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.