Sharon Woods Park continued...

Eli has become quite daring as he gets older. He is still scared of a lot, but he did climb up the rock ladder at the park. Here is a pictorial of his climb and his celebration at the summit...

Okay, so it isn't Mount Everest, but even Sir Edmund Hillary had to start somewhere.

Sharon Woods Park

On Sunday, Jon and I tried to take the kids to a park near our house. When we arrived the playground was taped off due to construction. As Jon was perusing the map looking for another park in the vicinity, a man rode up on his bike with 2 boys in tow. After a couple of questions he directed us to Sharon Woods Park. It was only about a 10 minute drive and we were pleasantly surprised when we arrived. We paid $2.00 for the day (one can get an annual pass for a mere $5.00) and ventured into a new area. There were three playgrounds, a squirty park (this is probably not the technical term, as it seems a bit x-rated when I type it, but anyone who has seen one knows what I mean), a concession stand and a historical village with a gift shop. We spent about 3 hours there and the kids had a blast. I would happily pay $2.00 for a return visit and will seriously consider paying $5.00 next year for the annual pass... it would be well worth it.

Here are some pictures... enjoy!

Go Knights!

Isobel has received her cheerleading uniform...






Her first game is this weekend. We will take more pictures!

Missing and Neglected...

I spent the last week researching the disappearance of Eric Sernando Salguero Franco. Unfortunately, I could find little more than the missing child poster generated by the NCMEC. I then decided to research another boy also missing from Arizona, Jose Rafael Henriquez-Diaz. Shockingly there was no information beyond the poster available on him either. I then realized that both of these boys were around the same age and both minorities.

This, of course, started my conspiracy theory mind spinning and caused me to really think about the well publicized missing children. Very few of them are minorities. Although this is not news for most people, I am one of those naive individuals who only think about what is placed in front of me. I rarely seek out news, if it is not front and center on MSNBC or on one of the many 24 hour news channels (which I am rather addicted to), then I don't know about it. Unfortunately, I am sure I am not the only one guilty of this. The question is are we, as the viewers, the ones responsible? Is it our responsibility to take a stand and demand equal attention to all missing individuals?

A recent example of this is that of missing 2 year old Caylee Anthony. As the search for Caylee began and the nation was drawn into the Anthony family drama, 3 year old Denim Sylvester and her 7 year old brother were reported missing in Pasadena, TX. Unfortunately, on June 21st, the bodies of the siblings were recovered in a wooded area in Houston, TX; their Father has been charged with the murders. Although the story of Denim received some media attention, I would guess that if provided a picture of the siblings few people would be able to tell you the story. I would be hard pressed to find someone who would not recognize a picture of Caylee Anthony and all the details surrounding her disappearance.

While the story of 7 year old Reigh Rockefeller filled the headlines, the story of 7 year old Karla Casanova received little national coverage. Reigh was expected to be on a yacht with her father. Karla, who is missing with her brothers Oscar, 6 and Fernando, 11, is suspected to be with the father of her brother's. Benito Casanova allegedly killed the childrens mother prior to taking them. Again, everyone knows the story of Reigh Rockefeller, how many know about the Casanova children or their murdered mother, Sophia Garcia.

In 2005, 18 year old Natalee Holloway disappeared in Aruba. However, almost a year earlier, in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the family of missing 24 year old Tamika Huston were trying desperately to get some national attention. Eventually, the case did get media attention, although not the attention it deserved. Tamika's story became a focus of the disproportionate attention missing white women receive in the media as seen here and here. In August 2005, the remains of Tamika Huston were found off of a highway in Duncan, South Carolina. Subsequently, Christopher Hampton, Tamika's ex-boyfriend was found guilty of her murder and received a life sentence.

The lack of attention missing minorities receive has gone unnoticed by me, and possibly by many others.

However, I have discovered that there are wonderful, dedicated people out there trying to speak for the missing monorities. Please visit Missing Minorities and Black and Missing for information on those who are virtually ignored by all other media sources.

As always, information regarding missing children can be found at the website for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

As a final note, I have no issue with the media attention Caylee Anthony, Reigh Rockefeller or Natalee Holloway received. I only wish that all of the missing could expect similar treatment.

A trip to the playground...

Jon is lucky enough to be off on Fridays at 3:00, so he tends to be home no later than 3:30. Yesterday, he promised the kids that if the play room was clean when he got home from work he would take them to the play ground. Not just any play ground, but the play ground at Isobel's new school. This was such a huge reward for Isobel. She starts kindergarten in two weeks and is crazy excited.

So after I was done working, we headed over the playground. The kids had such a great time. This is the first time Emmy has been to a play ground since she started walking, so she had a blast. She was all over the place. I have a feeling that she is going to be my daring one. She climbs on everything... has no fear at all (and she is quite a ham).

Here are some pictures of the trip... there are actually some really good ones of Eli.

My daughter, the Diva...

Last night we decided to go shopping for some school clothes for the kids. Shopping for clothes with Isobel is quite an experience. She actually strikes various poses while watching herself in the mirror. After several poses she will assess the outfit. My favorite of the night "I look so cute in this outfit; of course I am cute no matter what." Following are the outfits she chose... others she passed on because she "looks cute no matter what I wear, but this outfit isn't very cute." Seriously... she is 5! I have no idea where she learned this as I am not quite a fashionista... enjoy my "cute" daughter.






The last picture is the end of one of her cheers. She just finished saying "Go Kings!"

One year ago today...

It was one year ago today that my sister was finally able to carry Zeb out of the Baby House in Bishkek. I spent that day checking her blog every 5 minutes waiting for the post to let us know that he was really ours, forever. I actually cried when I finally read the post.

Although Michelle is struggling with how to celebrate Zeb's gotcha day, I didn't want to let it pass without some recognition from me.

My sister had been talking about adoption for a long time. The first I remember hearing about it was at Fafa's funeral (for those of you who don't know me, Fafa was our maternal grandmother). She spoke fondly of the idea of international adoption and couldn't wait to start the process. Having little experience with adoption, I wasn't sure how the integration process worked with extended families. I was worried that it would be difficult for me to love him as I did L. I was very wrong.

I remember when Michelle got her referral and I saw the picture of Zeb for the first time, it was very easy to fall in love with him. I also remember the disappointment I felt when she had short lived doubts regarding a baby boy (she originally wanted a girl a bit older than Zeb). However, fate intervened and Michelle became Zeb's Mom and I, in turn, became his Aunt.