Is There a Doctor in the House?

Breakfast buffet anyone? Playroom time anyone? That seems to be how we start each day...feasting, watching boats and meeting new families. Today was no exception~

While Andrew worked on homework in the room, Wade and Liam wrestled and had a grand time playing. We all came upstairs to the room to check on Roo and to get ready for our lunch but Liam wasn't done playing...he and Wade continued to play and goof around when Liam just began to cry! We couldn't figure out what was wrong! Did he just "hit the wall"? Did his fingers get pinched? His left arm hung limply to the side and he just kept crying! We took off his clothes, checked him out, tried to get him to take something with his left hand...nothing! We scooped him up and went downstairs to the clinic and explained the situation to the doctor. He checked his wrist: fine. Fingers: fine. Shoulder: fine. Elbow: out of joint!! He massaged Liam's elbow and then popped it back into place. It was wild! Little Man cried huge tears and was trying so hard to be brave as he bit his lower lip...it broke my heart! This doctor was so sweet and felt so bad having a crying baby and a crying mama at his table. He gave Liam a toy to play with, which Liam grabbed with his left hand and everything was good...until he had to give the toy back! =) Me? I got a kind smile and a tissue.

As if that weren't enough trauma for the Mama, we called home to talk to Patrick and Mackenzie this morning and Mac mentions Patrick's on crutches. "Crutches? Why? What happened?" Mac, in the dry way only Mac can answer, says, "Patrick wouldn't eat his vegetables and Grandma got tired of it." Ha! Actually, he apparently hurt his knee in the football game on Wednesday, it got worse on Thursday and by Friday he had crutches. When everyone is awake back home, we'll call again and see how it is. I looked at Andrew and told him I may have to wrap him in bubble wrap for the day because it breaks my heart to have my kiddos getting hurt, no matter how big they are!

Now that Liam was all fixed up and ready to go, we met our guide, Connie, and Abby's family and went for a Dim Sum lunch. As you know, Dim Sum is Chinese for appetizers, so Connie ordered a bunch of local appetizers for us to try. We were a little nervous entering the restaurant as it was the same main door that we went through for our "Fear Factor" lunch just last week, but this was a different restaurant and very nice. We had many local specialities, including fried chicken feet (she ordered that special for Andrew) and some other tasty delicacies. There was a local broccoli type thing (good) and some dumpling things (good) and a congealed shrimp thing (fair) and a pork fat wrap (passed on that one.) There was a yummy date finger food (loved that but only three little triangles came to the table so I couldn't hog them) and a noodle dish with beef. All in all, it was a very good meal. It was served with all the Oolong tea we could drink and a sesame gooey cookie to finish.

The boys had a long afternoon nap while Wade did Liam's paperwork for the US Embassy. I was able to catch up on some emails and work on the journal. It was a nice, relaxing afternoon (well, maybe not so for Wade.) When the boys woke up, we went for a stroll, got a Starbucks (can you see my smile from here?)and went to play at the park again. Dinner was a local "American" type diner, where we had something that resembled hamburgers and fries. I don't know if we willed them to taste like home or they actually did, but either way, it was a nice dinner.

Tomorrow we have an early day as we're going to the Zoo and a Safari place. I don't know if they are one in the same or not but it sounds like fun! We are having a nice time here but I am glad we are within counting days of coming home! =)

Today's pictures are of Wade, Andrew and Liam playing and Andrew eating the chicken feet (knuckles and all) at lunch. Have a wonderful weekend! mct