Back amongst the living

We have been home almost a week (today is Friday) and are finally getting back into a routine. My headcold on the plane turned out to be the flu (the "regular" kind) so I was out of commission for a couple of days.
Jet-lag on the way back is a killer! We were all so out of wack. Even Bennett (who we have a rule that he must wait until there is a seven on the clock to leave his room) has been sleeping until 10 or 11! Only Ms. April seems to be up and ready to go at 7am..

Due to my flu, I have been sleeping in April's bed and she and Mark have been sleeping in our bed. We know this will be a hard habit to break. Bedtime is really the only time where she is having some issues. She cries as soon as she realizes it is time for bed. We have gotten to the point where she will willingly get in the bed, but she is a restless sleeper and cries several times in the night. We want to be there to reassure her and help her through the tough times. Right now Bennett is sleeping with April and Mark. When I go up to bed (trying to beat the jetlag by staying up late), I'll move him back to his room and fight for my share of the bed. For a little girl, she sure takes up a lot of bed space!

April seems to understand most of what we tell her to the point where we almost forget that she doesn't speak English. We were at Target today and told her to "hold on" to the shopping cart as we went down a dip. Both Mark and I realized that she had no clue what we were telling her to do and were like "d'uh - how would she know?". She has been picking up words and phrases and uses them appropriately. She knows "daddy", "mommy", "Bennet", "kitty cat", "Murphy" (along with "Murphy sit" and "Murphy lie down", "grandma", 'grandpa" and how to say "please", "up please" (as in - pick me up), "Thank you", "more please" and "no thank you". The use of "no thank you" cracks us up. For example - the other day I took out some clothes for April. She took one look and said "no thank you" and walked over to her closet to take a look at what else was in there for herself.
She still uses a manderin phrase when she needs to go to the bathroom, but she has picked up the word "potty" for urgent situations. This evening I was taking her out of the bath and she seemed a bit distressed and said "potty, potty, potty" and pointed to the toilet. Yup - she had to go bad.

We have been out and about in our 'hood. Bennett beams when he introduces his new sister and explains that she speaks Chinese. April is fitting in and today joined some of the kids in running around like a bunch of crazies! A couple of the neighbors had on their Halloween costumes and Bennett changed into his. April started to get a bit whiney and we thought she might be getting tired. Bennett was walking around with another child's stuffed animal and I thought maybe she wanted it? I offered her a couple of her own stuffed animals and it was VERY obvious that was NOT what she wanted and she started to cry. She finally said "Bennett" and pointed to his costume.. AHHHH she wanted a costume too! I pulled out the princess dressup dress (thanks Lisa M!!!) and that did the trick. We put that right on her and she pranced around outside with the other kids. We may attempt a bit of Halloween after all! We have a bunch of pictures that are still on the camera. Once we download those - we will post them.

Thanks everyone for following along on our journey to bring April home. We will try to continue to post to this blog (though not every day like we did in China).

Flight recap

I posted these messages from my blackberry - but they did not make it to the blog:

We survived the flight from Hong Kong. It was long and painful. April and Bennett slept for a couple of hours, but since Mark had to be standing up for April to sleep, and Bennett fell asleep on my lap, neither Mark nor I actually slept much! We cleared customs and immigration in less than 30 minutes. They really have their act together in Newark. We spent almost 2 hours getting thru immigration in Charlotte when we adopted Bennett. We have a 3 hour layover, so we leisurely made our way down to our gate and grabbed a bite to eat. They just announced that our flight will be delayed 35 minutes. We just want to be home. Mark is trying to run the kids around to tire them out. I came down with a headcold some time during the flight and feel like crap. We are wondering how April's first night at home will go. Please send us happy sleep thoughts as Mark and I have been up for over 24 hours already and the kids are getting cranky and overtired.

It is 7:30pm and we are still in Newark. Delayed from 6:05, to 6:40, then 6:50, then 7:15 boarding, then 7:35 boarding and now due to maintenance delay, our new boarding time is 8:15. It is pouring rain and we are begining to wonder if we are going to get home tonight.

We finally boarded the plane and left the gate at 9:30pm. Bennett was asleep before the plane doors closed and was really mad when he woke up because he didn't believe we were in Charlotte. He thought we were still waiting to take off in Newark! We arrived to a very deserted Charlotte airport @ 11:15. Mark's parents and sister and brother in law were waiting for us at the baggage claim. Boy was it great to see them!! Bennett was so happy to see grandma, grandpa, Aunt Linda and Uncle Mike. We gathered our luggage and headed to the car. Thank goodness we had the family meet us at the airport. There was no way either Mark or I could have driven home.
April did great in the carseat - she seemed to like the view from high up in the seat. Bennett was happy to be "buckled up for safety" as he was quite concerned about the lack of seatbelts in China.
We pulled into our neighborhood and noticed 2 smiley face signs. We didn't think too much about them until we saw 2 more on the corner of our street and then saw our yard. More smileys than we could count and a big "Welcome Home April" sign. We were brought to tears - after such a long journey and to know how welcomed April would be. We love our 'hood!!!

On our way home

We are on the plane ready to leave Hong Kong and begin the long flight to Newark. We stayed at the Regal Airport Hotel last night and it was very nice! Best food we have had in a while and very comfy bed!

We are hoping that the kids fare well on the flight as it is long and we are in 2 rows. Aisle and middle seats on a full flight.

Mark and I are hoping to get some sleep but that is doubtful. Bennett is already asking when we will get there and the plane is still at the gate.

We will check back in at Newark if we have a chance.

Day 15 - Guangzhou - Photos

2346 - kids in the park

Day 15 - Guangzhou - shopping, swimming and a good visa surprise

Today we did not have any organized activities planned. The kids slept in until there was an 8 on the clock! We showered, dressed and headed down to a late breakfast. We met another family from Charlotte who will be traveling home on the same flight. We are getting used to the big buffett breakfast and hope that all the walking we are doing is offsetting the eating! We hope April will not be disapointed when we get home and finds that her breakfast choices are quite limited and do not include , on a daily basis; cereal, fruit, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, chicken nuggets, spring rolls, dim sum, noodles, potatoes, omelets, pizza, oatmeal, yogurt, dumplings, baked beans, sausage, bacon, ham, french toast, steamed veggies, cold cuts, pastries, bread, 4 kinds of juice, 2 kinds of milk and I'm sure there are dishes that I am leaving out..btw.. the coffee in the hotel is awful and I am making a daily journey to Starbucks for my caffeine fix. Mark has
been able to satisfy his caffiene need by buying cokes at the 7-11. That is, once he figured out which bottle with chinese writing was plain coke. He did buy a tasty vanilla coke one day that was not to his liking so he has learned to avoid the yellow cap.

There were a couple of shops that we still wanted to visit so we headed out for a walk. Shaiman island (where we are staying) must be a hot spot for wedding photos. Bennett is fascinated by all of the brides and keeps hoping that we will get to witness the actual nuptual ceremony.

After visiting a couple of stores, negotiating prices and buying more stuff (shoes, wall hanging, chinese dolls, kid chinese music cd) and getting some free stuff (chinese flags, string bracelets and a magnet of the Jiangsu province) we headed back to the hotel for a picnic lunch of noodles and animal crackers. We had a message from our guide that he was able to get our visa a day early and would try to arrange an earlier flight for us! This means that we can get to Hong Kong at a more reasonable time on Friday and let us get the kids some dinner, and a bath before trying to get them to bed.

After the picnic we put on bathing suits (thank you Miriam for lending me a suit for April!) and hit the pool. April loved it and Bennett had fun swimming in the "big" pool.  

We were able to meet up with another family who adopted from the same orphanage for dinner tonight at the Italian restaurant. We had six - they thought we said 16 - and were seated in a private banquet room. Once they realized their mistake, we think they took one look at the kids and decided that we should stay in that room - with the door closed! Good thing as April and Olivia tooks turns exercising their lungs. Bennett was on his best behavior and was trying to console both girls when they were upset.  

April is still awake while I am typing this (9:35pm). The good news is that she is not sobbing or screaming. The bad news is that she is not showing any signs of being tired or going to sleep. She fell asleep at dinner - so we figured that she might not sleep well tonight. Hopefully she will fall asleep before we do!

Tommorow morning will be interesting. Packing time!! We bought way more than we planned on and I'm not sure how we are going to fit it all in. Mark is the super packer - so I have full confidence in his ability to get everything in, packed safely to keep from breaking and still stay under the weight limit. 

This will probably be our last post for while as I'm not sure if we will have a connection in Hong Kong and we expect the jet lag to take over for a while once we get home.           

Day 14 - Guangzhou - Red Couch pictures

2299 - Bennett and April
2305 - Kids group photo
2326 - Family photo 

Day 14 - Guangzhou - COnsulate appointment and red couch

Today was our consulate appointment. Our guide took all our paperwork to the consulate and we were to wait in the room for an hour until we received the "all clear". About 30 minutes into the wait, the phone rang. Oh no! Elvin (our guide) was on the line.  Everything was fine (thank goodness!!) but instead of going to the consulate on Thurs. for our swearing in ceremony, we were to join the other families in the afternoon.    

We were released from lock-up and decided to walk around the island a bit and do some shopping. We headed to Helen's Place as we had heard she had some cute things. Lisa had seen a Burberry jacket for April earlier in the week and wanted to check it out. The shop is the size of a large closet and we had fun trying things on. We decided to keep looking and not buy anything - but she still gave us two kids bracelets. (she knew we'd be back!).

We continued to walk over to Jordon's place. His shop is off the beaten path and we were the only customers. He quickly wrote April's name in caligraphy while we browsed. We found a family ball that we really liked along with some toys for the kids. Mark did some hard bargaining and Jordon told us how business was down and how his rent had gone up. We settled on a fair price and the kids (after visiting the bathroom) were happy with the purchase.

We stopped for a quick snack at 7-11 and went to another shop where Mark had seen North Face jackets. After braving the rain on the river boat cruise and seeing the forecast for the rest of the week, we decided that April needed a rain jacket. We found a kid's size jacket - but April was not cooperating and would not try it on. We bargained back and forth and got the jacket for a steal. It is a light blue color - so even it she won't wear it, Bennett can.

Back to Helen's Place. She had boys Burberry shirts and Bennett really liked them. He tried on a few and found one that fit. He was beaming when everyone told him how handsome he looked. April scored with the windbreaker, a dress and a winter coat. She was quite happy to try on all those clothes. Mark and I are in trouble! Our daughter has expensive taste!

We all headed back to the room as it was getting close to picture time. We changed the kids into the traditional Chinese outfits that we bought and met the other families in our group by the famous "red couch" for a photo session. The kids all looked so cute! We had to bribe Bennett to take off his outfit after picture taking as we needed to get in the van and go the consulate for the swearing in ceremony. At the consulate, we saw the family we first met in Newark the day we left the states, as well as many families we have met over the past 2 weeks. What a journey this has been. Most of those families will be receiving their child's visa on Thurs., however, we will not receive ours until Friday, which is what we expected. (unless our guide has some news for us in the morning!)

April is having a hard time with bedtime and will sob and cry. Mark has been walking the halls with her for about an hour until she falls asleep and then we can put her to bed. I tried to take over tonight - but she would not have anything to do with it! She would nod off for a bit and then wake up, look and me and start to cry again. I can only imagine what is going on in her head - this must be so hard for her!      

We really enjoyed our time in China but are ready to come home.

Day 12 & 13 Guangzhou - pictures

2277 - at the zoo
2281 - more at the zoo
2290 - picnic in the room

Day 12 & 13 - Guangzhou - Shopping, the zoo and river cruise

Yesterday we met up with the famous Ann from Red Thread for some shopping! It was really great to meet her in person after emailing with her over the past couple months. Ann is pretty well known in the China adoption community. She has a website business where you can order care packages for your child and she ensures they are delivered to the orphanage.
We had approx 3 hours and the agenda was: pearl market, jade market and children's traditional clothes. 1st stop - the pearl market. Ann quickly walked us into a shop and started asking to see different quality and types of pearls for us to look at. You choose the strand and then it is strung into a necklace, bracelet, etc. The prices were amazing. Mark kept saying - buy more! I have different types of pearls for me, pearls for April now, pearls for April when she is 16, pearls for when she gets married, for Bennett to give to his wife when he gets married, etc. After we finished selecting what we wanted - Ann wisked us away to a jade seller. I wanted to get a couple of pendants - again - Ann was able to negotiate great prices and we bought a lot more than we planned on. After that - she asked me if wanted a high quality or medium quality jade bracelet. I said "high", so off we went to another vendor. I looked at many bracelets - but didnt' find
one I liked. I like the ones that have more green, apparently the higher quality don't have those "blemishes". Off to another vendor to look for some small jade lions and a family ball. Found the lions, but came up short on the family ball. Picked up a couple of "medium quality" jade bracelets and then Ann took us to another jade vendor. After a couple of minutes - she turned to us and said "this stuff is not good" so back to the first jade vendor and finally I was able to find a bracelet that I liked. 

By this point - we had run out of time so Ann flagged down a cab and we were on our way back to the hotel. We arranged to meet up with her again on Tues. to shop for traditional clothes. The kids were pooped from all the running around and shopping. Mark took April back to the medical clinic for her TB test reading. Negative!!! so no xray needed. While they were gone, I took Bennett to the pool for a swim. There were a lot of other adopting families there are well so it was nice for him to play with the other kids.      

Today we headed out early to the Guangzhou zoo. It was raining so we had the zoo pretty much to ourselves. With all the trees and umbrella's, it wasn't bad at all. We had heard some pretty negative things about the zoo and one of the families had suggested the safari instead. The zoo was included in the cost, the safari was extra - so zoo it was. We were all pleasantly surprised by the zoo. It was not as nice as the zoo in Beijing - but the animals all seemed healthy and the zoo was very clean and well laid out. The monkeys were the highlight again. There was only one panda - and he didn't move around much.           

We had an aborted attempt at a nap (kids were not cooperating) and then an aborted attempt to go out for lunch (rain and whiny, tired kids) so we turned around and went back to the room for a picnic lunch of dinner leftovers and raman noodles on the floor. It was good fun for everyone and snapped the kids out of their cranky moods. We finished up in time to meet up with Ann again for another shopping outing. Ann is amazing. She knows just which shops to go to that have good quality and she is able to get great prices! We bought way more than was on our list and are really happy with everything we bought! (this is begining to become a theme!)

Tonight we did a dinner cruise on the Pearl River. It was raining - but we all enjoyed it. April cried a bit when we went up on the top deck (outside) and she got rained on. Mark put a rain jacket on her and she started smiling and laughing. We are guessing that she was probably never allowed to play in the rain. Our guide let Bennett borrow his little umbrella and Bennett was on top of the world.

We are all pretty tired and ready to come home. Our consulate appointment is tommorow morning. Our guide will take our paperwork to the consulate while we stay back here at the hotel. It is supposed to rain again tommorow so we will be holed up in the hotel. Not looking forward to that as the kids get pretty stir crazy in the room and the hotel has been frowning upon loud children in the more public areas. 

We have 3 more days here in Guangzhou. Friday evening we fly to Hong Kong. We stay overnight in Hong Kong and will then (finally) fly home on Sat.  

Day 11 - Guangzhou - Six Banyan Temple & Liuhua Park

Okay, we think we missed a day there somewhere.  Starting with the first full day in Beijing, we have now been here 11 days, so we are skipping one day ahead today to Day 11.

Lisa and Bennett got up early to go for a walk and get some coffee.  Unfortunately Starbucks does not open until 7:30 on the weekends, which left Lisa at the mercy of the lame hotel coffee and a disappointed Bennett.

After another extravagant hotel breakfast buffet (we are going to gain weight on this trip), we headed out to the Six Banyan Temple.  It is a Buddhist temple.  Our guide arranged for the monk to give our children a special blessing.  It was kind of intimidating to be at the feet of the three massive Buddha statues during the blessing.  The blessing was something high on our must do list for the time in Guangzhou.  We'll take all the blessings we can get. 

While Mark and April checked out another building in the complex, Bennett decided to use up his blessings with Mommy and go poop in a squatty potty again.  20 minutes later, we were wondering what happened to them.  Meanwhile in the stall, Bennett asked Mommy why China does not have regular toilets between his screaming of "Don't drop me in the hole!".  Lisa eventually staggered out for fresh air and told Daddy he owed her big time.  Bennett felt much better even though Mommy would not sing or read a story to him during his leisurely sit.  If Lisa hears "Mommy, I'm not done yet" one more time in a squatty potty she is going to cry.

We stopped at a government run crafts center on the way back to the hotel and bought a Chinese chicken (long story) and a nice tea set.

Bennett and April both had mostly great behavior today.  They got along great and are really bonding as brother and sister.  They are holding hands and wanting to sit next to each other on the bus.  Daddy is going to need a new back after carrying April most of the time and Bennett leaping onto his shoulders as soon as April gets down.

Daddy hit the roof when he went to the front desk of the hotel to complain about someone smoking down the hall with their door open.  Many clerks later, he determined that our floor was a smoking floor and the desk clerks had lied to him & our guide when they explicitly stated our room and floor was non smoking when we checked in.  We had to switch our room which was a pain in the keister since we had already unpacked and the kids were half asleep. We did get comped for free internet for our troubles but were not successful in lobbying for a suite.

After the room swap we were tight on time so hit the deli next to the hotel.  We finally determined we could buy french type stuffed rolls for 1/6 the price of the similar sandwiches.  Courtesy of the sausage roll and the fact that soda was cheaper then the water, April has now discovered hot dogs and Sprite.  Bennett went to the bathroom with Lisa (again) and left his 2nd hot dog unattended, which did not last long for our newest food fan (this was her 2nd one).  He was quite bummed on his return until Mark bought him a 2nd one.

In the afternoon we went to the Liuhua Park.  It was very hot and not as nice as the parks we toured in Nanjing.  We did have a nice tea tasting ceremony afterwards.

April is starting to repeat English phrases we are working on with her - such as "all done", "more please" and "thank you".  She is also singing the alphabet song.

Tommorow we are going shopping with Ann from Red Thread and plan to stimulate the Chinese economy (even further).

Day 9 - Guangzhou - Medical & Prepare U.S. Consulate Paperwork

No pictures today.

Our hotel, The White Swan, is a nice one.  Our room is on the 13th floor with a beautiful view of the Pearl River.  The breakfast buffet looked great, but due to lack of time and the need to feed Bennett and April first, we did not get to eat much ourselves.  The place is a maze and I had to refer to the map to find my way back to an ATM I saw last night.  The hotel even has different lobbies (on 2 different floors) for individuals and tours to check in.  The Swan does have the standard hard beds we have seen. It is like you are sleeping on 2 box springs or a board.

Today we met the rest of our travel group in Guangzhou - 4 families from the U.S..  1 is an ethnic Chinese family doing a regular adoption (NSN for those familiar with the acronyms) and the other 3 are adopting waiting children.  April is the oldest by about 2 years.  It is great to talk and share experiences with other families at the same stage in the process.  3 of the familes are adopting under grandfather i-600 and one is under the new i-800 (i.e. 1 family is adopting under the new rules/processes under the Hague Adoption rules).

After getting pictures of the kids for their U.S. visas (or their Chinese medicals or both?) we were off to do the medicals for the U.S. embassy.  April, as usual, charmed the pants off the different medical staff she saw.  Everything went well.  We get the report on Monday in a sealed envelope for the U.S. consulate, when we visit to get the skin TB test read.

This afternoon Lisa took Bennett to the pool while Daddy unsuccessfully tried to get a very tired April to nap.  After the pool Daddy was left with 2 kids not on their behavior while Mommy was off to do the remaining U.S. forms with our guide and the other families.  Mommy returned 2+ hours later to find everyone sound asleep. 

For dinner we ventured out to the famous Thai restaurant on the island - Cow on the Bridge or something like that. It was good, but not that great.  Plus, it is disappointing to be back in the land of higher priced restaurants.  It will be a lot easier to eat while we are here, but more expensive and likely not as rewarding as Beijing and Nanjing could be at times. 

Nothing special to highlight about today.  The medical clinic was loud and busy.  Bennett enjoyed the newly married couples getting photographed as we walked around today.

Bennett is getting smarter about how to get Mommy to stay in bed.  When he goes to sleep in the hotel or takes a nap with her, she is not allowed to lie on top of the sheets and she has to change into her PJs.  This pretty much guarantees he will not wake up by himself.

It was nice to run into some adoptive families we know from Nanjing and an adoptive family we met on the plane from Newark to Beijing.

Also, we are working to arrange to get a copy of the video the TV cameras took when we visited the Xuzhou orphanage.

Day 8 - Nanjing/Guangzhou - Pictures

2173 - April & Bennett in the Nanjing Grand Hotel playroom at breakfast (yes, the play area is in a corner of the restaurant).
2175 - Bennett introducing April to DVDs (Sing Along With Dora) and Skittles. The latter were her favorite. 

Day 8 - Nanjing/Guangzhou

April woke up for the first time without quiet crying.  This was helped by Daddy sleeping in her bed holding her all night until she woke up.  She is not quick to wake up and takes after her Mommy in that regard, but hopefully will not also be a zombie until she has coffee.

After the breakfast buffet in the hotel we went back to the room to pack.  Our guide brought our laundry (it is much cheaper to send it out and he recommends a place near where he lives).  Very nice of him - it was a heavy bag.  Due to a lack of cooperation, we were unable to finish packing in the planned timeframe and cancelled out trip to the department store for writing pads for the kids. 

April continues to amaze us with her resilience.  At one point while we were packing she was playing with 2 bunny dolls we brought, tucking them into beds and talking to them.  She still prefers Daddy and will cry or resist if handed to Mommy, but is fine once Daddy is out of sight.

On the plus side, we tried a different restaurant (branching out from the great Chinese restaurant around the corner).  Carl's Cafe was a big surprise.  Looks more like a clean hole in the wall next to the larger restaurants, but excellent food.  Bennett and April both chowed down.  We had beef short ribs on rice and dumplings.  The owner spoke good English and insisted on providing complimentary hot tea (the best tea we have had yet) and also brought out complimentary deserts for the kids after talking to us for a bit (red bean and rice pudding or something like that - Lisa keeps telling me I am listing the wrong bean so I probably remembered it wrong again).  April cleaned the bowl after I thought she was full.  What a great meal and experience.

Back to the hotel.  Our guide came to the room and showed the scrolls and chops he had ordered on our behalf after suggesting them.  We could not be happier with them.  Each scroll, one for April and one for Bennett, are done in calligraphy with old Chinese characters on handmade paper, listing their DOB, name, and birthplace.  The chops have their name & Chinese animal for the year they were born.

After driving to the airport, we got the usual escorted service through the check in, luggage check, etc. all the way to the end of the security line.  One could get used to this.  And yes, you also get met as you exit baggage claim by your guide with your name on a piece of cardboard, and are then led to your waiting bus or van.  Not a bad way to travel.

Most of the families we had met at our hotel or at the meeting/gotcha day were on our flight.  We enjoyed talking while waiting at the gate.

April was great on the plane and had a blast.  She also captivated the flight attendants and got an unsolicited kids book & playing cards.  I could have used less "Niah, Niah" or something like that which is Chinese for "I need to go potty now".  But the guy on the aisle seat was accomodating.

We are now in the White Swan ready to head out for the medical exam and start the U.S. consulate paperwork tomorrow.  We could not get a consulate appt until Wed so will be here for a week (it is Friday now, I think).  The A/C works!!!! YEAH!!! Even more important here since it is very hot & humid outside; much more so then Nanjing.

We are not traveling alone for a change.  Our group in Guangzhou has 4 families - 1 got in before us, 1 family arrived shortly after us, and another will get here later tonight.  Our consulate appt. dates vary from Mon - Wed which will be a challenge for our guide to handle sightseeing and the different official tasks for each family required on different days.

We are on the downtown island in Guangzhou.  Eating out will be less of an adventure/challenge, but we will eat well - highly recommended restaurants close by include a Thai, Cantonese, and Italian restaurant.  Not sure I'll get Lisa to try the pigeon the cantonese place is known for, but I'll try.

Day 7 - Nanjing - Pictures Part 2

2158 - With guide at Confucius Temple area
2167 - Reading

Day 7 - Nanjing - Pictures Part 1

2147 - City Wall Steps
2154 - Zhan's Garden

Day 7 - Nanjing - City Wall, Zhan's Garden, and Confucius Temple

We got to see the Nanjing city wall.  Bennett got to run on the wall without fear of being mowed down by the numerous bicycles or mopeds.  It was a beautiful view of the city and we learned some interesting history.  The steps were MUCH easier to climb then the Great Wall.

Next stop was Zhan's Garden.  It is a beautiful setting with waterfalls, ponds, rock gardens, and some historic artifacts.  The kids were actually good in the museum and we actually got to listen without interruption to our guide Micheal and read the captions on the exhibits.  After we exited the museum Lisa asked Bennett if he wanted a cracker.  Bennett replied "Yes, after I go POOP".  Mommy - "Do you have to go poop now?" [pleading].  Reply - "YES, SUPER BAD!!!".  So commenced our rush to find a bathroom, which of course was at the other end of a maze of rock gardens and pagodas.  Lisa and Bennett rushed into the bathroom, only to discover there were no Western toilets or toilet paper (not even outside the stalls as usual here).  Wipes in hand, Lisa ventured into the forbidden land.  Lisa had to hold Bennett over the hole and Bennett was scared he was going to fall in (crying "don't drop me"). Mommy assured him that she would never drop him
in the hole.  But after the longest poop ever in history (and burning quads), he declared he was done.  Then he did not want to wait for Mommy to pee - Hey, I'm done.  Lisa was finally getting the hang of the squatty potty, but it is difficult when you are trying to convince your son not to open the door while you are squatting.

We had the afternoon to ourselves.  After a family nap (preceeded by the usual April crashing quickly and Bennett declaring he was NOT tired ... zonk!, we took out some books and did some reading. April was really interested in all the books and kept asking for more.  We played beach ball toss & kick again with the preschool set and their parents on the green at Nanjing Normal University.  Then we were off to our new favorite restaurant for dinner.  We hit the jackpot with our bus boy (we thought he was the waiter).  The food was excellent as usual, but he took over and really took care of us (and refused a tip when I tried to press one on him).  He corrected the waitresses errors on our order so we got the right pancakes this time, provided forks for the kids, brought special kids seats, and even served the noodles (wish we had him the 1st time before we entertained the restaurant and splooged the table and ourselves when we did it wrong from
the soup bucket).  Bennett ignored Daddy's advice and was scared when the special beer hostess kept coming to our table to smile & flirt with him.  

Tonight is our last night in Nanjing.  We head to Guangzhou tomorrow and will stay there for the remainder of the trip (for the U.S. consulate paperwork & immigrant visa) after we get her Chinese passport. 

Day 6 - Nanjing - Trip to Xuzhou Orphanage - Pictures Part 3

2049 - Adoption Director with Bennett and April
2140 - Dad & April crashed on return

Day 6 - Nanjing - Trip to Xuzhou Orphanage - Pictures Part 2

1922 - Lunch
1941 - Daddy holding both kids ["heavvvvvy"]
1965 - Orphange Director, Adoption Director, and the Family under the entrance banner (yes, I kid you not)

Day 6 - Nanjing - Trip to Xuzhou Orphanage - Pictures Part 1

1892 - Arrival at Xuzhou Orphanage
1907 - The 3 familes on arrival at Xuzhou Orphanage
1903 - Paparazzi

Day 6 - Nanjing - Trip to Xuzhou Orphanage

We took the express train from Nanjing to Xuzhou.  Very nice, fast, and clean.  The kids enjoyed it. 

Let me skip ahead one minute and get to the crux - April exceeded our wildest hopes.  We thought she would be distraught and overcome by the visit.  The only time she started to cry was when she said goodbye to her best friend Anna (her family lives in Seattle and we hope to visit them after they bring her home and keep the kids in touch in the future).  Aside from that, April was phenomenal.  She always came back to us, wanted to do so on her own, and was very alert and attentive to us and the many staff and nannies who obviously cared for her deeply.  We were able to let them pick her up, hug her, and hold her without incident.

We arrived at the train station to be greeted like celebrities by the local paparazzi.  Evidently the orphanage had arranged quite a welcome and wanted to document the 3 families who had just adopted at the same time (a rare occurence) and were visiting their child's orphanage.  We think the 2 TV cameras were from different stations, but are not sure.  We spent a lot of the visit posing and being interviewed at different sites (train station, arrival at orphanage, after lunch, and multiple times during the orphanage tour. 

Aside - we are now used to being the center of attention.  People touch Bennett's cheek or pat his head or at least stare (in a friendly way), given he is cute Western child.  As our guide said, you think Chinese children are so cute, we think foreign children are so cute!  Add in April to our family and we stick out like a sore thumb.

Back to the visit. The place is large, well staffed, has a beautiful setting, and is spotless.  The staff is professional and very welcoming.  As we arrived we were interviewed again by the TV crews and did endless poses for the TV crews and staff (who all had cameras).  Our guide Michael in Nanjing went above and beyond (as usual) and took many photos of us for our own use while lugging the bags of shoes we had brought most of the visit.

We were treated to an amazing lunch with many courses and multiple dishes in each course.  The only negative was Captain Fearless was terrified (shocker!) by the crabs on one plate and spent lunch in terror that they would get him.  The dishes included different kinds of chicken, vegetables, fish, crabs, fruit, soup, egg, pancakes, beer, soda, beef, and dumplings, to name a few.  After waddling out and visiting the facilities, we started the tour.

We saw the room and the bed she slept in, visited with her friends and other kids, and got a chance to meet, give messages from waiting families who will be traveling soon, and take pictures and videos to share later.  We toured other rooms including viewing from the outside the baby rooms.  It was really hard to walk by all the kids in the cribs, but they looked well cared for, albeit not with parents right now.  And no, you are not allowed to bring home more.  We would have in a heartbeat.

We even got to visit and take pictures of the place where April was found. 

Xuzhou was much larger (1M people plus) and prettier then we expected.

- Lisa & Mark

Day 5 - Nanjing - Miscellaneous

Some of you have commented on my beard.  I had not shaved for 2 days before we left and had decided it would be simpler to try growing a beard for the trip.  I thought it was scruffy, but Lisa sealed the deal by saying she thought it was sexy.  God knows what her real reason was, but I was sold.  This lasted until the 1st day in Nanjing (going from low humidity in Beijing to hot & humid in Nanjing, along with no A/C in the hotels in the fall).  1 day of an itchy face later, it was history.

Also, a funny story on Bennett.  He may not like Daddy snoring, but the solution was far worse for him.  He woke up one day and suddenly was VERY upset.  It took us a long time to figure out that Captain Fearless was terrified of the Breath-Rite strip on Daddy's nose.  He would not even come near me after I had taken it off and was still holding it in my hand.  I guess you do not need a cast or a sling to incite Captain Fearless.

Day 5 - Nanjing - Presidential Palace part 2

Day 5 - Nanjing - Presidential Palace part 1

Day 5 - Nanjing - At the park

Day 5 - Nanjing - Official Adoption Paperwork

Day 6 - Nanjing - April officially becomes a Slonim & Happy Birthday to Mark!

Today marks two auspicious occassions. First, we finalized April's adoption this morning and second, it is Mark's 48th birthday.

The kids slept for 12 hours last night. Amazing! We were expecting April to wake up during the night, but she slept right through. We woke up Bennett (as we usually do) right before we went to sleep to take him to the bathroom. He looked over, saw April next to him and broke out in a very cheesy grin. We did have to separate them in the middle of the night because April had Bennett pinned up against the wall and we were afraid he would fall between the bed and the wall. He woke up as we were putting him in the roll-away bed. He was not happy about the change in sleeping arrangements. They are in bed together again tonight and we will see how it goes.  [Just before we posted this Bennett was pulled from that bed because he was playing with his stuffed bunny].

April is really picking up on the regular routine of things. This morning we had her watch as we brushed Bennett's teeth and then she let us brush her teeth with no issues and even managed the "rinse and spit".

This morning was a bit tough on April. We had to go back to the CCAA registration office and finalize the adoption. She was great at breakfast and in the van ride over. As soon as we walked in the building, she started crying (quiet sobs and teary, but not loud sobbing like yesterday) and didn't stop until we left again. The process itself was pretty interesting. When it was our turn, we met with the head clerk, signed some papers, made a red thumbprint over our signatures, and then put April's thumbprint on the documents as well.  We then moved over to the notary where we signed another form and handed over the orphanage fee. She put the money throught a counter and issued us a receipt. April was still crying through this, though the money counter caught her attention.

We had the opportunity to ask Ms. Tang a couple of additional questions and then we were through. Its official - she is our daugher!

We actually had some sightseeing planned this morning. We thought sightseeing in Beijing with Bennett was a different experience, with both of them it was almost humorous. We toured the Presidential Palace which was extremely beautiful and full of history. I had carried April for our walk over from the CCAA office and needed to take a break (she is 35lbs of child!). Mark took over and of course Bennett (40lbs of child) wanted me to carry him too. He was very unhappy with walking holding my hand.  We did probably the quickest tour in history and headed over to Carrefour (like Walmart) to buy some new shoes for April. When we asked what we could bring on our visit, Ms. Tang said the orphanage needed shoes for the kids. It seems that April had never been given choices. We tried to get her to pick between 2 pairs and she didn't seem to know how to choose.. So we bought her both :)
We also about bought out the kids sneaker selection to bring with us to the orphanage. The cashier had some difficulty checking us out and had to call in reinforcements to open boxes, check sizes/price and then had to call a supervisor over as she was not authorized to process such a large credit card amount. Instead of escalators, the store had inclined moving sidewalks and the shopping carts have parking brakes that engage on the incline! Pretty neat!  We're not sure April understood only 2 pairs of the shoes were for her - she may have been thinking she hit the jackpot.

By then, we were all tired and headed back to the hotel for a makeshift lunch of drinkable yogurt and peanut butter crackers and family nap. Daddy napped with April and of course Bennett then wanted to nap with Daddy too (the standard cycle today - picking April up, holding April's hand, etc.).  Bennett loudly declared he did not need to nap before passing out for 2 1/2 hours on top of Mommy.

After the nap, we headed over to the Nanjing Normal University with a beach ball to play on the open grassy area. When we got there - it looked like the preschool had just discharged and there were a ton of kids with their parents or grandparents running around. Bennett and April had fun running around, chasing the ball and playing with the other kids. Kids seem to have a universal language of play. Many kids and their parents joined us playing with the beach ball - but everyone was extremely friendly.

By this point, April had decided that Daddy was her favorite and only wanted him to carry her or hold her hand. She is still letting me care for her, soothe her, bath her, etc.. but Dad is definitely the favorite.

Bennett is starting to show some signs of jealousy, but is directing them towards Mark and I. For example, if Mark is holding Aprils' hand or carrying her, Bennett wants to hold his hand or be carried, too.  [Daddy's edit - okay, a lot of jealousy, but he is being very good with April].

We are going to visit the orphange tommorow and anticipate another tough day for April. It is really important for us to make this trip and see where April has spent her life up to now as well as allow her to say goodbye to her nannies and friends.

Day 5 - Nanjing - Gotcha Day - Bedtime

Day 5 - Nanjing - Gotcha Day - Opening up

Day 5 - Nanjing: Gotcha Day: First meeting

Day 5 - Nanjing Gotcha: Xuzhou ladies

Xuzhou ladies

Day 5 - Nanjing - Gotcha Day Part II

Well, the nap lasted about an hour. She woke up @ 2pm. Took a look around the room and started crying again (but not nearly as bad as Bennett used to do when he would start screaming when he woke up next to strange people in a strange place). Bennett really needed to get out of the room so we decided to take a walk around the hotel and see how she did. We are on the 19th floor and I'm pretty sure she is not used to elevators. She held on tight as the elevator started to descend. Makes you realize how much we take for granted as "normal, everday thingsl".

We then took a separate glass elevator that only serves a few floors. Mark and I both remember this being cool as a kid and apparently it still is! The pool is closed for the season, but we did find a rooftop garden. April had stopped crying by this point, but still had not said anything or given us a smile. She was walking a bit oddly.. After further examination we determed that a) her shoes were too small and very tight, b) her pants were too big; and c) she will probably need glasses.

We ventured out of the hotel and over the the Nanjing Normal University campus (2 blocks away). We finally got April to drink some water, but she still would not eat anything (She had refused any food or drink previously. After Mark helped her drink, she then held the bottle herself and took some more - both great steps).  There is a green area and Bennett quickly found another boy to run around with. April was becoming quite attached to Daddy. She sat next to him with her hand on his leg. As soon as he got up, so did she and reached for his hand. We got a hint of a smile, but still not much. But from the start she has been either putting her arms around us or holding our hand, which is terrific.

Back to the hotel room, we turned on the tv. Both Bennett and April sat next to each other and watched. We tried again with the food. Yogurt was a hit!!! We had bought some yogurt at the store yesterday so that was a good call. She drank 2 little cups.. Yes, it was drinkable yogurt (not what we intended to buy, but it worked great); straw included; in what we know as small yogurt cups. She would not look at noodles, tasted an animal cracker and had a bit of croissant. No go on the last 2 items. A little bit of tears, but she was easily soothed.  And taking food from us after we knew she was very hungry (long past lunchtime) was a great sign also.

We finally decided to pull out the beach ball. That was the winner. She and Bennett were throwing it around the hotel room to each other. They included Mark and I in their catch game and we added some word repetition. She was smiling, laughing and giggling as we bounced the ball around. Bennett and her were running after the ball and bumping each other with out any problems.  We moved the game out into the elevator lobby, but were quickly told to cease. The word repetition was getting her to say words like mommy/mama, daddy, Bennett, April, ball, water, more please, all done, potty, etc.  Very promising progress, but we are not sure she associates the words with their meaning. We are knocking on a lot of wood, but this was a huge break through.

The first time she used the toilet, she almost fell in. She is used to a squatty potty. I took her into the bathroom when I went and "demonstrated". She later was able to do her thing and not fall in.

We let her watch as I gave Bennett his bath, and then we said "April's turn". I was prepared for the screaming and crying to start as we began to take her clothes off. She was very compliant and readily got in the tub. She was not so thrilled with the bath itself, and a couple of tears fell. But this was MUCH more then we had expected given most people recommend leaving them in the same clothes sans bath for the first few days to avoid the screaming and sheer terror.

Dinner was takeout from our Chinese restaurant we went to last night, eaten after the kids went to sleep.  The place was a sweatbath but the food is still great.  Okay, the scallion pancakes are but I think the Kung Pao Chicken is not up to par (at all).  Mark is having a beer and we are enjoying our false peace before reality will hit, probably sometime shortly after we get our last few hours of sleep for the next week or two.

Great pix to follow.

Lisa & Mark

Day 5 - Nanjing - Gotcha Day Part I

It is 7pm China time and I have 2 children asleep in the same bed..I keep turning around to just look at them. What an amazing day we had today!
Mark and I were up at 4am (apparently our body clocks think that is when we are supposed to wake up). Tossed and turned for a couple of hours until Bennett informed us there was a 7 on the clock (okay, really a 5:30a, but he was not going back to sleep). Up, showered, dressed and down for breakfast.. I didn't think I could eat anything - I was so nervous. Mark brought over a fried egg, killed the way I like it. Unfortunately the chef had poured worchestshire sauce on it and one whiff had me green.. Ummm, toast and jelly for me please! and a cup of awful coffee  .Bennett was excited that there was french toast with syrup and bacon and a kids play area.   

After breakfast, we had extra time to kill, so we spent it nervously deciding what exactly to pack in the backpack and my purse.. M&M's? Skittles? gum drops? lolly pops? stuffed rabbit? puppets? magna doodle? Pacing the room didn't help, Bennett just wanted to GO NOW!

Finally it was 10am and time to head down to meet our guide Michael and head over to the CCAA office. A quick 10 minute drive over where Michael briefed us on what to expect and what paperwork we would need to complete.

More waiting around in the CCAA office. There were many families, but we knew that 3 families (including us) were all adopting from the same orphanage. We met one family (Sheri and Ben) in Beijing. The other family (Erica and Ken) came over and introduced themselves. Sheri and her husband arrived shortly afterwards and we got to take a "ladies" photo. It came out great and I am so glad that we were able to share this day with them.

One van pulled up and everyone ran to the window. Our guide said, nope - not your kids.. So we relaxed.. a bit... No sooner did Mark decide to take a potty break did the guide say - they are pulling up NOW! So like the good wife I am, I holler into the men's room.. "Mark, hurry up - they are here!!"

It was like a hollywood star was arriving (and yes, these kids are stars!) We all ran into the hall with cameras and camcorders to see the orphanage director, Ms. Tang, walk in with Olivia and April. Jett was not far behind. We were waving and calling to April - no acknowledgement at all.  Then we were all ushered into a back room where we could meet and spend time with the kids. When she walked in, April was quiet and looking around.. not crying (yet). As soon as we got to the back room, the tears and whimpering started. She wanted no part of the toys or snacks we packed (though Bennett was happy to offer them to her). I picked her up and held her - she was so scared.. Poor thing - they got the kids up very early and drove for several hours. She just cried and cried. Nothing we did seem to soothe her. She went to both Mark and I easily and hung on while we were holding her, but just kept whimpering if not sobbing (but we were very happy since
letting us hold her and not pulling away is a great sign). Though as soon as she saw Ms. Tang or one of the other nannies, she would reach for one of them and start crying harder.              

I want to say that while all of this way happening around him, Bennett was great. He kept asking if he was being a good brother. He offered April every snack we had and kept trying to give her her bunny (they have matching bunnies). He was patting her back and wanted to know why she was crying. We were at the CCAA office for 2 hours and he was on his best behavior (We are still both stunned - happpily but STUNNED - at how good he was then and all day; not being the center of attention, all the confusion, all the crying, having to be in that room and then the hotel room for long hours, etc.).  We had worked on preparing him, but this also exceeded our realistic hopes.

We had a chance to ask Ms. Tang some questions and have our picture taken with her and the other nannies. She is such a wonderful woman. She brought a backpack for April that had a dress we had sent her earlier in the summer and two photo albums. One was an album we sent, the other was pictures of the orphange and April, alone and with friends, through the years. What a special gift to have! We also found out that we will be able to visit the orphange on Wed (not a simple process or cheap, but the key is we got permission, which has been very hard to obtain for any orphanage in China for the last 6 months due to H1N1 concerns).

April sat on Mark's lap in the van ride back to the hotel. She was quiet, but had stopped crying and almost fell asleep. Mark carried her up to the room and as soon as we got there, she started crying again. We hope she didn't think that she was going to have to live in a hotel room! She cried for another hour or so and was not consolable. Bennett watched the end of a movie on the DVD player and she was semi interested, but not enough to move towards it. She climbed on my lap and yawned. I hoped that she might take a nap so I started rocking her. Sure enough, the crying faded and her eyes slowly closed.. She did have the death grip on me though. Every time she would fall asleep and her head would slip down, the arms got tighter around my neck. Mark propped up some pillows on the bed and I was able to ease myself into a semi reclining position and let her sleep on top of me.

Day 4 - Part 2 - Recap of a few lows for your entertainment

Lows for Lisa:
o The look of sheer terror on Lisa's face at lunch in a restaurant when Bennett loudly declares "I need to go poop - NOW!" and insists he will only go with Mommy.  Daddy has just returned from the bathroom and informed Lisa that there are only squatty potties.  One of our major concerns of the trip has arrived.  How do you handle a 10 minute poop by a 4 year old now?

o Bennett saying he is all done now and trying to open the stall door in a public restroom, since he is done, regardless that it is now Lisa's turn and she is trying to navigate a squatty potty.

Lows for Bennett:
o Screaming and sheer terror by Bennett at the Summer Palace and at the Bird's Nest when cute twenty something girls he has been smiling at come toward him and nicely ask if they can take a picture with him.
o Bennett, aka Captain Fearless, happily looking at the pandas only to start screaming in sheer terror.  20 minutes later we finally get him to stop screaming only to determine he is afraid the pandas (fairly sloth like and sound asleep) are going to charge across various barriers, including a thick pane of glass, and get him.
o Total meltdown at the Beijing airport right after we pass through security when he realizes his latest conquest and newest best friend, our guide Mi Nan, is not coming to Nanjing with us and is staying in Beijing.  It only took him 30 minutes to stop crying, then another hour to start cheering up. 

Lows for Mark:
o Walking through the metal detector in Charlotte 5 times before we finally determine the wet wipe foil wrapper in his cargo pocket pants is setting off the alarm.  This was after he was thinking the strip search was the next step.  Meanwhile the TSA agent is convinced I have a knee brace and will not accept my denial of knee issues.
o Doing the same stupid thing in Beijing on the way to Nanjing.  I never said I was a quick learner.

Day 4 - Nanjing

We woke up in Beijing (at 3am, saw 4am and gave up trying to sleep at 5am) and will be going to sleep in Nanjing!. We arrived in Nanjing this afternoon. Our guide met us at the airport and after changing money - we loaded up the van and headed to our hotel.

Our room here is bigger than in Beijing and nice. Except for the the carpet! It is really gross. I have declared that no one walk around the room in bare feet. Socks are required!! Yes, I have issues with yucky things.. Unfortunately, I may be passing these on to Bennett.      

With our guide, we walked over to the supermarket to buy some water and other essentials and took a walk around the block from our hotel. Nanjing Normal University is directly behind the hotel. Our guide pointed out some restaurants that looked interesting, but we figured that on this trip we should stay away from restaurants where the kitchen is out on the sidewalk!    

Nanjing is not as clean as Beijing and it does not have the wide sidewalks. Also missing are the English subtitles on signs. We did find a good restaurant to eat dinner and as usual, we ordered too much food. The "simple noodles" for 10RM ($1.50) was a HUGE bowl of noodles in broth. Enough for 4 + people. After many attempts at feeding Bennett with chopsticks, we finally broke down and asked for a fork. Mark did an excellent fork charade! A fabulous meal of noodles, scallion pancakes and sweet and sour ribs. Bennett chowed down on the noodles and pancakes before he fell asleep with a big smile on mommy's lap. He did wake up, ask to sit on daddy's lap - only to finish daddy's noodles.   

Tommorow is THE BIG DAY! We will be picked up at the hotel at 10:00 and our appointment to meet April is at 10:30. We are nervous and excited and taking bets on whether she will come to us willingly, scream her head off or shut down. My money is on the screaming because she is 5 and has been with the same foster family for many years. On top of that - she will have gotten up early and traveled for 3-4 hours in a van before meeting us. Her entire world will be turned upside down. We are hoping that the orphanage has prepared her for meeting us. 

Please keep us in your thoughts!   

Day 3 - Beijing (evening out)

We got back late this afternoon and had time to venture out. Our guide gave us the following directions and advice: "exit your hotel, turn right, after 2 traffic lights - there will be a pedestrian mall. There are many restaurants. All are good. Chose a clean one."

With those words of wisdom, we exited the hotel and turned right!

The pedestrian mall was very interesting. Every high end, luxury store that you could think of was represented. The only evident restaurant was KFC. I don't eat there at home, I most definitely was not going there in China! We continued down the street until we came upon a bazaar - like alley. There we saw the famous scorpions on a stick! Bennett took one look and said "I don't like to eat bugs!". We did seem some German guys indulging. Wonder how they are going to feel in the morning?

We decided to go into the shopping mall to see what type of restaurants were inside. This was no ordinary shopping mall! 6 stories of shops and restaurants. Like South Park Mall on steriods! We took a quick look at the directory and Bennett noticed the golden arches. "I want french fries" was the next thing he said. Really - there are so many other choices.. How about noodles? Nope, fries.. Mark convinced me to go on up and check it out.. So up to the 2nd floor we went.. Yup - looks exactly like a McDonalds back home except the menu is in Chinese. Mark was disappointed as he had read they are supposed to have some local food choices in addition to the regular menu... Bennett was happy with the paper crown and we convinced him that we would find some other place to eat..

Up to the 5th floor - we checked out one menu of a hot pot restaurant, but didn't think Bennett would sit for it. Across the way was a dumpling restaurant. Menu looked good and it was clean! We ordered rice and dumplings. Dinner was awesome and very inexpensive! I think Bennett ate almost the entire serving of rice himself. Mark uttered the "I-C-E" word when I vetoed ordering more food after Bennett wouldn't let us close to the rice. Around the corner was a Dairy Queen - that fit the bill and Mark and Bennett shared a blizzard.

Early morning tommorow as we head to Nanjing. We meet April Xueyuan on Monday!!

Day 3 - Beijing (Hutong tour)

After the zoo, we hopped back in our van and were wisked (well, not really due to city traffic) to our Hutong tour. A Hutong is an old style courtyard house. We got to ride in a rickshaw and a guide followed along on a bicycle. We got to meet the man whose family has owned the Hutong for several generations. We spoke with him for a bit about the history of the house. While were were talking, he made Bennett an oragami crane. Definitely a priceless souvenir. 

Day 3 in Beijing - the zoo

We are packing up tonight as we have an early pick-up for our flight to Nanjing tomorrow so posts will be short!

Today, after a breakfast of pancakes and bacon (gotta love a buffet!) we headed to the zoo. We have been pleasantly surprised by so many things in Beijing and the zoo definitely fell into that category. The zoo is laid out well and things are spread out. Aside from the tigers, who were nervously pacing, the rest of the animals seemed to have adequate space and all looked well cared for. Interesting to us - the "do not feed the animals" signs were frequently ignored. The "treat" of choice seemed to be lettuce?  

Julia, if you are following along, unlike the Moscow zoo all of the animals were a safe distance away and had appropriate moats/walls and fencing. We were totally comfortable letting Bennett stand up next to the fencing for photo ops.

The pandas were definitely the a hit. They are so cute up close!! They were lounging around and only got up to play when food was involved. Kinda reminded us of our pets back at home.       

Day 2 in Beijing

We all slept a lot better last night (though Bennett was still up before there was a 7 on the clock). Bennett was up at 5am, ready to eat breakfast  (since he was too tired to eat dinner)and head out for another day. Unfortunately Mommy and Daddy ate their dinner before bed and were hoping to sleep in a bit and knew that Bennett's good mood would wear off quickly. We were way too slow in getting up and showered for him and we paid the price with some less than stellar behavior most of the morning. 

After a good breakfast at the hotel, we met our guide and driver and headed over to Tianamen Square. The autumn holiday just ended yesterday, but there were still a lot of people there! The square was still decorated for the holiday (many brightly colored floats and flowers). It is a lot larger than you would think. We were told that the square could hold 1 million people!

After wandering through Tianamen Square, we walked over to the Forbidden City. Bennett was getting a bit leery of the crowds and tired of walking, so he took in the view from Daddy's shoulders. The Forbidden City is an ancient emperial city surrounded by modern day Beijing. The history and culture is so rich and interesting. We really tried to soak in as much as we could before Bennett's hungry meter kicked in.

So off to lunch we went.. We had lunch at a "local" Beijing noodle house. The food was awesome, the atmosphere was caotic. We actually spotted another couple at lunch who we also saw at breakfast at the hotel. Turns out they are a family I "know" from our orphanage yahoo group! They will be traveling to Nanjing and receiving their daughter the same day as us! 

After lunch we drove a few short meters to the Silk Factory. There we got to see just how silk becomes silk. It involves a worm... They have nice western bathrooms! Mark's mom would have loved our personal tour showing how the silk thread and batting is made from the cocoon. We made our first purchase - a silk comforter! We opted to pass on the beautiful silk duvet cover since we figured our cat and dog would destroy it in a minute :(  Did I mention they had a nice bathroom?

Still going strong - we headed over to the Olympic Park. So amazing to see up close and personal what we all watched on TV last summer. We really drilled Bennett and we think he finally understands that birds do not actually live in the Bird's Nest. Mommy also highly recommend the bathrooms at the Bird's Nest!

Bennett does not appreciate all of the attention and requests for photos - evidently pictures with cute foriegn kids are all the rage. Many people asked very nicely to take his picture with them only to have him scream and cry. At least the "stranger danger" lessons are paying off.

We had a special treat planned for this evening. Our agency's China coordinator recommended seeing a Chinese acrobatic show. Our guide was able to get us tickets to the early show and Bennett sat wide eyed and captivated through the entire show. We did as well! 

Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel. I got Bennett ready for bed and Mark headed out to the nearby convenience store for provisions (beer, water, sprite for mom and dad tonight; and muffins for the 5am breakfast). We also found out what happens when you take the room key out of the "power slot" when Daddy leaves the room. Yep - all the lights went out when Bennett was going potty and Mommy had to scramble to find the extra key in the dark with an unhappy, naked child.

Beijing is much cleaner than we expected based on comments from others. It also has a "NYC" kind of feel to it.. 

Whew - what a long day. Tommorow is our last full day in Beijing. We are going to the zoo to see the Pandas and on a Hotung tour by pedicab. Hopefully Bennett will sleep past the 5 on the clock!

Olymipic Park Photos 10-09-09

Tiananmen Square Picture 10-09-09

Summer Palace Pictures

Great Wall pictures

Here are 2 pictures from the Great Wall

We made it to Beijing

We are here! The flight was very long, but Bennett did better than expected. Got up at 2:30a, then 6:00a flight to Newark, then a 12:10 flight to Beijing (the 2nd flight was almost 14 hours, a new record for us).

We arrived yesterday afternoon (and crashed early!). As we pulled up to the hotel, Bennett asked "Is this where April lives?" 

Today we went to the Great Wall (the section called Juyongguan, known for the views). It was beautiful. Mommy bailed out first, but Bennett and Daddy continued up for a lot longer.
Languanges heard at the Great Wall: Chinese, English, French, Spanish, Hebrew, Russian (and probably more!).

We also toured a Jade carving factory (the prices seemed high so we did not buy any Jade yet; hope we don't regret it) and the Summer Palace (very different from the Summer Palace in St. Petersburg). Beautiful - but much more understated. 

In Beijing we are not with a travel group and have our own personal guide (Mi Nan) and driver (Dou).

Tommorow we have a packed day!  The Forbidden City, Tian'an Men Square, Olympic venues and then an acrobatic show. Touring is very different with Bennett than on our own.  He is very much on the go and doesn't want to stay in one place to read the history or hear any information about an exihibit.  He is having a blast and really being a good traveler.     

Thanks for all the well wishes. We cannot get to our blog directly - so can't see comments. Mark's dad has emailed some of them to us (thanks Al!).

Test email posts to blog

Testing updating blog from email with pictures.. Isn't he cute?