Day 6 in Hong Kong: Disneyland?!?!

I think both Travis and I wondered....why in the world are we going to Disney on an adoption trip?!  But now that we are back to our hotel, we realize how valuable today was.  Our current priority as Brody's parents is to establish the parental-child relationship/attachment.  Brody has had many loving caregivers and we must now distinguish between caregivers and Mommy & Daddy.  The best way to form parental attachment to a young child, is for the parents to provide for all of the child's essential needs: food, sleep, bathing, comfort, safety, and some play.  As Travis and I consistently meet these needs for Brody, with time, he will come to know us as Mommy & Daddy, not just two more caregivers.  Our day at Disneyland allowed us to practice this in ways we had not yet experienced.

Our morning started with a final visit from Joy, our social worker in HK.  She has been such a delight to spend our week with.  She is energetic, thoughtful, loving, fun, and anticipates our needs.  She checked up on Brody's first night with us......which was wonderful!  He slept ten hours straight and woke up happy and babbling.  In fact, as Joy visited with us this morning, Brody babbled nonstop.  She said she has never heard him "talk" so much!  He seems very content with us.  Joy also gave us final paperwork and the all important passport and visa!  Let's get our boy home, right?!  It was another tearful goodbye as we thanked Joy for all of her work and preparation.  She provided us with more videos and photos of Brody from the past 20 months.  She also hand wrote him a letter to read when he is older.  The love Brody has received at his home in HK is amazing!

After we saw Joy off, we departed on the MTR trains for Disneyland.  The final train bringing us to the park even had Mickey shaped windows!

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The sun was shining as we walked into the park and we were feeling happy to spend the day together.  Then the sudden rain clouds rolled in, Brody had a meltdown over riding in a stroller, and we wondered......are we crazy?  What are we doing here?  But as we have all week long, we regrouped, calmed our boy, and decided to make the best of it.  First, Brody and Travis rode the Dumbos in an absolute downpour.  They didn't seem to mind.  Then we went to "It's a Small World" and Brody loved that.  I think we could have rode those little boats all day long, if he had a say!:)

We stopped for lunch and slowly the sun started to appear.  We all enjoyed the afternoon riding several rides, Brody taking a nap, and getting to see all of the park.  Disneyland HK is much smaller than the US parks and has many of the same attractions.  Travis and I each rode Space Mountain and have to admit that it far exceeds Space Mountain in Orlando!  One of the highlights of the day was Brody meeting Mickey Mouse.  He gave him "five" over and over.

 Once our pictures were completed, Brody waved and waved and waved goodbye to Mickey.  It was a good day overall.  By the end of the day, Travis and I realized that each day we are learning so much about Brody's personality and needs.  He is an energetic, happy, and persistent boy.  For almost two years old, he wants to do SO many tasks on his own.  His speech is very much delayed though making communication sometimes frustrating for him.  We look forward to helping him hear and communicate his needs.  We also learned today that we must provide for Brody's need for safety and comfort.  Several times during the day Brody would feel scared or uncertain and we were able to be his comforter.  This does wonders for building our relationship as parent/son.

So now our bags are packed.  I have such mixed feelings about leaving Hong Kong.  It is a beautiful, diverse, and exciting city and people.  I feel a bit sad knowing that Brody just spent his last day in his birth country.  I also feel SO excited to see our Brilee and Brooklyn and unite these siblings!  I look forward to seeing many of you and introducing our precious Brody to you.  I anticipate with great joy all that The Lord is going to do in and through Brody's life.

We are scheduled to depart Friday morning in HK and arrive Friday night in Johnson City.  It is actually a 26 hour trip......so that makes us time travelers!:)  We get to live Friday day twice!  I sure hope it is a good day!  Please pray for safety as we travel, contentment for our little boy, comfort for his ears/head as we fly, rest for all of us, and understanding from those around us.  Travis, Brody, and I do not have seats next to each other on our return flights so we are hoping that others will be kind enough to swap seats with us.  Thank you for your love, encouragement, and prayers during this past week.  Please continue to pray for us when you think of us.  There are many adjustments to be made in the Hurley family but we look forward to watching all that The Lord is going to do.

So with tears in my eyes, I wish you "Goodnight" from Hong Kong!  What a beautiful place and people that have touched my heart.  So thankful that we get to bring one little Hong Kong blessing home to Tennessee!