Hockey Girls Rock

Maia loves hanging out at the hockey rink. She really likes going to the boy's games. Not only are there a lot of kids to play with, they encourage you to put your hands on the windows and pound! when someone you know goes by.Maia plays mini hockey with the boys at home and her favorite toy is a mini hockey stick.
I wanted to get her on the ice before she turned one, even though we realize she is probably 14-15 months, her birth certificate says February 19, 2008.

Grants old equipment was a little big, but she was loving it

She has her little feet working the ice like a pro.

I think she wants Coach Johnson put on Speed Dial.

Maia takes a dip

We decided to take a mid season break from the boy's hockey schedule. With three boys playing at three different levels, every weekend is consumed with travel and games.
Laurie decided we should visit the Springs Motel and waterpark in Milwaukee. Although we have some of the biggest waterpark resorts in the US in our own little town, it is nice to get out of the Dells and enjoy.

My little Pineapple Princess loved the water, she splashed and played like she was born at the beach.

Her brother Reid was especially helpful, taking Maia down the slides in the background.

Nothing better than relaxing with a cold one after a hard day at the beach. The kids all had a great time and decided it was worth missing 1 hockey game each.

WELCOME HOME

We made it back to our home in Wisconsin on Sunday. The people at my work made a sign that was hung on our front porch. Maia is home. It is so great to finally have her in our house.

Some of our good friends also made a banner welcoming us as we pulled into our driveway. It has been awesome having this blog, letting people have a little glimpse of what our adventure was like. It was really special to have them make us feel so happy to bring our little girl into such a great community and circle of friends and family.

We could not wait to get Maia into her room. It is soooo pink, it glows. She loved it. Her little chair was a perfect fit. She definitely is getting used to getting her picture taken. She slept for a while in her crib the first night, but it has been a struggle to get her days and nights switched around. By the end of the week she was sleeping most of the night. The saucer has been a lifesaver, she really likes it and it is the only way to get anything done while she is awake.

Maia really seems to love her new house and family. We could not be happier, our dream of a little girl has come true, and she is more than we ever expected. Thank you for everyone who helped support us along the way. Laurie's parents help watching the boys and keeping up their busy schedule while we were gone was something we can never thank them enough for. They made our absence a lot less stressful for three special young boys.

TOUCHDOWN IN THE MIDWEST, NOT BY THE BEARS

Maia decided we should all stay awake in Los Angeles so we did not miss our flight. We were able to manage staying awake until our 3AM wake up call. We got packed up and took the shuttle to the airport. No problems with anything it was all going so smooth, we were relaxing in our departure gate, Maia was playing in the carry-on luggage display. I took her back to our seat and happened to look up at the departure display to see final boarding for our flight. Oh Oh. We were in the wrong gate! As we hurried over we heard our name being called on the loudspeaker final call. Whew, we were on board.

Maia, fell asleep almost as soon as we sat down, then willingly took her bottle during takeoff, she slept on my lap until the last 30 minutes or so, and then fell asleep on Laurie until we landed. We headed down to collect our luggage.

Our little niece Madison came with Laurie's brother Marc to give us a ride to Rockford. Our boys were in Rockford with Laurie's parents at their house waiting for us.Maia was a little overwhelmed when her brothers climbed into the car to see her. I don't think they were ready to wait until she warmed up to them. They each made a sign welcoming her and bought her little snuggly toys.

She was pretty overwhelmed for the rest of the evening, letting them by her, but then wanting Laurie or I. We were all back together and could not have been happier, unless of course Laurie and I had 10 or 15 hours of sleep and time to take a shower.

The next morning was another story, she was ready to be their little sister, and they could not have been happier.

Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Sally even got a little Maia time.
Uncle Brian stopped over and got to see Little Maia. Uncle Marc and Cara stopped by, but I fell asleep on the couch and did not realize no pictures were taken with my camera. Maia got a chance to play with her little cousin Jackson while the other kids went to the Ice Hog Hockey game.
We left for home late Sunday evening.

Tomorrow the boys want Maia to take them to school, and Maia visits her room for the first time. It is good to be home. After further review, the Bears still lost. Go Pack!

LUCKY STARS

Today, Friday, we left our little home away from home at the Lucky Star Motel. The staff treated us very well during our stay. We left behind some little gifts for the staff to share. We were surprised once more by their care for us when two blocks away from the motel on the way to the airport, a staffer raced up to our cab on a moped, knocked on window, and paid the driver for our cab fare to the Airport.

We got to the airport two hours ahead of our departure and had no trouble with waiting or lines, Maia's friend Emma's parents arrived an hour ahead of us and ended up waiting, as check in for the flight began no sooner than 2 hours before departure.We wanted to capture Maia as she left Vietnam for what we hope will be great opportunities and a wonderful life with us in the US. The glare stole the view out the window, but we were able to capture Maia as she watched us leave the ground in her native homeland. The three and a half hour flight went great. Maia stayed awake the entire trip. She had fun sitting on Daddy's lap and said goodbye to her friend Emma who will be leaving us in Taipei for their flight home in Washington.

We had a short layover in Taipei. It was fun to take Maia into a girlie girl Store. Hello Kitty has their own shop and play area at the Taipei airport.

Laurie offered to buy me a Harley while we were overseas. She thought it might be fun to ride with some of the couples we know in the Dells. I decided it might just cause too much jealousy in the Biker community if I should up with the best, most tricked out model Taiwain had to offer.

I thought it might lose a little of its muscle if I added the optional passenger seat on the rear fender.

"Does anyone know what time flight BR0012 leaves for LAX? I am getting tired of waiting."

Maia fell asleep when we got on the plane, and we thought we may be able to enjoy a little sleep ourselves when I transfered her to the bassenette that attached to the bulkhead in front of our seats.
Not so lucky. She woke up after about an hour, we did get to eat, but the next 10 hours ended up being the Daddy and Maia Show. She wanted to be held. She wanted me to stand up while I held her. She wanted me to keep moving while I stood. After a couple hours, I was spent. Laurie tried to hold her, she was not happy until I took her back. After a bout of crying she finally relented to me sitting with her, while she tried to sleep. I was able to keep her quiet for the most part, but she was on and off sleeping, crying, wetting through diapers, and flip flopping like a fish on my lap for the next 7 hours. She was up for good with about an hour to go. We got the benefit of our flight taking an extra hour, someone must have thought 11 and 1/2 was just not enough. We ate a little breakfast, but she nor the food made it worth remembering. Finally, we were on the ground in LA, USA.

We had to pass through customs and immigration. Maia had an entire packet of information we had to turn in. She was finally through everything and out the doors safely with her Mom and Dad in her new country, I hope she will love living her with us and our friends and family.

I have a friend through our agency that lives in LA. She traveled to Vietnam a month or two ago to pick up her son. She was waiting for us at the airport, but we somehow missed each other. Maria and her husband Blair offered to let us stay with them in LA, but since we had to be at the airport at 4 am we checked into the Holiday Inn. Since we changed our tickets, we could not get our last leg home until the morning.

Maria and her son Wyn stopped over for a short visit. It was nice to meet another friend face to face who shared this incredible experience. It was so nice of her to spend the afternoon waiting for us and battling traffic during rush hour home.It was hard to tell if Maia and Wyn recognized each other, but they shared a few toys and got along well.
Maia's first visit to McDonalds for dinner and off to bed. Tomorrow we fly to O'hare. Laurie's brother is picking us up taking us to Rockford to meet up with our boys. We can't wait to see everyone. We really miss the boys and can't wait for them to meet their sister. We are counting our lucky stars.

A DAY ON THE TOWN

We were up early today to enjoy our last full day in Hanoi. The boys talked Jerry and Sally out of going to religion class and went out for dinner. They called after dinner and we had our last conversation with them on Skype (internet video phone). It was hard to say goodbye for a couple days.

We did some more shopping today. Maia got a little ring of beads. The store owner made it for us while we watched. Little Maia was so proud of it.

We took advantage of a beautiful day and walked around Hoan Kiem Lake. This little lake in the middle of the city is filled with so many historic monuments. Two different couples were getting married and having their pictures taken.Weddings here tend to be very small. We bought a stroller on baby street. I have been carrying Maia almost everywhere. Most of the sidewalks are too crowded with parked mopeds and people cooking food to get a stroller through. We decided with layovers in Taipei and LA a stroller would come in handy.Laurie tried to get a picture of an accident. In the two weeks we have only seen two minor accidents. Both resulting in a moped on the ground. Both times they just pick everything up and move on.We walked past this church the other night. The streets were full of people on the sidewalks everywhere listening to the service.

We wanted to see the Water Puppet show before we left. We checked showtimes and found out it was sold out for the day. Our only chance was to come back near 4pm to see if there were any cancellations. We got lucky and got tickets for the 6:30 show. Our dinner at Bobby Chins would have to get pushed back.

We came back to the motel for a little rest and then headed to the show. I realized I had not taken any photos of our Hotel. It is 8 floors high and only large enough for 3 rooms on each floor.

Maia was excited to get ready to go to the show. The water puppets are a very old form of entertainment in Vietnam and originated during times of flooding when farmers could not get into the fields and found ways to pass the time. We have had all types of our music playing with little interest from Maia. When the band began playing tonight, she started dancing and clapping along. It is obvious this is the type of music the nannies played at the orphanage. There were 14 different acts in this 1 hour show. I included a little from 2.

We had a nice dinner at Bobby Chins. Laurie loved the ladies room. The restaraunt has rose petals everywhere, evidently in the ladies room too, even floating in all the potties. Nice touch. Tomorrow we start for home. Hanoi to Taipei, Taipei to LA. We are a little nervous to see how well Maia travels. Wish us luck.