Sparkling Adventures in Child Neglect - "Gayby" on Board

[Blahblah]

Between flights X 5, hotels, meals, and whatall, this is an EXPENSIVE trip.

Maybe I missed it, but who's paying or how is this being paid for?

She claims to be using funds willed to her by her recently deceased grandmother. You know, the grandmother she never mentions ever in any blog until the one where she mentions the inheritance?

Smart money in on the gold star gays funding it but if she admits to that then she's admitting that it is a paid surrogacy not a sparkly rainbow altruistic gift from her to them.

[utter solitude]

What?

Something about that photo really rubs me the wrong way, although I can't tell you what. I mean, its not unusual for a young girl to have never used a hair drying, or to be drying her mother's hair, or whatever... but something...

Maybe it's Aisha's face.

ETA: She's been staying in Hiltons, too, right? I read that right???

Maybe I should find a gold star couple to have a baby for so I can have an upscale vacation.

[ViolaSebastian]

It helps that we’re travelling within Asia where children are treasured; I don’t know if it would be the same in Western countries.

:roll: Yes, heaven forbid that someone take exception to her out of control, loud youngsters with little appropriate social training in a Western country. :roll:

[KnittingOwl]

I've been catching up on Lauren via her blog and the other threads here. She really seems off to me...almost in a scary way. I read another blog of a mother who lost her son to cancer a year ago. In her posts, you can tell that she and her family are struggling. Her 3 other children (one older, two younger) talk about their brother. I'd be surprised if Lauren's girls didn't want to talk about their brother. I wonder how she handles it? Sadly, I think it gets ignored.

[formergothardite]

Between flights X 5, hotels, meals, and whatall, this is an EXPENSIVE trip.

Maybe I missed it, but who's paying or how is this being paid for?

I've been thinking this too. This trip has to cost a fortune. We are hardly poor and this seems out of our budget for a vacation.

[samurai_sarah]

Something about that photo really rubs me the wrong way, although I can't tell you what. I mean, its not unusual for a young girl to have never used a hair drying, or to be drying her mother's hair, or whatever... but something...

Maybe it's Aisha's face.

ETA: She's been staying in Hiltons, too, right? I read that right???

Maybe I should find a gold star couple to have a baby for so I can have an upscale vacation.

What rubs me wrong is that it's, once more, all about her. I've been reading through her blog lately, and it's always "me, me, me". It's always all about "look at me and how well I'm dealing with grief" or "look at me, while I don't raise my children". It's just one endless soliloquy of "look at me". One big grab for attention that disregards her children. The picture just underlines it.

[August]

What rubs me wrong is that it's, once more, all about her. I've been reading through her blog lately, and it's always "me, me, me". It's always all about "look at me and how well I'm dealing with grief" or "look at me, while I don't raise my children". It's just one endless soliloquy of "look at me". One big grab for attention that disregards her children. The picture just underlines it.

But no one's in danger. That's a step up for her.

[samurai_sarah]

But no one's in danger. That's a step up for her.

ITA. And sad for her children. They should be safe, no matter what. :(

[Marianne]

She claims to be using funds willed to her by her recently deceased grandmother. You know, the grandmother she never mentions ever in any blog until the one where she mentions the inheritance?

Smart money in on the gold star gays funding it but if she admits to that then she's admitting that it is a paid surrogacy not a sparkly rainbow altruistic gift from her to them.

I'm sure the gay couple pay for her.

[happy atheist]

I don't remember seeing this in the comment area before:

Whatever remarks you choose to leave reflect on the state of your own being and character and not on me or my family — especially if you have never met us and lived alongside us. I understand this; when you truly comprehend this too, we have begun to transform the world into a kinder place.

How incredibly authentic!

[church_of_dog]

I don't remember seeing this in the comment area before:

How incredibly authentic!

trendy-to-english translation: "I am rubber, you are glue..." :lol:

[Cheetah]

I've been thinking this too. This trip has to cost a fortune. We are hardly poor and this seems out of our budget for a vacation.

I wonder if one of the Iceland dads travels a lot for work... they could be using mileage, which would explain the weird routing. (We just did a somewhat similar trip over the summer... including the same Great Wall place .. using miles mostly accumulated thru my husband's crazy travel schedule.)

It's nice to see the girls having some normal experiences like staying in a hotel and their delight in being on the cable car for the Great Wall. I'm keeping my eye out for photos of Calista, though.. seems like she's not been in many pics lately, or you just see the back of her hat, and the few she's been in she looks tired and sad. Maybe there have just randomly been more of the other girls recently. And it's all well and good for Brioni to take the initiative to go for a shorter haircut, but frankly I think it would serve her well to be taken to a salon for a bit of a cleanup around the edges.

[Cheetah]

Ooh, I just had a crazy thought.... you know how her sidebar talks about a North America trip in late 2015 or 2016? I wonder if she plans to next do another surrogacy for a North American family in order to finance such a trip?

[utter solitude]

I wonder if she'll have a baby for me.... :stir-pot:

[happy atheist]

It's interesting to me that there's been no mention of Freetown Christiania so far.

Christiania is a former military base in Copenhagen that was taken over by squatters in the 1970s. They've lived there ever since, building homes, etc. It's a commune, basically. I would think it would be right up Lauren's alley. They don't like people to take pictures, though. Maybe it's not worth it to her to visit if she can't smear her presence there all over the internet.

It's a fascinating place to visit.

[Brittany15]

In one of the posts she mentions they were supposed to be visiting David's brother, his wife, and their children. However, because of vacations only the wife is there. This seems strange- someone is flying around the world to see you and you leave town? I am thinking the brother did not want to see her and that they did not want their kids to be influenced by her kids.

[chaotic life]

I noticed that once again in her flurry of posts, she casually mentions leaving her children in the care and supervision of total strangers. Yes, she was their guide to visit the Great Wall of China, but Lauren met her *that* morning and knew nothing about her. No problem for Lauren. Three kids want to continue on while one wants to linger, let the stranger/tour guide take the three who want to continue and stay behind with the lager.

I'm almost afraid to ask exactly HOW Lauren and her SIL were able to catch up the night before, but the next day was the first time her SIL had seen the girls in four years. So, where were the girls when Lauren and her SIL were chatting it up? If they were asleep in the same room, wouldn't you say the girls were asleep when she was over versus its the first time the adult has seen the girls in four years?

[thoughtful]

I know this is way down on the list of offensive things Lauren does, but taking pictures of a live performance in a theater is rude.

I know she mentioned in several previous posts that "family" in China would be traveling when they got there, but I think this is the first time she mentioned that it is David's family.

[ViolaSebastian]

It's very interesting and convenient that after booking this trip presumably months in advance, the uncle and cousins just happen to be out of the country. I wonder if Aunt Cheryl is allowed to grieve the nephew she never met, or if she has to view it as a neutral event as well. :roll:

[trailmix2014]

I noticed that once again in her flurry of posts, she casually mentions leaving her children in the care and supervision of total strangers. Yes, she was their guide to visit the Great Wall of China, but Lauren met her *that* morning and knew nothing about her. No problem for Lauren. Three kids want to continue on while one wants to linger, let the stranger/tour guide take the three who want to continue and stay behind with the lager.

I caught that too. Who does that?? That's crazy! Could she even see the kids as they went on? No way would my kids be out of my sight with a stranger in a strange country. She is all kinds of crazy.

[So Many Lies]

In one of the posts she mentions they were supposed to be visiting David's brother, his wife, and their children. However, because of vacations only the wife is there. This seems strange- someone is flying around the world to see you and you leave town? I am thinking the brother did not want to see her and that they did not want their kids to be influenced by her kids.

well I can't in all honesty believe that David's brother would be all BFF with Lauren. She may well have greased the wheels on David's runaway train of insanity. I don't remember what his version of Christianity is but it is also possible he's not supportive of this surrogacy and while he is happy for his wife to be hospitable he may not want the kids witness to this.

[So Many Lies]

What rubs me wrong is that it's, once more, all about her. I've been reading through her blog lately, and it's always "me, me, me". It's always all about "look at me and how well I'm dealing with grief" or "look at me, while I don't raise my children". It's just one endless soliloquy of "look at me". One big grab for attention that disregards her children. The picture just underlines it.

Yeah maybe. It is an awful picture. Rubs me totally the wrong way too. A Lauren looks totally maniacal and Aisha looks like a handmaiden or something.

I also agree the "me,me,me" has reached a crescendo. Passion, danger and fertility all ostentatiously displayed. All the reasons she chose red. What a poser. She's totally in her element. This is definitely the peak before the crash.

The tone of the blog is irritating and disturbing. More than usual even.

Does she ever get sick of red? I mean she had bacon. Do

you think she busts out and wears blue every now and again?

[So Many Lies]

From Brioni's birthday post:

She wants to learn to read more? I take it to mean that she can't really read well. Poor kid. I hope she has enough self-motivation and insterest to push Lauren to teach her.

Lauren probably coached her into saying that to look like their lives have an educational element. The snow thing was just thrown in there to justify dragging the poor kid to Iceland.

[Eternalbluepearl]

Yes, how much red can one take?! She even dressed Elijah in red so they "matched perfectly." It's so extreme. Can't just like a color, have to like only that color. Know what struck me as sad? In the post about going to the children's bookstore in China, she mentions that she likes to look for rainbows in architecture and design. rainbows. Elijah Rainbow. ;(

I thought it was so odd that the Fisher family were away as well. I can't imagine the poor sister-in-law having to listen to the tragic David/Elijah story and of course the sparkly house bus/kipis instead of schooling/ life is an adventure never ending Lauren saga.

[Cheetah]

I noticed that once again in her flurry of posts, she casually mentions leaving her children in the care and supervision of total strangers. Yes, she was their guide to visit the Great Wall of China, but Lauren met her *that* morning and knew nothing about her. No problem for Lauren. Three kids want to continue on while one wants to linger, let the stranger/tour guide take the three who want to continue and stay behind with the lager.

Gotta WK here... it wasn't that far.. she mentions the guide took them to the next watchtower... these are like a 5 minute walk apart and you can see the kids until they go in the next watchtower. So okay, I suppose something bad could possibly occur inside the next watchtower, but the odds would be incredibly low... you are likely to have other tourists coming thru there.