Mehaber 2010 - part 1

"Look Mama! A tiger!!" And with those words our road trip began. We were stopping into Tim Hortons for the 'Road Trip Must Have' - an extra large decaf mocha, heavy on the hot chocolate, don't forget the whipped cream. Briton saw a shabby alley cat hanging out on the side of the hill and figured it was a tiger. Why not? Who says tigers don't live in our area? The day began a little later than it was supposed to, since we all slept in. I had planned to be on the road by 5 or 6:00 am, so we could be at our destination by 1:00 PM, but that didn't work out. I finished packing the van and then we were on our way. Once we were on the road - about 20 minutes from home - I realized I had left my directions at home on the kitchen table. We pulled over, used the cell phone and called Ray, only to find out he had already left for work. So we sat there and killed time, while waiting for him to drive home, find my directions and narrate them to me over the phone. Finally, we were back on the road and headed out to our most exciting weekend! We were on the way to MEHABER - TRUE COLOURS Adoption Camp. I had no idea what to expect, except for the fact that for the first time since bringing our girls home nearly two years ago, they would have little brown children to talk and play with! That was enough to make me heady! Unless you are a mum of a child of a different colour in a 99.9% white town (with a smattering of First Nations people), you might not understand how exciting it is when your children have a chance to see that there really are other people just like them in our country. Our drive was pretty uneventful, and after we made a few wrong turns we made it to our destination: When we arrived the first people I saw were two little girls that were identical in looks - I knew them. They were the ones that I was so excited for Raine to see. We have not had much opportunity for our girls to meet other children who lived in the their orphanage while they lived there, and these were two that had been there at the same time. Raine remembered them. We unpacked the van into our very nice deluxe cabin. It had six single bunks and then a single over a double. There was a wood fireplace for a cozy evening, plus fridge, hotplate, shower and bathroom! It would be a quite convenient stay! I unloaded the six bikes and then within a few minutes the children were off and riding around. It didn't take too long for the children to become fast friends. Before I knew it my boys were racing everywhere with the girls. They enjoyed having Cassidy to chase and tease. Other than about 3 tiny little boys, there were only girls at the camp! It was a good thing I brought my boys to even out the numbers. Then later on, a family arrived that included one boy. Cooper quickly made himself their new friend. They found him ever so friendly. He was just thrilled to have a new friend. In the meantime, Cassidy, being the only child over the age of 9 (outside of our family) found himself a little bored. Before too long though, the fun began when the girls decided to chase him and tie him to a tree! I told him, all little kids love it when a big kid will play with them. I had brought Briton's bike, but he was not interested in riding it. I knew he would have so much fun if he would just take the challenge and get on the bike and conquer the starting and stopping, and of course, the middle part - staying up. So I did what I never, ever, do! I bribed my son. I told him if he would ride the bike and learn how to stop and start I would give him a pop. At first, he said, "No fankyou." After a little while, Cassidy came to me and said to me, He says he would like chips. Oh, so now we are negotiating! We agreed on a deal and before I knew it he was working with Cassidy. You should have seen him. Such a determined little worker. But he was struggling. Then a new friend, Carrie, offered him to use her daughter's wee little bike. So he did and with that bike he got the hang of the starting and stopping. But he still needed to be able to use our bike, so Cassidy got him going and before I knew it, he was riding past me calling out to me. If you have seen him. There was a priceless moment when I was standing around with about five other parents, and Briton drives up behind us, gets off his bike and parks it with a bunch of other bikes. He then says kind of nonchalently, "I parked my bike," and I promise his shoulders pulled back, his chest puffed out and his head tilted back. He then walked off. He was such a proud guy. Yup, he might have just parked his mustang! You should have heard the group laugh - simultaneously. They all knew that he had just learned to ride his bike, and it showed in his face everytime he rode by. Too cute! We had hotdogs for dinner and sat around chatting and getting to know each other. We talked about all things interesting: Scalp fungus Parasites Attachment Name choices and changes Real ages Behaviours You know the typical talk for mums with international adoptions. Stuff that most wouldn't find interesting, but we find fascinating. We forgot to bring marshmallows and one kind dad was sharing his with other people's kids. Briton asked me if he could have a marshmallow. I told him I didn't have any, but if he went and sat by the kind man, he might get offered one. *grin*. Then Cassidy suggested he simply ask the man for a marshmallow. That nice daddy gave him one and then helped him blow out the fire when to caught fire. And then someone suggested we head down to the beach to check it out. It was a 3 km drive and why not! We were up for adventure. We headed down for a short visit and before we knew it most of the kids were into the lake with a couple great dads. These guys were having a great time keeping the kids entertained! After we got back from the lake we headed back to the firepit for some singing and drumming. Then all the children hit the sack around 11:00 PM, all worn out from a wonderful day of energy spent making new friends and rekindling old friendships. For me, I can't explain the incredibly warm feeling I got when I looked around the campsite. There were parents sitting or standing all over in groups of two or three or more - chatting, laughing, and getting to know each other. There were children darting around on bicycles, and on foot, chasing each other, laughing and squealing. There were little brown faces everywhere, and for once our girls knew what it felt like to be the majority, instead of the minority! As their mum, it just warmed me to the core, to know that once a year I have camping opportunities where they can meet up with friends and be like everyone else: brown, adopted, transracially adopted, and internationally adopted! What an amazing feeling! .