Last Day in Bogota

Well, today was our last day in Bogota.  The day started bright and early with the rooster crowing (there is a rooster in the neighborhood, and he never misses a sunrise seranade!).  Juan Manuel woke up with the rooster, but the other 2 kids were still asleep.  So Jason and I went and layed in bed with Juan Manuel, and it was so sweet.

After breakfast we headed out to the markets with some of the other families from our hotel.  On Sundays here they close down one side of the road for bicycle and pedestrian traffic.  There were tons of people on bikes and lots of rollerbladers and even some people on roller skates.  The market was really neat and there were many artisan crafts there.  The kids did ok for a while, but we didn't stay for too long, as we didn't want to push our luck.  We have learned to shop/eat/visit very quickly, as we know we have a short window of time before something heads south.

This afternoon we had the kids play in the patio area of the hotel and the toy room (they call it the "casa de jueguetes" or house of toys).  They did pretty well, but Christian fell down twice before we called it quits.  He has 2 matching goose eggs on his forehead.  We joke that the kiddo needs a helmet!  He is so independent and wants to toddle around on his own, but he is not the most coordinated yet, so it is always somewhat perilous.

After playing, the kids got to take a very very long bath.  I was trying to stall them in the bathroom so that Jason could finish packing.  Our bathroom here has the giant whirlpool tub, so all of the kids were in there together splashing and screaming and having fun.

We said goodbye to all of the other families here, and it has really been so much fun for us to spend time with them.  I didn't mention this before, but one of the families here had actually talked with me when we were very first looking into the LSS Colombia adoption program.  Who could have predicted that one year later both of our families would be here in Bogota adopting our new children.  What a wonderful surprise it has been for us!

Off to our room for a little bit of Toy Story, and then an early bed time.  We will wake at 3:15 tomorrow to leave by 4:00 for our 7:00 flight.  We are anticipating that tomorrow will be a very, very challenging day.  We are armed with toys, cookies, candy, whatever it takes to help keep the kids distracted and entertained.

We told the kids yesterday that on Monday we would be going to the United States.  While we have talked with them about this many, many times, we can definitely see in their behavior that they are nervous, excited, afraid...you name it.  They have been bouncing off the walls all afternoon (more than usual!), and we have been terrified that one of them will have an accident and need an emergency room visit right before we go!  But, now they are in bed, and we can breathe a sigh of relief.

As they were getting ready for bed, Juan Manuel and Santi were asking us things like "Tomorrow will you help us with everything?  Are you always going to help us when we get to the United States?  Will you help Christian in the airplane?"  We can tell from their questions that they are nervous and afraid, and who could blame them?  Everything they have ever known is about to change (except for Choco-Krispies, that is!).  I know that before we came to Colombia and before we met the kids, I was so afraid of the unknown too.  But we are together as a family, and we will try to make their transition as easy as we possibly can. 

The kids are also excited too.  They are asking when they can go to visit their Tias (and the Tias' doggies!), and can they play in the snow as soon as we get home.  Well...maybe Tuesday morning, but I think that tomorrow night we will be pretty tired out.

That's about it from here tonight.  Wish us luck with our travel day tomorrow.  We will just try get through it and pray for lots and lots of patience.  Tomorrow morning the U.S. will have 3 brand new little citizens, and their family and friends all await!!  Thank you for your thoughts and prayers as we have been abroad, and please know that we appreciate them so much!!  Ciao from Bogota!!