We were excited to be able to visit with Janice once again on Thursday. We hadn't seen her since Monday, and it seemed like such a long time!!! Our whole family was excited, yet it was hard to leave town since my parents were here. They were understanding, but we only get to seem them once or twice a year, so we felt bad. I remember Ashley saying she didn't want to leave Nana and Pop Pop. But we were encouraged not to overwhelm Janice too much with extended family and friends. It was a lot for her to meet the five of us and we needed to have quality time with her!
We picked her up at a beautiful park from a day camp she was attending. I was amazed how good I felt seeing her again!!! She had been at a trampoline place where they have trampolines on the floor and on the walls so you can literally "bounce off the walls," and she had been bowling in the afternoon. Plus, it was a really hot day, so when we picked her up, you could see she was really tired! The good news was we didn't feel the nerves we had in the past. She seemed really comfortable with us. We brought our dog Bogey since she really enjoyed him, and she was happy to see him!
We headed to pick up some dinner at KFC and went to a park to have a picnic. We had brought some drinks, games, and some blankets and chairs. We found a nice spot in the grass and prayed together and ate. After we all ate, she seemed to have some energy return. We played a game of croquet, played on the park some, took a few pictures, and then threw the football around. It was a fun and relaxing time. She really seemed to like our iphone and our computer at home, so we decided to take her to a nearby Apple store and show her around. The kids all enjoyed playing on ipad's and just hanging out, and we were glad that we could have Bogey with us too since it was in a group of outdoor stores. She said that she hadn't shopped much at the Gap, so I took her there to look around. She liked some of their backpacks and we checked out some of the clothes. I told her that the backpacks normally go on sale closer to school and maybe we could get one. It was fun to have her to myself for a short bit. Then we headed back to the van and asked her if there was something else she wanted to do. We had seen a yogurt place earlier, and she said that would be fun. So, we headed there and all ate together outside on some steps. Then it was time to get her home.
We walked her to the door and talked with the foster dad for awhile. Another neighbor was out and Janice and the kids went over to see his dog. While they were there, she introduced the kids as HER ADOPTIVE FAMILY!!! The kids told us about it after we got in the car. I was amazed!!! I wasn't sure where she was in all of this, but she was clearly understanding and getting more comfortable with what was going on. At times, it felt like there was a big elephant in the room and that we should talk about it, but we wanted to take things slow and her social worker wanted us to as well. But this was a great sign! We gave her hugs and headed back home. I was going to get to come back up on Saturday to watch her at a horse play day she was involved with, but Scott wouldn't see her for awhile. I could tell it was hard on him, but I thought it might be good to have some time alone with her as well.
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