Monday! So, cue the Black Eyed Peas: "Let's Get It Started!"

Monday we again woke up to cloudy, drizzly morning and went downstairs for another fab breakfast in the Marriott (it really is a great place to stay and we recommend it for anyone traveling on their trips).  We then met Magda and Gregory, our driver in the lobby and preceded to the office of the Central Authority for our first meeting about our adoption.  The drive through the streets was again...interesting but in a way I found it more fun than precarious.  Probably because Magda and Gregory pointed out various buildings and sites along the 10min drive, making it pretty cool. 

We arrived at one of the orphanages in Warsaw and went around back to the offices for our meeting.  It was a pretty old building and Magda said it was the first orphanage in Warsaw (or at least one of the first) and was built in the 1700s and dedicated to a saint (unfortunately I can't remember which).  Case thought this was very cool.  We went inside and were shown to a small office with a couch and a few chairs.  We chatted and laughed with Magda for a few minutes before the 2 ladies entered for the meeting.  They were very nice and basically told us that this meeting was just so they could verify we were there etc.  They have no questions except if our I-800A extension would be filed before the expiration.  Of course we said yes and even answered "Tak", which they liked alot. 

A little background on that- our I-800A is set to expire May 3 so we had to file an updated homestudy and the extension paperwork etc.  Lina and our social worker Ann were working on this while we were in Poland  :) 

Anyway, they had no other questions and we were out of there in about 5 min.  Pretty awesome!  We then went to another part of the orphanage because Magda wanted to say goodbye to Lynn and Mike, the couple we met the day before in the lobby.  They were leaving the next day and she would not have had a chance to see them otherwise.  They were visiting their new son in that very orphanage, so it was the perfect time.  They were super cute together as a family and their son is adorable- we wish them all the blessings in the world!  We then headed out back to the hotel, changed, got our suitcases together, and headed out for the north. 

**A little caveat I must insert here, because we want to protect our new son per Magda's advice, we will not be naming the town we went to, the town he lives in currently, or his name of course.  This is mainly due to his background history and we will respect that.  So I'll say "north", call the bigger town "the regional center", his residence "the smaller town", and refer to him as A.  I'll probably go back and change it later but for now, I think this will work.  :)**

Continuing on...

As we headed north, we saw some awesome things.  First, just leaving the city we saw the new soccer stadium they have built for Euro 2012, right on the Vistula River.  It is freaking amazing!!!  Red and White for Poland and sits like 85,000! 

How cool is this?!!

After that excitement, we settled in for our drive.  One observation right off- the roads outside Warsaw....stink!  We think its from all the freeze and thaw and the fact it looks like they have mostly sandy bases but oy!  I felt like I was on a rollercoaster/test track for bumps.  And Gregory wasn't even driving bad; it was just the road.  The further we got outside Warsaw though, the better both the road and the traffic got and after about an hour, all we saw were farms and farmland.  Very picturesque and peaceful.  I even fell asleep for a cat nap for about 15 min.  Case was reading his book "Two Miserable Presidents" about the Civil War (I highly recommend if you have 4th graders) and Brian was up front trying to talk with Gregory and doing a pretty good job of it actually. 

Eventually, we settled into cruising along for a bit.  Then Gregory pointed out something along the side of the road. 

Crazy!

Yep, its a pillbox.  A real, honest to goodness German pillbox still there...right in the middle of farmland.  In fact, there are two (ok, you can see it better with my iPhone when I zoom in, but trust me the other is just to the left and behind it in the distance).  Brian and I thought this was about the coolest thing we had seen so far.  Case didn't get what they were until we explained it.  His mouth dropped open and he just said "Wow!".  Seeing history that up close and personal, in the middle of nowhere, and no along a major highway, was just the most surreal thing. 

We arrived at our destination a few hours later, checked in to the hotel Magda set up, and then went to relax a bit.  Probably the funniest thing that happened was when Case discovered you have to put your hotel card into a slot to turn the lights on in the bathroom.  Definitely a cost-saving idea we should use in the US, but Case found out the hard way when he was plunged into total darkness after removing it too fast, lol!  He laughed and laughed about that. 

We went down to dinner right as Magda rolled in (she had popped home in Warsaw to get her car and pack a few things because she was staying in the area with us for a while).  We had a great dinner with her and she regaled us with loads of stories about other families (don't worry, all good you guys), Poland, her family, you name it!  She rocks!  I was, and still am, in awe that she can remember all the little details about all the families and children she has helped bring together over the years.  We talked a little bit about what to expect in the meeting the next day with the regional adoption authority and then she told us that after it was over, we would come back, check out, and go straight from there to check in the hotel in the smaller town and then on to meet A.  Needless to say, we went to bed early in anticipation of a crazy Tuesday that would change our lives forever!

**UPDATE: I-800A extension filed and we're good to go!  Lina and Ann were great in getting it back to us quickly!