June Travels/Kesäkuun matkustelut

Florida was beautiful in June! We might be getting used to the heat and humidity a little, as it really wasn't as horrible as we had thought before. Confession: we've never stayed in Florida past the first days of June. But, as beautiful as it was, it was time for us to head north.




We packed the girls in the Mothership, and started our trip up.




We had four stops on our way up to Maine. The first one was a necessary boondocking stop in Florida as we had left pretty late on our departure day. The second stop was a fun surprise for Mei Mei - we met up with friends from our Florida church, and their little girl is one of Mei Mei's best friends! Although I'm not sure if she realized how strange it was to bump into them at a campground in Virginia....





Our third stop was to pick up our boys from Virginia! They had attended camp with a friend, and we all had a chance to visit a little.

It was good to have a full Mothership, again.

Although, we did have a little problem... Or two...





So our fourth stop was in Pennsylvania at our friends' house. Mr D got the generator working properly again by changing the oil, and our friends found someone to help the Captain with an issue with the Mothership headlights.




We made it to Maine while lupines were still blooming!

Happiness.

************************************************************************************

Kesäkuussa ajoimme asuntoautolla Floridasta Maineen. Neljä pysäkkiä piti tehdä, eka vielä Floridassa myöhäisen lähdön takia, ja ihan nukuimme tien varressa. Toka oli Mei Meille kiva yllätys, tapasimme ystäviä Floridan kirkosta leirintäalueella Virginiassa. Heidän nuorimmaisensa on yksi Mei Mein parhaimmista ystävistä. En kyllä tiedä ymmärsikö Mei Mei kuinka outoa on tavata heidät toisessa oasvaltiossa leirintäalueella??

Kolmas pysäkki oli myös Virginiassa, haimme pojat ystävien luota heidän leirinsä jälkeen, ja neljäs pysäkki oli Pennsylvaniassa, kun Mothership-asuntoauto tarvitsi vähän hellää hoitoa taas. Lopulta pääsimme Maineen, ja lupiinit kukkivat vielä. Ihanuus!

Mei Mei's First Camping Trip/Mei Mein eka asuntoautoreissu!

We reached a very important milestone in Mei Mei's life last month! Not only did she get a new mouth on the inside (how we explained her cleft palate surgery to Mei Mei), Mei Mei got to go on her very first camping trip in the Mothership!




Because of the circumstances, those two milestones were combined...




Yes, we actually stayed in the Mothership at a campground during Mei Mei's surgery!




We ended up traveling as a mini family, and all five of us stayed in the Mothership one night. Then Mei Mei and mama stayed in the hospital the next night, while the Captain spent the night in the Mothership with Little Miss and Mr A.




I love how our Heavenly Father takes care of all the little (and big!) details in our lives. Our dear friends, the P family, was camping at the same campground that week. We had a wonderful time visiting with them, and Mr A and Little Miss hang out with them a most of Thursday when Mei Mei had her surgery.
(We LOVED the campground decorations at the P site - the green fairy lights were magical! Thanks for all the meals, too, N!)



We so enjoyed our little camping trip, and can't wait to go back, hopefully soon! We have a few favorite campgrounds in Florida, and this is number one in our book.

We do have to iron out some kinks - the sleeping arrangements need to be figured out. The Mothership is so narrow Mei Mei's portacrib won't fit in the hallway, and sleeping next to Little Miss didn't really work out. But we'll think of something:)



As we were leaving the campground the day after Mei Mei's surgery, a little raccoon came out to say hello. Or possibly join our crew?

******************************************************************************************

Mei Mei pääsi ensimmäiselle asuntoautoreissulleen marraskuussa - yövyimme Mothership'issä ennen leikkausta, ja sen yhden sairaalayön, kun Mei Mei ja mama olimme sairaalassa, Kapteeni yöpyi asuntoautossa Mr A:n ja Pikkuneidin kanssa. Meidän ystävämme olivat samalla leirintäalueella koko viikon (näitä ihania Taivaan Isän ajoituksia!), ja leikkauspäivänä Mr A ja Pikkuneiti hengailivat heidän kanssaan melkein koko päivän.

Niin ihanaa oli pitkästä aikaa olla leirintäalueella ja asuntoautossa, että pian pitää päästä uudestaan. Pitää vaan keksiä paremmat nukkumisjärjestelyt, Mei Mei eikä Pikkuneiti kumpikaan nukkuneet kovin hyvin vierekkäin. Muuten meillä oli oikein kivaa leirintäalueella.

Lähtiessä pieni pesukarhu tuli meitä hyvästelemään, tai kenties olisi tullut mukaan Mothership'iin?

Florida Fall/Syksyä Floridassa

While fall might not be as spectacular in Florida as it is in New England, we so have enjoyed the cooler temperatures, and different fall festivities. We visited a pumpkin patch one morning with other homeschool families.




Some of us attended a Trunk or Treat festival at a local church this week. We had a fun time with friends and dressing up. Mei Mei always loves going out, and celebrates with enthusiasm. She loves to wave 'hi' to people, and she loves music and dancing.



The Captain took a quick trip to Maine, and returned with the Mothership - we hope to go on some smaller adventures soon. As soon the Captain arrived, Mr T and Mr D did go on a new adventure, the two of them flew to Kentucky for few a days!

For a family that usually goes where the wind blows, it sure has been an adjustment to live by the calendar....!! It's only for a season, right???




School fills up a big part of our days. The little girls love going to the library, and big kids often do, too, especially Mr D.

 

What would be fall without pies? We have made apple and pumpkin pies so far (Mr A took the picture above, and I just love having one of the boys half way into the freezer in it, haha!)

So far Mei Mei has not been a big fan of the pies, but she sure loves the ice cream that often gets served along the pie.




Even princesses make sure to take good care of their teeth! Earlier in October Little Miss got braces, and this week Missy had to have oral surgery to expose a stubborn tooth that wouldn't come down on its' own.

Mei Mei goes in for her palate repair surgery later this month, too, and Mr T needs wisdom teeth surgery, but he is going to wait a bit, since he isn't in pain at the moment.




While our foliage here in Florida may not be as brilliant as up north, going to the beach in October and November is pretty awesome:) No complaints!!!

**********************************************************************************

Kaikenlaista syystouhua on ollut ilmassa täällä Floridassa. Ruska ei tietenkään ole niin upea täällä, mutta onneksi ilmat alkavat viilentyä jonkin verran, ja ulkona on ollut kiva olla. Yksi iso paikallinen kirkko järjesti monenlaista syystapahtumaa lapsille: kävimme 'kurpitsapellolla' muiden kotikoululaisten kanssa, ja naamiaistapahtumassa myös.

Koulua käymme ahkerasti, ja lempipaikkoja vierailla viikottain ovat kirjasto ja merenranta - tätä ihanaa Floridan syksy-ja talvielämistä, kun saa mennä rannalle koska vain!

Tämä syksy on ollut oikea hampaiden syksy meille. Pikkuneiti sai raudat lokakuussa, ja perjantaina Missylle tehtiin operaatiota, kun yksi rautahampaista ei suostunut laskeutumaan itsekseen. Nyt marraskuussa on tulossa Mei Mein leikkaus myös, ja vielä Mr T:kin tarvitsisi viisaudenhampaiden poistoa, mutta sen jätämme vähän myöhemmälle.

Kapteeni kävi hakemassa Mothership-asuntoauton Mainestä, ja kun hän tuli kotiin, Mr T ja Mr D suuntasivat Kentuckyyn, tarkasti pitää elää kalenterin kanssa täällä, mutta eiköhän meidän villi ja vapaa arkemme joku päivä tule takaisin taas... :-)

A Week in New Hampshire/Viikko NH:ssä

I titled my last blog post "Homecoming", because that is what coming back from China after an adoption trip is called, but we didn't exactly get to go home yet...

We spent a week in New Hampshire at a very rustic cottage getting over the worst of our jet lag. In a way spending Mei Mei's very first United States week in New Hampshire was very fitting. New Hampshire will always be special to our family.

The Captain and I as newlyweds made our home there, our quadruplets were born there, we brought Little Miss home to New Hampshire from China, and now Mei Mei, too.

 

We were within a stone's throw of a lake and a beach, and Mei Mei really loved playing in the sand and in the water. We all loved it!

The Captain had some work projects, our teens were involved with camp activities, and us China travelers got to rest. Sort of.

In China Mei Mei had been mostly sleeping with mama and Little Miss, and sometimes falling asleep on mama. Not ideal for mama, but you do what you need to do for survival fostering attachment. In New Hampshire we had a tiny bed (full size?), and the Captain and mama were not getting a whole lot of sleep with Mei Mei in the bed, too.

Our third night there we ended up having to train Mei Mei to sleep in her portacrib. That was the roughest night for the whole avenue... I don't recommend sleep training while suffering from jet lag yourself, but we survived. And it was such a good thing. Mei Mei started doing better each night, and slept in her bed for the rest of our time.

By Thursday we were starting to come out of our fog.



It was so sweet to see the rest of our family fall in love with Mei Mei, too!



Mei Mei taking baths in the kitchen sink:)

We enjoyed the rustic little cottage very much. Had to be creative there with a large family.. One bathroom, no laundry, no wifi, and the kitchen definitely wasn't ideal. But we made it work! Fortunately there was a snack shack within a walking distance, so our teens pretty much took care of lunch, and sometimes dinner by grabbing burgers there. Our second night there we picked up pizza, friends invited us over for dinner, and I used the RV crockpot a few times, too.



Looking back at our crazy summer, this was our vacation week!


*********************************************************************************

Kiinasta paluun jälkeen 'kotiuduimme' pieneen vuokramökkiin New Hampshireen. Saimme levätä reissusta ja palautua jet lagistä, ja kun katson taaksepäin hurjaa kesäämme, tämä viikko oli se lomaviikko. Kapteenilla oli työnsä, mutta teinit osallistuivat leirikeskuksen ohjelmaan ja minullekin arki oli yksinkertaista siellä. Mökissä ei ollut pyykkikoneita, ruoanlaitto oli hankalaa, joten vältin sitä:), vain yksi vessa piti pitää puhtaana, eikä ollut internettiä. Kännykällä pystyi lähettämään tekstareita, muttei soittamaan puheluita, joten ihanasti tuli levättyä.

Tosin Mei Mein piti tottua nukkumaan omassa sängyssä. Kaksi yötä yritimme nukkua pikkuriikkisessä sängyssä kolmistaan, mutta sitten piti pitää unikoulua. En suosittele sitä jet lag'isenä, mutta me selvittiin, ja pieni alkoi nukkumaan paremmin joka yö, eli mamakin sai vihdoin tarvittavaa unta.

Mökki oli lähellä järveä ja rantaa, ja Mei Mei ja Pikkuneiti nauttivat rannalla olosta. Kaiken kaikkiaan meillä oli oikein ihana viikko rakkaassa New Hampshiressä - asuimme vuosia siellä, sinne Kapteeni ja minä asetuimme häittemme jälkeen, neloset syntyivät New Hampshiressä, ja Pikkuneiti ja nyt Mei Mei molemmat tulivat Kiinasta New Hampshireen...

A Quick Update (and Changes on the Horizon)

China travel posts will continue... soon eventually. But here's a quick update, to explain the radio silence on the blog.



Once we traveled back to USA, we had a week in New Hampshire at a rustic cottage before we headed up to our Maine camp. Once we got there, we pretty much realized we needed to turn around and head to Florida asap.



We spent a week in Maine, which in part was at Grandma and Grandpa's house, packing up a trailer. Mei Mei loved Grandma and Grandpa! She still talks (signs) about them, and offers kisses at their pictures.



We left the Mothership in Maine, all eight of us squeezed into our car, towed a trailer full of furniture, and took two and a half days to drive to Florida. Once we got to our destination city we started having trouble with one of the trailer tires, and about an hour after pulling into our new driveway, the tire was completely flat (thank You, God, for the timing!).

Mei Mei was such a champ, every morning she signed "drive" and happily climbed into her car seat. There were times she had had it, and complained loudly, but we all felt that she was just vocalizing what each of us was feeling inside.



Oh, the happiness of being free of the car and the car seat!

Our new rental was completely empty, and it still echoes inside. We have quite a bit of work ahead of us to make it homier, and are still sleeping on the floor, but we'll make this a home, yet.



After arriving in Florida, the very next day our teens headed to school! A new chapter is starting here at Our Mothership Adventures. We are still homeschooling, but our quadruplets have started dual enrollment classes at a local college. They can earn high school and college credits from the classes they take. We are still continuing Mr. D Math as well (which everyone LOVES), they took Algebra II over the summer, and are now taking Pre-Calculus. I hope to blog more about our school year, but as you may have noticed, I have had less computer time now that we have a toddler in the house! (Plus all the traveling, too.)

Little Miss is waiting for her Sonlight curriculum to arrive, so we'll be starting her school sometime next month.

What all these changes mean is less traveling for these next two or three years. Mei Mei is going to need a surgery (or surgeries), and most likely speech therapy, too, so staying put for now makes a lot of sense. I am hoping to continue blogging about our adventures, even though they will be different from all our on the road adventures. A new phase in our lives!


*********************************************************************************

Pikainen päivitys, Kiina-postausten keskellä.. Isoja muutoksia Mothership-porukalle, neloset palasivat kouluun tällä viikolla! Ja sen takia jouduimme lähtemään Mainestä tarkoitusta aikaisemmin..

Eli nyt olemme Floridassa taas, jätimme asuntoauton anoppilaan, ja saavuimme muuttokuorman kanssa uuteen vuokrataloon tiistaina. Keskiviikkona alkoi paikallisessa collegessa koulu nelosilla, he voivat lukiolaisina käydä collegea, ja saada samasta kurssista pisteitä niin lukion todistukseen, kuin myös college pisteitä (credits). Ja ilmaiseksi niin kauan, kuin ovat lukiossa. Eli upea mahdollisuus maassa, jossa koulutus on ihan järkyn kallista. He ovat kuitenkin edelleen kotikoululaisia, ja kotikoulun matematiikan nettikurssi on alkanut jo.

Pikkuneiti ei ole vielä aloittanut koulua, ensi kuussa olisi tarkoitus. Hänestä on ollut iso apu Mei Mein kanssa, ja uutta kotia laittaessa.

Nämä koulumuutokset tuovat myös sen muutoksen, että meidän matkaseikkailupostauksia tulee olemaan vähemmän. Mutta eiköhän sitä materiaalia blogiin löydy muualtakin:) Hyvä rauhoittua pariksi vuodeksi, Mei Meikin tarvitsee leikkauksen ja todennäköisesti myös puheterapiaa.

Uusi jakso meidän perheelle!