Today was our last full day in China, which meant last day of shopping!
Mike, Kellen and another Dad caught the Metro to the High Sun Sport City, which is a large building full of sports gear for sale. They are especially into soccer, basketball, and racket sports over here. Joshua, Jaelyn and I walked around Yuexiu Park with a few other families. This was another park full of walking trails lined with beautiful plants and flowers. Joshua went on a paddle boat with a few of the other people.
This afternoon we took an oath at the Consulate stating that everything we submitted was true. Actually we didn't say the oath, just raised our right hand and said "yes" when the gentleman told us to. It's actually over in less than 30 seconds; rather anticlimactic for the whole experience. At least it was in a much larger room this time with air conditioning, as last time it was crammed with families and so hot.
We went out for one more evening of Chinese food. This time we had our guides write down the names of dishes they thought we would like, so we had no food we did not like. The kids enjoyed some ice cream back in the hotel room. You can see how much Jaelyn liked it! We then went to pick up the bottle we had painted of the kids. It really turned out amazing.
It took this young gal several hours to complete it. We had pictures developed of each of the kids and then she used this special tool to paint the inside of the bottle. I took a picture of her working on it earlier in the day. The final product was in color.
We had no problem fitting everything into the suitcases. We came with 5 bags and left with 5 bags, which I can't say that about all the other families. We got into bed early as we have to be up at 4:30 tomorrow morning to go to the airport.
I love ice cream!
Kids bottle painting
Back in the USA
First meeting
Coloring At Grandparent's
May 27 --
So much for needing a wakeup call. The thunder and lightning woke us up around 2 am and it never stopped until our trip to the airport at 6. At least it stopped then, so it didn't affect our flight. I've never experienced a storm like that. The thunder and lightning never seemed to let up for several hours.
Jaelyn did terrific on the flights. She only got fussy when she was fighting sleep, and not for very long either. I don't think the rest of us got more than an hour of sleep at any one time, but at least no one was throwing up this time. For some reason we got in to Portland an hour late, even though all our flights took off on time. We were greeted by my parents and Kaia, and my best friend Julie and her daughter Lynda Marie. Jaelyn was shy around everyone and would not give much eye contact other than to the boys and us. Kaia was also a bit hesitant when she saw us, but quickly warmed up and wanted lots of attention from us. We had to hold both girls at the same time, but we certainly didn't mind. Kaia even gave Jaelyn a kiss, but no one had their cameras ready at that time, and of course, like siblings, they would not do it again!
Mike's brother Pat and his family met us at my parents, and other family members came over to meet Jaelyn too. Again, she stayed distant from strangers for the day, but did warm up with some smiles. Everyone went down easily for the night, and slept great considering the time change. Jaelyn was much more comfortable with her grandparents after a good nights sleep. We had a 5 hour drive to Oak Harbor Sunday, making a stop to see my brother and his family on the way. Jaelyn had her personality going strong today:) We made it home safely and the girls interacted well playing in their room. Only a couple of arguments, but they worked out the sharing issue quickly. They also both went down easily, this time in the same room. We'll see how they do in the morning. I am so looking forward to my own bed tonight. I just wish I was tired, as it's 11:00 pm and I'm wide awake. It's only 2 pm in China....
Thanks again for all the well wishes and prayers. I know we didn't answer all the emails, but we appreciated each and every one of them.
You all played a role in our wonderful experience. We will post an update in a couple of weeks, so keep checking back.
