Atlanta Steeplechase and a cat tree!

Last Saturday we went to the Atlanta Steeplechase, held north of Atlanta, near Rome. It sits on acres and acres and acres of rolling farm land and is just beautiful. Every April, they open for one day and hold horse reaces to raise money for the UGA Vet School. Before the races, they have all kinds of family events. There are Jack Russell Terrier races, pig races, petting farm, pony rides, dog-frisbee contests, ladies' hat contest, etc. It's a lot of fun and we look forward to it each year. Mark is usually able to snag free tickets from work and we can even eat in the sponsor's tent for free! The most popular thing in the tent this year was the cold water, since the sun decided to make an appearance and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. According to the car thermometer, it was 94. Sheezz!!!!! The funny thing is that there are many "upper class" people in attendance and the men actually try to get thru the event in shirt, tie and jacket. Crazy! We are common folk, so it was t-shirts and jeans for us. Olivia loves being outside, so she had a ball. The area is really big, so we brought a wagon for her to ride in. Mark was her official "driver".

She saw a ride she'd wanted to ride last year - but she chickened out at the last second. I couldn't blame her - I wouldn't get on it. But this year was different. She got on the bungee ride and loved it so much, she went on it again! They fasten you into a harness, adjust the length of the ropes and let you bounce up and down to get used to it. Then they shorten the cord, raising you off the platform, grab the harness, pull down, let go and you SPRING UP into the air. Here's what I let my baby ride! I couldn't get a picture fast enough at the highest point, but I think these will give you an idea of what it was like...

The smile says it all - she LOVED it. Maybe she'll be a stunt woman when she grows up? Here's a picture of the pony ride with this contraption in the background.

My orchid is blooming and I thought this picture was neat:

The dogs got some sun this week. The cat is Lola, laughingly called the "4th Boston". She runs with them just as if she was one of them. They accept her and seem happy to have her. We're glad she adopted us.

And last, but not least, I got the coolest cat tree! I spent Saturday cleaning out all the old baby stuff from the nursery. It is going to become Brooke's room. I donated it all to the Humane Society Thrift Store. While I was there, I saw this and had to have it!! Isn't it cool??? It really looks like a tree! Someone put a LOT of time and effort into this. It's fantastic! The cats like it so far, and it has enough room for all of them. Lola and Oswald have already fought for the top position. Olivia needs to work on her Vanna White skills just a little bit more...

On the adoption front, we should be getting our visas back this week. Right now we are waiting for US Immigration to approve the paperwork we had to submit after we got our LOA. That approval has to be forwarded to somebody else, who forwards it to the US Consulate in Guangzhou. After that, the US Consulate signs off on our LOA and THEN they send it all to China. (I think - something like that...) Then China gets to work on our TA - Travel Authorization (if they don't stop because of the Swine Flu...). We hope to travel the first part of June. In ONE month!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah! Mark was sort of dazed this morning when, I guess, reality hit him. "It's happening so fast!" he said. Well, April 17th marked our One Year Anniversary of being on this path, so I'm not so sure how fast it's been... But the last couple weeks seem ike they have been turbo powered.