Saturday,
June 23, 2007
Today was another travel day! Yippeee! How I dread packing up
everything, making it fit into our already overstuffed luggage
and then making sure we didn't leave anything essential behind.
Today we left Jude's province of Fujian and headed back to
Guangzhou for the final leg of the journey. As sad as I was to
be taking Jude away from his birth place, we were relieved to be
arriving again at the White Swan, it feels that much closer to
home :)
Jude did wonderfully on the 8:00 AM flight, but mom was a bit
flustered by all the lugging and wrestling, trying to get
situated for the flight. God was so merciful and we ended up
having one of the only empty seats on the flight right next to
us. We were able to spread out and let Jude play in the seat in
between us. And play he did! He threw all his toys on on the
floor, and when he was done with that, he threw everything else
he could get his hands on at the people seated behind us.
Boarding passes, in- flight emergency instructions, even the
cover that goes on the seat back. Thankfully it was another
family in our travel group, so they understood ;) It was good
practice for our 14 hour jaunt across the Pacific we'll be
taking on the 28th. I think we might be bringing along some
Children's Benadryl just in case.
We arrived on time and made it to the White Swan by 12:00. First
stop: Starbucks. We had skipped breakfast and snacked on the
part of the in flight meal we could decipher. So by 1:00 we were
famished. Since the Cow and Bridge was on the schedule for
dinner, we knew we didn't want to fill up, so a Starbucks
caramel frappacino was the perfect solution... sugar AND
caffeine :) Then onto the grocery store for some of our favorite
snacks, cups o' noodles for Jude and plenty of drinks. When we
got back to the hotel it was time for Jude's nap. He was a bit
wound up so it took some convincing to get him to lie still, but
once he did, he couldn't resist falling asleep. Tori described
him perfectly when he's really tired: he looks like a turtle,
stuck on his back. He tries and tries to get up, but he keeps
falling back onto the pillow.
When he woke up he was still groggy, he didn't sleep for as long
as he normally does I am sure due to all the goings on today. We
gave him some time to wake up and drink some milk before we went
out again. This time we were on a mission... for a badly overdue
haircut. Anyone who knows me knows I like to keep my boys hair
cut short and Jude is no exception. I was afraid to try any
cutting myself so we let the White Swan Beauty Shop do the work.
And it was the best 63 yuan I've spent this trip. He did so
well, sat quietly on my lap and let the stylist cut away.
Afterward he looked like a new boy, even handsomer than he was
before, if that is possible. Goodbye Gutian mullet and hello
military special.
Dinner at the Cow and Bridge was excellent, as usual, and we
returned to the hotel exhausted from the long day. Jude's
obligatory bathtime turned into a highlight of the day when he
put on a show for us. Fatigue can do strange things to a person,
and Tori and I got the giggles, bad. He would do something silly
and we would start laughing and it escalated from there. He was
having the best time, center stage, and Tori and I laughed until
our sides ached. This child thinks he's the funniest kid on the
planet. And Tori and I would have to agree :)
CLICK HERE FOR A VIDEO CLIP OF JUDE
CRACKING UP IN THE BATHTUB |
Goodbye Fuzhou!
Chillin' at Starbucks
Before
The "Gutian Mullet" |
