Another Day in Guangzhou

It's Thursday evening here and as I post this, my turndown service was just given (I love this life - when will I get my own nightly turndown service at home?...cleaned bathroom, fresh towels and lightly plumped and smoothed sheets--aah...) Anyway, I know you're wondering - what do they DO all day over there? Well, here's a quick run-down of our day today. Graham is sleeping now, and Amelia and Baba are down in the Mattel play room, so I have time to post. Enjoy!

Good morning! This is the way Graham wakes up in the morning, and especially when we head down to the amazing breakfast at the White Swan Buffet! It's about a $40 USD per person breakfast buffet, but it's included with our room. Very, very yummy. Graham loves the scrambled eggs and bao's (bbq pork in soft bun) and Amelia loves the fruit! What a happy way to start the day! And now for the surprise! It's a Chinese birthday celebration! Graham smiled as we sang "Happy Birthday to You" in Chinese. His birthday is May 14th, one day after his Aunt Diane's... and Amelia is great at singing (Junie shung lu qui la...)! We then shared this beautiful cake with the other families around us. Many were hesitant to try it, but once they did, they all loved it too! Look at how much Graham loved it! :) It's a light angel food type layered cake stuffed with whipped cream and fresh fruit. By the way, our guide here in GZ, Nikki, gifted us with the cake...how sweet of her, and we all really enjoyed it! Is this cute or what?! He didn't know what to think about the icing...

I think he decided he liked it a lot! I let him stick his hand in and feed himself! Messy Mom!

And Amelia got in on the action. Notice the t-shirt she's wearing. It says "Big Sister" in Chinese. She loves wearing it!...right after this picture, Graham reached out and gave her a big gob of icing in her hair...she was a good sport about it.

And this is the view from the breakfast room. It's of the Pearl River, and I love this picture of the old and new. The guy you see standing in the boat at the forefront of the picture is actually grabbing the moss out of the river with his net, and putting the moss into a bucket on the boat. The haze is constant here in the river delta.

After breakfast, Tom went to the consulate to pay for Graham's visa, and Amelia, Graham and I headed to a nearby park. This island, Shamian Island, was a haven for the British during the 1800's, and many of the buildings from that time are still standing. It's extremely picturesque, with lots of beautiful flowers, shrubs and peaceful pathways in the medians. As we were walking to the park, we came upon the local grammar school children out in the parkway doing their morning exercises. The school is a very competitive school, so apparently the kids are high achievers. I love this picture with the young and older...students and soldiers. We watched it all. While we were watching, this guy (late teens) came up to me on his bike and asked if he could practice his English with me. He asked me about my hobbies, where I lived etc. I asked him about his hobbies and basketball was his favorite. He knew all the US team information, and actually named himself after LeBron James. No, not LeBron, but James! :)

Probably 200 kids or more all along the yard.

And then, after the exercises, we went on to the park. Lots of old people working out there too. Amelia had fun and found some new friends! :)

Notice the OLD people exercising on the equipment! And of course Graham was a good sport during it all. He was content, then I gave him his bottle. He just loves to hold it. (Although I did hold him and feed him as Amelia was playing.) He's just such an easy little guy. He loves to watch what's going on around him!

As I mentioned, this island is a refuge from the ugly city. Many, many brides and grooms come here in their rented finery to have pictures taken. I love this shot with the 3 couples being readied for their photos. This is NOT the day of the wedding, but sometime before. They have all these pictures taken in preparation for the wedding. It's fun to see them all over the island.

While I went shopping this afternoon, Tom took the kids swimming. Graham's not quite sure of it, but has a smile anyway! His favorite position is OUT of the pool and holding on to the side strainer! Doesn't he look relieved to be out! ha.

And of course our mermaid is always lovely. She really enjoyed this pretty pool.

And finally dinner. Notice all the noodles all over Graham and Tom. I fed him while Tom held him. I had brought dinner back to the room from another local restaurant. While I was feeding Graham noodles, somehow he found the meat and bone from the soup, and I had to fish the crunched up bone (from the restaurant not him) and gristle out of his mouth--I guess he was sucking the meat from it...it was gross.

So that's the end of the day. We're enjoying ourselves, but ready to get on home! Tomorrow, Friday, we will have a free morning (packing and last minute shopping, swimming) and then we'll check out at 2:30, leave for the consulate, and have our consulate appointment at 3:30. This is the "swearing in" of Graham. Amelia will be with us too. Then, we head to the train station, where we'll take the train to Hong Kong. Friday night will be at the Sheraton again, and then Saturday we fly out to San Francisco and on to Redding, arriving at 11:30am Saturday.

I hope I'll be able to post tomorrow night, but if I don't I'll give an update once we're home. It has been an amazing trip. As I look back over the photos, more stories come to mind, so I may post on some of the tantalizing aspects of China in the coming months...but in the meantime, thank you so much for following along with us. We appreciate all the prayers and thoughts you've had for us over the past 2 weeks, and will look forward to introducing Graham to you in person as soon as possible.

Many blessings, and love ya!

Christy :)

Bye-bye!!!