Welcome Lilla

June 20 - 11:15 AM

2005-06-20T11:16:00.000-04:00

Scott says everyone is wondering whether we made it home or not, so I guess I'll post something. :)

We got home from the airport about 4PM yesterday. Landon was a total wreck since he managed to not sleep at all on the 11 hour flight from Tokyo to Chicago. He and Jake both slept a little coming from Chicago to Atlanta, but Landon was still a mess until we put them both to bed around 7PM. I think I went to bed around 7:30... it seems like a dream because we were so exhausted. By that time, Katy and I had been up for 25+ hours.

I think the boys will adjust back to Atlanta time quickly. They both slept until 7:30 this morning. Lilla, on the other hand, might need some more time. She woke up several times last night and Katy with her.

Spending the night in Tokyo was kinda weird. I really wish we had more time to spend in Tokyo (to actually leave the hotel and see Tokyo, that is) but we were so tired already at that point. We ate dinner downstairs at the hotel cafe and got American food for the 5 of us (Lilla ate from our plates) - the bill was $71.00 !! Quite a change from pigging out on Chinese food for $2.50 a person...

Thanks again for everyone's prayers and thoughts. We thank God for safe travel and for a happy journey home for Lilla. We'll see you all soon and you can meet Lilla in person.

June 17 - 9:20 AM

2005-06-16T21:22:00.000-04:00

Mentally, we are already on a plane. Physically... miles to go before we sleep. :) We will have our US consulate visit today to take our "oath" (whatever that is) and then we will be officially all ready to leave. Of course, we still have to pack all our newfound China goodies.

Everyone is now ill except for me. I'm sure I've just jinxed myself and so on the flight home I will fill up 3 or 4 barf bags. ;) But for now, I feel great. I have very mixed feelings about leaving China. I'll be very glad to be home, but I am sad for Lilla. She is leaving the place she knows as home and all connections to her (short) past. We will definitely be back. We have had only good experiences with the people here, who are gracious and kind. It is hard to come here and understand how these people live day to day and not have a heart for them. I probably can't (or shouldn't) say more.

OK. Unless there is Internet access in Tokyo, we'll see you at home! Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers! Welcome home, Lilla.

June 16 - 11:20 AM

2005-06-15T23:21:00.000-04:00

We made it to Guangzhou and the very famous White Swan hotel! (Yesterday, just didn't have time to find a computer) This is where 90% of Americans stay when they come to Guangzhou to finalize the adoption process. I think all of them are checked-in to our hotel now, in fact. ;) The place is CRAWLING with babies (pun intended). It is the only 5-star hotel in the region and it is very plush. (There is a person stationed at the elevator lobby on *each* floor whose only job is to supervise housekeeping for the floor and to help families in and out of the elevators - and all speak good English!) We are so jealous of the families that had to spend maybe 2 or 3 days in their babies' provinces and then get to spend a week here... but on the bright side, soon we will be headed home!

The boys are officially getting on my last nerve. Neither one feels well and both would rather be home. I still think it was good to bring them, though. I don't regret that. They are already a part of Lilla's life and they are so comfortable with her.

This morning, we had Lilla's medical examination which becomes part of her visa application to come home. The rest of the visa process will get finalized tomorrow. The doctor (the second one, at least) diagnosed her with bronchitis, so we will begin administering the antibiotic that Katy brought. She has the runny nose and cough, but no fever, so she's still been an amazingly happy baby! The only time she cries is when she's hungry (this girl can put some food down!!) and when Katy is forcing medicine down her. Her adoption agency report from 4 months said "sometimes stubborn" and boy, is she ever. She'll fit right in... lol.

Guangzhou is hot and humid. The running local joke is that Guangzhou has two seasons: hot as hell and hotter than hell. (Somebody look on a globe and tell me what relative latitude we're in.) The weather combined with the architecture of this area is very much like a cross between Savannah, GA and New Orleans. The small island where the hotel and US consulate are located was a British colonial post, so the architecture is all European. It's a very un-Chinese spot in China. The locals now call this "adoption island" and the hotel "babies hotel". You can't spit and not hit a souvinir (sp?) shop. They know this is all the families' last chance to get China goodies before heading home. Silk, pearls, jade, carvings, t-shirts, hats, you name it - it's here. We haven't started shopping full-throttle yet. We may have to buy another bag before we leave... :)

Katy is now having her regular travel sickness. Without fail, for at least 4 or 5 trips we've taken out of the country since we were married, she gets stomach sick at least once before we're done. And it usually comes up just before coming home - like now, for instance. :) Knock on wood, I've done well. I even ate washed lettuce last night (a no-no in Asia)! Gasp! I'm just asking for trouble.

Gotta run - think I need to buy a t-shirt or something. Something. Anything. :) Any requests?

June 14 - 8:50 PM [Pictures]

2005-06-14T08:52:00.000-04:00

Woohoo! Our last night in Nanchang is here at last! Tomorrow morning we fly out to Guangzhou (a short one hour flight) to finish up in China. We had our last bit of official business this morning and went to an office to pick up the babies' Chinese passports. The photos are all classic because they were taken just minutes after we got the babies last week. Every last baby is crying or screaming or snotty-nosed - or a combination of all three. A dad commented that next time he has his passport renewed, he will scream and cry for the photo so he can match his daughter's.

I don't know if there's some magic baby adoption time clock, but all the babies are now sick. Runny noses, some fevers, some coughs. Even those that were perfectly healthy when we got them are now sick. Lilla had a cough the day we got her and I think she successfully gave that to the boys. Jake, Landon and Lilla have all been coughing and snotty-nosed for the last two days, but thankfully not running fevers or feeling bad (other than the cough at night, which is not good).

Lilla and the boys are getting along like great pals. Jake really enjoys being big brother, wanting to push the stroller and keep her attention and play with her. In the back seat of the taxi coming back from Walmart today (yes, our 5th and final trip to Walmart) the three of them were playing some weird hair-pulling, spit game and all three cracking up laughing. The taxi driver kept looking in his rear-view mirror like "what the heck is going on back there??". We bought a big suitcase at Walmart so we can carry home some of our purchases. Good thing we packed really light coming over... :) After this morning's passport pickup we went to a district with lots and lots of porcelain shopping. Nanchang is known in China for its hand-crafted porcelain, so we surely had to get some. The shops are crazy with boxes and boxes of china packed from floor to ceiling and barely enough room to walk through the shop. It was also perfectly cloudless and sunny today so it was BLAZING hot. Most of the shops did not have A/C, so it was a hot and sweaty shopping experience. Thankfully, Mimi stayed at the hotel with the boys, so they didn't have to endure. I'm really not sure how she passed up the shopping opportunity, but she was surely showing unparalleled self-restraint. ;)

More photos for your viewing pleasure...

Both Mimi and Jake have really honed their chopstick skills. Mimi's also taken a shine to Chinese beer, but I promised not to post *those* photos... lol

Landon decided that he wanted to sit with Lilla. Too funny - she's a pretty big chunk sitting with Landon.

It's demanding all his powers of concentration to keep the bottle in her mouth.

Another cute photo of Lilla. All the Chinese women that stop to talk to us when we're out say "big eyes! big eyes!" She does have big eyes for a Chinese girl.

A strip of several of the porcelain shops. We didn't buy anything *quite* this big. :) Believe it or not, they had even taller ones inside the stores. I noticed one store had even modified the ceiling of one area just to accomodate a 10 or 12 foot high porcelain vase.

June 13 - 11:15 AM [Pictures]

2005-06-12T23:15:00.000-04:00

"Steamed chicken paw". That was on the breakfast buffet this morning. So - lest you think chicken feet is reserved for the special dim sum menu around here, you'd be wrong. The buffet at the restaurant on the first floor of our hotel is pretty good. One side of a long table is 8 or 9 American/Western dishes and the other side is Asian. For breakfast, there's also always congee. It's rice porridge - think oatmeal made with rice instead of oats. The babies LOVE it - I'm quite sure they were fed it at the orphanage/foster homes.

Sometimes, the translations of the asian dishes crack us up. Our favorite so far is "Chinese rice wine with glutinous balls and fungus". Glutinous balls are sticky rice and fungus is mushroom. Someone (a mother, no less, not ME) commented this morning at breakfast that she didn't want to have anything to eat with the words "balls" and "fungus" together in the name. Too funny.

We just got back to the hotel after a visit to a rural village just outside Nanchang. The people were very nice and came outside to meet us. They didn't seem to mind a busload of white folks checking out their houses and village. It was commented to us that this was the "real" China - not to be deceived by the appearances of life in the cities, whether Beijing or Nanchang.

Lilla was nice and relaxed with Dada on the bus.

The beautiful rice paddys just behind their houses.

A visit with a small family.

Laundry day...

This is where tomorrow's dinner hangs out.

And this is where it gets cooked. :)

OK - gotta go. I think we're headed off for lunch to the same place as yesterday. Yum! No chicken paw for me.

June 12 - 8:45 PM

2005-06-12T08:45:00.000-04:00

Well, it was raining again this morning and Jake's cough was worse (Mimi says he didn't sleep well at all - she's a saint for sleeping in the room with them) so we decided to divide and conquer. Instead of the countryside tour, Ike arranged for us to visit the JiangXi Provincial Museum. How can I put this politely? Umm...let's see. It was boring. Really. Landon, Mimi and I went while Katy stayed at the hotel with Jake and Lilla. Landon was a good sport and did just fine.

The best part of the morning, however, was Ike's lunch recommendation. Wow! By far, the best meal yet. And so cheap! Unbelievable. At restaurants, our group always sits at the big round family tables with the huge lazy susan in the middle. For lunch there were 9 or 10 different dishes, soup and beverages (coke, sprite, water, beer - Mimi and I had beer :)) It was 20 Yuan per person. That's $2.50!! Crazy.

Later in the afternoon, the sun came out and it dried up a bit outside so Katy, Lilla and I ventured back to downtown Nanchang to try to find her some more clothes. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in the town center and kids were out with their parents flying kites and just outside having fun. We found some clothes for Lilla (that was its own adventure which required our Chinese-English dictionary to figure out how the "sale" signs we saw worked...) then we checked out a dumpling shop that we had passed a couple days before. Woooweee! Another good find. Had to use the dictionary again, but it was worth it. A huge plate of 24 chicken and vegetable dumplings, a big bowl of beef and noodle soup and a coke for 18 Yuan! I'm in heaven!!

Once again downtown, we didn't see a single other white person. And we were getting *lots* of stares since I think folks from the rural outskirts of town come into the city on the weekend for shopping, etc. It's not your normal stare, either. Back home, we are taught from an early age that its impolite to stare. Evidently not so here. We're talking looong, protracted stares complete with whispering and chattering to the people around. A bit unnerving. Good thing Ike made us these name badges to wear when we're out with Lilla. It has handwritten in Chinese on the back something to the effect of "Hi. We're from America. We are adopting a Chinese baby because we love China and Chinese culture. We will love her and take care of her and she will be part of our family in America." When people start swarming us and looking at the baby, we show them the badge. They read it very carefully and by the time they are done, we get nothing but smiles and thumbs up and nice words. The initial reaction is understandable. Next time you're at the mall, imagine seeing an Asian couple walking by with a white baby in a hip carrier. OK - now imagine the mall is in Mobile, AL. OK - now imagine the mall is in Gatlinburg, TN. OK - now imagine that space aliens had just invaded the planet. OK - stop imagining, you've gone too far.

June 11 - 7:30 PM [Pictures]

2005-06-11T07:31:00.000-04:00

We're starting to feel the pain here in Nanchang. (Tell us again, why do we have to be here for 8 nights??) Let's see. So many, many things to do here - there's ummm a playground outside. Oh, yeah - it rained all day. Umm, OK, there's walking around the lake outside. Besides the rain, it's buggy, humid and hot. Well, that leaves us to our favorite Nanchang pasttime - Walmart. Yes, we hopped a taxi once again and headed to Walmart in the rain.

Apparently, the rest of Nanchang also thought this would be a good way to spend their Saturday morning. Holy smokes, I've never seen a Walmart so crowded. It was funny because on our way out of the hotel we talked to 2 or 3 other families here at the hotel and we all said the same thing - "See you at Walmart" and we all laughed. But we never saw them at Walmart. In fact, I never saw another single white family at Walmart.

Walmart continues to crack me up. It is and it isn't Walmart. Next to the escalator headed upstairs, there is a GIANT bin of videos. Like the $5.99 DVD bin at our Walmart, but this one is full of pirated VCDs (Video CDs, which are much more popular in Asia than DVD). Apparently, there are little or no copyright laws in China, so it's perfectly legal. I grabbed a couple of $.50 cartoon titles just for a laugh and headed over to the music/video section of the store. I couldn't find a single music CD with an American artist, but the official DVD section was full of American movies. They also had all the recent titles in both VCD and DVD formats. Another thing I noticed - very odd for Walmart. There was...err...umm.. an adult entertainment section in the video area. Gasp! Walmart? That keeper of all moral goodness and family values?? How could it be?? ;)

Finally around 4PM the rain stopped and the sun came back out, so perhaps tomorrow we will have another tour arranged by Ike. We're supposed to head out and see the countryside. Not sure what that entails.

Here's a great picture that Katy captured:

She is smiling so much now and Dada knows some tricks to get her to laugh... :)

This is a funny picture from dinner last night:
This boy was having dinner with his family at the table next to ours and he kept walking past our table and smiling at Jake and Katy. He finally came up to Katy and said in Mandarin "I'm Chinese". (See, those tapes have come in handy!) Then he would run back to his table. The waitress in the back of the photo helped translate for him and he and Jake had a brief conversation. Then the boy brought his glass from his table and came over to ours and said "Cheers!" - they had a toast of water and Sprite. :) The kids here are very excited to see Americans.

Oh, and this is the same waitress that literally hand-fed Landon dinner the night before. It was hilarious!! I think Katy had the videocamera because there aren't any pictures on the still camera. Typical Landon - when he's not feeling well - he's not eating. We almost went to the nicer Chinese restaurant here at the hotel tonight with them. I'm glad we didn't. I took a look at the menu. Words found in this menu include "shark fin", "tripe", "goose web" (feet), "turtle", "frog", "pigeon". Honest. I wouldn't make this stuff up.

June 11 - 7:48 AM

2005-06-10T19:47:00.000-04:00

Well,
It's 7:48 AM and we've been up for 2 hours! Apparently the schedule we were given for Lilla was correct--wake up at 5:30AM, nap at 9AM and 3PM and go to be around 8 or 9PM. Not too bad since I can't sleep late here anyway. We've been going to bed at 9:30 or 10 every night! She has been such a joy! Yesterday on the bus, she slept on the way there and back with me holding her. When it's time for bed, i lay her in the crib and she looks around and falls asleep. But it seems like she likes someone nearby when she's falling asleep. And when she wakes up in the morning, she kind of coos and wiggles. But heaven forbid if you walk by her bed and don't pick her up!! She's very social and doesn't want to miss out on anything.

Please keep Jake and Landon in your thoughts and prayers. I think the trip is wearing on them, although I imagine they will feel better again in a few days. A slump is normal even for adults travelling to a foreign country, once the initial newness wears off. It's called "culture shock!" They are tired of Chinese food and people talking to them (and waitresses trying to feed them and badger them into eating more) and they are a little bored here in Nanchang. Only 4 more days to go here :/. Also, Landon and Lilla are both coughing a yucky, chunky cough. I am trying to help them understand that Lilla will not always be litterally attached to us at the hip. Landon especially seems to want me to stop picking her up all the time (surprise!). But so far so good with everyone in general. I'm sure a trip to KFC today and the playground will help everyone relax. The local kids here have been very cute, following us around and saying "hello, hello!".

June 10 - 2:15 PM

2005-06-10T02:17:00.000-04:00

Ever ridden in a minibus down a dirt road through the rice paddys? Do you like movies about Gladiators?

We made it back from Gao'an Social Welfare Institute. We like Ike. He shoots straight from the hip and tells it like it is. He's no dummy, he knows exactly what's going on around here. Anyway, I don't want to get him in trouble (he's been burnt once before by comments posted on the Internet attributed to his name) so I won't say much. But JiangXi is evidently a "backwater" province. And we drove from Nanchang, the captital, out to Gao'an - a "backwater" city in this "backwater" province. And then - we drove down dirt roads, between shanties and cinderblock houses to the Gao'an Orphanage.

Poor? Yes, pitifully and painfully so. But even more obvious - the nannies LOVE their babies. The building is split into apartment-type units with common areas. Each apartment has two rooms - one for 5 small cribs and (up to) 5 babies and one for the nanny, who is always nearby, always talking to the babies, always loving the babies. One of the couples in our group brought their baby and the minute we walked into the courtyard of the building her nanny recognized her and began to cry in joy and came over to see the baby. The baby was happy to see the nanny and when she had to leave the nanny she was crying and sad. These babies were loved!

We found out that Lilla spent almost no time here, however. She was definitely in a fulltime foster home and had two sisters and an older brother in her foster family. We hope that Ike got us some additional information about the foster family. We were allowed to ask questions (the orphanage director, contrary to many things we had read from other families, was extremely gracious and courteous and thanked us for loving and taking the babies) but some questions did not get fully answered. One family got to see the hand-written note that was left with their baby when she was abandoned. (They weren't allowed to have it though.) Lilla didn't have a note or anything, but we got a copy of the picture that was taken by the orphanage the day she was left - so a 2-day-old picture of Lilla.

Driving out to Gao'an was an eye-opener since we have been staying in big cities in China so far. Nanchang is a capital city, considered small, but still has 2 million residents! We learned that water buffalo in your front yard is a common thing and that the double yellow line down the middle of the highway is really just a suggestion. I can't tell you how many times we passed traffic on the left across the double yellow with another set of buses or trucks heading straight for us a couple hundred feet ahead. Traffic in the cities is an amazing combination of foot traffic, bicycles, motorized contraptions of all sorts, buses, cars, taxis and trucks. They all weave in and out like a dance and I have yet to see an accident. If you think you're hip cause in New York you know how to cross the street and give the taxis that look like "c'mon - hit me. I'm crossin the street here!" you ain't got nothin' on these folks. I'm talking 70 year old chinese women with a bicycle and a baby strapped on the back walking out in front of trucks and huge buses and they just look at the driver - and he swerves or slams on the brakes. Insane. You go, grandma!!

June 9 - 8:40 PM [More Pictures]

2005-06-09T08:41:00.000-04:00

Katy is upstairs giving Lilla her last bottle before bed so I will add some more info. The place we visited today was called Teng Wang (pronounced more like Tdung Whong) and was a tower with beautiful gardens surrounding. Inside, there was a classical Chinese music and dance performance. Jake seemed to be the celebrity today and a couple of families had their picture taken with him. He was a good sport about it.

Here's a picture of the tower.

Lilla wanted to have her picture taken with Dada ;)

Jake, Landon and Mimi got to ring some of the big bells that were used during the performance.

And I saved the best for last!!

Isn't she the cutest thing you've ever seen ?? Tonight I was playing with her after dinner and she cut loose with a little laugh. Day by day she's getting more comfortable with us and I think she knows we're going to be with her for a long, long time. :)

Tomorrow we are going to visit her orphanage. We didn't know before-hand if it was going to be possible, but Ike set it up for us. It's a 90 minute drive one-way, so Mimi will stay here with the boys while Katy and I go. I think it's better that way anyway. I really don't want them to have to see what we will see. In fact, I'm dreading it myself. It breaks my heart just to think about it. We'll see if we are able to take pictures or not - we've heard different stories from different families.

June 9 - 3:15 PM

2005-06-09T03:17:00.000-04:00

Hey all-
It's finally me! I've been here the whole time but have left the posting to Mr. Technical. Lilla is in bed asleep for her nap. I'm happy to say she is the sweetest and easiest baby. She is sooo happy! I am so thankful for everyone's prayers. After an hour or two of crying, she was okay. The only time she has really cried is when she is hungry or someone messes with her food. She is very into her food! But she has slept like a dream, I can't even say how well she has done. Just amazing!

The boys have done very well too. They are very helpful with Lilla and quite patient of the hair pulling! They don't really like the sightseeing, but they seem to be enjoying their celebrity status and are willingly posing for pictures. Today, we took them to KFC for chicken nuggets and some time on the playground. Then we went back to the WalMart (Landon said it was the best WalMart ever, the WalMart of his dreams!) and they got some Star Wars toys.

Lilla has been smiling a lot today and started talking a lot! She is babbling and saying huh? huh? and she started saying "Mama!" We don't know if she is talking to me, but she says Mama and makes kissing noises and whimpers like a little puppy when I leave the room. I think I am MAMA!! Dada is gaining ground too :). She seems pretty okay with all of us. And we are okay with her :). to say the least!!

June 8 - Pictures!

2005-06-08T03:28:00.000-04:00

OK. This PC is also stuck on Chinese language so I can't read any of the Windows menus. Therefore, I won't attempt to resize these pictures from the camera. I will just provide links. [Ed. note: resized and posted. Click on pics for super-huge originals.]

Landon with one of his many girlfriends at Beihai Park in Beijing (June 4)

Our travel group at the Summer Palace tour in Beijing (June 5)

Katy and Jake at the Summer Palace (June 5)

Landon with some MORE girlfriends at a restaurant (June 5)

Outside the Forbidden City (behind Tienanmen Square)(June 6)

On the Great Wall of China! (June 6)

Seconds after we got Lilla (that's Ike, our trusty guide, to the left)(June 7)

Having some Kix cereal with mommy (the only thing that finally calmed her down - she was so hungry...)(June 7)

Finally taking a bottle (June 7)

After a quick bath this morning (she didn't like it at all)(June 8)

Asleep on the way to the registration this morning (June 8)

The sad and shameful truth (June 8)

Jake being a sweet big brother (June 8)

June 8 - 3:15 PM

2005-06-08T03:14:00.000-04:00

Well - we had a great night. Lilla slept all night (8P - 6A)and the boys both slept soundly (in Mimi's room, of course...). I think they are finally getting fully adjusted to the jet lag. Now we'll just see if we can all stay healthy.

Today we went back to the provincial civil affairs building where we had picked up the babies yesterday to finalize some paperwork, then we got on a bus to another building to have everything notarized, then we got back on the bus and drove to the city square to go to..... Walmart! Yes, it's true - for better or worse there is a super walmart in the center square of Nanchang! Of course, this Walmart sells weird fish products and meat innerds, but hey, it's China.

It's just amazing how quickly the babies adjust and begin to interact and socialize with the parents. Some are already laughing and playing and chattering with parents. Lilla is mostly still serious. We got a brief smile from her on the bus on the way to Walmart, but I know she's comfortable and warming up to us. Jake and Landon are definitely warming up to her and being very helpful. Jake helped feed her today at lunch and was very excited to be a helpful big brother. I think he was overwhelmed yesterday at the gotcha with all the crying and screaming babies. He didn't want anything to do with a baby sister that cried like that... :( She really hasn't cried since, to tell the truth.

OK. I'm going to finish this post. I got the camera hooked up to this PC and uploaded some pictures to share!

June 7 - 7:35 PM

2005-06-07T07:34:00.000-04:00

Two amazing things have happened! First, we walked on the Great Wall yesterday and climbed SO many steps! I could go on and on about the huge expanse of the wall winding through the mountains outside Beijing and the centuries of Chinese history and yadda yadda yadda - but

We got Lilla today!! Our itinerary changed and Ike (our adoption agency guide) told us yesterday, "OK, tomorrow we go to Nanchang and get the babies". "WHAT?" we all said, "the itinerary says not until the next day". Nope. Today! She's beautiful. She was very upset for a couple of hours but we discovered that she was very hungry. They didn't give us ANY information when we got her (we will talk to the orphanage director tomorrow to ask questions) so we didn't know when the last time any of the babies had eaten. We tried to give her a bottle as soon as we got back to the hotel room, but she quickly refused it. It was formula that we had brought from home and she knew it wasn't the same. Not until we got some Chinese formula and heated it up would she take the bottle. But soon after eating she was playful and awake and staring at these strange white people with big round eyes and big noses. :)

She has a strange rash on her legs and an itchy spot on her forehead, so we are trying to play MD with all the info Katy printed out at home and brought. Ugggh. Speaking of all the stuff we brought, we had quite an incident at the airport this morning coming from Beijing to Nanchang. Evidently we got picked for some sort of more intensive bag scan... The woman started pulling everything from our carry-on which has all the medicine for the baby, medicine for the boys, etc. All the preventative stuff Katy had packed for "just-in-case". As she pulled each ziplok bag out, she just said "open" - "open". She wanted us to open every single bottle! We showed her that they were all stilled sealed - still had the foil seal at the tops of the bottles. "No. Don't care. Open." Probably wasn't the smartest place to pick a fight but we stuck to our guns refusing to open everything. The solution was to check the bag, but it took a couple of security personnel and our guide to help us jump through the right hoops. Whew. Sometimes this country seems so Western and "normal" and then sometimes we just look at each other and think "what the heck was that all about?!"

I'll post more later. Maybe I can get my camera hooked up here and post some pictures.

June 5 - 9:15 PM

2005-06-05T09:13:00.000-04:00

Today was a tour with other Great Wall families to see the Summer Palace (think The Last Emperor movie for historical context), panda bears at the Beijing Zoo and the Temple of Heaven complex. The weather held out for us until the very end of our tour when it started raining - it hasn't stopped since... We're touring again tomorrow, so I hope we won't be swimming to the Great Wall.

Well, I think we solved the mystery of Landon's celebrity status. Since we are touring national parks and locations on a Saturday and Sunday, there are lots of Chinese folks here (duh). But - many of them are rural folks that come to Beijing for their own vacation or special trip. So, these are folks that have only seen white people on TV or in a movie, very rarely in person. Hence the facscination, which continued through today as well. And he's cute and smiley, too, which never hurts. :)

Good news, which I never shared the bad news for. Amidst the confusion and sleep-deprived bustle of getting together our carry-on stuff after the flight from Chicago to Tokyo, we had left Landon's portable nebulizer (asthma treatment) on the plane. Needless to say, Katy was VERY upset when we discovered it and we immediately tried to get in touch with the Japan Air people to find it. By the time we discovered it missing, we were still in Tokyo (during our layover) - but the plane was already on its way to Bangkok. So, many phone calls and the help of two or three very kind guides here, the good news is that it will be on another plane tomorrow from Tokyo to Beijing. They will hold it at the airport for us until we fly out to Nanchang in a couple of days. Thank God for caring souls in foreign countries where the language barrier can really be a struggle!

June 4 - 8:15 PM

2005-06-04T08:14:00.000-04:00

We just got the boys to bed a few minutes ago. I'm surprised they lasted as long as they did today. They fell asleep in the taxi ride back to the hotel after visiting a beautiful park.

Today was our "free" day so we checked out a grocery store and ventured off to a market so Mimi and Katy could do some pearl shopping... Some great bargains to be sure! I had forgotten from our trip to Thailand how it was to walk down a street somewhere and be the object of non-stop staring and smiles. The boys, especially Landon, are evidently noteworthy. They are getting double-takes everywhere we go!

At the park we visited late this afternoon, random people would come up to Landon and ruffle his hair or say something nice and then just stare. Two women walked over and the only words they could say in English were "gorgeous boy". One young woman grabbed Landon, picked him up and then asked me if it was OK for her to have her photo taken with Landon (!?) Of course Landon wouldn't have it. But if he's in a cooperative mood, having Landon say "hi" in Chinese (Ni Hao) will break smiles and laughter on every Chinese face around. He must look like the stereotypical white, American cute boy. I told Katy that it must be like when we see a particularly cute little Asian girl we can't help but say "Awwwww - look how cute!" Landon seems to elicit that everywhere we go. It cracks us up but Landon thinks its annoying after a bit... I'm trying to explain to him that he needs to come to China when he's older and he can have any girlfriend he wants! :) They'd be falling over themselves.

June 4 - 7:50AM

2005-06-03T19:50:00.000-04:00

Well.... we made it! Our flight landed in Beijing on time last night, but by the time we went through customs, got our luggage, rode the bus to the hotel (40 mins), checked in - you get the picture. It was just before midnight (local time) by the time we all get settled for bed.

So - here it is at 7:50AM. The kids have been up (with Mimi - thanks, Mimi!) since very early this morning. Since China is all in one big timezone, the sun rises here on the east coast of China around 4:30AM. You know Jake - the sun is up, so is Jake. Fortunately Mimi says it wasn't 4:30, but Mimi's too nice to admit otherwise.

Now the trick will be staying awake the rest of the day. We'll check in later - I haven't eaten breakfast yet (and Katy's still in bed) :)

[Ed. note: To convert China time to EDT, subtract 12 hours.]

Our Trip Itinerary

2005-05-31T09:21:00.000-04:00

If you want to know where we're going to be during the trip, check out our trip itinerary by clicking here.

Who is Lilla?

2005-05-31T09:16:00.000-04:00

This is Lilla YunQiao. She was born August 6, 2004 in Jiangxi Province, China. We're leaving June 2nd to pick her up!