Easter Egg Fight!

How adorable are MY kids???

Even with toothpaste on her face and a runny nose!
Thanks Leslie, I love my hat!
We have a good time together!

A trip to the tea house

Guangzhou City Tour/Easter in China

This is a picture of one of our guides Linekar with the teapot man
Katelyn and Bradley trying out the teapots
We were able to try Jasmine, Ginsing, Green, and Oolong teas
Bradley and Katelyn with her new friend Katelyn (yes, spelled the exact same way!) trying their teas. Katelyn and Katelyn would just smell them and giggle, they didn't try much.
This is a picture from the Chen Family Museum built in the 1800s. They were the richest family in China. These are all woven fans.
Kennedi, Bradley, and Katelyn in one of the many courtyards
Many bone carvings were inside
Again, outside one of the many courtyards
A peacock fan
Sorry this is sideways. This is one of the front doors and he is a "door guard". Amy said you can tell how rich a Chinese family is by the size of the front doors.
This man was painting inside the museum using only his hands
These are his paintings
Yes, we found another Elephant!
Another one of the beautiful courtyards
This quartet is in our hotel in the evenings in the lobby playing beautiful music for us.
This is a picture of some of the families waiting to go to dinner last night
Yes, came to China for some Japanese dinner! Kind of like our tepanyaki at home but not completely the same. Definately not the "show" we get at home!
This is the family going to Hong Kong with us, the Perna's. They adopted Jael who will be 10 in May. She is a character!

So, again the pictures are backwards. Last night we had a group dinner with all the families at the Japanese restaurant in our hotel. Lilly, it was very good but definately not Yoshino's! We spent way too much money for dinner but since it was our only group dinner we figured it was okay. We were served salad, king prawn, salmon (yes!), tempura, steak, fried rice, and dessert! Kennedi was trying to teach us and the Perna's how to eat with chopsticks and thought we were pretty funny because we couldn't do it! After dinner we headed to our rooms for bed. This morning was our typical routine, down to the breakfast buffet then to the bus at 9:30. We first headed to the musuem you saw pictures of above which was very neat. So many carvings out of wood and ivory. Then we headed to a tea house in the park where we were shown the right way to make tea (tea in teabags is not good according to the Chinese!). Then we were seated around and got to sample all the teas. My favorite was the Ginsing tea. It was a good time. The Chinese love their tea and it is the #1 drink here. Then when we were finished we headed back to the hotel for the afternoon free. We came up and had sandwiches and chips in our room and I actually took my first nap since coming to China because I've had a bad headache all day. After I got up, Mark hid the Easter Eggs in his room and the kids had a good time finding them and eating the candy. Kennedi thought that was pretty fun! I don't have pictures of that but Mark took video. Now, we ordered from "Danny's Bagels" a pizza and are waiting for it to be delivered. Tomorrow we have to stay in our room while Amy and Linekar go to the US Consulate to take our paperwork in case they have any questions then at 1:30 we get to go shopping to Shamlin Island (a well known shopping area for foreigners)! I hope I don't have a headache tomorrow because I've been waiting to go shopping! Happy Easter everyone!

Day of Doctor's Appointments and Groceries

Only some of the familes waiting for their kids to be checked. Of course you see Katelyn and Bradley there waiting too! :)
Kennedi being checked by one of the doctors
These pictures always show up on here all mixed up! This is a picture of our laundry we had done. We were so impressed! We gave it to our guide on Thursday and it came back yesterday like it was brand new all wrapped in plastic. We had a whole duffle bag done for $30.
Here you go mom. You wanted a picture of Kennedi sleeping. She gets all covered up except for her little head poking out of the all white down comforter and pillows.
More measurements
Listening to Kennedi's chest
Time to get your weight

This morning we did our usual head down to the breakfast buffet but today it was nice because they had one area just for the adopting families so we all got to sit together. We then headed to the bus at 9am. The past two days when we were pretty much just hanging out in our room, did it rain at all? NO. Well guess what, today it has rained cats and dogs and has not stopped. Anyway, we stopped at the medical building, a building where they only do exams for immigrants leaving China. There was our 16 families plus who knows how many more adopting families there. It was like a big scavenger hunt! You were given a packet of papers with your childs information on it. Then you had to get to 3 different sections and have it signed off on your papers. We headed first to the general exam area (don't remember what it was actually called) and they checked hands, feet, legs, chest, etc. Then we went to the measurements area where they measured Kennedi, weighed her, and took her temp. Then we went to the ENT (Eyes, Nose, and Throat) where they checked everything it says. When checking her vision they said she is near-sighted because she wouldn't read the hand chart. Not sure if she was just shy (she does that when she's not sure what is happening or who you are) or if she really has a problem seeing things. She seems to see fine but we will definately have that checked when we get home (that's something we know about and will be no problem at all!). Once we found all 3 stops and had them signed off we could go back to the bus. We were all done in about a little over 1 hour. Not bad for such a chaiotic place. Then we all headed back to the friendship store for some shopping. This is the same place we went to earlier in the week but this time we had 1 hour and 15 minutes to shop. So first we went to the 6th floor and found Kennedi some tennis shoes. All she has been wearing are the shoes she came to us in, some dress type shoes. We also bought her a minnie shirt she liked to wear to Disney on Thursday. Then we went down to the 4th floor to do some grocery shopping. So glad Kennedi is not a baby. This is where we caught back up with most of the families buying diapers and formula! Glad we don't have to do that! We bought some bread, chips, cookies, and water. Then we were done. Oh and another thing about shopping here.... You pick out what you want, give it to the person working there, they write you a tag, you take the tag to the cashier, pay, then take the tag back to the person who wrote it and get your things! A lot of back and forth here. So once our time there was up, we got more wet as we loaded back on the bus and then headed back to the hotel where we are now. At 3:30 I have to head up to our guides room (one parent per family and I guess that has to be me) and do 2+ hours of paperwork. Fun! This is all paperwork for the US consulate to finalize the adoption. After the paperwork we are all going to a group dinner at the Japanese restaurant down stairs. That's about it for today. Tomorrow we are just doing a city tour as a group and hanging out. It will be Easter here (well, if you call it that, they don't celebrate Easter) so we hope to hide some Easter eggs for the kids in one of the rooms. It is supposed to rain again tomorrow so I don't know if we'll be doing too much. Have a wonderful Saturday everyone!

Trying Video Again

Day of Rest and Lunch with Judene!

Okay all, definately not a good hair day for me. As I told you before, they confiscated my hairspray at the Beijing airport and I haven't found any to buy yet! This is a picture with Judene. She and her other volunteers are absolutely amazing. They care so much for these children in the orphanages and love to see the end result. They are not allowed to take pictures of the kids at all in the orphanage so today was a picture taking day!
Judene brought 3 other volunteers with her. One lady is from Egypt, one from Austrailia, and Judene and the other are both from the US. They are all here volunteering their time at orphanages caring for the children. They said this time here really makes them appreciate the country we live in and the freedom we have. The lady from Egypt, her and her husband do the church service for a group that has grown to 300 people! They recently had to split up the group and have a Chinese speaking service and an English service! She said people here are so needy to know God and want to learn everything they can. How awesome!
We have called Kennedi "our monkey"! She loves playing around and her daddy!
Morning visit to Starbucks!
Lunch family style with Judene. Lunch was delicious!
This is what is hanging when you walk in and why Katelyn on Monday night would not eat here!
More hanging bird! The ones one the left are feet!
Katelyn took this picture of our beautiful hotel
The 3 Amigos!
Just outside our hotel
She's my girl!
Playing with dad again!

So, as you can see, nothing too exciting today. This morning we had our usual breakfast at the delicious breakfast buffet at around 8:30. I knew Judene would be calling some time in the morning so we couldn't really go anywhere but the maids needed to clean the rooms so we spent most of the morning walking around and hanging out at Starbucks or in the lobby. While they cleaned one room, we hung out in the other and the kids had a great time playing pillow fights and hide and seek. I have a short video of them having a good time and I am trying to get it on here but it's taking an aweful long time to load. Oooohhhh, just checked it and it finished. Hopefully it will load okay for you all to see. So then Judene called and we had lunch down stairs at the Chinese restaurant. We had a wonderful time with Judene and the other volunteers. They told us all about a typical day at the orphanage, how Bao'An staff just love the children and want the very best for them. They love getting updates of the children after the adoption so we'll be sure to send them some. Judene does know who Kennedi's friend is but has not heard from her new family. She assured me that as soon as she does she will pass along our information to them so we can hopefully stay in contact with Gigi! Now we are back in the room relaxing and waiting for the other families to arrive. Amy said they are coming in 2 groups, one around 5 and one around 8. Tomorrow Kennedi and the other children all have their doctor appointments (hopefully that goes okay) and we will do some shopping. As always, we love and miss you guys! ;0)

Day at the Guangzhou Zoo!

Yes, we went to Pizza Hut for lunch today! It was very good! I think it's Katelyn and Mark's mission to try everything "American" they have here and see if it tastes the same! This one did!
Bradley's only request was that he could get an "Emperor Suit" while we were here!
This is a picture of the kids with our wonderful guide Amy at the zoo
I won't bore you with pictures of all the animals but here's a few that we saw.

Oh, these pictures are out of order! This is a Chinese Toilet or Squatty Potty! No, we didn't have to use it Thank God! But Katelyn had to take a picture of it! She said it smelled in there very bad and NO doors!
Salvador Family of 5!
Man, these are all out of order (sorry!)! This is from last night. We decided to try the food at the cafe where we have breakfast every morning. Our breakfast is included in what we paid for our "in-country" fees to the adoption agency so we never pay for it. WELL, dinner was way expensive! I knew it was going to be when in the buffet you could have your steak cooked right in front of you and they had every seafood imaginable! Oh well, once in a life time right? So... on the way out we saw a guy sitting making figures out of play dough. We were watching him and the lady said "which one you like"? I asked how much and she said "free with dinner"! This was definately well worth the price of dinner. This guy was so talented! I made Mark run and get the camera while we waited and watched him make our figures. Kennedi got Hello Kitty and Katelyn and Bradley both got Olympic Figures.
This is from this morning at breakfast
Oh, here we go! This is the guy and the kids with their finished figures.
HaHa. Back to the zoo.......

Bradley's mission is to take a picture with every elephant we see!
After a trip to 7-11 yesterday the kids took a picture eating their ice creams! Kennedi thought it was pretty funny! She had it all over her face!
HaHa. Back to the talented man again!

As you can see we're having a good time here in Guangzhou! Today's trip to the zoo was great! The weather was perfect, nice and breezy! Before we went to the zoo we had to stop by Starbucks again! Mark took the wrong drink and the lady chased us all the way through the hotel to give Mark his right drink (something you definately won't see in the US!). Everyone here is real nice! The bellhop that brought our luggage up on Monday says good morning to us every day! He is so nice. I think yesterday we ran into him at the elevator and he knew exactly what floor we needed and what room we were in-AMAZING! We were shocked! The traffic here still amazes me! They are all crazy! Anyway, so we left the zoo and had lunch at Pizza Hut then came back to the hotel and gave Amy some laundry that she'll take to have done for us. After that we went next door to some shops. The people are like car salesmen! They do not leave you alone and want to show you everything! That's okay because we got some great deals! We bought every student in Katelyn's class something, 2 teachers something, all the girls at work something (sorry not telling you all what we got!), and Bradley's Emperor Suit for $40! That's 26 things we got for $40! Cannot believe it! Patty, still have not found you a t-shirt and Jeri nothing for you yet but we're all going to a big shopping area on Monday and I hope to find something there! Leslie, squeaky shoes, sooooo cute! Need to get Aubrey some! And so, now here we are back in the room relaxing! Tomorrow is a down day. We are meeting Judene for lunch (she's the lady who helps at Kennedi's orphanage) and I'm hoping she knows the family that is adopting Kennedi's best friend! Other than that, I won't have much to post tomorrow but will post a little something. The other families come tomorrow which is nice (we won't be staying in the hotel alone anymore!). Sorry if you've heard these things before! I've forgotten what I've written and can't see our blog! Hope all is well at home! Miss you all a lot! :)