It's A Small World After All

I have to start by thanking Nanny for taking care of Owen all weekend - and putting up with my frequent calls! She gamely read the two page schedule I created and listened patiently as I pointed out all of Owen's stuff (as if she hasn't raised two kids and taken care of two other grand kids).

I know Owen had a fabulous time because each time I called he was laughing; we walked in Monday afternoon to find him and Nanny happily playing in the family room. And while I guess he was glad to see us, I know he was sad to see Nanny drive away!

As always we had a good time at Dover; the race itself was a bit boring, long and very hot, but for me the best part is catching up and relaxing with old friends.

This year we even had a very cool occurrence ... driving to the race I decided to play one of our Russian CDs for everyone. I pushed play for one of our favorite songs by "Legalize", and one of our friends Ty (who we only see once a year) says, "oh, I know this song". Really???

A few more questions revealed that his girlfriend is from Almaty, Kazakhstan!! Ty got her on the phone and her and I chatted for a few minutes (hi Lola!) and invited her to join us next year. I'm really looking forward to getting to meet her - talking with her was just really fun, and hearing her accent was a nice reminder of all the hours we spent with Rada, our interpreter in Kokshetau.

I love the idea of having another link to Kazakhstan. She'll be able to teach us even more about Owen's birth country and ethnic background. Who knows, one day I may be able to post of picture of her and Owen together (I did see some photos of her, and like 98% of all Kazakh women she is gorgeous)!

Couldn't resist posting this additional super cute pic of Owen in his racing suit, and my friend Jill and her son Garrett came over today for a play date - we like to call this shot "feeding the kids in the petting zoo".

Now about the middle picture ... Owen made it the whole weekend without a scratch (Nanny was worried about that), then we come home and while I'm in the process of adjusting his car seat to be forward-facing (I brought it inside to make sure the shoulder straps were at the right height), Owen manages to bump his head and get a big, old ugly bruise over one eye!

I'm sure it's the first of many, he's fine (and the bruise is already almost gone today) and he only really cried when we tried to apply ice using his boo-boo bunny, but of course I felt terrible. Whoever first said that being a parent is like having your heart walk around forever outside your body was so right!