Jena picked a good year to be here

Jena always says she picked a great year to come to America and especially Tampa since we have so much going on this year.
First there was the Olympics going on when she got here. It was neat to see her perspective on things and hear her teenage point of view coming from Taiwan with the Olympics in China.
Next she gets to witness our country elect a new President which is absolutely huge for her and so cool for her to be a part of. She got to vote with Drew on the very first day so she was very excited about that.
Then of course we have sports. Jena is a big baseball fan (New York Yankees) but she is routing hard for our own Rays who are postponed right now in the middle of the 5th game of the World Series to determine if there will be another game and possible chance for them to make history.
Next we have the SuperBowl which will be hosted in Tampa this year so there is so much for her to be excited about. Oh, and friends of mine are huge Yankee fans and they plan to take Jena to a game this spring in Tampa. Of course all her friends want her to purchase merchandise to bring back home with her.
Go Rays!!

Asian Pacific Rim Festival & Beach

Once again we found something fun to entertain Jena with this past weekend. In St. Pete there was a weekend long festival called the Asian Pacific Rim Festival. It ran both days and there was plenty of foods and arts and crafts that are indigenous to each country. We learned a little history/geography as well about some polynesian islands that we were unfamiliar with.
At the Taiwan booths I bought a couple of really cool things that Jena promises she can send me more of when she returns home. It was also really neat because one of the ladies working is from Jena's hometown of Chiayi which is several hours south of Tapei.




We met up with our friends Michelle, Neil & Chloe and also Kip, Treena and Jemma. It was great catching up with them since it has been quite awhile since we have all been together. All of us plan to meet in Orlando this November for our adoption agency's(CCAI) reunion. This will be a fun-filled day in the park with food and lots activities for the kids. The CCAI reunion is exactly where the 6 of us met 2 years ago.
The picture of the daddies and daughters would have been really great if Drew could have put Jena on his shoulders as our "daughter on loan for a school year"...she said "absolutely NO WAY". (I think she was afraid he'd drop her).












Once we were nice and toasty on this very hot and sunny day, the 3 of us left the festivities and headed to the beach at Indian Rocks. It was absolutely beautiful! The water was the perfect temperature and very clear. We stayed about 2 hours and it was a great first time at the beach for Jena (about time, since she's been here since August 1st).

Universal Studios - September 2008

We spend last Saturday at Universal and it was a perfect weekend for it. It was a beautiful day, 85 with no humidity and hardly crowded at all compared to what it could be. The longest we waited for any attraction was 40 minutes so that was great. Jena had a great time and we did as well. She wanted to capture some funny pictures for her blog so that explains some of the silly photos above.
The park closed at 5pm in preparation of Halloween Horror Nights but it was just enough time to enjoy everything then take Jena for her first meal at a Hard Rock Cafe.
We've all had a long week but ready to tackle Busch Gardens this Saturday with some of Jena's friends. Jena and I will also be attending a baby shower on Sunday for baby Jemma just home from Taiwan.
Love the weekends!