See Ya' in Chicagoland!

Our count-down to Chicagoland has begun! We have just under three weeks left before our very special reunion of India adoptive families. Last summer, nine families met at Homewood Suites in Schaumburg, IL for our group's first official "family reunion." Now we are preparing once again to make the journey from various parts of the Midwest so our families can spend a long weekend together - - most of us reuniting from last year, and some who will be meeting for the first time. None of us are blood relatives, but we are family all the same. You see, we all have one thing in common: our adopted child(ren) from Bal Vikas Orphanage in Mumbai, India.

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This year, we are expecting a total of seven families, but are certainly welcome to more if schedules allow! Only a few weeks ago, our group was convinced that this year's reunion would be much smaller, with only four families able to commit. But thankfully, the schedules of a few additional families opened up during the past week, and our numbers are growing strong! Best of all, Samedh's good buddy Anish (whom we met over Memorial Day weekend) will be making the trip with his parents, which is news we just learned yesterday.

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As one of the event coordinators, I have a lot of organizing to do in the coming weeks. Thankfully, I have a lot of supplies left over from last year (craft items, table covering, table ware, mehendi cones, etc.), so it's just a matter of hauling totes out of storage and preparing for the road trip. Like last year's reunion, I am planning a very special keepsake for the children. Because a few of our BV families are readers of my blog, I can't disclose what I have planned for this year without spoiling the surprise. Everyone will know soon enough, though:)

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I'm sure the time will fly by, and the end of June will be upon us before we know it. This weekend we have the Race for the Cure in Holland, next weekend is Father's Day, and the following weekend will be our big road trip! It's hard to believe that it's been almost one year since our group of families last met. It will be fun to see how much each child has grown, and we probably won't even recognize the youngest members of the group who are already 2 years old this year!

Another Reunion Video

Here's another video from our weekend in Chicago...

Dancing Bollywood Style

Here is one of the videos I took while we were in Chicago last weekend. Samedh and Pankaj show off their Bollywood moves. Sorry about the sound...not sure why it doesn't work.

India Families Reunion

Last weekend was our long-awaited "families reunion" in the Chicago area. Nine families attended, all of whom adopted children from Bal Vikas Orphanage in Mumbai. This was the first reunion of this size, and it was a huge success. Families traveled from as far away as Boston, and many of us were meeting each other for the first time. The older children remembered the younger children from their past at BV, and it was touching to see them unite once again.

Samedh enjoyed himself for the most part, but so often during the weekend he kept telling us that he wanted to go home. At times it was a bit overwhelming for him, which is something I certainly did not expect. Now that we are home, Samedh covers his eyes whenever I look at the photos families are sharing online.

I plan to order a variety of photos from our weekend and make a scrapbook that can be shared when we all meet again next summer. I'll just be sure to work on that project during Samedh's nap time, and will only show him the pictures when he feels he is ready. Below are only a few of the photos that were taken over the weekend...

Group photo on the basketball court Friday.
Samedh and Anish playing with the pine cones they collected.

The cake we shared Friday night.

Samedh with his new friend Madhu at dinner Saturday.

Pankaj and Samedh "hit the pool" after dinner on Saturday.

Bal Vikas Buddies

On Saturday, we drove to East Lansing to meet two other Michigan families who have adopted from Bal Vikas. Two previous meetings were cancelled due to blizzards and bad colds, so we were so happy to finally get together! After a delicious Indian buffet lunch, we headed over to a local park so the kids could play before the drive home. Pictured above are Samedh with his BV buddies Mari and Anish. Us moms also posed for a photo. We'd spent so many hours on the phone or email with each other over the past several months, and it was so nice to meet again in person.