We're Home!

Well we finally made it home! The flight was long and we are all jet lagged but we are home! Alex did pretty good on the flight but didn't sleep a wink until the last 3 hours. Mommy & Daddy didn't sleep at all - fun times! But most importantly we arrived home with a new American Citizen! Our girl is an American and although she has no clue what that means yet, we are overwhelmed by the possibilities that are now all hers! Alex was met at the airport by her brother and sister, grandparents and cousin- it was great! Alex and Avery fell right into step as sisters, they are inseparable! Alex loved exploring her new home and playing with her brother and sister. She is a happy, happy girl! The entire night and first full day was a bit like Christmas. Lots of extended family around, everyone in their PJs all day - great fun!

Bobby and I wanted to thank everyone for their prayers and help with the kids while we were away. Bringing Alex home would not have been possible with out you all! We are so lucky to have such great family and friends! Special thanks to Nonni and PaPa who allowed the Bob organizational fairy into my home while I was away- you cannot imagine the 'honey do' list that was accomplished in just a few short days- I love my organized kitchen drawers - thank you! Also, thanks to Lao Lao and Paw Paw for helping out these first few days back- we couldn't have done it without their help and Paw Paw's balloon animals! Paw Paw always keeps the kids smiling and entertained! Last but not least my nieces, Sami & Nikki for taking time out of their busy summers to do some obligatory bonding with the cousins! I also have wonderful neighbors who shuttled Avery from camp to camp and to the pool as well as a small group that had a great rice cooker waiting for us when we arrived home. Alex was eating rice this morning at 3:30 am when she got up - what a life saver! Love you all!

Gotta run but I hope to be able to post and give updates over the next few months on Alex's progress and transition into our family. Thanks for following along with us on this journey!

We're Headed Home!

It's been a wonderful trip but we are so ready to come home! We are about to head to the airport for our 16 hour flight to Detroit and then on to Altanta from there. Keep us in your prayers as we all seem to have come down with a bit of a cold (as if flying 16 hours straight with our new girl wouldn't be enough :). Due to everyone not feeling great our last day in Hong Kong was laid back- we ate and walked bit down Nathan Road but that was about it. I will post pics of Alex coming to the US and meeting her brother and sister soon!

We are back in Hong Kong!

We made it back to Hong Kong! After one last wonderful breakfast at our hotel Bobby, Alex and I loaded a bus with all of our luggage and headed to Hong Kong. We took the train from Hong Kong to Guangzhou and thought we'd try the bus going back as it loads right outside of our hotel. The train was 2 hours and we had heard the bus was 3 to 3.5 hours from Guangzhou to the Hong Kong airport. Since we are staying in Kowloon (across the river from Hong Kong island) we figured 2.5 hours max. Well long story short we were wrong! It took us over 5 hours to get from Guangzhou to our hotel in Kowloon.

You have to ride 3 different buses with 2 different stops at customs (one as you leave mainland China and one about a mile later as you enter Hong Kong). At each stop you have to unload all of your stuff (including luggage) and go through customs. Our plan was for me to handle Alex and the backpack and Bobby to handle the luggage and carry ons. Well it didn't quite work out as we planned. Alex was a little upset by the trip- I don't think she really understood that we were all staying together, so she wanted her one real comfort item, you guessed it BaBa! So I would hold her while she is screaming and crying as Bobby would unload the luggage. Then he would hold her and pull one bag while I got the rest of the luggage. This was not a fun part of the journey.

We finally made it to the last bus and we were relieved. We were to be dropped at a major hotel on Kowloon and then catch a cab to our hotel. Well we stopped at the first stop in Kowloon which was in a residential area and the hotel was to be the next stop. It was taking quite a while and then we entered the tunnel- the tunnel to Hong Kong Island! The bus did not stop on Kowloon again!!!

We decided to get off at the first stop in Hong Kong. There we are 5 hours into the trip with a hungry, upset little one and all of our luggage on a busy Hong Kong street- I wish I would have taken a picture but obviously none of us were in the mood. Low and behold we saw the best thing we could have seen at the moment- the ferry terminal about 100 yards away! We found the cab stand and away we went back to Kowloon and finally our hotel! We have never been so happy to see a hotel lobby in our lives! It was just another adventure on our wonderful trip to China but if I had to do it over again I would likely take the train! :)

Despite the long journey from Guangzhou, I am glad we took the bus because it allowed us to see a different view of the area Alex is from. Shenzhen is a major city bordering Hong Kong. The high rise buildings go on for miles and miles. Many are new and beautiful, while others are obviously dated and worn out. I took a few pictures from the bus but they aren't that great. There is also some beautiful lush land sprawled in between the living areas. I managed to snapped a shot of what must be a church as it has crosses and statute of Jesus hanging over the front of the building- that was interesting (and comforting) as it was the only one I had seen our visit through the area.

As I looked a my daughter listening to the ipod and gazing out the window on the bus, I felt some sadness that she is leaving her homeland and all that she has ever known. I can only imagine what is going through that little head of hers as she experiences this journey from the unique perspective of the adopted child. At the same time I am overwhelmed with excitement that she will soon be joined with her entire family and become a US citizen. Alex's future will be bright and we will definitely bring her and Avery back to China so that they can experience first hand the culture of their birth.

PS here's the pic of the beautifully wrapped fried rice I forgot to post yesterday!

Last Day in Guangzhou

Well it was our last day in Guangzhou and it was extremely hot- 101 with a heat index of 115, similar to what everyone at home has been experiencing from what I've been reading online. So we opted for day at the hotel pool and take out from one of the hotel restaurants. Have you ever had your fried rice wrapped up like this? Pretty nice! We then had some group pictures in the lobby. One is of our Guangzhou group. All of our kids were adopted from the same Guangdong province and we have all been together for 2 weeks. The other group picture is of the entire travel group's children (there are a few parents in the pic holding the little ones). These kids are from all over China and ranged in age from 9 months to 13 years old. It was really neat to see all these kids together!

For our last night we arranged to go out to dinner with our great Guangzhou families. We went to an Italian restaurant that played Ricky Martin music- it was great fun! We have all had such a wonderful time together and made some unbelievable memories - this was a perfect ending to our trip in mainland China. I look forward to keeping up with everyone and seeing how our children will change and grow over the years. Our group was great! We love you all!

Nanyue King Tomb and US Consulate

 

Today we visited the Tomb of the Nanyue King and had our much awaited US Consulate appointment in the afternoon. The tomb was discovered intact in 1983 by chance and was found to hold the second Nanyue King, Zhao Mo as well as 15 other persons. This is the most well preserved tomb ever found in Southern China. Visitors actually go down into the tomb. It was really cool and well worth the $1 US entry price. The tomb museum is located on the same street as our hotel, just a block away. Unfortunately, they are doing work on the entrance so the sidewalk in front of the museum is closed off so we had to walk around on the street. Pretty stressful with a wild 4 year old in tow but we all survived. I took a few pics on the street. There are buses, bikes, and pedestrians all sharing the same lane- pretty crazy! I've got a picture of the guy balancing the water coolers on his bike- this is very typical on the streets of Guangzhou- such a melding of old and new.

This afternoon we loaded the bus to head across town to the US consulate. It's a key appointment in the adoption process which approves Alex's immigration to the US. Although it's important, the appointment itself is rather uneventful. A consulate employee checks our faces against the passport, they want to make sure Bobby & I are actually in China, and then we take an oath of adoption with a room full of people. That's it! Alex's Birthday is in August so they recognized her by name in front of the group and wished her a Happy Birthday- that was nice. Thirty minutes later we are back on the bus and headed to the hotel. We now wait 24 hours to get Alex's visa to the US and we are done and free to travel back home with our girl- we are ready!

Dinner Cruise on Pearl River

Tonight we took a dinner cruise on the Pearl River. The river is the largest in southern China and has a long history. Today the river front is covered with all types of buildings and hotels. We set sail when it was still daylight and traveled around until well after dark. It was such a great thing to do. After 9 days in the same hotel we really needed a change of pace and this was perfect!

We had a great table right up against the window so we were able to eat and enjoy the view. The buffet itself was quite interesting. Everything from stewed pork bellies to chicken feet was served. Bobby was adventurous and ate a dished labeled 'fresh meat' while I stuck to the fried rice and watermelon. I know I am so lame but I really couldn't do it after staring at the chicken feet while in the buffet line. After we ate we went up on deck and soaked up the view. Again, these pictures just do not do it justice. The buildings and lights seem to go on for miles. It is so beautiful. The weather cooperated, no rain. It was cool with the wind blowing and Alex was having a great time. You can tell from the pictures we were all acting silly and it was just a wonderful evening!

Shamian Island

We spent the day on Shamian Island again. It is much slower paced than the rest of Guangzhou and the kids can walk and run around easily. We hung out with Levi and his family. They are really fun! We ate lunch at Lucy's. It's a little western restaurant that is a staple of many adoptive parents- it's great. Done up with lots of western movie posters and license plates- our waitress's name was even Flo. We wondered where Vera was but never spotted her. I was going to get a pic but Alex had a fit so we had to have our first time out. I had hoped we could wait until we got back to the US for that but 8 days in and our girl is comfortable with us and showing off! Its interesting to try and discipline your child who speaks a different language in a foreign country. I got lots of interesting looks from the locals. I can't wait to ask her what she was yelling at me on the street that day! Good news is the fit was over quick and she grabbed my hand when it was over. We have been good since then.

We walked around and looked in the shops. One shop lady, Amy, really took to Alex. She did Alex's hair with 6 pony tails- it was something to see and Alex thought she was hot stuff! The boy working the front was such a nice kid. He goes to the University and was practicing his English with us. The people here are wonderful and a large part of what makes the country such a great place to visit. We then took some pictures in one of the hotels on the island. Alex was so excited to see the goldfish in the pond. She also insisted on her picture in front of the mascots from the Asian games. It was a good day!

Folk Art Museum

Hi Everyone! I've gotten a bit behind on our updates so I'll post a few today. Today we took a trip to the folk art museum. The museum is housed in an 1800's building call the Chen Ancestral Hall. Chen is one of the most common surnames in China. This is where descendants with name of Chen would stay temporarily when they had business in the region. The building itself is beautiful, such intricate carvings. The city we are in, Guangzhou, is known for it's porcelain and ivory carvings. There were some really neat pieces. There were also a good bit of antiques, including an old teak bed with porcelain pillows. Apparently the teak is really cool and great for sleeping in the warm temperatures- it doesn't look so comfortable but our guide told us her grandmother had a bed like this and it wasn't too bad. The Chinese like firm mattresses- they think our western mattresses are too soft. Lots of artists on site. The majority of the museum is open air so again, it was hot! Whenever we found a fan Alex would head straight to it to cool off. Another boy, Levi, from Alex's orphanage was adopted the same day as Alex. He's pictured with her in one of the shots. It's been great for her to have a familiar face in our outings. Levi's parents are great so we've all hung out a good bit. We've met some great people on the trip!