Saturday, August 15, 2009

Our Summer Beach Blast!

What could be better than an afternoon of perfect weather, swimming, catching fish, a picnic dinner, and playing on the beach with your friends? Well, just add a mini-landscape complete with erupting volcanoes! Our Beach Blast was a lot of fun! Here's a few pictures of the kids making their volcanoes...


Making the mini-volcanoes added an extra element of fun, but also provided an opportunity to introduce the kids to the fascinating geography of their birth countries. Numerous volcanoes are found throughout Central and South America. Check out this link to learn more: Volcanoes_of_Central_and_South_America. A terrific Usborne Beginners book for kids is, "Volcanoes" by Stephanie Turnbull available through Scholastic, Inc.

Here's how we made our volcanoes... Put 3 T baking soda and two squirts of dish soap in an empty 16.9 oz water bottle. Add a little water to dissolve the baking soda. Build your cone around the bottle using beach sand. Leave an opening at the top. Pour in 2/3 cup vinegar. Wait for the eruption! Watch for "smoke" coming out first, then the bubbly "lava."

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Spring Picnic

Our Spring Pot-Luck Picnic was on May 31st. What a fun afternoon! We enjoyed wonderful weather, delicious Guatemalan and Colombian food, the company of old friends & we welcomed some new friends. Best of all ~ the kids had so much fun playing together! Aside from playing kickball and tag, the kids made cascarones.

Cascarones are decorated chicken eggs that have been emptied out and filled with confetti. They are a tradition at many types of celebrations in Spain, Guatemala, Mexico and the Southwest United States. In the Spanish-speaking world, they are traditionally broken over a person's head to wish them good luck! They also represent "new beginnings" which is perfect for spring time. After we made them, the kids couldn't wait to use them! How often do you get to crack an egg over your friend's head!?

Making cascarones is easy. Here's a link to instructions: How to Make Confetti Eggs - Cascarones Here's a photo of our cascarones.

Keeping in Touch


Staying connected is vital to the life of our group. We use YahooGroups! as our primary avenue of communication.

Discussion forums abound on the internet! On-line adoption forums and email groups are a wonderful way for adults to find support, gain advice, and share information. I, myself, belong to five internet forums /email discussion groups. The Center for Adoption Support & Education (C.A.S.E.) has a Kids' Page for young adoptees (age 9+). Show it to your "tween" or visit the link yourself, and click on the "circle of feelings" words to learn what your child may be feeling and thinking about.

The Adoption Club House (created by the National Adoption Center) is another online place for middle-school aged adoptees to find support. But, remember our younger children need support, too! Until they are old enough to communicate on-line within an adoptee discussion group, they need to have friends who share the commonality of adoption, who share a similar history, and who understand what it feels like to "grow up adopted." Kids need to play, talk and connect in real life.

If you would like to join Familias y Amigos you must live in the tri-state region of NY, NJ and PA. To request membership, please visit our YahooGroups! homepage at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/families_n_friends/

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Learning to Speak Spanish

In April, our group's parents decided to incorporate Spanish language games and activities into our gatherings. Spanish is the primary language of our children's birth countries and is an important part of their hispanic heritage.

During our parties, games like Simon Says or a lively Dress-up Relay Race are fun ways to learn the names for parts of the body or for items of clothing en EspaƱol. Games of Bingo and picture/word matching games are offered at our restaurant nights. So, while we wait for our meal, we learn the Spanish names for various foods.

Here are two websites to visit if you are interested in teaching Spanish to your kids (or learning it yourself).

Explore the website SpanishTown to find free printable worksheets, language games, Spanish vocabulary word puzzles and more. It includes audio links so you can hear the proper pronunciation of Spanish words and phrases, which is really helpful. LiteracyCenter.net is a fun interactive site for preschoolers. It features simple interactive online games with audio for learning the Spanish alphabet, colors, numbers, and shapes...

About Our Group

Families & Friends/Familias y Amigos is a social/support group for adoptive families in the Hudson Valley Area who have adopted children from Latin America.

The main purpose of the group is to provide opportunities for our children to build connections with other adoptees with Latin American heritage. The group provides opportunities for the kids to form friendships with other adoptees similar to themselves.

The group enjoys family gatherings with child-friendly activities, targeted at kids that are toddler to intermediate school age. These fun get-togethers are held at local restaurants, state parks, beaches & playgrounds.

Occassional parent meetings offer the adults opportunities to discuss adoption-related issues with other parents such as: heritage travel, travel health, searching for/meeting birth family, adoption and school assignments, creating lifebooks, etc.

There is no fee to join our group, however, parents are required to volunteer in some capacity (such as help set up, clean up, or lead an activity). Parents may be asked to contribute items (such as paper goods, or bring a food item to a pot-luck), or share their talents (like photography, foreign language, art, or music). Sometimes families will have to pay a fee to enter a park, or purchase a craft kit for their child.

If you live in Ulster or Orange Counties in NY; Sussex County, NJ; or Pike County, PA ~ perhaps you'd like to join us!

Click on my profile to send an email if you are interested in joining.