The WetBirds Go To Washington

During our long wait to bring Lily home Tony and I attended countless Waiting Parents meetings. At one of the meetings I overheard a woman saying, "The Rumor Queen says...", "The Rumor Queen thinks...". I just had to ask...who was this Rumor Queen? The woman was kind enough to give me the web address for the Rumor Queen's site and I was instantly addicted.

The Rumor Queen site has forums set up exclusively for each Log In Date month. The October 2005 forum was an incredible source of support for me while we waited to bring Lily home. I know I've mentioned before that prior to beginning the adoption process I spent very little time online, had never been in a chat room, and thought only people who spent way too much time indoors ever formed online friendships. However, before I knew it I found myself talking to Tony and saying things like, "Well, Kimber doesn't have fingerprints either...and Elo went to an FCC waiting family event today." Tony would look at me like I was crazy and ask me who on earth were Kimber and Elo. What I realized is that without ever meeting these people face to face I had established a real relationship with them. Our common goal of bringing our children home from China had brought us together and through this journey we had become friends.

After everyone in the October 2005 LID room had received referrals for our children we all made plans to have a Rumor Queen reunion in Washington, DC. Not unlike the promises you make to stay in touch when you graduate from high school and college somehow real life takes over and before you know it you've drifted apart. The reunion was not as big as we had hoped but fortunately we were able to get together with Kimber's family.

Kim, Dave, Will, Harry, and Kate met us yesterday in Washington, DC and we had a great time! Kim's family is absolutely wonderful. Kim and Dave are as nice as can be and their boys are polite, funny, handsome young gentlemen. Kate is such a sweetie and seeing she and Lily together gave me many "Mom moments". You know what I mean...suddenly you have tears in your eyes and you aren't even sure why.

We met Kim and her family at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. We walked through the gardens, toured the museum and then went to Rosa Mexicano for a yummy lunch. After lunch we spent a little time walking around downtown. It was so fun to watch the kids interacting. Lily and Kate were precious together and held hands, kissed, and hugged several times. Will and Harry were great with Lily, too. As a matter of fact, I think little Miss Lily was quite sweet on Harry. You should have seen the way she looked at him. Harry even mentioned to his mom that he thinks he might be Lily's first boyfriend. Priceless!

Meeting Kim face to face for the first time felt like bumping into an old friend I had known forever. We talked and talked and when we parted company I still felt like I had so much to say.

Kim, it was great to finally meet you. I knew you would be as sweet in real life as you are in 'cyber life'. Dave, I felt like I already knew you from all the wonderful things Kim has shared about you. Thanks for spending your Saturday with us and thanks for lunch, too! Will and Harry, thanks for being so patient and letting me and your mom talk...and talk...and talk. Thank you for being such good sports and playing with Lily, too. You guys are such nice boys and awesome big brothers! Kate, I could eat you with a spoon! You are such a cutie and it made my heart so happy to see you and my sweet Lily together. I hope we all can get together again soon!

Kim has some great pictures from our day together posted on her blog. Stop by and check them out by clicking here.