2-Day Blogg

Last night we ended the day with a night boat & dinner along the river so I never made it here. :) Yesterday we went shopping. There were LOTS (that is an understatement) of shops: all kinds of whole sale goods. The 2 big buildings were again a picture of the shops that start with a small non-nondescript door that opens into a giant land that you would never guess was there. Kind-of like the wardrobe. :) There were bead shops, jewelry shops, clothing, shoes, you name it . . . I took SongLian to the bathroom twice and was amazed as I was led down a maze of tiny shops to the deep depths of the "mall." It was never ending and a bit overwhelming. We did find some lovely Chinese-wear (in the pictures: all the families from Lifeline dressed up for a group photo last night) and nice embroidered stuff. The kids were good eggs as it wasn't really fun shopping and it was hot & humid. :) Back at the hotel (afternoon) the girls went to the pool and the boys plus Nonna played some table tennis. This was SongLian's first pool experience with us: she LOVED it. It was great fun to be able to play and play and play and play with her in the water. Yippee! A bonding experience other than squatty potties! I had to keep her left arm out of the water as much as possible because of her TB test so it was a bit tricky to maneuver her. Every time I'd set her on the step for a rest (yes, my arms are sore today) she signed "help". After our group picture we set off for the boat cruise. Maybe we were all are tired, maybe we all just "kidnapped" these bewildered little people, maybe because we are in a foreign country and beginning to feel the affects, but the boat things was not our favorite activity. :) It started off with standing for a long time in a hot stuffy room with thousands of Chinese people (ok, maybe a hundred) while SongLian got louder and louder and crazier and crazier. Yikes! This girl has some spunk. Then we all made our way to the boat "Chinese style"--smashed together; desperately hanging on to each other. Fun. Then we ate a buffet style dinner. Wish I could say we were feeling adventurous and ate everything (I do believe I saw chicken feet); it was just a bit too scary. :) Nonna did eat sea weed! Wild Nonna! After floating up and down the river (enjoying the lights on the buildings) we were happy to come back to our hotel room and hit the sack. This morning we went to the US Consulate to say our oath and turn in the paperwork for SongLian's visa. The kids had on their red, white, and blue (maybe picture-man will post a picture for you). Pretty exciting as not only was this the last step in our adoption process here, but it also means SongLian will become a US citizen when she steps on US ground (will be in Seattle). While we waited at the consulate, SongLian literally ran about. So much for not chasing down 4 children. :) I think she was excited to become a US citizen (or to play tag with her siblings). After lunch, we went to the zoo. We whizzed through the zoo on buses and then had an hour to explore on our own. We loved seeing the animals and wished we had more time. SongLian was over tired and didn't really enjoy the zoo. Afterwards, we went swimming. We have fish children who love, love, love to play & swim in the water. So fun to watch them all play together in the pool. :) We had pizza for dinner with the family who was with us in Hangzhou; we are sure going to miss them! And there you have it! We are all looking forward to home. SO many things we forget to be thankful for on a daily basis that we are now longing for. Tomorrow we are off to Shaimin Island. Should be one last China-adventure!