Day #8

Hi Everyone,
Today, Tatum had her medical appointment and visa photo. She is 23 pounds and 30 inches tall. Dennis brought her himself because the room is very small and they said it would be very crowded if everyone went. They had three stations there. The first one checked height and weight. The second was heart, lungs and temperature and the third was an ENT. The doctors didn't speak any English, but all went well.
We spent some time in the playroom again today and Tatum is getting more comfortable going off on her own. It is amazing how far she has come in one week. She smiles and giggles and loves to tease!
It wasn't too hot today, so we went to the pool! Colin was in is glory! He swam away from me and smiled the whole time. Tatum liked the water and played with Dennis in it for some time. The pool area is beautiful and the water is so clean here. So much different from Nanchang.
All the excitement sent the kids into crash mode this afternoon. They both slept for almost two hours!
Tonight for dinner, we had Thai food. It was good for the parents, but not so kid-friendly. Colin spent most of his time playing with his Little People and reading while Tatum played with her toy phone. (thanks Nana!)
Tomorrow is our visa appointment. We actually don't go to the Consulate for this. Our agency goes in our place to file all of our paperwork. We just need to be available in case something is missing or the Consulate has any questions. We plan to hang out at the pool again tomorrow and maybe do some shopping. Rita, I will grab some shoes for you!
We are so looking forward to coming home and seeing everyone!

Day #7

Hi Everyone,
We have had Tatum with us for one week now. She is getting more comfortable everyday. She is still a daddy's girl, but I think she is getting used to both Colin and me. She is smiling and playing with me and lets me touch her. She fed Colin a cracker today and they had some parallel play in the room. :)
We took it very easy today. Breakfast in the hotel was fabulous. They had tons a food with many Western style choices. I was on cloud 9 because they had tater tots! Colin had some toast with real butter and some fresh melon.
We went down to the Mattel playroom and spent 1 1/2 hours there. It was beautiful! The carpet was soft and clean. They have a DVD palyer with many Disney movies available. There are tons of toys! There is a play kitchen, balls of all sizes, and Legos!
For dinner, we went to Lucy's. It is a restaurant on Shamian Island that caters to adoptive families. The menu is full of recognizable dishes. Colin loved his grilled cheese! Dennis had a chicken wrap and I had chicken tenders. Tatum ate a little of everyone's!
Later, Dennis is running down to Starbucks for our coffee fix!
Tomorrow, Tatum has her medical appointment at the Consulate and then photos for the visa. We also have our group photo on the famous Red Couch. We're going to try and hit the pool tomorrow as well. It seems to rain in the afternoon everyday, so we need to time it right.

Greetings from Guangzhou!

We have left Nanchang behind and started the final leg of our journey. We hopped on a plane this morning at 10:15 and landed in Guangzhou a little over an hour later. It took about 40 minutes to get to hotel. Tatum was a bit wiggly on her first plane ride. Colin was a trooper as usual, playing with his stacking cups and giggling all the way.
Guangzhou is very different from Nanchang. It is very tropical and beautiful. It is the 4Th largest city in China. There are high rise apartment buildings as far as the eye can see. It is very humid, but not as scorching hot.
We are staying at the White Swan Hotel on Shamian Island. The hotel itself is very beautiful and it overlooks one of the rivers. The Island is very western with some of the familiarities of home. We can get cheeseburgers and chicken tenders for Colin. We went to a 7-11 and bought Evian water...very comforting! You'll notice a picture of Dennis looking very happy. There is a Starbucks here!
Tomorrow, we are taking it easy as the heat is a bit much on us. We plan to hang out by the pool! Also, there is a very nice play room for the kids filled with Mattel toys. Tomorrow night, we head over to the Cow and Bridge, a Thai restaurant.
I will post pictures of the kids swimming and playing tomorrow, as well as, some of the Island.

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!)