Day #6

Hi Everyone,
Today we went to an ancient village. Rustic doesn't even begin to describe it! The buildings in the village were over 300 years old. The amazing thing is that people still call them home! They have no running water, rudimentary electricity, and animals living among them. They were all very friendly and wanted to show off their homes. We were supposed to visit three villages, but only made it through one. The heat was just too much for us!
Tonight for dinner, we had Pizza Hut again. It tasted great and Tatum seemed to really enjoy it. She thought that mine tasted better than Dennis'. I think we are making progress with Mom!
Tomorrow, we fly out to Guangzhou where we will stay at the White Swan Hotel. It is supposed to be beautiful with a nice pool. I know Colin will enjoy that! We even brought his bubble on the trip so that he can swim independently like the fishy he is!
We will blog more after we get there and tell you all about Shamian Island.

Day #5 (A Little Late)

Hi Everyone,
Sorry that I didn't post last night. We were all very tired. Colin fell asleep at dinner and slept all night. I went to bed shortly after the kids. This morning we are all bright eyed and bushy tailed!
Yesterday, we went on the Nanchang Star. It was huge! The pods keep moving and you just jump in. We all fit in one, nice air-conditioned pod. Colin really enjoyed it. His face was plastered to the glass the whole time! Tatum had a stinky in her pants, so she was a little cranky. The views were amazing! It took us one half hour to get around. After, we walked around the little park, but it so so hot.
We stopped to check out some porcelain that the province is known for, but we had no way to carry it back. For lunch, we had McDonald's. That was a treat!
We again went to the children's playroom where Colin went into the ball pit! Tatum wandered from Dennis and has started to laugh and play with us. I still can't hold her, but she comes over to me for food and to play. :)
Today, we are going to an ancient village. We are also going to try to go to the water show this evening again. (Hopefully, Colin will stay awake!)

Day #4

Hi Everyone,
Today started off with two lazy kids lounging in bed! We had a nice breakfast and went to the playroom for awhile. We couldn't go to Tatum's orphanage, so we had the day to relax. We went over to Tiffanie's and picked up Tatum's baptismal dress and shoes. They did such a beautiful job! They trimmed the white dress with silver and added traditionla Chinese buttons. The shoes are too cute!
For lunch, we headed out with Fei from the agency. We walked down to a dumpling place that had the feel of fast food at home. They have franchises of them here. The dumplings were very good. My favorite had chives in them. After lunch, we took in the "walking street". This is like a strip mall where no cars are allowed and there are shops on each side. Colin again drew quite a crowd. People kept wanting to touch him and take his picture. He was a trooper, but got a little freaked when a woman offered him a live beetle as a snack!
When the other family returned from their orphanage visit, we received our notarized documents. We may get Tatum's passport tomorrow!
This evening, we went to People's Park and walked around. The parks here are so beautiful! You would think that with so many people, the parks would be small and few. It is just quite the opposite! It started to thunder, so we hurried to our restaurant for dinner. The meal was again very nice and Colin tried many new things inclding a meat filled donut!
During dinner, some children came over and introduced themselves. They were proud to show off the English that they had learned in school. They gave Colin a card with their names on it for him to keep.
Tatum had a better day today. She wandered from Dennis a little and has started to play with us. She played peekaboo with me and let me nibble her arm. Her smile is infectious! We hope to see more of it in the coming days!
Tomorrow, we are going to the Nanchang Star. It is the largest ferris wheel in the world. It takes one half hour to go around once. It is supposed to have spectacular views of the Province!

Day #3

Hi Everyone! Today started out very rainy. The kids slept from 7:30pm until 6:15 this morning. Tatum is still grieving and will only let Dennis near her. She took her first bath today and it went better than expected. Colin took a shower and was a big help this morning.
After breakfast, we went to the Teng Wang Pavillion. It was really beautiful. It was built over 600 years ago during the Han Dynasty. (according to Mary) We saw a traditional Chinese music and dance performance. We walked around the park and saw tons of beautiful koi fish in the pond. Colin really liked them.
The highlight of the day was having real Pizza Hut pizza for lunch! After lunch, we went to the children's play room. It had a ball pit and some number squares that Colin liked. The change of scenery was good for him.
This evening, we're going to dinner with the group. We are also supposed to pick up Tatum's baptismal gown, shoes and tapestry.
Tomorrow we are going to People's Park and to a water fountain show.

Day #2 with Tatum

Today, Tatum has had moments of smiles and grieving. She is not fully used to us yet. She is still clingy to Daddy, but had let me feed her and give her water. She still pushes Colin away, although, he is not easily deterred.
Breakfast went very well this morning. It is amazing how she eats! She had eggs, potatoes and some croissant. Colin, of course, ate everything they had! After breakfast, we headed out for some sightseeing. We saw a park with a lake. It had some lotus flowers and beautiful willow trees. There was a pagoda in the background that we will go see tomorrow. It was sooo hot! We were all sweating within minutes of getting off the bus. Colin was happy to run around and drew quite a crowd of locals who thought he was cute.
After that, we went to Wal-Mart. That was an adventure in itself! Let me tell you that it is a big, crazy, hectic place! Plus, we couldn't read any signs and people just cut you off or bump into you. We were able to get more milk, water and some shoes for Tatum. (the ones I brought are way too big for her. Her feet are tiny)
Tonight, we are having dinner in a local restaurant with our group. We hope to head over to Tiffanie's to order Tatum's baptismal dress later as well.