Pearl River Dinner Cruise

Tonight we went on the Pearl River Dinner Cruise. Emma took us to the dock and made sure we had our tickets and were safely on board. She is so sweet! We had great seats right at the front of the boat. Dinner was... interesting. (We took some good advice and ate before we went!) The small signs in the pictures are the soup selections, and next to the watermelon on my plate is a chicken foot. Yum - my favorite.

 

After we ate (a little), we went up to the top deck to see the city of Guangzhou all lit up at night. It was very nice and relaxing! After the cruise we successfully flagged down a taxi and piled 4 adults, 2 kids, and 2 strollers in. Jay sat up front and somehow managed to answer the taxi driver's questions which were all being asked in Chinese while the rest of us just cracked up laughing in the back. Luckily, Emma had written out "Please take us to the Shamian Island Victory Hotel" in Chinese on an envelope for us to hand to the driver. She is so good to us!

 

Tomorrow is our consulate appointment, and the swearing in ceremony is the day after that. Then on Friday, we get Ava's visa and head home. We miss our kids so much and will be happy to come home, but we are also sad about leaving China. This trip has been so special!

Posing for Pictures on Shamian

Photo shoots are happening everywhere on Shamian Island, so today we decided to do our own. Ava was so lovely! These are some of my favorite pictures.

Shopping Adventure

This morning we headed out on a shopping adventure with Ann. I met Ann through the care package service we used to send Ava her care packages and birthday cake. In addition to care packages, Ann offers her services as a shopping assistant. She took us to the Jade Market, the Pearl Market, and the Silk Market. We bought jade pendants, jade bracelets, jade dragons (Ava's middle name means Jade in Chinese), a family ball, chopsticks, pearl necklaces and bracelets, silk dresses, and porcelain tea sets... all in 3 hours!!

 

The best part of the trip was that Ann knew exactly which shops to visit, and the "wholesale" prices were already set. We didn't have to bargain at all, and we didn't have to struggle with the language barrier. I would HIGHLY recommend Ann for anyone traveling to Guangzhou. The prices she got us were absolutely amazing compared to the stores here on the island, and the trip was just about stress free. She is all business and moves quick. She is also very fun to talk to, and she is sweet as can be. She held Ava a few times so we could shop, and she played a Chinese version of pat-a-cakes with her which Ava totally loved!

 

After lunch and a nap, we went to Lucy's for dinner again. We met a couple of RQ friends (an adoption forum I read). It was fun to put faces to names. Ava had the chicken congee... again! This time she downed the whole bowl in about 2 mintues flat, so we ordered her a second one. She ate that too! After we got back to the room she was bouncing off the walls. She showed off more of her crawling skills. Then she got totally silly laying on the bed, flopping herself around and giggling until she could barely breathe. She is such a clown!

Toys and Chicken Congee

Ava's 2 favorite things... toys and chicken congee from Lucy's. We played for over an hour on Sunday stacking up blocks and knocking them down. Who doesn't like to do that!! She loves to inspect every detail of everything she sees. Then we headed to Lucy's for another bowl of chicken congee. They also make a nice peanut butter and jelly complete with the crusts cut off. (Wyatt would really like it!)

The Stroller

Jay was not a happy camper as he hauled the stroller bag through 5 airports, but we are so happy to have it here on Shamian. (I love being right!) Ava is very happy to be in it, and like most babies, she can't keep herself awake after about 10 minutes of bumping around on the cobblestones. When she wakes up, though, she wants out! We are starting to hear more of her voice. She has figured out that we will hop to attention when she wails. The first two days she didn't make a single peep, so we are happy to see that she has an opinion about things! You can't spoil a baby... right?

Not Much Going On Today

Today is Sunday and we slept in a bit longer than usual. I woke up to the wonderful smell of brewed coffee. For a minute I thought I might be home. Then I realized that Jay had made a trip to Starbucks for a large black American coffee for me - how sweet!

 

We met more adoptive parents at breakfast this morning. Everyone here is so nice and everyone is so happy. There was one family that had all of their kids with them - 2 bio boys, 1 adopted boy, and their new daughter. All of them were so young. They are brave, brave parents! I'm not sure how this would work if we had the whole Greenlees crew here. :)

 

We took another stroll around the island after breakfast. We saw the Shamian police out on their bikes. We saw more beautiful brides being photographed. We stopped by the church to listen to the service for a few minutes. We also saw some gardeners planting some new plants. Everyone here is always working so hard, and the hard work really shows. This place is gorgeous. We actually feel like we are on vacation this week. (Shhh, don't tell the grandparents. I know they are working so hard keeping our kids going at home.)

 

Our little princess is just waking up from her nap...

Shamian Island

Shamian Island is nice. We are so happy to be on the island. It is like a little retreat away from the big city of Guangzhou. After the medical exam, we got some Starbuck's coffee and strolled around taking in the sites. Hacky Sacks seem to be very popular among the older Chinese crowd here. I think we might bring one home for the grandparents to try out. Also, we found a group getting a singing lesson. There are lots of trees and flowers, and all of the buildings are a European style. Everywhere we went, we ran into other adoptive parents. It is so much different than Changsha.We decided to take an adventure and walk across the canal bridge into the city. We found a shopping plaza with a lot of restaurants that we might visit later.

Medical

Ava's medical exam and vaccinations were this morning. Our coordinator Emma rocks!! She met us as the hotel, took us to get our pictures (for the medical registration and for the visas later) and had us at the clinic before 9:00. Everything was within about a block of our hotel, and we were the first in line! By the time we were finished, the place was packed. We are so glad we were there early. We had everything done before 10:00.

 

Ava does NOT like anyone to touch her. She screamed her head off when the doctor tried to measure her head, listen to her heart, or look in her ears. She barely tolerated the nurses measuring her height and weight. Only one parent was allowed to go into the vaccination room for her 5 shots. Daddy bravely volunteered. We agreed that would be best since her attachment to me is going so well, and we didn't want to mess up a good thing! :) When it was all over, she was totally fine, like nothing ever happened.