To recap, here is the
schedule we've thus checked off:
·
Thursday, June 28 --
Arrived in Beijing
·
Friday, June 29 --
Great Wall, jade factory
·
Saturday, June 30 --
Tianamen Square, Forbidden City, silk factory, acrobatic show
·
Sunday, July 1 -- flew
from Beijing to Xi'an, Shaanxi; met AnnHelen!
·
Monday, July 2 --
returned to Civil Affaris office to sign papers...we all laughed yesterday
about signing papers that we really have no idea what we were signing
·
Tuesday, July 3 --
trip to Wal-Mart (ha) for supplies
·
Wednesday, July 4 --
city wall, city art museum, Wild Goose Pagoda (Buddhist temple), dumpling
banquet and show
·
Thursday, July 5 --
Terra Cotta Warriors
·
Friday, July 6 --
packing day; left Xi'an for Guangzhou about 7 pm (flight delayed a bit);
arrived to hotel after 11 pm
So, AnnHelen, much like
her brother, chose to fully initiate me into motherhood via poop. She
waited until we were boarding the plane to Guangzhou to make a mess, and I had
to change her in the airplane bathroom during the flight. That was super
fun. She really did well on the plane, though, until the end. And
her sense of entitlement is mostly what happened. At the very end of the
flight the attendants passed out mints, and since she didn't get one she threw
down. Then, when we landed, all the people jumped up into the aisles, and
we could not get up. Much like if someone gets off the elevator and she
doesn't, another fit. It's like she knows she's a second child, ha.
Poor Elliott has no idea what's coming.
It is so nice to be
met by guides everywhere we go, even when your plane is delayed. The
guide met us and Leia and then told us we had to drive around to another
terminal to pick up one other family. I kid you not that I yelled out
"DAVE AND LAURIE!" when I saw them. We are all so glad to be
back together after being in different provinces. We were really lucky to
have Leia and Debbie; Dave and Laurie were the only ones in their province, and
they were very ready to see friendly faces.
Unfortunately we all
had to be in the lobby at 9:30 am the next morning to take the busses to the
visa medical check. There are 19 Holt families plus families with other
agencies. You can imagine what it sounds like for that many small
children to be weighed and have a general medical overview done. Two hours
later, we were on our way back to the hotel. AnnHelen snacked the entire
time we were in the clinic.
One parent then had to
report to a paperwork meeting in the hotel at 3 pm. I wanted to smack
anyone who asked what I thought was a stupid question. It took 1.5 hours
to do what should have taken 30 minutes. Sigh.
Meals here are
interesting in that you have to decide convenience vs cost. If you eat in
the hotel, it's much more expensive. But to save money you have to go out
and be adventurous, finding your own restaurant and ordering via a picture
menu. Sometimes with a baby the opportunity cost is just worth it to stay
in. Last night we had Papa John's pizza delivered. I know, spoiled
Americans. But, we have been more adventurous than a lot of families, and
you know what it got us? Sick...from the airplane food (Xi'an to
Guangzhou flight). Not bad, but still, who wants to be sick in a foreign
country with a baby?
Today was a free day,
so we shared a cab with Dave, Laurie and Lainey to Shamian Island to
shop. It was not quite what we expected, and neither family ended up
buying much. I suspect Laurie and I may need a ladies only trip without
the babies in order to accomplish any real shopping. Lainey just turned 3
and is a true toddler, running and going and talking up a storm. And
AnnHelen thinks I should carry her everywhere. Today we bought squeaker
shoes, even though Michelle warned me not to, and at least it motivated her to
let me put her down for awhile! She cannot walk unassisted, but she walks
if I hold her fingers. Now that we have reunited with the other families,
I can tell you she is the smallest baby, though far from the youngest.
With her small stature comes short person syndrome; have no fear, she will not
be taken advantage of. A little boy LOOKED at her highchair at breakfast,
and she hollared at him. Then Lainey touched her highchair at lunch, and
she also hollared at Lainey.
Tomorrow we are
probably going to go to the "Safari", which is the zoo. I think
we may try renting a stroller as we sweat to death with the wrap (though it has
been great).
Visa appointments
start on Tuesday, but we do not have our appointment until Wednesday. On
Thursday we pick up her visa then take a train to Hong Kong. We stay
Thursday night in Hong Kong, THEN FLY HOME ON FRIDAY! We are tired of
being away from home, tired of hotel living, and mostly, tired of being away
from our boy. We are so thankful to Aunt Penny for frequent email
updates, which make me laugh and cry. We are going to Skype again
tomorrow. It has been best to keep communication minimal with
Elliott.
In other thank you
news...
·
Sara, my communicator
·
Katie V, the luggage
has been awesome. Also, I kept seeing "KTV" on signs in Xi'an,
but never when I had the camera out! It kept you clearly in my mind!
·
Tamra, for loan of the
laptop
·
Hannah, for the
Chinese $ to start out with
·
[This list is
certainly not exhaustive, these are just the ones that popped into my mind
right now]
·
EVERYONE FOR YOUR
THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS!
More to come
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