Day 11 - Guangzhou - October 21

Peek - a -Boo! (one of Kate's favorite games)

I'm sorry it has been awhile since I have posted, but on Tuesday (the 21st) I realized that I had a massive sinus infection. I have pretty much been in the bed during every free moment since then. And free moments have been few and far between, so posting here has not been a priority.

Tuesday was the day that our guide took all of our paperwork to the US Consulate. We stayed in the room for a while to make sure there weren't any problems with the paperwork, and then Mom and Tim took the kids to the playground for a bit. I joined them later for some lunch at Lucy's and shopping.

Today was the day we dressed our darlings up in traditional Chinese clothing for a photo op. They used to put all of the babies on the red couches together, but evidently this usually led to screaming babies, so now they just take a photo of the whole travel group in front of the water fall. We got some good candids of Kate in her clothes, but my other two children were less than cooperative.

Afterwards, we went to a pearl market and cheap DVD store. The pearl market was actualy more than a pearl market. Picture a mall about 6 stories tall, open in the center, ringed with store after store after store selling every kind of gem, pearl, or any other kind of jewelry you could imagine. I saw more jewelry than I have ever seen in my entire life.

Alison stopped and got us all pizza for dinner, but at that point my head was pounding so hard that I went straight to bed (after starting a round of anti-biotics, of course). I was hoping to enjoy Guangzhou more than this cold turned infection allowed! Yuck!

Day 10 - Guangzhou - October 20

Greetings from the White Swan! We were up early yesterday morning to catch our flight to Guangzhou, which was much nicer than the one to Nanjing. China Eastern seems to be a nice airline. The only problem we had was that Kate didn't have her own seat, and she couldn't get comfy on Daddy's lap. Her favorite part of the plane was when she spilled a whole cup of water on Daddy's lap. She thought that was hilarious!

Our guide met us at the airport and got us checked in to the White Swan along with Bob and Casey and their beautiful new daughter. Our first stop was lunch at Lucy's. Lucy's is an American restaurant, where we were happy to have a non-Chinese meal. I mean, we love Chinese food and all, but there is a breaking point with anything, right? It wasn't the best meal we have ever had, but it was good.

I should probably take a second to explain here, that we are staying in Guangzhou which is a huge, bustling city. But we are on Shamian Island, which is this peaceful little corner of the city. The architecture is colonial British, and the whole thing seems to be geared towards businessmen and American adopting families. The traffic is light, and since it is small we just walk everywhere. Patty and family arrived shortly later, and we took the kids for their visa photos and medical exam. This was a pretty simple thing. The doctors took her measurements, looked in her ears and mouth, looked at her body parts, and that was it. The only question they asked was if I had her on an antibiotic for her cough and fever. I answered yes, she gave me the thumbs up, and we were done. Kate, however, did not think it was simple. She screamed from the minute she saw a white coat until we left. That should make doctor appointments in the future fun.We had some free time after that, so Kate and Daddy took a nap while the rest of us took some laundry to the Home of Love laundry service and did some shopping around the island. When we left, Kate actually didn't want me to go without her! This made me very happy, but she was in desparate need of a nap, so she wasn't allowed a vote. I know, I am a bad, mean mommy.

By this time, Bette and Mike were here, so at five, we met with our guide to complete the American paperwork to bring Kate into the country, which was much more complicated than it should be. For example, they are picky about the order of month, day, year, and whether you use dashes or slashes. But they want different things in different places ON THE SAME FORM! Pick a system people!! The four of us parents filling out forms just about went through an entire bottle of white out.

Then we walked down to the end of the island to eat at La Dolce Vita, an Italian restaurant that was probably more Italian than American-Italian places. It wasn't amazing, but it was quite good. I had the gnocchi, and the boys and Kate had spaghetti (thanks, Emily, for sharing!). When we got back, we all crashed hard.

Today everyone has a cold except for Tim, and we are all on edge. Well, let me revise that. Will and I are on edge. Will just finished a temper tantrum, and I kicked everybody out of the room so I could have some peace and quiet. I love togetherness, but too much of a good thing can get to you. I am going to join them at the playground in a few minutes. Kate is still doing well. She is testing her limits, and Daddy is meeting the challenge beautifully.

I am hoping that today I can just relax and enjoy our last few days in China. I am already enjoying meeting all of the beautiful children.

I am also hoping I can leave my runny nose here too. Yuck.

Tim has the camera, but I will try to return later and post pictures. I know that is really why you all are here:)

Day 9 - Nanjing - October 19

I think that I am finally catching up with my blogging. The past two afternoons we have had nothing planned, so I have been able to sit back and catch my breath. This morning Will announced that it was another special day, because Gucky's Halloween Party is today. I hope I am not expected to wear a costume:)

After breakfast, we went to a local park that used to be the location of the Ming Emporer's palace (the same one from yesterday who was buried in the mausoleum). (We have pics of Ben standing on big rocks all over the world!) Only the bases of the columns are still standing, but they have turned the grounds into a very nice place to relax and play. In one spot, there was a bounce house set up, so the kids got in with Tim and had fun. Kate LOVES to slide. She turns every ramp she finds into a slide, which makes for dirty pants and a smiling girl. I can't wait for her to see our slide at home.

We then were told we were going to the Qin Huai River, but when we got there, we realized we were in the Confucious Temple shopping area that is right behind our hotel. We had been there several times already, but we had been calling the river a canal. So our day at the river turned out to be a stroll through the market we had been to before. Once again, that was ok by us, because we were back at the hotel by noon. We ate lunch in the room, and mom took the kids down to BK for ice cream.

Tim has not had much "alone time" (for obvious reasons), so he went out to the market again by himself. I had an errand I needed done, and he was happy to comply. Kate slept the whole time, so she never even knew he was gone.

Tonight we are packing up so that we can leave the hotel by 5:30am. We are heading to Guangzhou, where we will file all of the immigration paperwork to bring Kate into the U.S. Our Consulate is there, so all US families adopting from China have to travel through Guangzhou. We will be staying at the fabled White Swan, where I hear they have a great breakfast buffet. (Can you tell where my priorities are?) I also hear there is an Italian restaurant near the hotel, so if any of my fellow adoptive families can help me out with a location and a review, I would be much obliged.

Tomorrow we are supposed to go to the medical clinic to have her checked out, which I hear is pretty basic. Then we can check into our hotel and hopefully reunite with the rest of our travel group. I am looking forward to seeing how they are all doing with their new children. Pray for travel mercies for all of us tomorrow, and that the doctor visit will go well. Also, Will and I have Kate's sore throat, and Kate is still coughing and has a fever. We have started her on the anitbiotic because I am afraid she has an ear infection, which cleft-affected kids are prone to do. Blessings to all.

Day 8 - Nanjing - October 18

Our pace has slowed down somewhat now that we are back in Nanjing. This was the day that the boys have been eagerly awaiting, ranking just below the Great Wall and the train ride. I don't know if it lived up to their expectations or not, but the Ming Mausoleum was nice. At least what we saw of it. The actual mausoleum was closed to the public that day, but that was ok because what we were interested in was the Stone Elephant Road. The first Ming Emporer and Empress are buried in the mausoleum (ca. 14th Century), along with several concubines who were buried alive when the Empress died. Nice, huh?If you have seen the movie Big Bird in China, you might remember that at one point Big Bird has to find a stone camel. This is where that was filmed. (Some parts were filmed in Suzhou too, and we had fun accidentally coming across filming locations.) Ben's favorite part is when Big Bird says, "A camel?!" So he kept saying it over, and over, and over. He is very good at impersonations and movie quotes, btw. The camel was bigger in real life than it looked on film.

It was a very nice park. It would have been great to see the rest of it, but it was a no go. We were then whisked off to the Nanjing Museum, where a museum guide met us at the door and gave us a lecture about jade and jade use in China. Ben said it was a very boring museum. I think it was mostly the museum guide, but I kept politely nodding yes, and saying, "I see" even though I couldn't understand most of what she said. And then we discovered the real reason we were there. We were led downstairs to the jewelry gift shop, where the lady proceeded to teach us how to tell quality jade for imitation. And then of course, she tried to sell us some. It was incredibly expensive, and I am a cheapskate. So we said Bu Yao, and we left. So much for enjoying the museum.


I can't complain though. We were back at the hotel by noon, and we spent the rest of the day just playing. The kids colored and read and got out the play-doh.

Kate has decided that even though she doesn't want me to hold or help her do anything, she wants my attention as much as possible. I was sitting on the couch holding Ben, and she runs by to get my attention, and then falls down on purpose to see if I will laugh. Evidently she has been taking lessons from the boys. Everytime I stop paying attention, she did it again. Or she would cover her eyes for a rousing game of Where's Kate NaNa? She can hold her hands over her eyes for ages before she brings them down for me to say There she is! She doesn't want me to get to close, she just wants me to watch and talk to her.

Mom and I went out to the grocery store for a bit, and when we came back she was very happy to see us. I got a red canvas shopping bag there, and she spent forever putting things in the bag, carrying them around, and then taking things out of the bag. (Ninnie, you have another bag-lover in the family.) Anytime something goes missing, it is usually in Kate's red bag. She is a funny girl.

For dinner, we went to Yig Noodle, which we think might be a Japanese chain? It had good fried dumplings, rice, and noodles. It was a bit starchy, all in all, but it tasted good and we left with full bellies. And a hankering for Haagen Dazs. Kate loves her chocolate ice cream.

Day 7 - Suzhou - October 17

I know that this post has been a long time coming, but last night I chose clean laundry over the internet. We all have our priorities people:) Be sure to take another look at the Oct.16 post, I added some text and pics today.

Naturally, Friday began with a hotel buffet breakfast, where we discovered that Kate likes plain omelets cut up small. The boys and I love eggs, so this is important info.

We then met our driver for a long drive out to Tongli Water Town. There are several very old water towns in the Suzhou area, which are towns built on the ancient canals. Picture the Venice of Asia. We had lunch there at an old tea house. Mimi and Will decided it was their favorite Chinese meal they have had. I am sure it was good, but my stomach still was not happy with me, so I enjoyed the best cup of jasmine tea I have ever had. View from the tea house:

The kids actually enjoyed this day more than most. We got to ride on a boat around the canals (which they liked) and do some shopping (which they hated).


While there, we also went through a house that has been turned into a museum to show what life was like years ago. It was really neat to see the different rooms, furniture, and courtyards. I know, I am a big nerd, but I love this stuff.Then, we got on the train to return to Nanjing. The trip was about 1.5 hours, so Ben and I worked on his homework. Evidently they have been learning about the letter M at his school this week.

Will sat with Mimi, and he said he worked on his homework too. He practiced drawing his shapes.We are so glad we took the time to travel to Suzhou, be we are also happy to be back in Nanjing. They are both beautiful cities filled with parks, gardens, rivers, and tree-lined streets. Suzhou seemed like a more prosperous town (at least the parts we saw). I think I liked Suzhou a bit better (don't tell our guide, shhhh), not because of its prosperity, but partly because it is more sentimental for me since that is where Kate is from. I feel like I "know" it better, if it is possible to know a town you visited for 53 hours. Suzhou felt like it was the heart of our trip, because we reached the mid-point, but also because it is what we really wanted to see. Now it feels like we are moving out from the center, out towards leaving China.

They gave us a different room here at the Mandarin Garden, but it is still large - just no microwave or big screen tv!

Day 6 - Suzhou October 16

I apologize for not posting yesterday, but I was completely exhausted and crashed before Kate did. We had a very busy, but fun, day. We started with a nice breakfast here at the hotel, and then our guide, Sunny, picked us up and took us to the Lingering Garden. If you ever visit Suzhou (which I highly recommend), skip the Humble Administrator's Garden and go to the Lingering Garden. There were fewer people, and it was more beautiful. It was full of winding paths, bridges, ponds, and little courtyards to sit in. It helped me to appreciate the lifestyle of the ancient Chinese more (at least the wealthy ones). Some signs I thought were funny/true at the Lingering Garden:I think this one was my favorite, especially since I was travelling with a rather uncivilized group of people:

But the funniest thing about this garden was that it was Mom who was the star. Some ladies saw her and they all lined up to have their picture made with her. So now her face is all over China, just like my children.

After that, we went to lunch at a government run restaurant and silk factory. (Yummy rice and soup.) It was filled with Caucasian faces (unlike our other tourist excursions), but it was really interesting to see how silk is made. In history, Suzhou was a very important stop along the silk road. They showed us how they make silk quilts, which don't have cotton batting, but silk. We even helped stretch one layer of silk onto a frame. It's hard work.

From there, we went to the Panmen Scenic Area, which is the ancient city wall and gate. It had a gate for wagons, carts, people, etc, and then it had another gate for boats. Suzhou is a city of rivers and canals, and so a water gate was important to ancient security. According to our guide it was all about 2500 years old. It was a short trip, and very interesting, so it was a hit in my book. Tim had asked our guide a couple of times about getting a massage. We know of an American who used to live here in Suzhou, and she has talked about how massages are a regular part of life here. Today, our guide offered to take us to a place where she goes to get massages. Mom and I hadn't intended to go, but we were there, so we got one too. First, we soaked our feet while they rubbed our neck and shoulders. And when I say rub, I mean they beat us half to death. Our guide said that it hurt because we need to get massages more often.

Then, we turned around in the chair and they rubbed our feet up to our calves. Very relaxing for me, but I think Tim and Mom were in pain the whole time. They said that they could tell what part of your body needed help by what part of your feet hurt to massage. They said that I was having stomach problems (yep), and that I needed more sleep (well, I was up early with stomach problems). So for me, it was accurate. It was quite an experience. And Mom and Tim say that even though it was painful, it was relaxing.

Important Kate update: More importantly than all of this - Today was the day that I got my first kisses from Kate! She thinks it is hysterical when any of us kiss with the "MmmmWAH" sound. She claps her hands and laughs. So today she leaned over with her mouth closed, and I leaned in and kissed those little lips. She laughed and clapped! Now, Daddy is still the favorite to feed her and dress her, etc., but that Mommy is pretty funny. And yes, she is kissing Daddy too, of course.

We have also discovered that Kate and Will are definitely related. Some of you know that when Will is mad or ignoring you, he sometimes rolls his eyes back in his head or off to the side away from you. Well Kate does it too. Once I said something to her and those eyes went off to the side just like Will. And once the guide said something to her and the same thing happened. It was really funny because it was the exact same expression.

For dinner, we were all wiped out, so Tim and Kate and I went out for McD's and brought it back to the room. Will story for the day -Earlier in the morning, Will was being is normal silly self and had announced that it was a very important day. Apparently it was Gucky's birthday. (Gucky is his blanket.) So later, Tim told me to tell Will that since it was Gucky's birthday, Gucky got to pick where we ate for dinner (family tradition). We thought Will would laugh at the funny joke. Instead, he looked at us seriously and said, "What are his choices?"

Pray for the kids. Kate has a bit of a fever, and we think she may have an ear infection. And the boys are feeling a bit homesick, especially Ben. We are doing well, but exhausted.

Love to all.

Day 5 - Suzhou - October 15

I forgot to mention that last night before bedtime, we had a dance party in our room. Tim put music on his phone, and Kate NaNa carried it around doing some fancy footwork. The rest of us joined in and laughed til we cried.


This morning, we were in a huge rush to pack up and get to the train station in time to go to Suzhou. We made it with about 8 minutes to spare, and jumped onto a very nice, comfortable train. Kate didn't have a seat of her own, but she wanted my seat. So I gently picked her up and put her in the seat with Will - she didn't cry! She sat there for about 5 minutes, occasionally touching my hand. Then, enough of that. Kate wanted Baba.
The ride to Suzhou only took about 1.5 hours, and when we arrived the station was packed. Since Tim was carrying luggage, I got to push the stroller. When we came to a set of stairs, I picked up Kate and mom picked up the stroller. Guess what? She didn't cry or push me away!!! Then, when we had to go back up the stairs, we did it again!! Yay, me!! Several times she let me lift her in and out of the stroller today.


Anyway, the guide first took us to the Suzhou Social Welfare Institute to see where she spent the first seven months of her life (and the last week or so). We had been a bit nervous about this part of our journey, because we didn't know how she would react to going back there. Tim got off the van first and had his hands full, so it was up to me to pick her up again and take her off the bus. One of the SWI workers met us as we got off, and she tried to get Kate to come to her, but she clung to me!! Then another one tried and the same thing happened! I was a happy mommy! After a minute or so, I handed her to Tim, and she wanted to walk in beside him. I noticed a couple of nannies walk past and point to her and say "Na Na". So people knew her. That made me happy too.


We got to walk around the grounds some, and then we ate a wonderful lunch there, provided by the SWI. Kate never really seemed upset or anything, but it was clear she wasn't really attached to that place. She did eventually let the woman who brought her to us pick her up, but when she got down she went back to Tim.


After the SWI, we visited the Humble Administrator's Garden. This was a private garden that is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was a beautiful place with many ponds, bridges, and all sorts of plants. And I am pretty sure that part of Big Bird in China was filmed there. (Yes, I know I spend too much time watching children's programming.) Anyway, at one point a crowd surrounded the kids talking about how cute they were. One girl started talking with me with limited English and asked me if I spoke Chinese. In Mandarin, I replied that that I spoke a little Chinese, which made everyone howl with laughter. Then Tim said, she doesn't speak well (in Mandarin), which made them laugh harder. I had to agree.
At that point, Will was passed out in the stroller, so the guide decided to call it a day and we checked into the hotel. It is the Jasmine Suzhou Holiday Inn. It is very new and modern and beautiful. We have adjoining rooms which is nice. Anyway, everyone was tired, so we just laid around the room for a few hours. At one point, Kate pointed to her water, and then she let ME give it too her. She drinks with a spoon, and we did some serious bonding. At first she wanted me to make the Mmmmm noise every time, but after awhile she would look at me in the eyes and smile. And sometimes I could get away with touching her cheek as I put the spoon in her mouth. It was great! She also fed me part of her cookie. Once, she drooled on my pants, so she got a tissue and wiped it off - so cute! And she was climbing on and off of a pillow, and she would hold my hand to get up and down. Yay!


Of course, it didn't last forever. After maybe 30 minutes she was done with me and wanted Daddy again, but it was so nice while it lasted!


For dinner tonight we went to a hot pot restaurant, which is kind of the Chinese version of fondue. You cook your food at your table. Only, no one spoke English, and we had no idea how long to cook the food. Our ordering wasn't great either. We accidentally got a spicy dish. It was not a mouth watering experience, but it was an interesting experience. We came back and had PB and crackers! While we were out, everyone went into a grocery store except for Kate and I. She did great. She kept trying to run off, but she didn't cry!


Of course, tonight she doesn't like mommy again. Mommy gave her a bath, which she hates. I had to stay far away while Daddy dressed her and put her to sleep. But hey, we made tons of progress today, so I am NOT complaining.