Pittsburgh Trip

Hello again! I know it’s been awhile since I blogged. It’s been a busy few months with Miles starting kindergarten, Julian in preschool, a trip to North Carolina, and a failed match. But, we’re back now! 🙂

Yesterday we went to Pittsburgh for the day to celebrate some birthdays. We had a great time exploring the children’s museum with Mark’s parents, and his brother Scott and Scott’s wife, Sarah. Afterwards we had dinner at a hibachi restaurant. It was the kids’ first time going to one and they loved it, especially Miles! He’s recently discovered shrimp and was excited to have some cooked in front of him. We were all stuffed afterwards!

What have you done recently?

Say cheese!

Building together at the museum

Catching letters

Dinner cooking

Yay shrimp!

With Aunt Sarah

Julian, in awe of a disco ball at another table

July

July was a busy, fun month!

Miles attended a science summer camp, just like last year. The change this year was that it was all day. He really enjoyed himself and it was a good warmup for all day kindergarten, which starts this month.

The 4th of July was spent in my hometown.

After that, we headed to Baltimore for the annual conference of the nonprofit that I volunteer with. I run the teen program there with an old friend, and Mark helps out too. My grandmother came to help us with the boys. This year was Miles’s first year in the kids’ program and he LOVED it! He made lots of new friends and rode a real camel at the zoo. Working with the teens is a highlight of my year, and I love that it’s a family affair.

Cheesy field trip with the teens!

My brother and his wife came along to help chaperone.

Miles riding a camel at the zoo

I also had the opportunity to go to Portugal with my siblings, mom, and grandmother after the conference. We went for 10 days and it was beautiful! We visited 4 cities all over the country…Porto and Lagos were my favorites. I can’t wait to take my kids abroad when they’re a little bit older.

Mom and me

The beaches in Lagos were beautiful, but the water was FREEEEEZING cold! 🙂

Along the river in Porto, where we ate one night

My brother and me at the Conimbriga ruins in Coimbra

We’ve spent a lot of time reading, and completed the library’s summer reading program.

Even Skye wants to hear Daddy read!

Miles and Julian finished the month starting swim classes. They loved their new goggles!

Preparations

I’ve been thinking recently about preparing for a new baby.

When I was pregnant with Miles, I couldn’t buy much or set up a nursery because I knew we were moving across the country just weeks after he would be born. I bought a yellow blanket and a frog rattle, and that was it until we were settled in our new home.

When Julian came we were in a tiny apartment, so he slept in our room. No nursery.

As soon as we moved back to Ohio, I insisted on a real, painted, coordinated nursery for Julian, even if he was no longer a baby. That was the first room finished before we moved in! It’s a light grey, with a thick, light blue stripe through the room. He had matching bedding (elephants!) and pictures on the wall. (The crib and elephants are now replaced with a “big boy bed” and his trusty space blanket.)

Now, as we wait for another child to join our family, I want so bad to physically prepare. It’s a challenge though! We picked out an infant carseat and new stroller, but decided not to purchase it yet because what if we don’t bring home an infant? Clothes are hard to buy for the same reason, not to mention if we bought baby clothes for a winter baby and we adopted in summer, we wouldn’t be able to use any of them.

So, for now I am scouring Pinterest for nursery decor ideas. This baby will be our first to have a real, fabulous nursery from the start! My plan is to paint the light blue another color once we’re matched…maybe purple or yellow. 🙂 I also sewed a “pillowcase” dress with my mom, and I plan to make more. Those can be worn with a few different ways, regardless of the season.

While the preparations may not be the same as for other families, we’re preparing just the same and can’t wait for the day when we know who exactly we’ll be shopping for! 🙂

4th of July

We traveled to my hometown for the 4th of July again this year. We left before 7 am so that we could make it to the parade. Afterwards we went to a BBQ at my oldest friend’s new house (we’ve been friends since we were 18 months old!)…we watched the Brasil vs Columbia game, which was especially fun as her husband is Columbian. Then, we visited another very old, dear friend.

The boys were so excited to spend the night in a hotel. The following day we caught up with other friends, some of my middle school teachers, and spent some more time at the fair before heading home. Miles and Julian loved playing with lots of kids their age.

Brasil shirt for the game, patriotic shorts to celebrate our country!

No idea who the “belly people” are, but this group of men marches every year!

Miles wanted to be painted like an alien.

BBQ & Brasil

Great day yesterday! We hosted a BBQ for friends in the area who are adopting or have adopted. It ended up being a small affair – summer is busy and all that – but the kids had a great time playing in our kiddie pool and we adults enjoyed talking. Miles adored the toddler girl who came. He called her “queen” and played with her. He told everyone he is hoping and praying for a baby sister. I know that he’ll be a great big brother to a little girl! 🙂

The BBQ ended up overlapping with the Brasil vs Chile World Cup match. I wore my lucky jersey, but I didn’t watch the game until we went into overtime. (When I scheduled the BBQ I had no idea the Brasil game would start at the same time!) Then, a few of us glued ourselves to the TV. I completely lost it during the shootout. My blood pressure must have jumped a kajillion points! Sooooo glad we won!

Strawberry Festival

Next on the summer list of festivals: the strawberry festival! It was our first time going to this one. The strawberry shortcake was amaaazing!

World Cup

I. Love. The World Cup.

I’m not a huge soccer fan at other times, I’ll admit. I don’t follow the US teams.

But, I grew up on the World Cup. My mom is from Brasil, and it’s a HUGE deal there. As kids, we had green and yellow pompoms to wave while we watched on TV, and we’d run out onto the porch with pots and pans and scream GOOOOOAAAAAAL whenever Brasil scored. In high school, we started the tradition of calling each other on the phone just to scream GOOOOOAAAAAL if we were watching the game apart.

This is Julian’s first World Cup, and Miles’s first of understanding what is going on. All the sweeter that we get to host the games! The boys and I have spent some time reading about different parts of the country and learning about Brasilian food (which they like eating).

Thursday was our first game, and that involved me imparting to them what being a Brasilian fan means. We wore our Brasil t-shirts and jerseys and painted our faces yellow, blue, and green. I taught them how to properly yell GOOOOOAAAAAL, and about our proud history as the winningest team in the world. Then, I taught them to shrug and say “you’re just jealous” whenever someone teases them about rooting for Brasil. (They’ve already used this line, as Mark’s Italian family has a friendly rivalry with me when it comes to soccer!)

So, for the next few weeks, you can find us in our yellow and green, cheering on Brasil!

Parish Festival

Attending Mark’s parents’ parish’s festival each June is a time-honored tradition. While his family is no longer in charge of set-up, his mom sells raffle and bingo tickets most of the weekend, and Mark is a favorite bingo caller. My favorite part is the meatballs: a secret recipe of the nuns.

The first night there, Julian won me a lei.

Very sleepy!

Saturday night (our last night) the boys were given unlimited ride passes. They put them to very good use! I’m terrified of most amusement park rides, ESPECIALLY the bus you see at the bottom, but Miles and Julian love them and so does Mark. I enjoy seeming them all so happy.

Enjoying chocolate ice from the local Italian bakery

They pretended to be big, angry motorcycle men! Hahahaha!

Hard to believe the festival’s already over till next year!

I think the next festival up on our summer list is the strawberry festival, a first-time visit for us. Hope the weather cooperates 🙂

Happy Summer!

Summer has officially started in our household! Miles finished school on Tuesday with the annual trip to a large park in a nearby town. He’s had the same preschool teachers for 3 years and now in the fall he’ll be going to Kindergarten! Luckily, Julian will get to have Miles’s same teachers, so we’ll get to keep them in the family for awhile longer 🙂

This week we also got a pool membership for the first time. The boys insisted we go this morning, even though it was only about 68 degrees. We packed a lunch and had the pool to ourselves for most of the time we were there. Both Miles and Julian were really nervous at first. We held hands and walked in together, but with time they got comfortable enough to venture in on their own. I’m sure we’ll be there tomorrow, too! At least it will be warmer!

We wrapped up the day with a trip to Mark’s parents’ church’s festival. We’ll be there tomorrow night and Saturday too, and I’m sure we’ll have lots more photos from that.

What We’ve Been Up To

We’ve been keeping pretty busy around here, from trips to end of school activities to working with a new adoption agency. Here’s some of what we’ve been up to!

Washing windows

Roller-skating for the first time

Going out with friends

Going for walks around the neighborhood and practicing riding trikes

Making maple candy at the maple festival

At a gala in New York City for the nonprofit I volunteer with

Science experiments

Having our hands eaten by a T-Rex