Dreams and Reality

In the years of waiting for Olivia, I had many, many ideas of what life would be like with her in my life. The ideas usually centered around simple things: shopping, going to the park, opening birthday presents. Last year, as we were getting closer to referral, another dream kept popping up. Hanging out and swimming at our friend's house.

Before me, Michael always spent a lot of time with Brent and Elaine. When I came along, that trend continued, but somewhat less so. As our and their lives continued to get busier, regretfully, we have not seen them as much as I would like. Olivia certainly has made it even more of a challenge for us.... until now. Michael and Brent have, for many years, played golf together on Wednesday evenings. That means that all summer, I have to pick Olivia up from Jodi's at 4pm. So, I leave work early, pick her up and head to Brent and Elaine's pool.



Soon Elaine and some of the kids, then Janelle and her kids join. We enjoy snacks, sometimes an "adult" drink, the sun and the water. It is just about the most relaxing, enjoyable thing I do every week. I took Olivia down the slide 4 or 5 times today and threw her up in the air and let her splash back down in my arms. She laughed so loud it was amazing.

Midway through, we stopped for a snack of cherries, broccoli, carrots and dip and a juice box.



Around 7:30, about 3 hours after I arrived, I head home to get Olivia settled down and headed to bed. I am already looking forward to next week.

This picture is from last week - showing her road rash:



And last, but certainly not least, a short video of Olivia from today, just as she got in the water. The little chairs were new to her, so she had to do a thorough inspection!