Day 10

Today I went shopping with a local guide that knows all the best places to get great gifts at great prices... we went with her last year and she was great - same for this year.  Here is some of the loot I bought!

Christmas ornaments

ninja suits :)

silks for the next 8 years!

jade bracelet for Allyson

jade family ball

part of the shopping market we went to

need a pool?

more goods!

Later today we will get Allyson's travel visa and we will be able to move onto our next stop - Hong Kong! We could leave tonight (we did that last year) but we decided to stay the night since we will not have her visa until 4 or 5 pm and we are moving more people :) We also wanted to take the train to HK this year - last year we hired a van, which was fine but if you know the people I am traveling with you know they LOVE trains! Plenty of people in the adoption community have taken the train and recommended it so we are doing it - we figured leaving in the morning after rush hour would be better than leaving at 7 or 8 at night after rush hour! Our guide has already purchased the tickets for us and will meet us in the morning after breakfast :) While in HK we will visit Disney Land like we did last year. We again were prepared for one of us to stay with Allyson at the hotel if she was not up to going but she did great at the Safari Park so we think she will be fine!

Day 9

Today was our consulate visit, we just needed to show up with our piles of paperwork, Allyson and me and Steve. Nothing is allowed inside the embassy so no photos from in the building :) it is a new facility and different from the one we were in for Kian's appointment. It is a very business like atmosphere and we were in and out (including security in 30 minutes or so) - this is where Allyson's entry visa will be process - in 24 hours - what a turnaround!

As you can see - Allyson was overwhelmed with excitement! She will be a US citizen as soon as we touch down in Newark NJ on the way home.

That was it for the day... Kian is not feeling well and Allyson is not adjusting to family life with us in the most positive way -  behaviors that we will deal with once are home.... thankfully she was very loved but also very spoiled at her foster home and now is attaching to my dad (because he does not tell her to not play with things and will carry her everywhere!) it is not a good thing for her to be confused as to who her caregivers are but we are not fighting the fight right now because she is so unhappy and we are just trying to survive the trip.

Day 8

We went to the Safari Park today - it was a holiday here in China so it was a bit more crowded than last time but still not bad at all!

First stop ~ feed the baby tiger

Next stop ~tigers

Snack time~

Nap time ~

Feeding the giraffes ~

Then Kian passed out!

Off to the pandas and elephants ~

Not a fan of the heat! He is lying on giant chunks of ice.... inside in the AC! My kinda bear.

Lunch time!

Allyson loves noodles!

She also loves Pop-pop and her panda bear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The park also had a few kid rides - this was Kian's choice - it went about 3 mph.... I don't even like rides and was about to get out and push - but it was too hot! Please note the fan in the corner, it really helped cool things down ;)

Day 7

Sunday - so went to church!

 There is an island called Shamian Island, here in Guangzhou, it is a popular tourist area and used to house the US consulate so a lot of adoptive families used to stay at a hotel on the island. The consulate has moved downtown and the major hotel has been under renovation for a few years most of the shops love to have tourist visit the island. We love to visit since it is next to the river, has room to wander around (without getting run over!) a nice playground and lots of shopping... there are also a "fewer" flat out stares from people ;) I think they are used to seeing adoptive families.

 Allyson found a cat in one of the shops - the same cat that Declan made friends with last year!

Some of the goings on's around here!

On this trip we rented an apartment in the same hotel complex that we stayed at last year - it is not as luxurious as the suite we had last year but it is bigger, has a kitchen and a washer/dryer.  The kitchen has been a huge help as Allyson gets overwhelmed when we go out to eat and ends up not eating anything (and usually Steve doesn't either!) We have only been out to eat a few times other than breakfast.... take away has been our friend - lots of pizza and noodles :) We have a grocery store down the street so jelly sandwiches, grilled cheeses and ice cream have been abundant around here :)

Someone needed a little alone time!

The playground at the hotel.

We did get out to one of our favorite places to eat! Well, we ate minus Steve & Allyson.... he was walking around with her and we took his dinner back to our apartment. We might try again our last night - I have to say Kian was a LOT easy to bribe with food!