August 2006 Update
Well, we’re in Tallahassee and all settled. Our apartment is
south of town and under more construction than we expected, but
the inside is beautiful and we are making it our home for the
year. The complex has a lovely zero depth entry pool and, since
only 4 buildings are occupied at the moment, there is NEVER
anyone else in the pool. Zoe and I swim daily, and it’s like
having our very own spa quality pool (only we don’t have to
clean it or check the chemicals). And the water temperature … it
was as warm as a bath for a while but then it rained and now
it’s a bit more refreshing (still warm, but not too hot).
Tallahassee is a lovely town literally filled with tons of trees
and lots of character. You really have to watch when driving
down the road or you’ll miss your store since everything is
nestled behind trees. And the palm trees!!! They are AWESOME!
Nothing says, “You are in Florida” more than driving past a row
of palm trees.
We went for a walk down the bike path, which is also covered as
if by a rooftop of trees. BEAUTIFUL! Apparently it goes all the
way down to the water but we doubt we’d actually walk that far
as it is well over a 20 mile trek to the ocean inlet. Next time
we go for a walk on it, we’ll be sure to lather up on bug spray.
Poor Zoe was eaten alive by mosquitoes.
Speaking of bugs, they are MUTANT down here. We’ve seen many
palmetto bugs, which are as large field mice and several flying
bugs that look as if they are the same size as small birds. We
are not big fans of the bugs, and we’ll steer clear of them
whenever possible. I need to research first aide for bug bites.
Yesterday an adult was dive-bombed by a wasp and bitten at the
pool. I need to figure out how to help if Zoe should get a more
serious and painful bug bite.
Everyone has been incredibly welcoming and friendly down here.
Rob has enjoyed meeting people in his department, and Zoe and I
have had fun attending a playgroup with several other children
that were born in Asia. Florida State University is beautiful
and Rob is looking forward to his year of teaching. That said,
we all miss our friends in Minnesota.
On the adoption front, we have contracted a wonderful social
worker named Helen who will help us update our home study so we
meet Florida’s requirements to adopt. She is a really neat lady,
and we are excited to be working with her.
|
Zoe had her hair cut this month. Too cute!
On our way to Tallahassee ...
we made almost 19 hours in ONE DAY!
Zoe was very agreeable on the trip.
|
