Little Dancer

Last week we went on a cruise. Eliana, as is typical for her with new experiences, was full of questions and anxiety as the time to get on the ship approached. She even shed a fear tears as we waited while Keith parked the vehicle.

On that first afternoon, as we were delayed in port thanks to a tropical storm, there was a kick off dance lesson. At first she was just dancing off to the side, but soon she was right in the middle of it, keeping up move for move, jump for jump.

And she didn't stop when it was over. She kept right on dancing. At first a few people continued with her, but soon she was the only one. Occasionally, over the next hour and a half, someone would join her for a while, but most of the time she danced by herself. On and on, jumping, twirling, joyous and free from inhibition or anxiety.

It was a beautiful start to our vacation. And I think she danced all of her anxiety away, because we certainly didn't see it again.

Douglas...

Douglas has a new address. The tears have been real today, folks.

Before he left this morning, his car filled with his belongings, he told me, "I like where I am in life right now." And that is all that really matters.

He is happy. We are so thankful for the man he is. We aren't worried that he isn't ready for this.

But I still can't reconcile it all in my mind.

I cried when he went to visit school the first time, the year before he actually started. I cried when he started school, his lunchbox carefully packed and a special bag I made for him to carry papers in clutched in his little hands.

I know we will get used to this. But today it hurts. Today I keep wondering how that adorable baby boy who made me a Mama almost 19 years ago can possibly be a grown man.

I'm Not Ready To Be Done

I wanted to write more while I was in Taiwan, but time and exhaustion being what they are I just didn't manage to do it. So even though I've been home for almost a week, I'm not ready to be finished with the Taiwan posts yet.

We couldn't all go in one gondola, so here is the rest of our group.

The day we went sightseeing ended up being gorgeous! We rode the Maokong gondola cable cars up the mountain to this adorable little village with breathtaking views. We went to a restaurant that one of the ladies from the orphanage recommended and we all loved the food! Sitting out on a veranda eating delicious food and sipping tea looking out over the mountains with Taipei 101 in the distance was an experience I would recommend to anyone.

These candied strawberries were amazing!

They added tea leaves to most of the dishes.

Dragon beard vegetables 

We ordered a pot of tea and then requested a refill. The man carrying the tea pots just came and replaced our tea pot with a full one. When Gongzhan asked him what kind was in the full pot he just waved his hand and said, "It is the same!" It wasn't, but he obviously did not think the stupid Americans would know the difference.

The gondola we took both up the mountain and back down had a glass floor. Weirdly it wasn't as scary as it sounds, though it could be a little bit concerning if you thought about it too much. Mostly it was just awesome to see everything from that vantage point.

On our way back down the mountain we stopped at the Taipei zoo. It cost about $2.50 USD to get in and was so beautiful! There were orchids growing on the trees everywhere. We didn't have a lot of time there, but did see a few animals, including pandas, so it everyone was satisfied.

From there we took the metro to an underground market. By then I was so exhausted I thought I couldn't keep going, but I found some cute little socks to bring home to Annika, so that was fun.

The metro was really crowded!

It was the most tiring day of the trip and I almost skipped going and stayed at the hotel because I thought it might be that way, but I would have missed out on so much if I had.