handsful

Here is who we’re missing so badly…our other kids! We’re having great Skype time with them, but it sure doesn’t replace actually being there. Can’t wait to catch up with them, and find out all we’ve missed while being here. We love you, AMPEL!!

I missed posting yesterday, it was such a busy day and I konked out early! Dylan had his TB test checked yesterday morning…the nurse took one look and said “nothing!” – great news, no need for a chest x-ray, and we were free to go. We had a quick lunch, and then met up with our friends Thomas, Kristin, and Mei Li for some serious shopping. I say serious because we hired a personal shopper/bargainer to go with us. Her name is Ann, and she offers this service (as well as care package service to those waiting) at her website www.redthreadchina.com. She met us at our hotel, and we walked to the markets.

Walking over the bridge, from the island to the main part of Guangzhou. It was in the 80’s yesterday, hot enough that we were sweating…hard to believe we were freezing in Beijing just days ago!

We first walked through the medicine market. This is the back of Ann…something we saw a lot of! We worked hard all day to keep up, she walks fast! The sights in this section were quite interesting.

Bag of dried frogs. Yep. Did I mention this was a TRADITIONAL medicine market?

Left to right – Ann, Kristin, me, confused Chinese man. We get a lot of looks around here, even though there are many of us here adopting Chinese children.

6 story mall, full of nothing but jewelry. The giddiness set in quickly. Ann took us to a jade and pearl shop and got us CRAZY good deals.

Those are ALL pearls. Ann knows her stuff, and showed us the good quality vs. the bad.

Back outside, to visit some other markets. We walked a TON and loved it all.

We wanted to go to the toy and silk markets, so Ann said we needed to flag down a van or 2 taxis. After several attempts (while we all stood on the side of a very busy road!), she found one. The driver and Thomas in front, Kristin and me with the kids in the middle, and Randy hopped in the open back – no seat! Traffic was bumper to bumper and the Chinese completely ignore lane lines. It was better to not watch.

Silk. I had this goofy grin all day. Randy also enjoyed shopping…He laughs and says he doesn’t enjoy shopping, he enjoys buying. heh heh.

The kids did well, though both had their moments of being done with the whole shopping experience. Here are they warily checking each other out.

Ann and Randy, in his newly acquired shirt.

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Shopping done, we posed for pictures and then flagged another van to take us back to the hotel. We shopped for 4 hours – dropped our items off at the hotel and then went to Lucy’s for an American dinner of a burger, grilled cheese, and grilled chicken. It was a FUN day.

Today was a free day – absolutely nothing scheduled for us. We slept in a bit, Skyped the kids, and had a late breakfast at the buffet. We then took Dylan to the White Swan playroom for some down time.

He found a baby walker and pushed, hopped, pushed, hopped, etc.

Nothing holds this guy back – if he wants to go somewhere, he does.

Even when his baba is throwing balls at him while he climbs.

We did some exploring around the hotel. There is an outdoor pool beside the river – there were kids actually swimming today. And, the weather was cloudy, windy, and only up to around 65. We had our jackets on again today!

Dylan wasn’t too sure about the wind in his hair! Randy didn’t seem to mind.

Side view of our hotel…it’s right on the river, we have breakfast right outside those far windows facing the river.

The rest of our day was low key…a little more browsing shops, a snack at Starbucks, and the beginning of packing to come home. We now look to our next day in Guangzhou which is full. Our guides take our paperwork to the consulate tomorrow, to apply for Dylan’s visa to leave the country. We’ll know by mid morning if our papers “passed” and then we’ll have our consulate appointment (where we take the oath) in the afternoon. In between, we’ll take the customary Red Couch pictures – we bought Dylan a traditional outfit to wear for the occasion.

More tomorrow!