the Life of Olena

We drove over 1300 miles for a total of almost 27 hours, drove up some pretty darn big mountains, had fun racing back down them on the winding road, visited with 10 different friends, seen some spectacular scenery, and walked over 1200 steps into a big waterfall ravine (that I almost did not make it out of.) :) sounds like we had lots of fun, huh? We DID!! Home from Cloudland Canyon State Park where we camped with the Kissack's and had a wonderful and memorable trip. Then on our 13 hour journey back we split the trip into two days and stayed with some family in Corbin. Sadly it all had to come to an end and we are now back home and getting things back to normal. A few fun vacation facts... 1. It took Jason about 30 minutes to eat a 24oz cheeseburger. Yes I said 24oz!! it was huge and personally I thought it was pretty gross! The funniest part of it all is that he was determined to finish it so that he could get his picture on the wall of fame, only to find out once he was done that...

So last night I was watching the news and seen this big broadcast about Elton John. He announced he would be adopting from Ukraine! WHAT?? Jason and I just sat there laughing - though I love his intentions and think his charity work is amazing, all I could think was how the heck can they let him release this announcement when he had all odds against him. I don't care who you are and I know that money does buy you a lot in Ukraine, but by law no singles can adopt. In addition to that is he 62 years old and this little boy he was supposedly pursuing is only 14 months. That surely goes against their age limitations/laws. And what about preselection ? Traveling to a orphange for a concert and finding a child certainly sounds like preselection to me. Though my heart goes out to him and his partner and if they truly want to adopt I hope that they can help a child especially if they are willing to take on one with HIV but please do your research before you announce worldwide what...

Today's marks a memory in history...Olena told me for the first time that I was mean and that she didn't like me anymore. It was a complete shock and though I know all kids go through this and I know she didn't really mean it, it kinda hurt my feelings. She has had this bad habit of dumping water on the bathroom floor while taking a bath. She has now done it so many times that it is has now started seeping between the tub and tiles causing it to practically rain in the basement. She knows not to do it and we discuss it every time before she gets in the tub and sure enough I walked in there this afternoon to check on her and soaked my sock the second I stepped through the door. The entire floor was covered and the towel was in a ball and absolutely saturated. I was so mad!! I told her to clean up, and she was getting out. She didn't like this idea and started to scream at me, and said "I don't like you anymore - your mean and I only love my dad!" ...

I am exhausted so I am not sure how long with post will be or even how much sense it will make but I have had this on my list of things to do for way too long now. Today was my day off and we decided to put our yearly pass to use and headed over the Detroit Zoo. We had a picnic lunch and skipped around to some of our favorite exhibits. It was a beautiful day weather wise and it was an extremely wonder family time. Olena was in a great mood and we had fun. Tonight at the dinner table, she wanted to say Grace..."tank you Lord por my pamily, bless my pood and tank you for no crying today - amen - lets eat" (thank you Lord for my family, bless my food and thank you for no crying today) Though I would never think to say it during our meal time Grace I have to admit I am thankful for no crying today too :) It has been a pretty yucky couple of weeks. Olena has had a bit of an attitude problem, lots of crying fits, and potty accidents - which is absolutely out of her norm. She...

Riding the train after a great afternoon of some family fun. The entrance of the Arctic Ring of Life - this is our favorite exhibit ! Sadly to say the Polar Bears were not swimming today. We did get to see them up close grazing the hill side which was kinda neat because you get a much better sense of thier size when they are out of the water. We did get to watch the seals though which is always just as fun. What a cool zoo...we even have a few dinosaurs.