Day 7

Hi everyone!  Today was a great day!  Emma is officially ours!  She has been doing a pretty good job.  She is very good so far- only a little whimpering here and there!  Last night I put her to sleep- and after about 20 minutes she was asleep!  Believe it or not... she slept the whole night!  I even had to wake her up!  Hopefully tonight will be the same!  So after completing the adoption on the China part we came back to the hotel and she napped.  Then we walked around the island, bought a stroller, and met up with another couple and their daughter whom I knew from one of my "adoption" blogs.  We ended up eating dinner at an Italian restaurant.  It was very good but a bit pricey.  It was really nice having dinner with them and talking.  I am getting a bit tired so I will leave you with the best part.... pictures!

                                                         At the buffet breakfast.

                                                                       In the lobby.

                                                              My FAVORITE picture!

Having dinner with a family I met on one of the adoption websites I know.

                                                       Emma and Elise hanging out!

                                          Our family photo taken at the Civil Affairs Office.

                  Posing in front of a tangerine tree that is a decoration for Chinese New Year.

                      Taking a picture with one of the many statues that are here on the island.

This is the menu from the restaurant- notice the "main cause"- We thought this was funny!

                                                     Boys having fun with their napkins!

Day 6

We have Emma!!!  What a wonderful day it has been!  From the moment she was handed over to us till bedtime she has done extremely well!  Thank you for all your prayers!  I am not going to make this long because really all you want to see are the pictures and we are pretty tired- so here they are:  By the way- thanks for all the comments- love them!

                                      This is the province where we received Emma!

     Emma woke up an orphan this morning... but was put to sleep by her mother and father!

                                          This is what Emma was wearing today.

Day 5

Hi everyone- today we started the day with a buffet breakfast and then checked out of the hotel.  We loaded up in the van and drove to the Temple of Heaven.  This is where the emperor came twice a year to pray for the good harvest.  Now, you will see many people do exercising, dancing, and playing card games here.  It was very pretty to walk around.  After, we drove to a pearl market.  The boys were able to scoop up an oyster and then everyone took a guess at how many pearls were inside.  No one guessed correctly- there were 10 pearls!  Each boy was given one and then we walked into the section with all the pearls.  They were very pretty!  We didn't purchase anything- we are waiting to get to Guangzhou for buying pearls.  Next, we headed to the airport.  We checked in, and had some lunch in McDonalds and then went through security to await our plane.  Of course the plane was over 1.5 hours delayed.  By the time we arrived in Guangzhou, got our bags(which one of them was totally destroyed) and loaded back onto the bus to go to the hotel, it was pretty late.  Anyways, we have checked into the Victory Hotel which is "okay."  We are all going to go to bed because we have a pretty busy day tomorrow!  We will be getting Emma around 2:30!!!  I will post all details in my next blog!


                                                 Woman dancing at the Temple of Heaven.

                                                            Boys playing Tai Chi Ball.

Picture with our driver Mr. Wong(behind Noah) and our guide Lin(behind Adam)

Oyster Factory- you can see the little pearls inside!

Our Guide Cordelia

Day 4

Jade Factory

                                                 Flat Stanley -   Great Wall

                                            Posing on the Great Wall of China!

                                                  Walking down the Great Wall.

                                                 

     Birds Nest-posing with people who constantly ask if they can take a picture with us!

                                                    Water Cube in background.

                                                                 Tea House

Hi again from Beijing!  Today we started the day with another great buffet breakfast.  Our guide met us in the lobby at 9:00am to begin our day.  Our first stop was to a jade factory.  My mom was in heaven- she loves jade!  We saw how many of the sculptures were made and then polished.  Nana bought a necklace, earrings, a bracelet for Emma, and three figurines for each of the years the kids were born.  After the jade factory we headed for the Great Wall!  What a beautiful sight!  The mountains were breathtakingly beautiful!  We took the cable car up to almost the top of the wall.  Once there, we walked the rest of the way up.  Boy was it steep!  Poor Nana had to go back down and wait for us while we finished climbing to the top! After taking quite a few pictures- and yes Myrna- one with Flat Stanley, we headed back down the mountain in the cable car.  After touring the wall it was time for lunch- KFC for the boys and Subway for the grownups!  Nothing like being in China and eating KFC and Subway!  We loaded back into the van and headed back into the city. We stopped and looked at the water cube and birds nest.  These were built specifically for the Olympics.   We then made a quick stop at Starbucks and then went to a Chinese Tea House.  We were seated at a table with many different types of tea.  I believe we tried 5 different types in all.  It was such a wonderful experience.  We really loved the presentation!  After purchasing two types of tea we headed to the acrobatic show.   It was spectacular!  The performance included balancing acts, bicycle acts, motorcycle acts, and tumbling.  It was awesome!  Last of course was dinner.  Our guide knew just where to take us!  A restaurant with any kind of western food we wanted.  We ordered steaks and pasta!  Yummy!  We are finally back at the hotel and ready for bed!  Tomorrow we will leave Beijing and head to Emma's province- Guangzhou! I will post the pictures in just a few minutes!

Day 3

Wow- what a busy day we had!  We started the morning with a buffet breakfast that everyone enjoyed- thank goodness!  We met our guide in the hotel lobby at 9:30 am to begin our day.  We drove to Tienanmen  Square where we were dropped off with our guide.  We immediately were bombarded with people trying to sell us hats, flags, stuffed animals...  We bundled up with our own hats, scarves, and gloves- it was cold for us Floridians.  We walked through the square and then over to the Forbidden City.  I had no idea just how large it was!  As we walked through and out(as we thought), along came another set of buildings.   This must have happened at least 6 times!  I cannot tell you how beautiful it was.  The buildings themselves were magnificent- just the painting and colors of each building were beautiful!  After leaving, we walked about 10 minutes to meet our driver.  We were taken to a "local" restaurant to eat.  We asked what to expect for our meal and were told everything was vegetarian!  As most of you know, we are NOT adventurous when it comes to food.  We went in, sat down, and were immediately served about 5 different dishes.  You will see pictures below.  Please do not ask what they are- we really have no idea!  The only thing we ate- that is- myself and my mom was the dish with the sauteed snow peas.  At least everyone was served white rice which had to "keep" us till dinner.  After lunch we went to the City Touring Museum that had models of Beijing.  You can't imagine just how big this city is!  After the tour of the museum we drove to the silk factory where we saw the life cycle of a silk bug and all the beautiful silk items such as sheets, robes, pajamas, and dresses.  We were taken back to the hotel for a 1 hour rest.  Of course the boys crashed and had a difficult time waking up for dinner.  Tonight we were brought to one of the best Peking Duck restaurants-as we were told by our guide.  Needless to say we had to make a stop at good old MC Donalds after leaving the restaurant.  The boys had chicken nuggets and JC had a big mac.  Nana and I didn't get anything- we weren't really hungry after giving some of the food items ordered at the restaurant a try.  We are happy that the day is over because everyone is super tired!   I will add the pictures in the morning -JC is already fast asleep and I need his help to do the pictures! Make sure to come back and take a look!

                                                            Hotel Lobby

                                               At the breakfast buffet in the hotel.

                                                   Guy selling fruit on a stick.

                                           In front of the opera house/auditorium.

                                                        Tienanmen Square

                                                 Inside of the Forbidden City.

                                           Lunch- Your guess is as good as mine!

                            Dinner- Guess we need to find some Western restaurants.