Journey to our baby girl: China wrapup

Red couch with China buddy "Lizzie"

I know I didn't finish posting on the blog while we were in China. Things got a little crazy & we were busy & then just too darn tired to post.

Tues -- ZOO

We went to the Guangzhou Zoo. We saw chimpanzees, baboons, lynx, a panda, giraffes, lions, boars, even an open squirrel exhibit. It was a good zoo but we were amazed to see the litter that was thrown into some of the open cages. We saw a cat living with the monkeys. We laughed that we were on exhibit there too, as we got many stares from the visitors. After the zoo we walked some & went to a True Mart. We finally found the mosquito bug zappers that we had been looking for, we each got 2. Emily is such a tropper & put up with our long day out.
Wed - Consulate appt & Biyau Mountain

I thought the Consulate appt was really neat. There was a big group of people, I would say at least 50 families in the room together. They called you up 1 by 1 & compared issued you your child's visa. After everyone had the visa, we were updated on the citizenship process for our child. They also recognized any of the kids that had recently had a birthday & the family stood up with the child. I got goosebumps seeing all the new wonderful families. Then we all stood up & said the oath that we would love our children & take care of them, etc, etc. It was a really sweet moment & one I have waited over 4 years for.

Later in the day we went to Biyau Mountain. It would have been a great day if the taxi driver would have dropped us off at the right entrance. After walking 2.5 miles, we found out we were at the wrong entrance & the cable car up was closed. Walking 2.5 miles up a mountain with a 17 lb infant strapped to me is not my idea of fun. We caught the car back down & took a bus to the right entrance & then took the sky lift up the mountain.

The view was amazing!
Thur - Shopping, need I say more.

Last moments in China!
Fri - Train to Hong Kong.
We squeezed in some more shopping on Friday & then caught the train to Hong Kong. All of our travels had been a disaster & this was no different. We were told not to check out baggage b/c we would have to wait an hour to get it, NOT TRUE! We had 5 suitcases at this point & they were a pain in the butt! We finally got to Hong Kong & caught a taxi to the hotel. The taxi driver didn't load any of our bags & then tried to charge us for them. Jaime loaded them all. Bless her heart she built some muscles on this trip! We had had it by this point & were starving, it had been almost 10 hours since we had eaten. We got settled in our room & took off to eat dinner in the bar. Hong Kong is VERY expensive. We got a burger, nachos & 4 adult beverages for $100 US dollars. At that point, neither one of us cared.

The trip home was pretty bad & all the computer were down when we got to the airport so they had to hand write everything. It was a fiasco, we ran to the plane cause we were told it was leaving on time. Well, it wasn't & was delayed b/c of the computer issue. It left about 1.5 hours late. We should have had about a 3 hour layover in Tokoyo but instead we had to run again b/c our plan to San Diego was boarding. Poor Emily probably got shaken baby syndrome from all the joustling she had to endure strapped to me running through the airport. The flight crew on the ride home was by far some of the rudest people I have ever encountered. Customer service it was not!
The best flight was the one from San Diego to ATL. The crew was great & going through immigration was a breeze.

I can't believe that we have been home 2 weeks, my house is a disaster. Christopher has decided that he wants me to rock him for 2 hours at night & has been a total terror after 9pm. Emily is kinda sorta on US time. She still wants to wake at 5 am & play for 2 hours. She had 4 days of fever of 102 & up that I could not keep down. Finally after we started tylenol suppositories the fevers stopped. We had our doctor appt & they took lots of blood, she had a TB skin test & a urine cath. Everything came back fine. They are thinking maybe she had something viral, she currently has the roseola rash all over her face & body. But we are on the road to recovery. She is crawling & exploring her environment, just not too far from me. She thinks her brother & sister are funny but can't quite figure them out. She has gotten 4 teeth since Gotcha day in China!