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
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
Where is the Meaow, Meaow?
Today was literally a walk in the park! After the feast breaking our fast (ha!) we went for a little walk around the island. We have done this many times but today our mission was to find the Catholic Church here. We headed out the main alley way and dropped off laundry, then took a right and went through the Esplanade. There we saw three grandmas with their (three) beautiful grandchildren. The children were about Liam's age, maybe a little older, and they were looking for a cat. We caught the language ("meaow, meaow"...I know, we're clever) and joined it. It was so neat to see the kids happy to be with Liam and him happy to tag along, looking for meaow, meaow. This hunt took them through the mazes of neatly trimmed bushes that outline the Esplanade, and they went over and under the bushes, calling for the cat. It was precious! Wade and I were grateful they didn't actually find the cat as he looked rather sickly and not very friendly. After a while, the three little ones and their grandmas went inside the kindergarten building and Liam went up to Andrew's arms.
We continued our walk down a few more blocks and found the sweetest church! It is named Our Lady of Lourdes and was built in 1892 by the French. The gate was closed but not locked. We took some pictures and thought we may try to come back to it another day and maybe it will be open then. I am so glad we saw this!
Because we spent yesterday out and about and away from the hotel, we decided to stay closer to home today~and I am grateful we did as our little guy had a super long nap and all we could do was join him! =) Just what the doctor ordered~a great nap and smiles all around. Sometimes there is nothing better than a nap.
Wade and Andrew decided to check out the ancient art of massage this afternoon. They came back like putty~totally relaxed and very happy. Liam and I were like putty, totally relaxed and very happy because we went swimming! This kid has no fear of the water and was putting his head under to find the leaves that went in the pool. I know my dad will be happy to have his little "skimmer" swim in their pool, won't you Dad? I have a massage appointment for tomorrow. Wade said there were other services, such as blood letting and foot reconstruction...I think I'll stick to the ol' back rub and foot rub, thank you very much. And I know if Andrew takes Liam swimming, he'll be a very happy camper.
We had dinner at one of our favorite places here, "The Cow and Bridge." I know it sounds appetizing =), but it is really good Thai food. The waitstaff is so kind to Liam and it is an easy walk from the hotel. After dinner we walked around a bit and the cutest little Chinese girl, age 13, came up and asked if she could speak to Andrew in English! She was just a doll, not only physically beautiful but her personality just sparkled and she was so happy to be practicing her (very good) English with Roo! Her mother was very kind, too, and I will enclose one of their pictures in our picture post. The people here are so genuine and I am so glad we have had this extra time to get to know some of the locals. The girl's mother is one of the shopkeepers (she sells calligraphy signs so we may be heading to buy one tomorrow!) and we had met her on our first day here. The different shop keepers remember Liam and tell us things about his hometown, the agriculture there, some words from their dialect, their produce,facts about the university there. It is as if they are all giving us a little gift to take with us, something from their heart and something they know we will treasure and pass on.
As we continued our walk, we came to a park on the Esplanade. It is a combination of children's park and adult athletic stations. There are a couple of pebble paths that surround the park (about a half block long) for people to stand/walk on barefoot (and then they head to the massage therapist, I'm guessing). It is pretty to look at and obviously functional. Liam found some new buddies at the park tonight and had a blast on the slide! There is a playground at his orphanage and that must have been a highlight each day for him because he knew exactly what to do and what he wanted to do! There were many children with their parents and grandparents and they were all very friendly to us as well. A genuine smile is the same in any language, isn't it?
Andrew and Wade headed to the arcade for a little "Dad & Dude" time and Liam and I came back to the hotel for a bath and bed. Today's pictures will be of the Church, looking for the cat and time at the park! mct
We continued our walk down a few more blocks and found the sweetest church! It is named Our Lady of Lourdes and was built in 1892 by the French. The gate was closed but not locked. We took some pictures and thought we may try to come back to it another day and maybe it will be open then. I am so glad we saw this!
Because we spent yesterday out and about and away from the hotel, we decided to stay closer to home today~and I am grateful we did as our little guy had a super long nap and all we could do was join him! =) Just what the doctor ordered~a great nap and smiles all around. Sometimes there is nothing better than a nap.
Wade and Andrew decided to check out the ancient art of massage this afternoon. They came back like putty~totally relaxed and very happy. Liam and I were like putty, totally relaxed and very happy because we went swimming! This kid has no fear of the water and was putting his head under to find the leaves that went in the pool. I know my dad will be happy to have his little "skimmer" swim in their pool, won't you Dad? I have a massage appointment for tomorrow. Wade said there were other services, such as blood letting and foot reconstruction...I think I'll stick to the ol' back rub and foot rub, thank you very much. And I know if Andrew takes Liam swimming, he'll be a very happy camper.
We had dinner at one of our favorite places here, "The Cow and Bridge." I know it sounds appetizing =), but it is really good Thai food. The waitstaff is so kind to Liam and it is an easy walk from the hotel. After dinner we walked around a bit and the cutest little Chinese girl, age 13, came up and asked if she could speak to Andrew in English! She was just a doll, not only physically beautiful but her personality just sparkled and she was so happy to be practicing her (very good) English with Roo! Her mother was very kind, too, and I will enclose one of their pictures in our picture post. The people here are so genuine and I am so glad we have had this extra time to get to know some of the locals. The girl's mother is one of the shopkeepers (she sells calligraphy signs so we may be heading to buy one tomorrow!) and we had met her on our first day here. The different shop keepers remember Liam and tell us things about his hometown, the agriculture there, some words from their dialect, their produce,facts about the university there. It is as if they are all giving us a little gift to take with us, something from their heart and something they know we will treasure and pass on.
As we continued our walk, we came to a park on the Esplanade. It is a combination of children's park and adult athletic stations. There are a couple of pebble paths that surround the park (about a half block long) for people to stand/walk on barefoot (and then they head to the massage therapist, I'm guessing). It is pretty to look at and obviously functional. Liam found some new buddies at the park tonight and had a blast on the slide! There is a playground at his orphanage and that must have been a highlight each day for him because he knew exactly what to do and what he wanted to do! There were many children with their parents and grandparents and they were all very friendly to us as well. A genuine smile is the same in any language, isn't it?
Andrew and Wade headed to the arcade for a little "Dad & Dude" time and Liam and I came back to the hotel for a bath and bed. Today's pictures will be of the Church, looking for the cat and time at the park! mct
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Trains, Subways, Cabs & A Trip "Around the World"
Today was a fantastic day! The weather was the same (hot, humid, hazy) and the breakfast was the same (yummy!) but we decided to do something different. Wade found on the internet that the train station isn't too far from the hotel and there is a place called "Windows of the World" in a city called Shenzhen, just west of HongKong.We figured it would be a nice day trip, within our province, and something to get us out of the hotel. We called Abby's family to see if they wanted to join us (they did!) and we took a shuttle to the train station, a train to Shenzhen and then a metro to the theme park.
Windows of the World is a theme park in the sense that there is a park with a theme (exhibits) but no rides. The theme is obviously, "around the world" and there are reproductions on different scales, about 1:1.5, of the beautiful monuments and buildings around the world. The main attraction is the Eiffel Tower (complete with Christmas tree decorations!) but there are different lands that you walk through that have attractions & monuments from all over...St. Peter's Square, Ayers Rock, the Taj Mahal, the Cologne Cathedral, St. Mark's Square, Arc de Triumph,Pisa Cathedral and Leaning Tower, the Matterhorn, the Tower of Babel,Asian things (I don't know what they are) etc...There were kitchy things like a gondola ride in the lake, riding the elevator up a couple stories in the Eiffel Tower, and snowboarding at the Matterhorn. There was even a ten foot mono-rail! It was similar (in a B+ sort of way) to walking around Busch Gardens Europe without the rides. We thought it was an interesting way to bring the world to those that can't travel as easily as others. It certainly wasn't stroller friendly, nor was it inexpensive, but it was a wonderful insight into the Chinese teaching about the rest of the world and what it has to offer. The detail on the monuments was incredible! They used marble, iron, and inlay~very realistic and authentic looking. It was spectacular to see and a treat to find it here on our trip.
Andrew feels he hit the lottery as he got to snowboard today! It was a hundred degrees outside and he was snowboarding in Southern China! He and Abby's big sister, Ericka, rented snowboards and a jacket and went down the indoor snow mound a few times. It was fun to see them laugh and just be teenagers~and the exhilirating glows from the snow and cool breeze made them light up like the sun. It was a wonderful afternoon!
As always, meals were interesting. We ordered something of a fried rice and tofu for lunch at a restaurant outside the train station. Little Man, of course, ate half my lunch and part of Roo's, plus the Miso soup. Because our travels brought us home so late, we had to grab a yogurt at a 7-11 (yes, they have them here!) and have that with our powerbars. Even Liam (my little swimmer, remember!) loves power bars, but for him, they are just a snack.
We have met the nicest people! Abby and Liam were in their strollers for the subway rides (half hour each way) and out of the strollers, on our laps, for the train ride (an hour each way) and they called attention, not only from being so darn cute, but because they have Anglo/American parents. Another cultural difference is the Chinese have no qualms about talking about us or the children in front of us, knowing we don't speak Cantonese. Whatever differences we have politically and spiritually, the truth is they are just like us and can't help but smile when they see a sweet child. Once we made eye contact and just smiled, it is like their shell was thrown from them and they didn't feel the need to stare or talk about us, but to us and the children. The kiddos, of course, commanded smiles and laughter and got it from everyone around. It makes me sad that their government allows them only one child and you know, now that we are here, I see it seems to make them sad, too. The people follow their rules but they all seem to have soft spots for the beautiful children and we will all come home with memories of the kindness of the locals and the smiles that Liam and Abby brought out of complete strangers.
Tomorrow has nothing exciting on the agenda. I am learning "exciting" is a relative term as every day is exciting to our little Liam and every day is exciting to Andrew, who has gained so much knowlege about adoptions, love from the very bottom of your heart and life on this trip. I know he has learned from the sweet older people we visit with and the local shop keepers, in addition to the guided tours. A lesson in life...that we are all here because of His love and that is all He asks of us in return. It really doesn't matter where in His beautiful world you live, the message is the same, to love one another. Although we teach that, I know Andrew knows that, he is seeing truly that love has no boundaries. Okay, time for me to get off my soapbox and scoot to bed.
The pictures today will be from our trip around the world! =) mct
Windows of the World is a theme park in the sense that there is a park with a theme (exhibits) but no rides. The theme is obviously, "around the world" and there are reproductions on different scales, about 1:1.5, of the beautiful monuments and buildings around the world. The main attraction is the Eiffel Tower (complete with Christmas tree decorations!) but there are different lands that you walk through that have attractions & monuments from all over...St. Peter's Square, Ayers Rock, the Taj Mahal, the Cologne Cathedral, St. Mark's Square, Arc de Triumph,Pisa Cathedral and Leaning Tower, the Matterhorn, the Tower of Babel,Asian things (I don't know what they are) etc...There were kitchy things like a gondola ride in the lake, riding the elevator up a couple stories in the Eiffel Tower, and snowboarding at the Matterhorn. There was even a ten foot mono-rail! It was similar (in a B+ sort of way) to walking around Busch Gardens Europe without the rides. We thought it was an interesting way to bring the world to those that can't travel as easily as others. It certainly wasn't stroller friendly, nor was it inexpensive, but it was a wonderful insight into the Chinese teaching about the rest of the world and what it has to offer. The detail on the monuments was incredible! They used marble, iron, and inlay~very realistic and authentic looking. It was spectacular to see and a treat to find it here on our trip.
Andrew feels he hit the lottery as he got to snowboard today! It was a hundred degrees outside and he was snowboarding in Southern China! He and Abby's big sister, Ericka, rented snowboards and a jacket and went down the indoor snow mound a few times. It was fun to see them laugh and just be teenagers~and the exhilirating glows from the snow and cool breeze made them light up like the sun. It was a wonderful afternoon!
As always, meals were interesting. We ordered something of a fried rice and tofu for lunch at a restaurant outside the train station. Little Man, of course, ate half my lunch and part of Roo's, plus the Miso soup. Because our travels brought us home so late, we had to grab a yogurt at a 7-11 (yes, they have them here!) and have that with our powerbars. Even Liam (my little swimmer, remember!) loves power bars, but for him, they are just a snack.
We have met the nicest people! Abby and Liam were in their strollers for the subway rides (half hour each way) and out of the strollers, on our laps, for the train ride (an hour each way) and they called attention, not only from being so darn cute, but because they have Anglo/American parents. Another cultural difference is the Chinese have no qualms about talking about us or the children in front of us, knowing we don't speak Cantonese. Whatever differences we have politically and spiritually, the truth is they are just like us and can't help but smile when they see a sweet child. Once we made eye contact and just smiled, it is like their shell was thrown from them and they didn't feel the need to stare or talk about us, but to us and the children. The kiddos, of course, commanded smiles and laughter and got it from everyone around. It makes me sad that their government allows them only one child and you know, now that we are here, I see it seems to make them sad, too. The people follow their rules but they all seem to have soft spots for the beautiful children and we will all come home with memories of the kindness of the locals and the smiles that Liam and Abby brought out of complete strangers.
Tomorrow has nothing exciting on the agenda. I am learning "exciting" is a relative term as every day is exciting to our little Liam and every day is exciting to Andrew, who has gained so much knowlege about adoptions, love from the very bottom of your heart and life on this trip. I know he has learned from the sweet older people we visit with and the local shop keepers, in addition to the guided tours. A lesson in life...that we are all here because of His love and that is all He asks of us in return. It really doesn't matter where in His beautiful world you live, the message is the same, to love one another. Although we teach that, I know Andrew knows that, he is seeing truly that love has no boundaries. Okay, time for me to get off my soapbox and scoot to bed.
The pictures today will be from our trip around the world! =) mct
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
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