Off Topic...

Here something special for all my peeps back home at Innovative-IDM (The home of legendary customer service).  It has absolutely nothing to do with the adoption.  I just thought that it was interesting.  This box was unlocked and right next to the couch we sat on after meeting our daughter.  I immediately thought of all the curious toddlers that have come through that room. 

 

Annie thought that it was pretty dumb that I took this picture on such an important day.  I’m just looking for a retrofit opportunity for the guys at work!  :  )

 

More later today after we’ve done something interesting……….

 

 

The Return of Flat Stanley

Flat Stanley made an appearance at the Guizhou Provincial Museum today.  He almost had his picture taken in front of a tomb, but our guide suggested that we not do that.

 

I think that the next time you guys see Flat Stanley, we will be in Guangzhou.

I have to share these photos

I will feel guilty if I don’t share some of these pictures with you guys.  No big story other than at the museum.

 

We went to the Guizhou provincial museum today.  There was a Miao woman working on some fabric at the front.  Our guide asked her if we could take a picture.  She could hardly hear him, but we worked it out.  She scooted across the room and she got in the photo.  She seemed like she was uncomfortable with the fuss, but she agreed to it.  See the pic and decide if you think that she was happy to be there.

 

 

Chez Pizza Hut

Tonight we ate at Pizza Hut, as Annie mentioned earlier.  We went with our traveling friends from the Bay Area.  We took a taxi from the hotel to the Pizza Hut.  It was a…shall we say…memorable experience.  We waited for quite a while to catch a cab, and we needed two in order to get both families to the restaurant.  We ended up taking the first cab and I don’t know that it was necessarily a good thing.  We have not been to an amusement park while in China, but tonight we were able to ride in a NASCAR simulator.  Our driver had definitely heard the term “rubbin’s racin’” because he was microns away from the cars around us at all times.  He had Annie in a perpetual state of horror.  About halfway there, she whispered “gimme the translator” and she told Kennedy “I am scared.”  There is a picture of the girls where Mia looks very anxious and Kennedy looks nonchalant.  It kinda says it all about how the cultures are different between us.

 

When we got to Pizza Hut, the driver stopped about eight feet from the sidewalk and barely stopped rolling.  The fare was 11.20 Yuan, and I gave the driver a 20.  He gave me 10 Yuan back.  That’s awesome.

 

The Pizza Hut itself is pretty spectacular.  We walked in downstairs and went upstairs via a wood-paneled staircase.  We sat in a swanky booth-table with the other family.  You can see in the pictures that a Chinese Pizza Hut is not anything like the ones at home.  The menu was expanded to include fruit drinks (Kennedy had orange juice), flavored coffees and teas, and five-star desserts.  Kennedy had a popcorn chicken pizza.  Mia had the Hawaiian style with ham and pineapple.  Her favorite.  I got a single order of waffle fries and we split it.  By the time someone came back with the serving cup of ketchup we had one fry left.  The server giggled out loud at her poor timing.  The supreme pizza that Annie and I chose was really good.  We got personal pans and it was a suitable amount of food.

 

By the way, I’ve noticed that Kennedy almost never finishes her drinks.  Is that weird?  Is it a Chinese thing?  A teenager thing?  She bought a lemon drink three days ago and there is still some left.  I can’t figure out if she doesn’t like it or if she’s just a slow drinker.

 

 

The hardest time of day...

Sorry, there will again be no pictures.  Charles and the girls are out getting an ice cream at KFC in my favorite Walmart again, and getting more batteries for the camera.  We have burned through an entire value pack already!  I am not a fan of Walmart, and THIS time around, I want to be sure our newest family member HAS to rely on her dad as much as me!  We did not do that with Mia, and she would not go to him for a solid month.  To this day, she is a mommy’s girl and likes to tell Charles she loves me better than him.  Not the nicest thing to say, but he is used to it.  I want to set Kennedy up to see us as equally as possible!  I am careful not to use the translator as much as him so she needs him for communication.  It has really seemed to work, as she is at ease with him and goes willingly on these daddy-daughter outings!

 

Anyway, the middle of the day here is super hard for me.  As I type, it is 2:20 in the morning back home.  NOBODY is awake to leave comments on the blog or email me.  I CRAVE contact from home!  I am super homesick! 

 

There is another family here adopting a 2 and a half year old from Kennedy’s orphanage.  They are from California.  The mom speaks Chinese, not sure about dad.  Therefore, they have been much more adventurous in seeking out food options other than the OVERPRICED hotel restaurant we have been stuck with.  They invited us to join them in a cab ride to either a Papa John’s or a Pizza Hut tonight, I can’t remember which.  We are IN, dude!!  I am sure it will be a little different, but closer to food we are used to.  I would knock someone over right about now for a burger and fries from Culver’s back home!!!   OOOHHH….also some beef fajitas!!!  OH YEAH!!!  I also look forward to eating healthy, “normal” food in my own home, which will now feel HUGE to me after being on top of each other in this hotel!!!!!   It is a mess in here, and I do NOT do messes well!!!  There is no choice, because we have too much stuff and suitcases piled up.  UGH!!!!

 

The mom from Cali told me at an outing to the local museum today (Charles will post pics and info about that later) that watching us with Kennedy makes her think that adopting an older child would be really positive.  She said they may consider that later down the line.  She also said she was going to tell all of her well established married friends without kids to consider it!  On so many levels it is WAY easier than adopting a little one!!!  There are DIFFERENT hard things, but overall…an AMAZING experience.  I usually have to tell Mia 3 or 4 times to do something.  With Kennedy, for example, all I have to do is point to her towel at night and say your turn, and she runs to take a shower immediately!!!  We don’t even know what to do with ourselves!!!!  She is so thoughtful and always helping.  I wish more people would give these amazing older girls a family of their own!  I recommend Small World Adoption agency if you are considering it!!

 

Kennedy continues to amaze us with her kindness, talent and intelligence!  I think she will learn English very quickly!  We received her Chinese report card with ALL “Excellent” marks.  She picks up on things super fast.  Gosh, we love her to pieces!!!!!

 

Tomorrow, we will leave for the orphanage visit around 11am.  We let Kennedy buy some candy to pass out to her friends when we visit.  We told her on the translator today that we will leave this city tomorrow after that visit.  I told her it was ok to feel sad about that and we understand. She nodded and smiled.  I asked her to pick out what she will wear tomorrow so we could pack the rest in preparation for travel.  She watched me closely and then began helping me, of course.  We have the room about 80% packed up, and will pack more after tonight’s round of showers.  BTW, Kennedy seems to enjoy taking a shower every night.  That was not possible in the orphanage where they can only shower a few times a week.  Some older children are resistant to showering daily, but the way she takes her time in there tells me she is not one of them!!  I also think she enjoys wearing her hair down every day.  It is gorgeous!  She needs a good trim, but I will worry about that later.   I can’t wait to take her for a pedicure!!  I had to tell her that we will send our clothes out if necessary to be washed because that sweet girl hand washed her underwear at first.  I told her I packed her about 18 pair!!!!  She looked at me like I was crazy, but like she was excited about that!!

 

Funny note, when she saw the cross tattoo on my lower back the other night, she gasped in shock and smiled HUGE!  Bet she didn’t see THAT coming!!!  (For those of you who do not know me as well, I have a wilder side…so do NOT ask Corrie about my 40^th birthday!!!)

 

In closing, I want to share that another precious family here in China to adopt a 13 year old daughter had an unexpected, terribly sad event occur.  Their daughter changed her mind and decided NOT to agree to being adopted.  Once a child is 10, they have a say in being adopted or not.  We posted pics of Kennedy signing paperwork stating she wanted to be our daughter. We also included it in the gotcha video.  Their daughter signed that she did not.  They are devastated, and are leaving immediately to go home without the daughter they have loved, prayed and waited for.  Please pray for comfort for this family.  My heart breaks for them, and I cannot even begin to express my sorrow for them.

 

Sending hugs to all from China.  Now hurry and wake up so you can leave a comment or email me!!!!  ;)

Quick random info

It is super dark in the room, so this will be short, with no pics.  My girls are snuggled close together sleeping at nearly 8am, and I doubt we will wake them in time for breakfast.   Well…Kennedy anyway!  NOT a fan of waking up.

 

First,  I forgot to post that the day after Mia’s food melt down, I discovered that eggs, bacon and hash browns are available for dinner at the hotel known as “jetlag special” or “lazy breakfast”!  THANK THE LORD!!!  Now she can actually eat dinner.  Of course, even though we order scrambled, we do not always get that.  It depends on the level of English understanding of the server.  We also finally took a picture of the correct milk at breakfast to show when we order for dinner.  Victory at last, or at least…last night!

 

Next, we just got an email from our agency that President Obama signed an act that removes the new requirement (Hague) for children to have TONS of vaccinations here in China before they leave for the USA.  (Even though they have already had most of them.)  It goes into effect immediately, so Kennedy is also exempt!!  It will require an extra step next week to sign an affidavit and have it notarized that we will have any shots she needs in the US.  YIPPEE!

 

Last night after a family session of Uno playing…yes…I played too for those of you who know I don’t really like games, we asked Kennedy if she had received the little translator we sent her a couple months ago.  She said yes, then went to her backpack to show it to us.  That led to her showing us her Christian Bible written in Chinese!!!!  She asked me through the translator if we “revered God greatly”, and I said yes, you?  She said yes!  PRAISE GOD IN HEAVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I could not believe it!!  She then showed us a personal photo album with pics of her from about the age of 7 and up.  A few times, she pointed out “our Chinese symbol for Christianity” on banners of camps she has attended.  This girl has been to many places!  She even had pics of herself at THIS hotel for special events!!!!!  It was an amazing 30 minutes.  We stayed up late while she showed us all of the pics and explained some.  She was so proud when she got to pages with printed emails we had sent her over the months, and printed out pics of the ones we had emailed her of us and our home.  She said she really likes her room!!!  That was the best time we have had so far.  It was priceless!!!

 

OK, so this wasn’t short.  But, you all knew it wouldn’t be!!   ;)

Flat Stanley Likes Monkeys!

I have to say that I was a little bit worried when I pulled Flat Stanley out of my backpack.  I was afraid that one of the monkeys would decide that he looked interesting.  I told Mia that she should let go immediately if a monkey grabbed him.  Fortunately, we didn’t have to worry about it.  You can see in one of the pictures that Mia noticed a monkey hanging around.  I guess that she was fearing for Stanley’s little flat life.

 

I wonder what Kennedy thinks about Flat Stanley.  I don’t think that I’ve taken the time to explain it to her.

 

 

UNO

Kennedy has become the queen of Uno.  We played about ten games last night, and Kennedy won all but three of them.  Mia won two and Annie won one.  Once again, I didn’t make the cut.  My best move of the night was falling off the bed when Kennedy won the last game.  She almost giggled out loud over that one.  She won’t show a lot of emotion either way, but that made her smile.  So, I guess that it was worthwhile after all.  Painful, but worthwhile.

 

They played again today and Kennedy ruled the morning.  They were taunting each other as they played their cards.  It was so cute!

 

 

Outside the Temple

We could not take pictures inside the temple.  It was beautiful, but our guide told us that it would be respectful to avoid photographing anything inside the temple walls.

 

Outside was really neat.  There was a mural on the wall opposite the temple door.  The local people come and walk up to the wall with their eyes closed.  If you can walk from one of three marked spots and touch a particular spot on the mural without looking, you will have a good day.  Kennedy and Mia nailed it.  Me?  Not so much.  Even with guidance from Mia and some Americans that we have met on our trip, I missed by about a foot both times I tried.

 

There was a small water basin inside the temple.  You can buy coins and drop them into one of the vases inside the basin.  Kennedy made it two or three times.  Mia made it once.  Me?  Nope.  Fail.

 

 

Monkey Business at Qianling Shan Park

I took the girls to Qianling Shan Park today.  Annie wasn’t feeling well, so it was the three of us.  There are some very interesting things to note about this park.  Number one, it’s on a mountain.  Number two, there is a beautiful lake in the park.  Number three, there is a Buddhist temple on the grounds of the park.  Number four is the biggie.  The middle section of the park is overrun by monkeys.  This park has monkeys like we have squirrels back home.  The girls though that it was really cool.  Me too.  It may be a shock, but I’ve never had an opportunity to hang out with a bunch of monkeys.  Other than at work, I mean.  :  )

 

The drive to the park was just long enough that Mia started to get antsy.  She dropped a couple of “are we there yet” bombs on me.  Once we saw the first monkey, it was game on.  Kennedy had been to the park before, but she still had a good time.  Mia was as fascinated as I have ever seen her.  No matter where we looked, there were monkeys running, jumping, playing or eating.  When we first arrived, a pair of smallish monkeys started to play.  They squealed like bad brakes and I thought that Mia was going to climb Kennedy.  There was no danger, but it scared the heck out of her.  I explained to her that monkeys play like dogs do and make a lot of noise.  That made enough sense that she calmed down. 

 

It might have been nice to feed them, but it would be my luck that we would get the rabid freak monkey and somebody would get a fantastic bite.  Probably me.  At one point today, I got about a foot away from a medium-sized guy and it made our guide nervous.  I don’t know if the monkey gave me the eye, or what, but Richard told me to be careful.  So…I backed up immediately.  I did not want to be breaking news on CCTV tonight.