Driving to Minneapolis

We left for vacation Thursday after the daycare children left. We drove to Wichita and stayed at my nephew's house. Friday morning my niece, Xaviera, came up from Arkansas City to go on vacation with us.
Friday we stopped in Bethany, MO to have supper and it is a good thing we did. When we came back to the car we had a flat tire. We were very fortunate to find someone at 6:00 to put the spare on and put on two new front tires. He told us our back ones need to be replaced too so we will get that done soon.

Once we entered Iowa guess what happened? Yes, it started to rain. It rained so hard and the drops were so big that it sounded like hail on the car. We spent the night in Des Moines and got to Minneapolis the next afternoon.

Driving home through Iowa on Thursday it rained the whole time. Those poor people!! No wonder that state is flooded.

Sunday on Vacation

Sunday after church we went to the horse races. Johanna liked going up to the track to see the horses up close. She learned to point while there. I'll try to get a picture of it sometime. It was family day at the track so there was a small petting zoo. Johanna did fine petting the first animal, a miniature donkey, but wanted nothing to do with the others.
On Monday we just went shopping so there are no pictures from that day.

Tuesday on Vacation

This day we went to an arboretum. Johanna loved riding around in her stroller and working on her tan.

Wednesday of Vacation

Wednesday we went to the Mall of America. Johanna had her first ride on a carousel. I rode a mild roller coaster with my niece but didn't like it. I also rode the log ride twice. Those are my favorites.
Posing with statues.



First ride on a carousel. I thought Johanna was going to go to sleep.



Meeting Pablo from The Backyardigans. Johanna didn't like him very well.

Going on Vacation!!!

YIPPEE!!
Tomorrow we are leaving to see my sister and brother-in-law in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We will take two days to drive there since I'm not sure how long Johanna will be able to ride in one day. I will try to take pictures and post while we are gone.

Most of you are probably already aware of this but it is new to me. I can't believe how much more it takes to travel with a baby. We each have one suitcase. Johanna also has a box with diapers (nights and days) and wipes, a bag with food supplies, a bag with toys, stroller, pac-n-play, and a booster seat. Good thing we have a mini van.

Johanna Faith Lucia for real

This morning Johanna and I were scheduled for a hearing before Judge Sanders for her legal name change. My sister Brenda was going with us so we were going to pick her up at her husband's new coffee shop. As Johanna and I were walking the sidewalk to the coffee shop a nicely dressed gentleman came out. He stopped to say hi to Johanna and asked if she was going to get some coffee. I told him we were going to court. The gentleman asked what for and I told him a name change. He replied, "Oh, you will be before me." Yes, it was Judge Sanders. We talked for a few minutes and I told him about the adoption.

The "hearing" was really nothing. Judge Sanders called us to a small table and read through the paper I had filled out. He also looked at Ana Lucia's birth certificate from Guatemala and checked for my name. I had to write out Johanna's full name for him. He wanted to make sure he wrote it correctly so we "won't have to do it again."

When we were finished Judge Sanders said he wanted to show us something in the hall. I couldn't imagine what is could be. He pulled a rubber duck from his pocket for Johanna. He said he hadn't brought enough for everyone and there were two other children in the court room.

That was it. I really wanted something formal and ceremonial. Oh well. Johanna fell asleep on the way home . . . with the duck.

Going to the Chapel

Johanna attended her first wedding ceremony on Saturday. She didn't actually make it through the very short ceremony so I didn't either. She got to wear a beautiful dress we got from a friend at church and shoes to match that came from the groom's mother. After I got her dressed I had to explain to her that she wasn't going to be the bride.

Bumpity Bump

After lunch today I was in the kitchen making Johanna a bottle. She was playing with her toys in the dining room. Or so I thought. As I came through the kitchen gate I could hear her crying. I called to her and told her I had her bottle. The crying sounded far away so I thought she had crawled down the hall to the playroom. I then noticed the sliding door to the patio was standing open. (The daycare kids had all gone outside.) I rushed to the door and there was Johanna. Down the two steps, sitting up and crying. I picked her up and noticed the bump on her forward.

She didn't like me putting the frozen sponge on it at all. She wanted to play with the sponge. She finally quit crying but I didn't. I felt so awful!! I guess I should realize that she is going to get bumps and bruises and she will live through them. However, I did show her bump to the daycare kids and told them to BE SURE TO CLOSE THE BACK DOOR!!!!!!!





In her stroller and ready to walk to Aunt Brenda's. I added this picture from this evening to show that she is just fine.

Little Mermaid

My laptop is still in "the shop." Some part has to be ordered for it and then installed. I don't know a lot about it but I trust my brother-in-law. So, I finally broke down and bought a USB port so I can plug the card reader into the downstairs desktop computer. Now you will get to see pictures of Johanna again!! Aren't you lucky?
I bought her a tiny wading pool last weekend. It has been in the living room and she has been crawling in and out of it. Today I filled it and she got to play in the water. She loved it! She can really splash big time too. Then she discovered she could crawl out and explore the ground outside, including putting grass and/or leaves in her mouth. It was time to get out.