North Carolina Update

Hello all,

I have not posted an update here in forever. So here goes.

Mae-Lei is registered for kindergarten. OMG, has it really been 4 yrs?? I guess it has. She is registered in a school with a year-round calendar, which means she would start school on one of two dates. July 9 for tracks 1, 2 and 3 or August 2 on track 4. Our preference for tracks is 4, 2, 1 and 3. Track 4 because of the later start date which would not impact our vacation that is already planned for this summer, track 2 because she doesn't jump straight into the 9 weeks in, 3 weeks off. Track 3 is our last option because she would be in for three weeks and then off for three weeks.

Christmas trip!! We went to Disney World in December. We tried to catch up with the Manville's while in Orlando, but they flew out to Wisconsin the day we were driving down to Orlando. We tried to catch up with Carol via e-mail, but could not connect. We drove in on the 18th and we headed to the parks starting on the 19th. We were a bit concerned as Mae-Lei has a thing about costumes (large ones) and we were concerned that the whole trip would be her screaming about seeing a costume. Our fears were put to rest on the first day 5 minutes into the Magic Kingdom. We walked under the walkway and first thing on the right was Pinocchio. She walked right up and gave him a hug. She loved both the furs and the faces.

Our recommendation if you haven't been to the kingdom or any of the parks is to get the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney and USE IT!!! We planned our whole visit through that guide and did not have any issues. The only issue we had in the park was people walking in front of my mom's scooter repeatedly and stopping. Then fussing at her when she hit them. Those things don't really have brakes on them.

Lastly, we have pulled our application for our second adoption from China. While we hate to do it, we are quite happy with Mae-Lei and feel very fulfilled. If the right domestic opportunity comes, we may look into it, but otherwise, we are very happy and love our little princess. I'll post pics sometime soon, or you can also go to my flickr page and see all the fun from Disney.