We had a great day in Guangzhou today. We started off by touring with our group… our first stop was a Buddhist temple. I had Zhilu blessed at the temple, in true Unitarian Universalist style of embracing all different faiths. It was a very special moment, and I wish Adam had been there to be a part of it.
Our next stop was the family Chen house… it’s a historic location that they’ve now turned into a folk art museum. I’m a little fuzzy on the exact details as its hard to pay attention when you’ve got a squirmy two year old with you. It was very sunny and very hot, so we walked around the house jumping from one bit of shade to another. Zhilu still wants nothing to do with his hat and sunglasses, so I’m having to chill out a bit and hope that eventually he’ll get used to them. For now, we’re just keeping up with the sunscreen and trying to stick to share as much as possible.
The final stop was a government run souvenir shop which seemed very expensive. Our guide kept saying everything there was really good quality, but it had many of the exact same things you can find here on the island for cheaper. I suppose if you were looking for higher quality big ticket items, you might want to shop here but Zhilu and I just looked around. The big hit was finding the grocery store across the street carried his favorite milk-juice-box thingies… he hasn’t wanted to drink any of the milk I’ve found here, but he loves those. I stocked up on those.
We came back and had lunch at Lucy’s, which Zhilu slept through mostly. I then was tried to go back to the hotel for him to finish his nap, but he was not interested. Didn’t he realize that mama wanted a nap, too? LOL At 4:45, we met with our guides to finish up our paperwork for our Consulate appointment on Wednesday. It was really very simple to do… the process has changed since Leah’s adoption, and now you do a lot more of the steps ahead of time, so it’s nice not having to worry about much paperwork while you’re here with your child.
After paperwork, a group of us went to a local Chinese restaurant for an authentic meal. It was delicious! And aside from Zhilu throwing a sippy cup and knocking over a whole glass of water into other dishes (thankfully not shattering the glass!), we had a lovely evening. We were lucky to have a woman who’s been living here in China for many years as part of our group, so she was a tremendous help in helping us order dishes which had a more ‘American’ Chinese feel… ie. No eel, fish with heads, chicken feet, etc. We all had a great time and then strolled the island for a bit after dinner.
Zhilu is turning into quite the night owl, so when everyone else was heading to their rooms for bed, Zhilu and I headed up to the playroom. We met another family there, and had a nice time chatting. Zhilu was climbing up a slide and going down all by himself… it was so exciting so watch, and he loved it. We then headed back to the room and I tried to get him to sleep, but he was quite fidgety and it took longer than expected. I think he’s still expecting Adam to be around for bed-time, and we’ve completely messed up his routine. Hopefully, he’ll settle more once he gets to see Adam’s face tomorrow morning.
You'll notice a lot fewer pictures now, seeing as I've lost my cameraman! I'll try my best!!
Caught me with my mouth full...although it would have been impossible not to with all that great food! :)
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