Girls Trip #1

When we traveled to China for Conner's adoption back in May, we were able to meet the man who had taught Conner piano lessons for the past year.  He was very excited to invite us to a concert he was performing in near Philadelphia and explained in his broken English how honored he would be to have us come.  We told him we would do our best, but due to expenses we would likely not be able to make it.  Over time, Jeremy and I discussed it at length and decided that it was an opportunity for Conner that we just couldn't pass up.  We were able to get free lodging and had enough sky miles to get free airfare so it worked out great!   We made the decision for me to take him and to have Graci come as well so that Conner would have someone to talk to (his English was VERY limited at the time.)

Truthfully, I wasn't too excited about the whole trip until I had the magical thought to invite my SISTERS.  My little sis, Leslie, and my sis-in-law, Megan were both able to make the trip and it turned a "this is going to be a long, hard weekend" (remember, Conner could barely communicate at the time and wasn't really into doing anything that involved walking more than 10 feet) into a total girls trip with Graci and Conner tagging along.  (:  As we started planning things, we realized that Philadelphia was just a short bus ride from New York City, and Leslie had never been there.  So we kind of turned the whole thing into a NYC trip with a little side trip to Philadelphia.  We spent five days together and it was AWESOME!  I had the time of my life with two of my favorite ladies in the whole world!  Conner and Graci were fun "tag-alongs" (I know, I know-- the trip was supposed to be about Conner, but let's face it-- a Mom needs some girlfriend time whenever she can get it).  We were able to experience so many things and places including Valley Forge-- a place I've always wanted to go.  But out of all of the things we did, my favorite memory is just the hours spent talking and laughing with my sisters!!!

Conner's birthday happened to fall on one of the days we were there.  We tried to think of how we could make it meaningful for him and realized that we were close to the Juliard School, which is the most prestigious music/arts school in the world.  I called and asked about getting a tour and they said that there were no public tours that day.  After explaining how Conner was blind and had just been adopted and loved the piano so much and the fact that it was his birthday 

(all while Leslie and Megan were praying in the background) they consented to let us come over.  (: Conner was able to play the piano during the tour and it was something that I hope he will always appreciate.  Combine that with plenty of KFC and Chinese food and I think it's safe to say he had a happy birthday!  

Because it's late and I'm needing to get to bed, I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story.  (Don't worry-- we did have lots of fun with Graci-- she just wasn't into letting us take many pics of her.)

Thank you, Les and Megan for making this trip one of my funnest memories ever!  I love you!