddie with baby elephant statue at the San Diego Zoo |
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| Mom and Maddie in "seal holes" |
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| Maddie investigates saber tooth tiger skull |
Between visiting the parks, we enjoyed some walks on the beach, a bike ride along Mission Bay, a visit to the seals (wild ones) and just relaxing around the hotel. What made the trip most memorable however was a 5.7 magnitude earthquake which rattled the hotel one night, waking us up and sending lots of tourists (but not us) into a minor panic.
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| Biking around Mission Bay |
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| Maddie investigates ducklings on the resort property |
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| California seals relaxing on rocky beach |
Just when we thought our summer couldn't get any better... it did. In a BIG way.
We had just walked out of the movie theater around 4:00 PM on Saturday, July 3rd (saw Toy Story 3 - really great movie) when Tom received a voice mail and text message from the adoption agency. Of course we called back immediately. We were told that a baby boy had been born in a city a few hours away and the birth mother had chosen us to be his family! We were so excited. After a brief conversation with the birth mother and the agency worker, we were headed to the hospital.
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| Baby Luke in the hosptial, July 3rd 2010. |
Around 7:00 PM we arrived at the hospital and saw baby Luke for the first time. As our hearts melted we knew that our prayers had been answered. That night the maternity waiting room became our home as we slept with our new baby boy, waking for feedings, diaper changes, and nurse visits. We were tired, not too comfortable and just a little bit shocked by everything that was happening... but we couldn't have been any happier that night. Our lives had just changed forever.
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| First photo with baby Luke |
The following day before leaving the hospital we were able to meet the birth mother and spend some time talking with her. What a blessing that was to us. As best we could (although words alone are not enough), we expressed our gratitude to this young woman. We learned a little about her and she learned a bit more about our family. We walked away from that meeting with a deep sense of admiration and respect for this woman and we just couldn't believe how lucky we were that she chose us.
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| Baby Luke in the hospital checking out the big new world |
So I guess you could say it was a pretty great summer... one that our family will NEVER forget! Lots of new adventures, new memories and new experiences... but the best of all? A new baby that joined our family to live, love, laugh and learn. 
