Fuzhou Day 6

We had a free day as we were flying out to Guangzhou. We had a our breakfast routine and then took to packing. Because we couldn't go to the pool, we headed to the bowling alley in the basement of the hotel. Brookie enjoyed the first few frames and then preferred to watch. Colin and Tatum loved it as we bowl back home. They did miss the ramps and the bumpers though. There were many more gutter balls than anything else:) Mommy and Daddy bowled a few as well. It was a great way to spend some time together:) We had McDonald's delivered again and we all had cheeseburgers. We checked out and then had to wait for the police officer to bring Brookie's passport. After we received it, we left for the airport. It was about an hour ride with lots of tunnels that the kids enjoyed. We got to the airport around 4:00 and went to eat at the KFC. It was interesting to order as no one spoke English and the menu was in Mandarin. We somehow got some chicken, some vegetable thing that Brookie liked and two orange drinks...think it was Tang. Our flight ended up being delayed due to thunder and lightening. Once we boarded the plane, we sat there for over an hour. The staff brought us waters and snacks:) We finally took off around 9:30:( We didn't get to our hotel until after midnight! The hotel is beautiful and elaborate. We have a suite with a king bed in the sleeping area, a living room with couches and a desk, and also a single bed. Somehow, Dennis got the bed to himself and I got squeezed in between the 3 kiddos:) Lots of snuggling and snoring!!!!

Fuzhou Day 5

We have made it to Guangzhou and can finally access the blog:) Thanks to Kenlyn for updating it while we were in Fuzhou. We again had our usual breakfast routine and then packed up for a trip to the park that is very close to our hotel. It was a very beautiful park with many sculptures and foliage. China has the most beatiful parks. The weather was not quite as hot and there was a nice breeze:) The kids enjoyed having a little space to walk with Mom and Dad squeezing their hands. The park had an aquarium and we knew the kids would love that! We saw many interesting fish and 2 shows. The first was a diver who entered the tank and had the fish do tricks with him. He rode the turtle and even danced with it!!! The second show was a sea lion show. There were 3 sea lions that performed some cool tricks like jumping through hoops and walking on a barrel. On the way back, we stopped for Starbucks and then our guide brought us to her favorite bakery. I bought some ham and egg sandwiches and some delicious bread. After lunch, we again headed to the pool. Tatum is always all smiles and Brookie is doing more each time we go. Colin loves to count the number of laps he does:) For dinner, our guide ordered us a variety of dumplings and some fried noodles. Oh my, was it delicious!!!!! Everyone ate until we were stuffed:) After dinner, we took a walk around the lake near the hotel. There was a nice breeze and the scenery was beautiful. We had many stares and amiles and a few people followed us for a while. The walk was a nice change from the hotel room and everyone was ready for bed when we returned.

Fuzhou Day 4

We went down to breakfast again and settled into our morning routine. We were supposed to go to a temple, but the temperature was too scorching to be outside. Instead, we headed over to a mall that had a large indoor play area. It had slides, a ball pit, and some swings. The kids ran around and played for about an hour and a half. When we finished, we went down to the pizza hut restaurant. Our guide ordered? for us and we sat down. Colin and Tatum really wanted milk so our guide ran over to the store. With everyone happy, we waited for our pizza....and waited and waited. Finally, Dennis got Helen to check on our pizza and it hadn't been ordered:( When we got our pizza finally, we brought it back to our room. It was delicious!!!!!

After schoolwork and some dvd's, we again headed down to the pool:) We had McDonald's delivered to our room and crawled in for the night.

Fuzhou Day 3

We woke up and headed down to breakfast. Everyone enjoyed the buffet again We met our guide Helen and took our van to Panda World. It was fascinating! We saw many Giant Pandas, young and old. Colin and Tatum really enjoyed seeing them. We walked around and found some small red pandas. One of them had learned gymnastics and put on a show for everyone. All the kids loved that!!! They also had brown and black bears and a museum.

For lunch, we had leftover pizza. We played some games and lacing cards and then did a little schoolwork. After that, we headed down to the pool again. We all love that!!! The water is nice and cool and keeps the heat away:) The kids have fun and get out some excess energy too!

For dinner, we went to the noodle restaurant. That was a trip!!! Our guide did not come with us, but ordered food for us ahead of time. No one spoke any english at all and we were trying to communicate that our guide had called and we needed forks. When the food came, Colin fell asleep in the chair. I had to keep him awake and feed him:) At the same time, a waitress tried to feed Tatum her dumpling and she freaked! The food was delicious and we made it through with everyone happy and full at the end.

Fuzhou Day 2

The kids got up really early at 4:30. We had breakfast in the hotel around 7 and it was wonderful. Colin had watermelon and pancakes, so he was in heaven! Tatum munched on an apple and Brookie ate anything she could get her hands on. After, we had some paperwork to do. We went to the civil affairs office to do our adoption paperwork. We had a small interview and lots of signatures complete with thumb prints. Brookie had to do a foot stamp to show she approved of being adopted. From there, we went to the notary for more paprework. We then headed to WalMart to pick up water and snacks.

When we got back to the room, we had family bonding time. We blew up a beach ball and had a lot of fun throwing it to each other around the room.

We headed down to the pool and found it empty. Guess everyone thought the 100 degree weather was too hot! The kids had a blast and we spent about an hour in the water. Colin and Tatum were their usual fishies and swam around. Brookie really seemed to like the water and sat on the steps splashing and giggling. Daddy took her out a little and she was still smiling, so I hope she will enjoy swim class. For dinner, we had Papa John's pizza delivered. It was delicious and everyone enjoyed it! Tatum fell asleep while eating and crawled into bed around 5:30. Colin and Brookie were not far behind! Neither were Mom and Dad for that matter...

Tomorrow is Panda World...

Fuzhou Day 1

We got to Shepard's Field and had breakfast in the hall. Afterwards, we packed up our camp site, i.e. the movie room, and boarded the van to the Beijing airport. We had some time to spare once there and let the children run around at the indoor plat area at the airport. We had to take a bus to the plane and then walk up the stairs to board. The flight was uneventful and we were soon on our way to the Lakeside Hotel. The drive was interesting. It is a very big city, but very different from Nanchang (where we adopted Tatum) Our hotel is beautiful and the sleeping arrangements are working well. We have two Queen beds and Brookie has the roll out.

Once we arrived, Sara had to take Brookie with her for about 20 minutes and this sent the kids into a bit of a melt down as everyone was tired. We went down to the room and Brookie yelled out "Momma" and gave me a hug. :o) The paperwork was a bit difficult with 3 tired children and 2 tired parents, but we did it. Our family picture is actually quite cute!!

We had McDonald's delivered to the room and everyone fell asleep pretty early... around 6:30.

Gotcha Day, Shepard's Field and Day One

Hi Everyone! Sorry for the delay in posting. We cannot access our blog and our friend Kenlyn is posting for us. Thanks Kenlyn!!!!

We arrived at Shepherd's Field on Friday afternoon. The flight was a bit bumpy and poor Colin got a little airsick, but he boounced right back:) We had to take a fast train to the baggage claim area. The Beijing airport is the largest I have ever seen! We took our van to Shepherd's Field and Brookie was waiting outside for us. She seemed very happy to meet us, but a bit shy and scared. After we got to our room, she dove right into her suitcase and shortly had every hair thing on plus her sunglasses. We got to hear her wonderful giggle shortly thereafter. We had some dinner and settled down to bed, kinda... We were all up at 2:30!!!! We had breakfast out with the volunteers and then headed to the houses at Shepherd's Field. The children are all so beautiful! Both Colin and Tatum enjoyed playing with the kids and Brookie loved showing her friends her new things and her family:) We also played on the playground for a few as it was REALLY hot! That night Brookie and Dennis had dumplings. Colin and Tatum slept right through dinner and woke up at 11:30 for the day!!! Brookie is wonderful. She has a sweet side and a goofy side. She has some things we need to work on, but Colin and Tatum are acting as great role models:)

I will post about getting to Fuzhou next. Trying to catch up:)