Photos from Estes Park

Our flights went perfectly and Amy was an angel through all of them. We ate out every night since Sept 21, and Amy was a champ. We burned through a pack of crayolas, but she does restaurants and travel well. She had her first horseback ride and even enjoyed the pool at the YMCA. We relaxed in the jacuzzi. We saw elk at every turn. The yoga was inspiring and fun. To show what a Don and Janet's girl Amy is: when on the way from Denver to Estes Park, we asked Amy what she wanted for lunch. She said, "ummm... sushi". So we plugged that into the GPS and found a killer sushi spot, thanks to Amy, in Boulder. We liked it so well, (and the food in Estes Park was so NOT BOULDER), that we cut the trip short a night, to repeat the sushi restaurant before flying out of Denver.

If you are a family with an adopted Chinese daughter, you may just adore my current favorite book: China Ghosts. I've placed the link in the upper right.

Estes Park

Estes Park: Awesome ambience and temperature, snow-capped mountains, elk roaming everywhere, and elk roaming SERIOUSLY everywhere.
YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park: Like a resort (rustic but can host a yoga conference well).
Bennet Pre-School of the YMCA: Enriching and positive.
Yoga Journal Conference: Well organized, nice people attending, yoga rock stars roaming everywhere.
Mary's Lake Lodge: Panoramic view and interior elegance non-pareil, elk roaming right outside our picture window, except for a couple of gems in the rough (Anita and Terry)-service is weak, noise level at night very disappointing.
Cute Amyisms of the week: "I want see camel", (camel used in place of elk). "I not like Colorado", (mountains too scary). "Schoolbus", (hotel shuttle).
This vacation: Beyond our expectations.

We're in Denver

Arrrrrghhh! I took such great care to pack everything Amy and I would need for 30 degree lows and 70 degree highs, yoga, hiking, jacuzzi, etc. What did I forget? The stinkin' cable needed to upload photos. Sure I can enter photos on the blog when we return, but that is when life will have that hectic pace. Here I'll be in the Rocky Mountain National Park, with nothing but leisure time on my hands, and no way to add the pictures of amazing Amy.

Our flights were awesome last night, and Amy was in her glory. She was ecstatic to ride on two airplanes, an airport train, and a "schoolbus" (hotel shuttle) last night. She is the most fun kid on earth to travel with, albeit I've never traveled with another.

Today, we are off to Boulder to play, and then to Estes Park. We have two days to slowly acclimate to the intense elevation, and then on Monday the yoga fun starts!

Love and thanks for checking in,
Janet

We're going to Estes Park, catalog shopping, Amy's humor and Asia Yoga Conference 2008

We're going to Estes Park. We'll be flying into Denver, playing and traveling through Boulder and then hitting the Rocky Mountain National Park for a week of world-class yoga. Mmmmmmm. Wanna know what my incentive was to try the potty training when I did? The YMCA, where this conference is held, has a day program for pre-schoolers, as long as they wear panties. So instead of playing pass the baby, we're going to enjoy morning yoga sessions simultaneously, and then play as a family in the afternoons. We have hiking in the Rocky Mountain National Park, shopping, napping and jacuzzi on the agenda, when we are not doing yoga.

Okay, so I'm a working mommy. No time for physical shopping. Another way of saying this is I am a catalogaholic. So, when the mail comes, Amy says "Mommy, I wanna go shopping", which means, let's sit together and look at the catalogs. So, we pick up my favorites, Bloomingdales, Athleta, Black and White and Nike. We look at the pictures and declare if we like things or not. What cracks Don and I up is her latching on to the phrase, "No, I don't like that, that's frumpy". I'm sure I'll pay for that later.

And lastly, you won't appreciate this probably unless you are on the Shapiro side of things. One day, I noticed one of my curly head hairs on the white tile floor, in perfect tussy shape. I guess I called attention to it or something. Now, Amy finds tussy-shaped hairs, tussy-shaped lines in the tile and so on. This morning, she couldn't find anything tussy-shaped, and she whined, "where's the tussy?", "where's the tussy?". Ooh boy, I knew there was a reason I feared being a mommy for so long!!!!!!

And in my effort to impart interesting or positive aspects of China, see the link for the Asia Yoga Conference that I lust for.

Last night we had a Hampton Roads Families with Children from China waiting families night. Three families who are awaiting referrals came. The wait is so long now, our hearts go out to them. Two families with children from China came to help support and their girls played with Amy in her house.

Daddy love and Chinese broccoli

Look at Daddy and Amy sawing wood on the floor. Isn't that sweet? Do you get sick of cooking the same old thing? Get chinese broccoli from an asian market and check this stuff out. Unbelievably good for you and different enough to add some variety into the same old dinners we always cook. Makes traditional broccoli seem boring.

Harbin, Mommy love, ROCK N ROLL 1/2 MARATHON, and Jacob

Harbin: The amazing place we will visit some day. Please see link and surf the net. This place is in China.

Mommy love: Ahhhhhhh! She's a doll. What else can I say????????

Jacob: Coming home for more local treatments before more specialized treatments in Houston. His Mommy and Daddy are setting him up for the best possible outcome. Despite the tough fate he has been dealt, his Mom and Dad are setting him up for success. Thanks, Karin, for asking.

RNR 1/2: Don pulled it off in 1 hr and 46 minutes, which is an 8 minute per mile pace. Amy peed in fancy potties in hotels along the oceanfront while we walked to greet Daddy at the end. Congratulations Don, you've still got it goin' on.