Saturday, May 20 –
Today we said goodbye to our guide Steve and our driver Mr. Wong, and hello to Guangzhou. We really enjoyed our guide and I think he learned as much from us as we did from him. He would love to come to the states, and I told him he could come stay with us. His job is as a regular tour guide, not an adoption specialist, which made it all the more touching as he teared up when we left.
Jaelyn did absolutely terrific on the flight. It was about 5 hrs. long, including the stop. She colored, ate, and turned magazine pages the first flight, and conked out the second flight. It was hot and muggy when we arrived in Guangzhou. We immediately had a long paperwork meeting and caught up with our guide from our first trip, Amy, as well as the rest of the travel group. Was good to hear everyone's wonderful stories. The boys went swimming in the rain and worked off some energy.
saying goodbye to Steve and Mr. Wong
Josh entertaining Conner
sleepy bus ride
school girl artists
someone's tired and grumpy
Sunday, May 21 –
Today we visited the Chen Family Folk Art Museum. We had been here before, so we took in more of the culture happening around us than looking at the art. There were local primary students scattered around the museum drawing pictures of what they saw. I couldn't resist photographing these two sweet girls. Many of the children were quite good.
We went shopping at the Friendship store for groceries, as we have a kitchen in our hotel apartment. It has 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, a living room and kitchen. It's nice because you don't feel cooped up in a small hotel room, plus we're all together.
Tonight at dinner all the waitresses were waiting on Jaelyn hand and foot. As soon as she would finish her tofu dish they would be over filling her bowl back up again. when she got to the bottom she would pick it up and drink the last bit, then the routine would start over again. She probably ate 5 bowls of it! They tried to get her to come to them, but she would have nothing of it. On the way back to the hotel she threw a little tantrum when we wouldn't let her go up and down the escalator anymore. Such mean parents!
very healthy baby
Monday, May 22 –
Today was the medical appt. and shopping on Shamian Island. At each of the 3 stations you have to visit for the exam, each doctor exclaimed "very healthy baby." She weighed in at 28 pounds. We only had 1 1/2 hrs. to shop before the bus left, so we focused on the stores we liked best from before. Number one stop was the charity store "A gift from the Heart." We brought several other families with us and we almost bought out the store of handmade gifts! We also visited Sherry's Place, as Sherry was so sweet to us before. We showed her a picture of Kaia now that her lip is repaired. We took a picture of her and Kaia the last time. She was amazed at the change.
This afternoon the boys all went swimming while Jaelyn and I took a walk through Liu Hua Park with several other families. We ended up walking 2 hours, but she actually slept through half of it. The park was absolutely gorgeous, especially the huge lily pond. Some of the lilies were around 4 ft. high. We find that our group gets some stares here, but we don't attract nearly the attention of in the other cities. The people in this area are use to seeing many foreigners here for adoption. In fact, we couldn't believe how many adoptive families stay in this hotel now, compared to 1 1/2 years ago.
Jaelyn is sleeping now, and I hear the boys watching Mission Impossible III in the other room. Yes, I said MI3, the one that just came out in the states. Mike bought it here for 6 yuan, which is less than a dollar!
Kaia, only 5 more wakeups until you see us and meet your sister!
