Vacation: Days 3 & 4

MONDAY
We went to Ripley’s Aquarium. It was lots of fun, and William especially liked the sharks & saw fish. His souvenir from the day was a foam pirate sword (that has since driven Zack & me crazy!).

After the aquarium, we had lunch at the River City Café in our hotel, then hit the beach. Later in the afternoon, we walked down to the nearby pier and saw a huge school of sting rays & a couple of sharks. Of course, this is the time when we forget to carry the camera!

We drove to Barefoot Landing for dinner. We had fun walking around the shops afterwards, and William even got a cool pirate tattoo from a pirate (this trip tended to have a pirate theme for some reason!).

TUESDAY
We spent the morning at Alligator Adventures. It was a lot of fun, but it was super hot. William had fun at the reptile show where he got to pet a skink, snake, and caiman. And he came away with a new stuffed animal – a 3 foot alligator (he’s quick to tell you that it’s not a gator because Florida Gators are yucky!)

We’d seen commercials for a European restaurant that included Ukrainian fare so we decided to try it. We all ended up getting German food, and we discovered that we all like schnitzel!

Back to the hotel, and another trip down to the beach. We hit the burger joint at the hotel again since none of us felt like getting out. Then we walked back to the pier, this time with camera in hand – only to have it rain on us once we got out there. So you’ll just have to trust us when we say that we saw some awesome sharks & rays on our trip!

Double-take

We keep track of William's height on the inside of our pantry door. We have the measurement from the day we met him, and then a measurement from mid-May. He walked past it yesterday afternoon, and I made him stop & go back.

I had to measure twice to be sure I wasn't doing something wrong. But my eyes weren't deceiving me - he's grown over an inch & a half in the last 6 weeks!

Turns out, Zack had done the exact same thing that morning & figured he was doing something wrong, too.

He's been eating more and we thought we might be in for a growth spurt, but this is unbelievable: he's grown more in the last 6 weeks than he had in the first 6 months!

Vacation: Days 1 & 2

We left Saturday morning and arrived at Myrtle Beach around 4 PM. We checked into our hotel, and got unpacked and changed. Then William stepped foot on the beach for the first time in his life. His orphanage in Ukraine was probably no more than 10 minutes from the shore, but he told us he'd never seen the ocean before. He was quite impressed (and a little apprehensive!). Then we grabbed some dinner and made it an early night, as we were all tired from the long day in the car!

Sunday - Zack's first Father's Day! As soon as William woke up he gave Zack & big hug and then presented him with a gift that he had picked out himself: a DAD t-shirt & a pair of shorts... and a talking Transformers card (Zack's convinced it will soon end up in William's room!).

We were up early and on the beach. We played for several hours there and at the pool. We went for an early dinner at a close-by seafood buffet. A little tidbit here - we noticed our waitress had a European-sounding accent and found out she was from Russia. So we had some fun trying to remember a few Russian words to converse. It's amazing how little William still knows!

While we were eating the floods came. So we went back to the hotel & waited out the rain. Then we headed to Broadway at the Beach and did some shopping & looking around. William had his first taste of salt water taffy & fudge. Yum!

We're Back!

We had a fantastic week at the beach. We have tons of pics on the digital camera, but haven't put them on the computer yet. In the meantime, here are a few from our SLR that we had developed today.

Catching up

Sorry it's been a while, but here's some of what has been going on...

About 2 weeks ago, William experienced a very important first in the life of a child growing up in Georgia...

The Varsity, an Atlanta Institution! Here he is, enjoying a naked dog, fries, and a yummy Frosted Orange! And of course, he's wearing the obligatory red paper hat. He got a kick out of the counter staff yelling "what'll ya have?".

I only know ONE person who didn't grow up in the South, yet still craves The Varsity. But to us native Georgians, it just doesn't get any better than a chili dog, onion rings and a frosted orange... and maybe a fried pie for dessert!

Zack's parents bought William a wading pool for his birthday, and he enjoys splashing around in it at their house... (obviously Adie has to get in on the action, too!)

Last Saturday the 3 of us went hiking at Amicalola Falls for a couple of hours. I'm proud to say we went up all 600 stairs, and back down 425. We had an awesome time, and even saw a couple of snakes and a really cool lizard.

This boy loves to eat watermelon. We had a cookout at Josh's house (Zack's brother) and we finally had to stop him so he didn't end up with a tummy ache.

He also had fun playing with Josh's new baby, Zoe. She's a cutie!

This week is Bible School at the church where he attended preschool. The theme is Outrigger Island, and he is really enjoying it. Every night he listens to a CD of the songs that they're working on, and shows me the hand motions. And each night Zack & I pray that a seed is being planted and that he is starting to understand what all of this is about.

William is super-excited that we're leaving Saturday morning for his first trip to the beach! He told me he can't wait to play in the sand, swim in the ocean, jump in the pool (I'll believe it when I see it!), build a sand castle, see sharks & alligators (at the Aquarium & Alligator Adventure) and eat "crab's legs". He's never had crab legs but this boy loves shrimp & fish, and is the least picky eater of any kid I've met, so I imagine he'll like them!

Names

Probably the easiest thing in preparing for our son's adoption was choosing his name. For those that don't know, he was named for 3 grandfathers:

• Zack's Dad, whose middle name is Hoyt
• My Dad, whose first name is William (goes by his middle name)
• And Zack's Grandfather, whose name was William Hoyt

Here's a fun quiz that tells what types of names you prefer. My results were not at all surprising. "You are the type most likely to name someone after a family member" - exactly!

Zack's first and middle name are on the "male names you might like"! And, our top boy & girl names were among the choices in the questions I had to answer.

You Like Names That Are Classic and Timeless

You prefer quality names that have stood the test of time. You don't like anything that's trendy today and outdated next year. Names are important to you, and naming someone should not be an social experiment. You are the type most likely to name someone after a family member. Some female names you might like: Andrea, Elizabeth, Hannah, Julia, Marie, Nicole, and Victoria Some male names you might like: Aaron, Benjamin, Christopher, Jonathan, Matthew, Thomas, and Zachary What Kinds of Names Do You Like?