Zoo pictures

At the beginning of summer, I mentioned that the kiddos and I had taken a trip to the zoo. I had promised pictures and I am finally getting around to them. Sorry that it took me so long! Anyways, here are some pictures of them playing...

Oops, sorry...those aren't pictures of the children. Hee, hee! :)

Now, this one is better; but, still there is something wrong with it. Do not get me wrong. It is an adorable picture of the kiddos and I love it (Love those smiles!) and I love those children sooooooooo much. I just think something or someone is missing from the picture. Who could it be?

Ahh...this one seems complete. The children chose to spend their last "free" day before the start of school back at the zoo. So, we went on Tuesday. We had a great time although we were only there for a short period of time. We did not want to overwhelm Emerson and we did not want to miss nap time! (Side note- Yes, a couple of them are wearing the same clothes. Remember, I mentioned before that they have special shirts to wear out in the sun...protects them and avoids some sunblock. I noticed this and figured you might too.)

Have a great day!

Pictures

To protect the kiddos, I am not going to post any pictures of them actually in their school uniforms. You will just have to trust me that they looked adorable on their first day. :) I have, however, posted pictures of them with all their required school supplies. Check out Max's face. Doesn't he look excited?! Sydney looks like I caught her off guard. Don't Veronica and Emerson look like they are having a good time hanging out while the other two are at school? :)

Mommy vs. Teacher

I always feel like there are two sides fighting in me at the start of the school year. The mommy in me cannot stand to send the kiddos back to school. I miss them tremendously. The teacher in me is so excited for them and all the adventures they are about to embark on at school. I LOVE watching them grow and learn throughout the year.

Today was the first day back for Max and Sydney. They both seemed to have a good day. Sydney is full day now. I think that is the hardest part for me. Up until last year, I got to pick her up half way through the school day. Plus, she is sitting at a desk, her very own desk, rather than a table. She must be getting older. :( I did not like leaving Max because he takes too much after me with the first day jitters. He is not in the same class as his best friend this year which just makes things that much more difficult for him. I knew he would be fine, but still!

Veronica and Emerson got along great while the other two were at school. They were really cute together. I think this is the first time that it has been just the two of them. It was neat to watch them interact.

I will post pictures later.

Keeping me on my toes...

Apparently, Emerson only likes to wear his socks and shoes on Wednesdays. Remember yesterday's post when I was so excited that he was actually wanting to wear them? Yep, today is a different story. Who knew socks could ruin your entire morning? I am quickly learning this after Tuesday and today. Also, blueberries are only good on Wednesdays. They aren't very tasty on Thursdays. Wish I had known that. I have so much to learn. :)

Time for an update...

All is well here. Everyone is starting to get back into the groove of things at home. Emerson is adjusting well to his new home and family. He has his moments where he gets frustrated and upset but who can blame him. After all, EVERYTHING is new to him.

We went to the store yesterday to try to find him a pair of tennis shoes. That was quite the experience! We are wondering if he has every had socks on before. He was not a happy camper when I put some on him. Then, he kept wanting to run around the store which is not like him. He cried on the way out because I did not purchase the two pairs of shoes that I had tried on him. We did buy him a pair at a different store though. Today is a whole different story. He brought me socks and his new shoes to put on him. He has been wearing them around the house all morning.

His facial expressions and actions just crack us up. He is such a little sweetie and is so much fun. He waves ALL the time, knows how to high five, do "cheers", rub his belly and say "mmm" (more or less), throw kisses, gives Ma-Ma kisses, lights up when Ba-Ba comes home from work, loves to "talk" to people on the phone, loves puzzles, and loves to look at himself whether in pictures or in a mirror. He loves to bring Ma-Ma stuff and have me hold it all. I say he is a hoarder; but, he wants me to hold it all for him. :) Right now he is sitting on the floor, socks and shoes on, "reading" the church bulletin.

Our other darlings are doing great as well. School starts next week...ugg! I am not happy about this. I always miss the children while they are gone. Max is dreading the start of 4th grade. Sydney is looking forward to first grade and Veronica is VERY excited about preschool. The girls will be starting up gymnastics again soon too. I have agreed, along with two other moms, to start a Daisy Scout troop for the first grade girls. Sydney really wanted to do this since Max and Daddy are involved with Scouts. So, since nobody else wanted to lead, guess who volunteered? You got it. I, in turn, recruited (okay...begged...ha, ha!) the two other mothers to join me in this adventure. They are both wonderful women and mothers. I am really looking forward to working with them!

Ron was full force back into work immediately after we got home and has not stopped. Even a car in the shop, did not stop him. Of course, that only meant, he was "forced" to drive Donatella. My sister even told me to tell him that it is his car and that he does not need to look for excuses to drive her. :) Unfortunately (or fortunately...not sure which), the mechanics did not find anything wrong with our Durengo.

I have just really been enjoying being a mom and wife. There is nothing better in this world! I am so blessed and try not to take that for granted. I am amazed that I am a mom to four beautiful (inside and out), wonderful children (and two furry children as well) and the wife of an extraordinary husband. Thanks be to God for these many blessings.

To think I originally titled this post "quick update"...

Bai Jia Bei or 100 Good Wishes Quilt

Dear family and friends,

It has been a LONG time since I have posted and this one is long overdue. My hubby did all the blogging during the trip. He did a fantastic job as I knew he would. He is much better than I am when it comes to all the details. I really appreciate his hard work on the blog as it will be a wonderful keepsake for all of us over the years to come!

We have been talking about having a 100 Good Wishes Quilt made for Emerson way before we even had our referral for him. These quilts (Bai Jia Bei) are a tradition in Northern China and are given to a child when he/she is born. One hundred pieces of fabric are collected from family and friends and then sewn together into a beautiful keepsake that can be passed down generation after generation. Along with the larger pieces, smaller pieces of the same fabric are included in a card with wishes for the baby. We would LOVE for our dear family and friends to help us with this beautiful tradition. My step-father's mom, Diane, has graciously agreed to take on this project for us. Here is what we would like you to do...

1. Pick out a piece of 100 percent cotton fabric. Please feel free to use a piece of fabric that has a special meaning to you. It does not have to be a new piece.

2. Wash and iron the fabric. This will allow it to be clean, shrink if it needs to, and allow for easier cutting.

3. Cut two pieces of the fabric. Diane has asked for a 12x12 piece so that she has freedom to cut it as needed. Also, we need the smaller piece that will go with your wish for Emerson.

4. Write a note for Emerson. It can include anything...your own words, prayers, poems, stories, etc. Attach the smaller piece of fabric to your note.

Please let me know if you have any questions as I am writing this before my first cup of coffee and I may not actually be making sense. Ha, ha!

The Journey Home

I woke before the alarm went off but only by a few minutes. Both Julie and I had restless sleep as you tend to do when you are worried about oversleeping for an important meeting or event. We don't want to make the driver wait for us for fear he'll take off and we'll be up the creek. I get cleaned up first and start getting breakfast and coffee brewing while Julie is getting ready. Veronica, our little morning bird wakes first and is followed shortly by the other two while Emerson again earns the award for snoozer of the day.

Breakfast is simple oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, bananas and OJ. Julie and I race around the apartment getting it cleaned as best we can since this is someone else's house and we want our deposit back, plus it is just bad manners to leave a place trashed. We are checking and double checking everything and getting the final clothes and shower stuff packed up. We rock and are ready to roll out the door at 7:45! We turn everything off, lock the apartment and pack into the small elevator like a clown car. We are downstairs waiting for our ride and around 8:10 we decide to call the company and find out where our driver is. Their reservations number rings busy, the driver's cell goes straight to voice mail in Chinese and we wait. Eventually the phone we had been using rings and the lobby attendant speaks to someone and then we roughly communicate that the driver is 30 minutes out. Nice, just stinking nice. Good thing we have some fluff time, huh though I wasn't planning on using it all up just yet. We wait until 8:45 and try to call again with more of the same results. The lobby attendant helps the kids pass time by letting them pet his cat, which is one of the fatter Tom cats I have seen in a long time. Surprising too considering the stories we hear. About 9AM and still no driver we decided to get taxis. The lobby attendant helps hail a cab and convinces the guy to let all of us go in one. Apparently they are used to over filling taxis here in Hong Kong as he loads his trunk and uses a bungee to keep it closed. We are not sure what the lobby attendant told this driver, but he gets us to the airport like a F1 driver and we make it in less than 30 minutes! On the way we got to cross the Stonecutters Bridge (the one we saw the TV show about) as well as the longest suspension bridge in the world.

We get to the airport and six of us climb out of the back seat of this Toyota taxi, unload our stuff, tip the taxi driver nicely and head in to get checked in. We get checked in with no issues, clear security and immigration for Hong Kong. Funny to think that everyone flying from Hong Kong is on an international fight, as there are no domestic flights served from this airport. We find our way to the gate and as we are preparing to board are pulled aside for priority boarding since we have children. Nice! We go through another round of someone checking our bags and getting the stroller gate checked before we get settled in to our seats.

The flight was long as you'd expect and we were a bit delayed in taking off due to a typhoon in Taiwan that caused the inbound flight to take a little longer route. Emerson did great on the flight with the exception of diaper changes. Apparently airplane restrooms are as scary as ones on the ground. He sat in his seat for awhile but the majority of the flight he was either held by Julie or I. The older kids did what we didn't want them to do and that was stay awake on the long flight. We had encouraged them to get some sleep as we know this will be a very long day, but the allure of Leapster, Nintendo DS, movies and who knows what else was too great. Veronica got some sleep and Sydney started to doze off on our descent into San Francisco. Oh well, what can you do? On landing, Emerson became a US citizen formally so we celebrated with some flags.

We got off the plane and knew we'd have a tight connection to our Denver flight due to the delay in Hong Kong plus we still had customs to clear. We hustled to the customs hall and thankfully the lines were very, very short. The customs agent we had was awesome and welcomed us back and congratulated Emerson on being a new citizen. Unfortunately, he couldn't complete all of the paperwork we needed so sent us to another agent. I understand that everyone has a first day on the job, and it all worked out, but waiting for the new guy to figure out how to process Emerson's paperwork was frustrating. He called his supervisor over to ask some questions and received a smart answer that apparently didn't help him as we watched him type something and then backspace over it a number of times. He finally asked for help again and was again given a short answer but apparently the one he needed to get it wrapped up and we were through. While we were waiting, we watched his supervisor work with another family of immigrants who were all smiles as they were becoming citizens too. Unfortunately for them, their first experience with US customs was with this guy and he was rude, short and not welcoming at all. Hopefully the rest of their experience in America is better. I guess jerks are everywhere. We went to collect our bags and thankfully didn't miss anything as our luggage was still coming out of the machine when we walked up. The rest of the customs officials were all very polite and nice. We grabbed our stuff and re-checked it for the domestic legs of our trip and had to pass through security again.

We found our gate and learned that our flight to Denver was delayed due to an equipment change so were were getting to fly in a 747 for the second time that day. While we waited for the plane to be prepared we called home and let everyone know we were in the states and on our way. The kids were really starting to feel the jet lag now and we zombie-walked onto the plane and found our seats. The flight to Denver was pretty uneventful as everyone was pretty tired. We arrived in Denver later than we hoped, but still with enough time to catch our flight. The girls slept the whole flight and we were fortunate that there were empty seats so they could stretch out a bit. Max slept part of the way and Emerson was in and out in Julie's lap. We landed in Columbus almost 28 hours after we woke up in Hong Kong - talk about a long day! We collected our bags and headed towards the van. Julie's sister was nice and brought the car to the airport and parked it in the garage for us. We strapped Emerson into the car seat and as we thought he would, he didn't like it all.

The drive home was a struggle to keep everyone awake and we decided that we needed some late night food(it was almost 11PM) and decided that we'd hit the Taco Bell on the way home. As we got off the exit ramp, the lights were off and when we went through the drive thru, were told they were closed. So much for the plan, huh? We drove home and were greeted by Zeus who was very excited to see his people come home. He hopped right in the car with us! Enzo the cat gave us a speech about leaving him alone for that long, which he always does after a trip. It was great to be home after the adventure we had. We grabbed some sandwiches and apples and hit the sack.

It has been a long day

Hi Mickey

Not your typical Disney lunch

Here we go!

Hong Kong Disneyland

The day started like all of the rest with everyone getting up over time with Emerson bringing up the tail end as usual. Guess they didn't teach him about Disneyland in the orphanage so he's not as excited as the rest of us. We eventually all get ready and head back to the metro to hit Disneyland. It is pretty cool that you can take a train from a big city straight to the gates of the park. We just don't get mass transit in the states. Granted it wouldn't work in a lot of places but even where we do have it, it is not far reaching enough. Washington DC comes to mind. How do I take mass transit from downtown DC to Dulles? Not happening (bus doesn't count) but I digress. We transfer twice and in about 50 minutes we go from downtown Kowloon to the park entrance. The final leg of the journey is on a dedicated rail line that Disney had to put in and as such the coaches all have a Disney touch with mouse shaped ears and hand rails to nicer couches, etc. We get off the train and head for the gates.

It is going to be a hot and sticky day but thankfully the ticket stands are covered. The strange thing we notice right away is that you cannot see the princess' castle from the ticket area. Usually they tower over all else in the park but we can't even see the spires, but we do see mountains in the background. We get our tickets and head for the gates where a guy named Max (bet that's not what his momma calls him) looks in our backpack and gives the kids a character trading card. We enter the park and like the other ones we've been to, Main St. USA is right there as is the train station. We go rent two strollers since they don't have any double strollers. We chose to leave ours in the apartment as it is not an easy walk to the metro and we figured we'd both be carrying kids on the way back to the apartment. Emerson starts to cry as soon as we put him in it and he wails and struggles against the straps. Shades of the car seat impending on our drive home?He has obviously never been in a car seat and I am sure that he'll love the 5 pointe harness. Everything looks like a typical Disney park and it is all in English, too. We had read that this was intentional because the Chinese don't want an Asian Disney, they want an American look and feel. We feel right at nome and I am guessing many of them wonder what half of this stuff says. LOL!

As we get closer to the castle we see that is is probably a quarter of the size of the others we have seen and say that it must be Aurora's weekend apartment. We pause for a picture with the family in front of the castle and to give you an idea of the scale, we are standing on the drawbridge off the moat and have everything in the shot, including Emerson trying to escape the stroller.We pass through the castle, no joke, maybe 20 or 30 feet wide and are in Fantasyland. The kids want to ride the merry go round so they all get in line while Emerson and I find a spot to sit and watch them. I leave him in the stroller and try to soothe him and he calms down once the Cheerios are broken out but begins to sob again when they are gone. It is sweltering and he is sweating buckets with the effort of crying so I get him out and hold him where he eventually calms down. I get a lot of sideways and weird looks from passersby and try to remember that they are all God's children instead of what I am thinking. ;). Julie and I have talked about this before and the stares we get range from genuine happiness and smiles to blank stares to what looks like disdain. If only these people really knew what we were doing, but we realize that we don't need to justify ourselves to anyone. The paperwork is done and their dirty looks cannot change that. The kids enjoyed the ride and meet up with us.

We decide to head towards Tomorrowland and the Buzz Lightyear ride. We decide we are all riding this one including Emerson. We stand in line and patent the Fuller Blockade to prevent or at least minimize line jumpers. As soon as we get into the building, Emerson starts to cry. The noise, crowds and darkened interior don't work for him but it is too late now, little guy! Max and Sydney get in a car by themselves (they are so big now), Julie takes Veronica and I take Emerson. He cries and doesn't like it at all, but even shooting left handed we score to L-3 with 67,000+ points. We get off the ride and decide it is time to try the restrooms here. In classic Disney fashion, they are nice and clean. Max has decided that he is ready to give roller coasters a try. His first and last experience was Goofy's Barnstormers in Orlando and that ride couldn't have been done fast enough for him. He says he is ready for Space Mountain so he and I go get in line while the girls and Emerson hang out under some trees in a shady spot. We worked our way through the line and you can see the intensity growing as we get closer. Max laughs a nervous laugh at the sign that says this is your final option to exit the ride but braves on. We had a great time and he totally loved it! He just about flew to the girls to tell them about it, but when we got there, our strollers were there, but nobody else. We figure they went to the restroom as there were some close by and they joined us shortly.

Sydney wanted to ride the cars you drive around in so Julie, Max, Sydney and Veronica went to go stand in line while Emerson and I stayed in the shade. About ten minutes later they came back and said that the line was HUGE and that they didn't want to wait that long. We packed up and Emerson freaked a little less as we headed towards Adventureland. Now we mentioned that this park is smaller, but it literally took no time at all to go from Tomorowland, around the Main St. circle and cross into Adventureland. As luck would have it we were ten minutes away from the start of what most guides considered the best show there, "The Festival of the Lion King" so we found some seats in the air conditioned theater and enjoyed the show. It was very good and was maybe a 30 minute recap of the Lion King. It was neat to see how they added two new characters to relay much of the non-singing dialogue into Chinese. We enjoyed it because it was the first time we had heard that much English outside of a hotel! Emerson wasn't too sure when they started and the theater was darkened but seemed to tolerate if not enjoy it by the end. We were all starving and tired so lunch seemed appropriate and we hit the Tahitian Terrace for some good old fashioned Asian and Indian cuisine. Not your typical Disney fare, but very good and extremely efficient. Max and I literally walked in, ordered, paid and walked out in five minutes. Try THAT in Orlando! LOL! The food was very good and we enjoyed eating in the shade and strategizing about what to do next. We settled on the Jungle Cruise since we were still in Adventureland. We got in line and thankfully they had multiple lines for Mandarin, Cantonese and English so we hopped in the Cantonese line to brush up. No, we didn't we got in the English line. We waited for maybe twenty minutes before getting on and taking off for our adventure. Our guide's English was ok, but not as clear at times as we would liked. I don't think she got the humor that the other guides we've had use so it came off a bit awkward at times but the kids enjoyed it and they had so many new twists to the cruise that were neat like fire and steam.

After our cruise, we were compelled to do It's a Small World because you can't hit Disney without seeing it so we headed towards Fantasyland. Again the size of the park was apparent as this was the 2nd time we were in Fantasyland in the same day and not as exhausted from the walking as you'd expect. We walked right in and waited maybe five minutes for Small World. They have added some new twists here too where there is a rainforest section and at least one section that we can't remember right now. ;). After Small World we realized we had not met any of the characters so we headed towards a pavilion area to see who we could meet. As we were walking up Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Tigger were coming out. The kids wanted to see Pluto so we got in line and had our pictures taken with him and then moved to the Mickey line. As we were waiting to see Mickey the characters needed to take a break and who couldn't blame them in this sweltering heat? The good news was that they came back out in a few minutes. While we waited for them to come back we noticed that the train here has two rows of almost bench/stadium seating and that everyone faces into the park. We think the space Disney bought was so small that they couldn't put stuff on both sides like you have at the other parks so have you face inwards to see the park. Another interesting nuance with Hong Kong Disneyland, huh? Mickey came back out and while we were waiting our turn a couple in front of us proposed and had the staff bring roses out. It was nice and she said yes. We got our photo with Mickey and decided we better call it a day as we still have a one hour metro ride back to the apartment.

On the way back Emerson and I grabbed a seat on Main St. USA and watched the crowds and ate caramel popcorn (there are some advantages to hanging with dad) while Julie and the crew shopped for souvenirs. As we were waiting Stitch's Surf Party Parade rolled down the road and we had front row seats. Emerson seemed to enjoy the parade and especially the gold Mickeys they shot out as confetti at the end. We collected a few for the other kids and waited until they were done shopping. After that we dropped off the strollers and headed towards the metro. Always sad to leave a Disney park. We took the metro back which wasn't as crowded as I was afraid it would be. I think we missed the rush hour home traffic and if we did they were headed the other way, out of the city. On the final leg of the journey a man came on the train and while I was standing there holding Emerson asked us about his cleft lip repair and we learned that he was a pediatrician. He gave us his cards, though we are not sure why since we told him we were leaving to go home the next day, but he insisted. We walked to the apartment and picked up some water to rehydrate after a hot, sweaty day..

Julie started giving baths so that we wouldn't offend others on the plane and I made blueberry jelly sandwiches and whatever else we could find. The heat did a number on all of our appetites and nobody was terribly hungry. We finalized the packing and cleaning and verified that we had transportation from the apartment to the airport arranged. We are going to have a van pick us up at 8AM because there would be no way we could get our crew from the apartment to the airport in a taxi or via the metro and we don't want to pay for two taxis. We finally wrap everything up and hit the sack. Emerson and Veronica are out before Julie finishes her rounds (she is such a good mom!) and the rest of us fall asleep dreaming of home.

T minus 2 days and counting

Wow, hard to believe that we are two days from coming home! It has been a whirlwind adventure to say the least and many of us are homesick for our family and familiar places and routine. We all slept in nicely today with Sydney wining the snoozer award. We ate our breakfast of Cheerios, bananas, instant coffee and OJ and learned that the milk we bought wasn't cow milk, but soy milk. Guess what Sara, it still tastes nasty though not as vile as I remember. The plan today is to take it easy and rest because we have big plans for tomorrow and Tuesday is a long travel day home.

We lounged around, read email, books, played games and stuff until everyone was each other's nerves and we needed to get out. We hit the metro and went one stop to Tsim Sha Tsui, the last station on Kowloon to check out the Chinese Stars Walk of Fame. This is along the promenade of the harbor with excellent views of Hong Kong island. We saw stars for Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat and of course the master, Bruce Lee. The boys took an "in action" photo with a big statue of Bruce Lee though it is hard to look like a Kung Fu master with a backpack on and a kid in your arms. LOL! We enjoyed the sunny weather though it was more humid today than it seemed the other day. This humidity is what we imagined Guangzhou and Hong Kong would be like - sticky.

We then walked down to the Star Ferry to take a boat across the harbor. Before the metro, and bridges spanning the harbor the Star Ferry was the only way across and they are icons of Hong Kong. We chose the shortest route in case Sydney's seasickness pops up. The good news is that it didn't! We enjoyed going across the harbor and seeing the ships coming and going including a cruise ship. We also saw the Stonecutter's bridge that Max, Julie and I watched a show about it being build on Discovery or History channel. Maybe we will see it closer tomorrow. We arrived on Hong Kong island and the terminal and area around it was jammed. Apparently Central terminal is a popular spot for the Filipino house maids to gather on their day off for a social event. Unfortunately for us, I remember that after we get off the ferry. We had planned on eating lunch on the island, but quickly changed our plans. It also seems it is a good time for some of them to solicit how shall we say it, extra business activities based on the way some of them were dressed. Not exactly a child friendly environment, but not the red light district either. We decided to hit the metro and find food closer to home. Sydney went into a funk because she wanted to eat at a Subway we saw but didn't get her way. Can you say attitude? She'll be a real treat in a few years.

On the way to the apartment Max and I were thrilled to see a Ferrari F430 go by and we had already saw a number of Porsches. Hong Kong has nice cars. :). We ate a late lunch at an Italian restaurant. It was my turn to change Emerson so I took him to the restroom where he again started wailing and crying. We worked through it and when we walked out there were two servers there anxious to see if everyone was OK. LOL! He puts on a heck of a show! We ate lunch and hit Starbucks for a Hong Kong coffee cup and then to the apartment. Three of the four kids needed naps and by the time it was all over, I think Max was the only one who didn't get any shut eye.

I hit the grocery store for bread and jelly to make the most of our leftovers as we are getting close to the end of the trip. We had peanut butter and blueberry (apparently a purple label doesn't mean grape in Hong Kong) sandwiches with pineapple chunks for desert and whatever other snack food we had left. Julie started packing our suitcases for Tuesday and I did dishes. We also told the kids about the plan for tomorrow and they were excited to hear we are going to Hong Kong Disneyland. We hung around the apartment until it was bedtime and then sacked out with princess and Space Ranger dreams.

Making order from chaos

Veronica loves the Expo mascot

The master, Bruce Lee

Breakfast in Hong Kong

Not something you'd expect from Pizza Hut

Lunch time!

Riding the midlevel escalators

Waving to daddy

It's a bit breezy up here

Hong Kong Skyline from Victoria Peak

Of transportation and thunderstorms

The morning began a lot earlier than we would have liked given the late night we had. The sun came through the blinds bright and early and we were all up before 7 - well not everyone. Sleepyhead Emerson sacked out until we woke him close to 9! We all got ready and went down to the buffet - oh wait, no we didn't. Wishful thinking, though. We heated up water and ate Cream of Wheat and oatmeal for breakfast to finish off our stash we brought as backup food from home. Sydney and I ventured out looking for an ATM or bank to exchange money into Hong Kong dollars. We asked the security guy in the building's lobby and learned a few things 1 - ATM doesn't translate unless someone else who speaks Chinese says it 2 - don't bother asking for directions because the help we got, not so helpful. Sydney and I walked around our "neighborhood" and found more 7-11s than you can shake a stick at, a yummy pastry shop, lots of restaurants with tanks of fish, crabs and other assorted seafood on display, and oh yeah, an ATM. We picked up some pastries to bring back to the apartment including a pineapple muffin and coconut creme roll. Mmmm. We all geared up for our first real foray into Hong Kong and headed out.

We hit the metro which was about two blocks south of the apartment and braced ourselves for the joy that is public transportation. In every city we ride mass transit we seem to fight and struggle with the transit, whether it is the tickets, the gates, understanding the transfers, gypsies, something makes it more difficult than you'd think. We have read about the Octopus card that is a pre-paid transit card similar to the Oyster card in London or the multiple-day pass in Paris and you can buy them almost everywhere including convenience stores. We walk up to a Circle K in the metro's underground complex of stores and stuff and are told that we need to get them at the customer service kiosk. We stand in line which moves pretty quickly and we get what we needed. I was concerned that I couldn't find the fare table for children's Octopus cards. Ended up that Veronica and Emerson are free - whoo-hoo! The next challenge was to navigate the turnstiles and get into the subway proper. You know what? It was EASY and we had no issues at all.

We took the metro to Hong Kong and went under the harbor in no time at all. The metro cars here are interesting in that they are not segmented into cars with doors between them but rather are long open air halls almost. This means you can see a very long way in either direction (assuming you are taller than 90% of the riders - lucky me!). Pretty cool! Emerson did great on the metro which was a concern for us based on his love of transportation. We get off at our stop and get out of the metro with no issues either. We really need to find a currency exchange as I just about drained the swamp of what I withdrew from the ATM on the Octopus cards. The conversion rate here is around 7.5 HKG to USD and they seem to fly out of my wallet. We find a bank that is actually open as it is Saturday and wait in line to be told that I need my passport to exchange money. D-oh! I totally left all of that at the flat. We resign ourselves to hitting the ATM again (you have to pay the out of network fees as well as a currency conversion fee which is why we were trying to avoid it). We go to a taxi stand and take a ride to the Victoria Peak tram terminus station. We have heard that the lines can be horrendous but these seem tame so we jump in, pay and wait for the tram to come and go twice before it is our turn. While waiting in line I notice that the backpack has been opened. Apparently pickpockets are at work here, too. The good news is that we don't keep anything of financial value in the backpack, just diapers, sunblock, hats, water and stuff. We remind ourselves to be extra vigilant. The tram has been running since the 1880s and has sections that are incredibly steep. Emerson did great for the majority of the ride but part way up he decided he was done. We reach the top and run the gauntlet of stores that want to sell everything from giant Pez dispensers to remote control helicopters to Bubba Gump shrimp. The view from the top of the peak is fantastic and you get a good feel for how large and dense Hong Kong is. It is neat to see the backside of Victoria Peak and how sparsely populate it is, especially compared to the other side. We head back down the tower and the tram to see what else we can see.

As we walk out of the tram complex, we see a line of taxis and ask one of them to take us to the midtown escalators but apparently escalator doesn't translate either and we stubble for a few minutes to show him on a map and describe it to no avail. We agree to give up and move on. The next cabbie speaks great English and knows exactly where we need to go and promptly takes us there. Hong Kong like most cities on the mainland has crazy traffic, but the rule of British law seems to have imposed the use of turn signals and traffic lanes more than across the border. The mid town escalators are the longest outdoor escalators in the world. Hong Kong is very similar to San Francisco in that it is hilly and this series of escalators helps move workers from the residential areas of the city to the downtown office towers for the workday. We ride them up and enjoy seeing the streets and life in general as we pass by. As we get closer to the top, we can tell the kids are winding down and Sydney is becoming more obstinate than usual so we decide to stop for some lunch. Julie spots a Pizza Hut sign so we find the store and order a veggie pizza and a pepperoni. We laugh about the menu featuring such classics as "American style pizza" with pepperoni, beef and the all time favorite pizza topping, corn. They also had tapas, cream of mushroom soup and other non-Pizza Hut offerings. We get our food and since it is a delivery and/or takeaway store and walk to a small park that was a quiet corner next to the escalators and enjoy our lunch. Emerson is a great eater and literally has not turned down very much food we have given him no matter the style and pizza is no different. He really does belong in this family!

After lunch we take a cab back to the metro and head for the apartment. Emerson crashes for a nap and the rest of us relax for a bit. After that we head back out for dinner and to see the Symphony of Lights. It is back to the metro for us and one stop later we are in the heart of Kowloon's shopping district with tons of neon selling everything from electronics to jewelry to watches, you name it, it is probably for sale here. While walking around we see multiple Porsches ranging from Boxsters to Carerra S models as well as tons of BMWs and Mercs. Max and I are really enjoying this aspect of Hong Kong. We wander for a while before we find an Indian restaurant where we eat dinner. The kids all did good with food that was a bit spicier than the mild we ordered and everyone but Max enjoyed the desert of gulag jamun, which are fried balls of a milk based dough served in a sweet syrup. Yummy. We head out and work our way towards the waterfront to watch the light show. It is pretty packed so we all stand together in a close group to minimize pickpocket likelihood and the kiddos are all worn out from a busy day. The light show is neat to watch and Max especially enjoys the green lasers that shoot from the top of two of the buildings. We call it a day and rather than take four tired kiddos through the metro again we hail a cab and we work on our combined lack of English/Cantonese to explain where our place is. It is harder than it sounds because there is a big road named Austin Road and then there is our place which is on Austin Ave. He understands Austin ok, but avenue is missing. We are able to pantomime that we need to keep going on Austin Rd. And eventually he figures it out. LOL! We have him drop us off at the grocery store near our apartment so we can get some food for breakfast. We do some shopping for cereal, bananas and stuff before we head back to the apartment for the night. After everyone gets settled, three of the four kids are out in record time, but mr nappy, Emerson, is still awake until a little after 10. Being the good boy that he is, he lays on his bed quietly and entertains himself until he sacks out. I read for a while and as I am trying to fall asleep, a huge thunderstorm rolls in. Our apartment doesn't have central air so the AC units hang outside the windows and the rain makes quite the racket on them. As a testament to how tired everyone is, nobody but Julie wakes up at all. I am surprised but happy. Tomorrow is a new adventure!

Hong Kong Bound

So the day has finally come and we are almost done in China. We only have to get Emerson's visa and head south to Hong Kong. The day began like most with breakfast (better enjoy the last round of the buffet) and a trip back to the room. The only item other than final packing today is to eat lunch at Lucy's on Shamain Island. This is a restaurant well known to many adoption families as it is close to the White Swan hotel and we've read about it many times. We get all of our stuff packed and are surprised it all fits in the suitcases and that they are all under weight. Not that the weight matters today as we're bussing it down to Hong Kong. Before we went to breakfast, one of of our guides called us and said that they had overbooked the bus and that they were arranging a van to take our family to Hong Kong. Given Emerson's behavior in cars and stuff, this might be a blessing, especially for the rest of the families. :). We don't really have an option so we agree and in what we are learning is typical Chinese style of doing business (similar to the Indian style I deal with all of the time at work and hate) he mentions that it'll cost us extra. Nice doing business with you buddy. We agree to pay mostly because even with paying for the van is more out of pocket it actually is cheaper and faster than riding the bus with everyone else. We originally were going to take the bus to the Hong Kong airport and then take a van to our apartment, this one will take us straight there. I must say we are not exactly thrilled with the travel package from our agency. It has not been terrible, but could certainly use improvement.

We load up to go to Shamian Island and as soon as we hit the hotel's lobby Emerson starts to cry. We make it to the island and get seated at Lucy's and Julie and the girls all order grilled cheese (missing home anyone?). Max orders hamburger and I order Indian curry. This should make the PSR director at our church happy as we know he worries about our curry intake. LOL! It is fun to watch the other adoption families and wonder where they are on the timeline. We catch a cab back to the hotel and Max is impressed with the Bentley we see though we can't imagine driving that nice of a car in this traffic. We get to the hotel and see a Porsche so when coupled with the Lamborghini dealership, we have a trifecta and head up to the room for a nap. Something tells us that we'll need it with the 3 hour drive to Hong Kong ahead.

We get up grab our stuff and head downstairs to catch the van. We also need to wait for our guides to come back with Emerson's visa otherwise, we won't get very far. While waiting we learn that there is a bit of a change of plans on the whole van deal. Due to the late planning we need to have one van drive us to Shenzen and then meet another driver and van to take us through the border and on to Hong Kong. Yikes, sounds a bit dicey to me but what can we do? We get our paperwork and roll. The scenery changes from city to countryside with rice fields where rice is being planted and oxen are tending the fields to banana plantations and back to city. I think it is interesting to see but the kids think it is about as exciting as Iowa cornfields for miles and miles and miles and miles..... Along the way the traffic varies from free flowing and almost normal to classic Chinese congestion. Our current driver calls the next driver and we meet at a gas station, move all of our suitcases and kids to the new van and we are off! Emerson is less than enthusiastic with the new van and begins his crying routine again.

We wind our way to the border crossing and our driver has us get out and points us to the customs line and tells us that he'll meet us on the other side. Dear Lord, please let this work as he has all of our bags and stuff and we only have our passports. We get into the customs hall and thankfully are directed towards the no joke, "special cases" line. How true is that because none of the lines sounded like they would work for us. Five of us are foreigners and one is a Chinese national (according to his passport). Thankfully we all clear the Chinese border and are issued our exit stamps. Veronica is still mad that I had to lift her up so that the border agent could see her face - she was kicking and screaming and considering her passport photo was taken on the way home from the hospital when she was born, she looks nothing like her photo. We work our way out of the customs hall and look at the morass of people, cars, busses and vans for our driver. Being good Americans we just start to wander in a direction that looks promising and are quickly pointed the other direction by a female border guard in a mask. Wonder how many times a day she runs into people like us wandering around? LOL! After some more wandering and Julie asking me when we start to panic, our driver rolls up and we get back in. Whoo-hoo! We cross the border into Hong Kong who must take some cues from Americans and has a drive-thru border crossing where they stamped our passports and our entrance papers.

We begin the drive into Hong Kong and enjoy watching the countryside transform into cityscapes. We pass through two tunnels under the mountains and come out to see the last part of the Hong Kong city lights show. Every night at 8 the buildings on Hong Kong island are lit up in a symphony of lights show. We will get to watch it in its fullness tomorrow but it is cool to see as we work our way into Kowloon. Max and I both are excited to see a Ferrari 456GTA, which is a beautiful blue four seater automatic (yep, you read that right an automatic Ferrari). This is one I have seen before on the Internet when researching 456GTAs and this guy talks about driving his in Hong Kong all the time. He's not lying! LOL!

We wind our way to the apartment and our driver helps us unload and get our bags into the lobby of the place then takes off. While getting out of the van, Veronica's blanket falls into the Hong Kong gutter! Surprisingly, what we figured would have been thermonuclear war, was shrugged off with "that's ok, mommy" thank God! We have a washer and dryer inte apartment so will learn how to use tomorrow. So much for my plan to ask him if he wants to take us to the airport. We must have scared him off. We all jam into an elevator that is pretty small only to find that there is not a button for our floor. We ride up and then back down to change to another elevator and do it all over again. We find our apartment, figure out how to work the door (easier said than done, trust me) and we are here. We go through our routine to get the place setup, blow up Veronica's bed which will be Emerson's tonight and try to get settled in. Sydney and Veronica are sharing a bed in one room, Max is sleeping on the couch and Julie, Emerson and I are in the other room. Sydney is exhausted and decides that tonight is a good night to give us a hard time at bed time. She is still up at 10:45 when we decide to change our plans of getting up early to go to Victoria Peak lest we pay the piper tomorrow. We finally all fall asleep and dream of what lies ahead.

You don't see signs like this in the US (but sometimes wish you did)

The cutest and newest American

Dinner time!

On the way to the consulate

Proud to be an American

Today is the big day! The day our son becomes an American, at least on paper. The final sealing of the deal will take place when we land in San Francisco in a few days, but on paper, he's American. :)

We started the day with the usual routine, breakfast, back to the room and naps. I could get used to this life - LOL! While we were laying down and Veronica was struggling to fight off sleep the phone in our room rang letting us know our laundry was done. Good, we will pick it up later and laid back down. About 15 minutes later the phone rings again and apparently they want us to pick up our laundry now. Hehehehe, so much for that plan. I come back to the room and play chess with Max(he is getting better) and kill time until we start getting ready to head downstairs.

We all load on the bus, much to Shan-Shan's chagrin. The ride to the consulate is about 35 minutes and we go maybe five miles; traffic is pretty bad even at 2:30 in the afternoon. He cries and is upset the whole way. We get to the office building where the visa and immigration office is and it literally is just part of an office building. I figured it would be more like an embassy on dedicated ground, etc. Nope, just the 5th floor. We go in and show our passports and go through metal detectors and sit in a large waiting room with probably 40 other families with adopted children. Our group alone is at least 16 of the families. We wait to hear our child's Chinese name called and when it is we go up, show our passports, they verify that the passport copies are indeed us, sign a paper and we are done. We wait for the rest of the families to complete before the USCIS officer comes out to give us the oath. She reviews some information with us including the stats on the number of adoptions they have processed with their six person team and that the Waiting Child/Special Needs adoption numbers are on the increase. At least three of the kids that are being adopted are within weeks of aging out. In China once a child turns 14 they can no longer be adopted and are out of the system. This more than likely will mean a very rough life for them. She has us stand up, raise our right hand and swear an oath that the information we provided is true and factual to the best of our knowledge. That was it. Sort of anti-climactic after the months of paperwork and stuff, but you know what? I'll take it. It is very poignant that those words followed by him touching down in SFO will give him all of the benefits of US citizenship. Wow.

After that we load on the bus, more crying ensues, and drive back to the hotel. We learn about our itinerary for our last day with the adoption agency before we are on our own. We have a very late check out at 4PM as we wait for the visas to be finalized and put in the system and then we load on a bus for the 3.5 hour trip to Hong Kong. On the way we will exit China and go through customs at the border to our next adventure. We have arranged (I hope!) a van to take us from the airport, where we will be dropped off to our apartment in Kowloon.

We arrive at the hotel and head to dinner at a restaurant called 1001 Nights which as its name implies has an Middle Eastern theme. The food is great and we all have a good time. The kids enjoyed watching old Tom and Jerry cartoons that were on and ignoring their father's pleas to eat. On the way back to the hotel, which was very close, we stopped at Starbucks for an after dinner treat. We went to the room, change into swimming gear and hit the pool. The kids have been wanting to go since we got here and since it is an outdoor pool, the early mornings (not happening) or evenings are the best time and time is running out! The kids had a great time, expect Shan-Shan who freaks out like we are going into a rest room. We would love to know what it is about restrooms that sets him off. We start to speculate that he associates it with the hospital or something, but we never will know.

Back in the room we get ready for bed and Julie starts packing the suitcases as the Guangzhou chapter of our adventure draws to a close.

What does say cheese mean?

Now that's some fresh duck

Cool Mausoleum - wonder what mausoleum means?

Consulate Paperwork and an Italian Dinner

Today is the day that our guide will deliver a bundle of paperwork to the US Consulate to begin the final stages of the process. We woke and ate breakfast, but since we went down a bit late, we had to hurry as we were instructed to stay in our hotel room from 9:30 AM in case they called with questions or whatever. I took Shan-Shan and Max to the room with me while Julie and the girls finished breakfast and then stopped by to send email. We hung out in the room until almost noon before the call came that they were done and that we could pick up our paperwork in the guide's hotel room.

We picked up our paperwork and were told that tomorrow was the oath taking ceremony in the consulate and that we needed to be in the hotel lobby at 2:30. We dropped off more laundry as we still have five more days before we come home and this will help us avoid needing to do laundry in Hong Kong (we hope!). We hung around the hotel room for a while before venturing out for a walk in the area close to the hotel. We came across the "Museum of the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King" which we read about in the Fodor's guide and decided to check it out. This tomb from ~100BC was found when the hotel we are staying in was being built in 1983. The tomb had not been raided and they found over 10,000 artifact inside and was one of the best preserved tombs found. It was pretty cool except we were being followed by someone who was a bit more interested in Veronica than we liked. We shifted roles and kept her extra close just in case. Way better to be safe than sorry. The kids enjoyed exploring the tomb, which was left intact at the site and was neat to see.

We finished off our excursion "around the block" by taking in the sites and scenes of Guangzhou. This is a pretty city with flowers and greenery seemingly everywhere and the air quality is light years better than Beijing and Xi'an. Not sure if it is so close to the Pearl River Delta and the South China Sea or what, but is just is. We came across a wet market where there were tubs of fish, eels, crabs, lobsters and sadly, ducks waiting to be bought. Talk about fresh food huh? We came back to the hotel and the two younger ones took naps while the rest of us read, watched movies or played chess.

We woke up the kiddos and Shan-Shan was definitely not in a good mood. This should make for a fun evening. We decided we were going to Lucy's a popular adoption/tourist spot on Shamain Island. While waiting in the line for the taxi, another adoptive family in our group mentioned that they had a bus taking them to a place called, get this, "Italian Restaurant" pretty creative, right? We joined in and eight families went in total. Shan-Shan had the usual reaction on the bus, crying and trying to get away/out of there. They had a buffet(see a recurring theme here) and we all enjoyed some food that resembled food from back home. Not exactly awesome food, but considering it is a Chinese Italian buffet, not bad at all.

While at the restaurant Julie took Shan-Shan to the restroom to change his diaper and apparently he gave her all kinds of grief. He has some innate fear of bathrooms, regardless of where they are and what they look like and if the water is running or not. We can't figure it out but he really get riled up. Hope it wasn't some traumatizing potty training or something that will take a long time to sort out. Anyway we went back outside and hailed a cab, which was a ton easier than I thought it would be and headed back to the hotel. Again, Shan-Shan was not a happy camper and wanted to get out and cried. This should make for an entertaining plane ride home as well as car ride from the airport. Keep in mind that he hasn't been strapped into a chid seat this whole time, just being held while we drive around. If you think that's bad, you should see the little ones clinging for dear life on the back of motorcycles and bikes. There is no safety seat law here in China.

After the scene in the cab, we decided that since he was in a crappy mood, we'd give him a bath to cap the day off perfectly. LOL! He reacted as expected but didn't try to get away just wailed in the tub. Afterwards he wanted nothing to do with me but also didn't want me to put him down either. Complex little guy isn't he? Julie went downstairs to send email and I kept on eye on the kids. The older three did fine but Shan-Shan was mad at me all evening. Eventually we put him to be and as I write this he has been in the bed for almost 30 minutes and has not gone to sleep. He is probably plotting a way to give me a bath in a bus as revenge as that would be one of his worst nightmares right now. LOL! All you can do is laugh about it and help him get over his fear and phobias. Who knows what he has seen the last 2.5 years.

Tomorrow we'll take him to the US Consulate to become a citizen so that should be cool. We are bumming that they don't allow cameras in for the ceremony though. Oh well, can't fight the government can you? Time to hit the hay.

Taking it easy

Today was a very relaxed day in Guangzhou. We woke up and ate breakfast then came back to the room to change the kids into their new outfits we bought yesterday for a group photo. Many of the families are dressing their children in traditional Chinese clothes, including us. We also bought clothes for Max, Sydney and Veronica. As expected, with 25 families it was borderline chaos to get it coordinated, but we did. Afterwards it was back to the room to change to street clothes and catch a cab to Shamain Island.

Surprisingly we all fit into one cab with Julie and the four kiddos in the back and I rode shotgun. It was a pretty quick ride and Emerson whimpered but didn't totally freak so that was an improvement. We picked up our chop at Jordans as well as some more things. For the record, chops are stamps with names, symbols, etc that are etched into stone. Not sure why they are called chops, but they are. We hit the first store that we visited yesterday, Andy's, and pick up more souvenirs. I think we may need an extra suitcase on the way home as some of the stuff is heavy and we are close on weight as it stands. We will see for sure when we get to Hong Kong. We stop by another store that we had make chops for each of the children and picked them up. They look awesome and have the child's Chinese zodiac symbol on the top. We then head over to the White Swan hotel to pick up a taxi to our hotel.

The kids are winding down and we head to the room for naps. Julie and I read for a while then catch some zzzzzs as well while Veronica snuggles with Julie and Shan-Shan sleeps in his crib. After we get up, we hang in the hotel room until dinner and head down to a restaurant called Food Street in the hotel and eat noddles with beef, Schezuan noodles and sweet and sour vegetables with tofu. We hit 7-11 and get more water before it is back to the room for the night.

Tomorrow we are to hang in the hotel room while our guides take our paperwork to the consulate and then we will be free in the afternoon. Sounds like more reading and sleeping is on the way. :)

Looking good in our new duds

Use your manners

Jordans on Shamain Island

Mmmm, chips!

The red couch photo

The famous seat drop

Today is another slow day for us in Guangzhou as our only activity is having the doctors check Shan-Shan's TB test. We all try to sleep in but wake up around 7:30 and get ready for breakfast. Another food fest ensues and we head back to the room for bonding and try to get the kids to take a nap before we head out in the afternoon. Veronica and Sydney fight it but both need it based on the attitude we get from them both but neither fall asleep. Shan-Shan sacks out like a rock and is not happy when we have to wake him up. LOL! More of his Shaanxi (province) temper shows up as he fights me to put his shoes on. This should be fun when he gets older!

We load on the bus and head for Shamian Island, a popular spot for adopting families as there are many shops and the US consulate was here until it recently moved. One of the hotels on the island, the White Swan, has been discussed frequently in our fellow bloggers postings and pictures of the new family on the red couch abound. Shan-Shan hasn't developed an affinity for buses since the day he got his shots and starts to panic and cry when we start moving. This will be fun. The ride to the island is short and Julie takes Shan-Shan in to get checked while the rest of us wait. A few minutes later and Shan-Shan passed with flying colors! They unload us and we begin to shop for souvenirs. Our first stop is The White Swan hotel where we find the red couches and another adoptive family takes our picture. We then stroll over to the shopping area and compared to the prices we saw in Beijing and Xi'an, this place is a bargain and glad we waited to do most of our shopping until now. We find a store called Jordans where the owner will write your adopted child's name in English and Chinese calligraphy for free. Very cool. We get that done, ask him to make a family stamp with "F" on a chop and to write the names of the other kids as well so we'll be back tomorrow to get them. We also find another store that will make chops for each of the kids and we will pick those up, too. We wrap up our trip to Shamian Island with a trip to Starbucks and get vanilla frappucinos and a mango passion fruit frappucino for Julie.

We get back on the bus and head to the hotel where we hang for a while as we figure out what to do for dinner. Quite a few of the families are going on a dinner cruise on the Pearl River, but we pass on that and opt for noodles from 7-11. We get beef, chicken and spicy beef as well as bread and cheese for Julie. Back in the room we boil water in the hot pot and mix our food. Not too bad as long as you don't think about the amount of sodium and MSG we just ingested. LOL! Shan-Shan and Julie enjoy cheese sandwiches but then Julie stopped him from stuffing as much food as he can into his mouth and that's when we saw the first experience of the famous seat drop. I am not sure how to describe this as we have not had a child who throws tantrums like this and he throws himself up into the air and drops down on to his bottom. You've got to imagine this hurts him more than anything else, but he did it later after Julie put a bib on him. If we capture it in a picture we'll be sure to share it. Julie thinks he inherited his temper from me, but I think he got his stubborn streak from her. LOL!

All in all a slow day and tomorrow will be equally slow as our only thing is a group photo at 10:30 and going back to the Island to get our chops.

Lazy in Guangzhou

We are still making up lost sleep from our flight to Guangzhou and as such wake up close to 8:30AM. We get ready and roll down to the breakfast buffet and we load up. Didn't someone say breakfast is the most important meal of the day? The goal for today is to lounge around and get some rest. The last 8 days have been crazy and we are due for a down day. We go back to the room and play with Shan-Shan, play cards, Nintendo DS, or whatever we want to do. Veronica's travel bed has developed a leak, so it is MacGuyver time. While I head to 7-11 looking for super glue and tape, Julie takes the kids to the "playroom" and exploration of the hotel. I came back to the room thinking I would be pretty handy and fix the bed, but apparently super glue and the plastic the bed is made out of don't work well together. I finally decide on a crude way to fix it, Big Red bubble gum and tape. Works like a champ and I am happy to say it made it through the night. I head down to the WiFi zone and hit up email and pay some bills(thank you Internet and SSL). I head back to the room and we snack on some of our airport remnants and the little ones take a nap while the older two watch Madagascar 2 and Julie and I read (well Julie read, I read the inside of my eyelids).

After we wake up the young uns, we decide we cannot be sloths all day so head out to the park that is across the street. Sounds simple enough until you remember we are in China. To cross the street we have to go through the metro station which is jammed with people and seems to be a lot further across than the street is wide. When we surface we are right where we are supposed to be so I guess it went according to plan. We wander down to the Lamborghini dealership and enjoy looking at the two Murcialago 550LP2s in the window. Cars like that would be a waste in traffic like this. We head to the park and enjoy the scenery and the Chenglish (Chinese interpretation of English) on some of the signs. The park is beautiful and as usual, we create a scene with the kids. We decide to head back to the hotel and that our dinner should be the old favorite, McDonald's. There is one very close to the hotel and they must be used to foreigners. The menu is more or less the same with BBQ chicken sandwiches and BBQ chicken legs on the menu and taro root pies instead of apple. The kids enjoy chicken nuggets while I have a Big Mac and Julie has fries and get this, corn in a cup. We eat and then decide that sundaes are in order so everyone gets chocolate and I have pineapple. Mmmmm, good.

We head back to the room and wind down for the night. Our laundry is done and this was WAY cheaper than the laundry in Xi'an so that was nice to get done. I head back to the WiFi zone and get back in the room just in time to find the F1 race from Hungary on a Chinese station. So much for understanding the calling of the race. Shan-Shan enjoys watching F1 and is clearly a Ferrari fan. We get the kids ready for bed and call it a successful day.

Go Ferrari!

Nothing says McDonald's like nuggets and corn

Keep off of the grass????

Lamborghini dreaming

Our hotel

Exploring the hotel

Fun in the hotel room

Amazing how ice cream can improve moods

Nothing says Japanese restaurant like Frosty!

Raw egg, anyone?

Why did mommy take me here?

Poor guy doesn't know what to expect

The power of the hand

Good grief, what is that noise? Oh no, it is the alarm and it is 6AM already. We roll out of bed and start getting ready to go to breakfast and get the kids up around 7:30. They were sleeping like rocks and not happy about getting up at all. We all stagger downstairs to the buffet and eat a good breakfast. Today Shan-Shan will go to get a medical exam and get whatever booster shots he needs. We hear the medical exam is a pretty crowded place so decide to divide and conquer with Julie taking him to the medical exam and I will stay in the room and entertain the troops.

The kids watch Wall-E on the iPad while I read a book I started months ago and finally finish it. Veronica and I play travel sized Connect Four and "War with jokers and kings" as she puts it. The morning goes pretty quickly and before we know it Julie and Shan-Shan are back. Poor guy needed to get 3 booster shots plus a TB test. He seems to be doing very well considering though it'll be interesting to see what tomorrow and the day after bring for him. The guides here in Guangzhou have arranged for a lower cost laundry service than the hotel's normal one so we collect our dirty laundry and I take it along with our paperwork to the hotel room where our guides are staying for a paperwork party. I drop off the laundry and we sort out what papers the guides need from us for the consulate appointment. They will deliver the papers to the consulate and want us to be in the hotel room in case there are any questions. If not, we are done for the day and can go sightseeing. The next day we all go to the consulate and that is where the oath taking ceremony is and where Shan-Shan will become a US citizen (though I guess it is not 100% complete until he touches US soil). After that we are done for the day and then the next day he will get his visa and we are done!

We wrap up the paperwork party and I head back to the room. We are meeting everyone for dinner at a Japanese restaurant here in the hotel tonight. I head to the wireless hotspot in the hotel and update the blog, send emails and check on F1 and see what is happening there. Back in the room we all play with Shan-Shan and work on building those trust ties that are so important. He and I master the high five and he has fun playing with his brothers and sisters. Julie and I wonder just how much he got to play with the other kids in the orphanage as it seems like interactive play is new to him.

As we prep for dinner I am putting on his shoes, something he obviously doesn't want to do as he seems to be most comfortable in the hotel room. Wonder if that is space/size thing where the room is finite for him whereas a lot of the other places we go are large open spaces. Guess we will never really know. Anyway, I am putting on his shoes and pick him up when he smacks me in the face! I grab his hand and tell him no and he seems to get it but is not happy at all and seems pretty angry. Guess what little guy, I am too - nobody hits me, I don't care if you are two or twenty, doesn't happen. I think my stern (our kids call it scary LOL!) voice conveyed the tone it needed and no more hitting the rest of the night.

Sydney is tired and that always means a bad mood so when we meet for dinner she wants nothing to do with the food. We had scoped out the menu there earlier in the day so had a good idea of what we were getting. Julie and Max had cold udon noodles that came with garnish of dried seaweed and condiments that included what looked like a raw quail egg - yummo! We also ordered edamame, fried rice and I had a spicy ramen soup. Overall it was pretty good but we all hit the sleep coma wall quickly. We asked for our bill and as we were leaving they told us that our dinners included ice cream so we sat back down. Unfortunately for Sydney, her dinner of edamame and Sprite didn't qualify her for the ice cream according to our family's dinner rules so she cried. You hate to do that kind of stuff, but those are the rules. We left and the kids enjoyed watching the turtle and koi in the pond in front of the restaurant, which also featured a snowman, go figure. We hit the sack hard knowing that we could sleep in and enjoy it.

Yeah, our flight is the one in red - LOL!

Say cheese

The Bell Tower

Inside the Great Mosque

Told you it didn't look like a normal mosque.