Wednesday, August 23, 2006

We started our day bright and early leaving for the airport at 5:30am. Thankfully Ellen's first plane ride was only 1 hour since she still isn't feeling her best. We landed in Guangzhou at 9am and gathered our MANY bags to the bus. It took about an hour to get into town and our first stop was for the babies visas.

We needed to get all the babies pictures taken and it was so quick and easy. We walked in, sat in the chair, they snapped a photo of Ellen, and we were done! After that we walked 2 doors down to have the medical examinations. First, Ellen's eyes, ears and mouth were checked by one doctor. Next, we moved rooms with a different doctor who asked us some questions and checked her abdomen and heart. Last, we moved to another area with a third doctor who weighed and measured her (19 lbs.). If only our doctors appointments were as fast and easy as this. We were in and out of there in under 30 minutes (and that was for all 5 babies in our group)!

Finally we were off to The White Swan Hotel! It felt so good to check into our rooms after our big morning. The hotel is so nice and has a HUGE playroom for the kids. All of the American family adopting babies from China have to stop in Gunagzhou for their appointment at he US Embassy. And most families stay at this hotel, so there are hundreds of families with their new chinese babies all over the hotel! We've already met several families and its been fun to exchange stories with one another.

Another highlight of our day was going to Lucy's Bar for lunch where they served more American style foods! So it's goodbye snake and turtle, and HELLO quesadilla and french fries! Spencer ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich faster than I've ever seem him eat!

We spent the afternoon walking around the streets of Guangzhou. It is beautiful and there is plenty of shopping (something we didn't have in Hunan). So the kids enjoyed looking at all the fun shops and were very happy to come home with some souvenirs. Mommy went a little crazy buying Ellen four pairs of shoes-but, after a year in an orphanage I get to spoil her a little! We are now trying to explain to the kids how to negotiate prices with the vendors....it's a bit tricky for a 7 year old to understand why we don't pay the first price they give us!

After shopping we went to the hotel's playroom. I reminded my boys that this room is really intended for the babies and to not be too wild. But there is a roped off, padded section of the room that Connor and Spencer have turned into a WWF wrestling arena! Boys will be boys...and it's nice for them to burn off some energy. After all, they've been sitting at restaurants, riding in buses, cooped up in hotel rooms for over 2 weeks! So, my apologies to any families that happen to be in the playroom at the same time as Hulk Hogan and The Rock.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner at the hotel which sits right on the Pearl River. As usual, Ellen sat happily in her highchair throughout dinner. We haven't been giving her many new foods since she's been sick, but she loved munching on a little baguette and gobbled up some watermelon and a banana.

She was so playful tonight rolling all over Jason and I in our bed. She was all giggles so we think she's getting a little better or she just didn't want to go to bed. The kids are so gentle with her, especially Spencer. He says, "hi, Ellen" in his high-pitched voice, "how's my girl?"

Well, it was a big day, but we are glad to be here. Now we are just days away from Ellen being a US citizen!