Tuesday 30 August 2011

More Catching Up!!

LAST WEEK - MONDAY
I spent the morning running round like a lunatic, getting packed and ready to pick up my friend S and her son Y, to drive down to Legoland YEAH :-) I had left everything to the last minute, so we were running late, as usual! Just as we were about to get in the car I got a phone call from S, to say that Y had insisted on waiting in the garden for the last half an hour, and when was I going to arrive, as she was cold?? So we piled into the car and picked them up, then I realised I had forgotten my camera, so we went straight back home again to pick it up!! We finally set off an hour later than I had hoped!! Little Prince and Y played on their Gameboys together, they teamed up somehow on Lego Star Wars and played happily for hours. Princess Lollipop watched her DVDs, I had hoped she would have a nap, but she was too excited to sleep and stayed awake the whole journey! We had to stop a few times for "my weewee's coming" but not too often thankfully. Princess Lollipop also decided that she would use her "suitcase potty" which she had adamantly refused to use up till then!! It did make stopping for "weewees" a lot easier :-) On one of our stops at a garage, we did find the most yummy sweeties - Wine Pastilles (like Fruit Pastilles but softer and sugarier yum yum) I think me and S are addicted!!

The journey was hot and sunny, it was sweltering in the car, especially as the children complained when we opened the windows, that it was too loud!! We were all relieved to get to the hotel, unfortunately as we were getting the suitcases out of the boot, Little Prince and Y ran off! Little Prince had been cooped up in the car for far too long, and his medication had run out so he was HYPED to the max! He ran over to the hotel's decorative pond and bridge, and refused to come back. By the time I'd convinced him to come back Princess Lollipop had run off dangerously close to the pond and I had to try and get both of them away from the pond and into reception! Little Prince "doggied" (he jumps around on all fours acting like a puppy dog) around reception making a lot of weird noises as we tried to check in, I ignored him as I'm used to it, but I think S was embarrassed.

We went up to our room, with Little Prince trying his best to run away the whole time, and left our suitcases there while we went out to eat. On our previous stays at this hotel we have driven to a shopping centre where there is a Frankie and Benny's Restaurant, which all the children enjoy eating at - and its so noisy there anyway they don't disturb the other diners! Little Prince wasn't much calmer during our meal, and spent a good measure of the time under the table! We did manage to get all three children and ourselves fed before returning to the hotel for a good nights sleep. Unfortunately I didn't get a good night's sleep as Princess Lollipop (who was sharing my bed) was very very wriggly, and it took hours to get Little Prince settled down to sleep. I had realised too late that we had run out of his Melatonin (medication which helps him sleep) and his prescription wouldn't be ready until we returned home!

TUESDAY - LEGOLAND DAY
After yesterday's gloriously hot weather, we couldn't believe it when we woke up to rain! S had forgotten to pack raincoats for her and Y, although looking at the size of her suitcase she had packed everything else!! Something we were going to be thankful for later in the day!! We had a lovely breakfast in the hotel, Little Prince wolfed down his English Breakfast but Princess Lollipop fussed and didn't eat very much. She had a few spoonfuls of her breakfast and refused to eat any more, but screamed the place down when the waitress tried to remove her bowl!!! They soon learnt not to try and touch it lol.

The children were all excited when we got in the car to drive over to Legoland, it is only a 10 minute drive from the hotel. The traffic was clear until we got to the drive into the Legoland carpark, where we had to queue for a little while, I chose to pay for the "preferred parking" which is slightly more expensive but much closer to the entrance - something you really appreciate when leaving the park after a long day!! As it was still raining once we had got in, S bought herself and Y a bright yellow Legoland poncho. Y made a huge fuss and didn't want to wear it, but S made him as he was already getting fairly wet! He got used to it pretty quickly and stopped complaining :-) We hopped on to the Hill Train to take us to the bottom of the steep hill, Legoland would be much nicer if it wasn't built on the side of a hill!! Of course the boys then decided they wanted to go all the way back to the top to go on the Viking Ride!! Urgh!! I got a day long workout pushing Princess Lollipop in her buggy up and down that hill!! The park wasn't very crowded due to the weather, and because of the "Exit Pass" hand stamp Little Prince gets we managed to ride every ride the children wanted to go on, without much queuing to wind Little Prince up. We also discovered that Princess Lollipop is a total thrill seeker!! The faster the ride the more she loved it!!! S discovered I wasn't joking when I told her that almost every single ride in Legoland gets you wet!!! She never took her poncho off!!

It was getting near to the end of the day when the boys ran off in front saying (I thought!!) they were going to "Look at the water!!" When we finally caught up with them they weren't looking at water - they were IN water!! Despite the rainy weather, they were playing in the "Kids Wash" a water play area which shoots water up from the ground and sprays them from above with fountains!! Both boys were in there fully clothed and DRENCHED!!! After I got over the shock and encouraged by S to see they were having loads of fun, I stopped being cross and left them alone :-) They had a whale of a time, and played there for well over an hour :-) We tried putting them in the electronic drier when they'd finished playing but you could still wring them out!! So we went to the nearest shop and bought towels, and dry t-shirts (S had spare trousers and shorts in her bag) and got them changed. The young assistant in the shop was wonderful, he let us sort out the boys and get them in dry clothes before paying for the items. And he found paper and pencils to keep Princess Lollipop amused while we dealt with the boys. The boys trainers were obviously drenched too, Little Prince agreed to put plastic bags on his feet and then put his trainers on, but Y refused point blank to do the same. So his Mum carried him on her back all the way back to the front of the park - she is only tiny and Y is nearly as big as she is, I really don't know how she managed!!! Near the entrance there was a cafe, so we called in to get the children something to eat before returning to the hotel, we were all so tired we didn't fancy going to the hotel getting the boys sorted and then going out again! Little Prince was at the end of his patience and his medication had long worn off, so he was very shouty and angry while we ate. And when we finally left the park and were walking to the car he was overcome with wracking sobs, saying he wished Tummy Mummy could be here with us and that he missed her so much. He was totally overwhelmed by his feelings and we couldn't calm him down at all :-( I breaks my heart to see him so so sad and not be able to do anything to help him :-(

It wasn't any easier to get Little Prince to sleep, even after being at Legoland from opening till closing time! Nothing tires out my boy - he's my energiser bunny he just keeps going!!

WEDNESDAY - DRIVING HOME
We all slept in on Wednesday morning and were in no hurry to get ready, we were still too tired from the day before!! By the WILD while we tried to check out, he kept trying to go into the closed lounge next to reception, and screamed and kicked when I brought him out. It was extremely difficult to get the check out process finished while also trying to wrangle WILD Little Prince, and Princess Lollipop who copies everything her beloved big brother does :-( We eventually managed to get sorted out, and the receptionist gave us directions to a Beefeater Pub that served breakfast - off we went. Little Prince had a HUGE tantrum at the Beefeater, as I'd not heard him and ordered him the wrong drink!!! After a lot of persuasion he did eat his food and drink the wrong drink!

It was a huge relief to have all the children strapped in the car and set the SatNav for home :-) The journey wasn't as calm as the journey down to Legoland, Little Prince and Y kept arguing over what game to play and Princess Lollipop got caught up with all the negativity and joined in!! We stopped for some late lunch, at a Service Station with Mcdonalds thinking that would suit the children. Ha!! Little Prince got in a total strop because we didn't sit in Costa Coffee on the comfy armchairs, he sat under the table refusing to speak or eat, despite being "starving" moments earlier! I bought him something anyway, hoping to entice him to eat and eventually after a lot of fuss and kicking he did eat something, while staying sat under the table. I had been pushed to the edge by then, and burst into tears, S was lovely giving me a hug and then finding some Wine Pastilles in the shop as a gift :-) She was so sweet, I think I might still be there drowning in a flood of tears if it weren't for S - thank you so much. There wasn't that much driving left before we were home, it was so nice to be home in my own house, with my own bed to look forward to :-)

THE REST OF THE WEEK

We didn't get up to much on Thurs and Fri as I was recovering from all that driving (its soooo tiring!!) and the stress of trying to deal with an overly hyped up Little Prince. On Saturday I realised I had done too much "nothing" and that I'd better go shopping for Baby Sis's daughter's Baptism present!! I got Drama Teen and her Boyfriend to look after Princess Lollipop at OUR shop and just took Little Prince with me. Its easier with just one of the littlies, and I couldn't have taken Princess Lollipop as I'd forgotten to clean her buggy after she had a weewee accident at Legoland! Me and Little Prince rushed round the shops to find a nice present, we also picked up the filled buckets for outside Princess Lollipop's playhouse. I'm not overly impressed with the flowers used to fill the buckets, as I'd asked for pastel, pretty and girlie colours - and instead I've got big showy bright coloured flowers!! We managed time to get a lovely lunch at the Town Art Gallery, although Little Prince was upset we didn't have time to look round the gallery itself as we had to hurry back to pick up Princess Lollipop.

When we got back to the shop I dropped Drama Teen and her Boyfriend off at his Mum's house as they were all going out for a meal to celebrate Boyfriend's great GCSE results. It must be getting to be a serious relationship if Drama Teen is now being included in family events!!

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OUR ETHIOPIAN ADOPTION TIMELINE


25th May 2009 - See New Child again & Court Date

23rd May 2009 - Fly back to Ethiopia

26th March 2009 - Fly to Ethiopia :-)

3rd March 2009 - Dossier Arrived at Orphanage

26th February 2009 - Dossier sent to Ethiopia

22nd December 2008 - Dossier back at DCSF

28th November 2008 - Certificate of Eligibility ISSUED

6th October 2008 - PASSED Approval Panel

7th July 2008 - Homestudy Update Started

28th Feb 2008 - Told LA we wished to change country

OUR CHINA ADOPTION TIMELINE

Formally withdrew from the China Adoption Programme 17th July 2008

LID (Logged in Date) with CCAA 16th August 2007

Documents to China 10th August 2007

Passed Approval Panel 5th March 2007

Homestudy started 6th June 2006

First Contact with our LA 1st Jan 2006