HELLOOOOOOOOOOO Guangzhou

Ni Hoa!

We finally arrived at the White Swan after about an hour on the bus. Everyone else from our agency is staying at the Victory. Why stay at the White Swan you ask? Well, for me, I wanted to get Amelia the "Coming Home Barbie" that is available ONLY at the Swan! It's a special deal they have with Mattel and they offer every adoptive family one when they stay here. Plus, the White Swan will be undergoing renovations this year and rumor has it that they will be shut down for about 10 months beginning in November. I've yet to ask any employees about this, but I plan on it.

Getting here was a challenge since our driver seemed to not know where he was going. He did perform a few, exceptional U-Turns that quickly impressed me! That is until I realized that he was in fact lost and went the same why twice before realizing that he was going the right way the first time. The disturbing part about all of this was the fact that Steve is sitting on the bus, telling the driver where he should be going. How does he know where he's at? He was here two years ago, for two weeks. He surely can't remember! But he does and he was right about where to turn and everything. Steve is a human GPS! I wonder where the button is to mark the waypoint in his system?

We get to our room and we have the same room as last time, only two twin beds. We did score one of about 5 rooms that have an adjoining door. We will miss the convenience of a suite, but a suite is an extra $200 a night...YIKES! The Victory has nice suites, but not a Barbie and the breakfast buffet is not nearly as nice as the Swan.

As soon as we got our bags to the room, I walked to the mini bar to check out the drink situation. I wanted to fall to my knees and weep...there was a COLD bottle of Chardonnay in the frig. After commandeering a bottle opener from the hotel staff, I had a nice glass of wine while unpacking. I say "nice" since I have a devil of a time locating Chardonnay in China. Red wine is very abundant, but not white. Don't know why either. So the frig is COLD here. We had to request ice at the last hotel since the frig didn't seem to work well. Again, another bonus at the Swan.

On bended knee when I saw this!

Elise slept through most of the unpacking. She zoned out on the bus and we had to put her in the stroller. I think she slept like this for about an hour.

Panda watching over his sleeping master.

Happily playing in her crib while we unpack.

Dinner was the next order of business. We headed to Lucy's Bar and Grille. Another location that is frequented by adoptive families while in Guangzhou! Again, I scored another glass of Chardonnay and we enjoyed sitting outside (although it was warm) and let the kids run around in the park that adjoins Lucy's Bar. It was a nice and relaxing evening and something that we desperately needed.

Relaxing at Lucy's Bar and Grille


Ice cream and Coke Light (FINALLY)!

This morning was "consulate paperwork" morning. We dined at the famous White Swan buffet and Elise was enthralled with all the fish in the fish pond. I gotta say, those suckers are HUGE! I'll post photos later. The one I took is not very good! Then it was off to the Victory Hotel to complete paperwork. That lasted about an hour and then we walked back to our room. It is HOT, HOT, HOT here.

Playing in Amelia's crib.

Completing Paperwork

Elise and I ventured out to the pool to see what was going on. It's beautiful and we'll have to head down there later. It's very hot and the pool will be a welcome activity.

The White Swan Gardens...

Finally, when we did return to our room, we found the Barbie that I was hoping for. The best part is that we scored TWO Barbies since we have two rooms! We got two with Elise's trip, but I gave one to another family that had an older daughter with them. Not sure what I'll do with this one, I'm thinking EBay!

Coming Home Barbie

The girls are doing great! Elise plays with Amelia more everyday. She is still a bit jealous and wants to ride in the stroller when Amelia is in it or wants to be carried when I'm carrying Amelia. We've borrowed another stroller in Guangzhou, so Elise can have her own stroller. But there are times when it doesn't matter.

Amelia still favors me. She gets rather crabby and throws herself around when she's tired. But she's sleeping great and sleeps all night her in crib. I had to wake her this morning at 7:15 a.m. since we had a meeting at 9:30 and we needed to eat breakfast before we went. I'm sure the sleeping will be rough once we get home. The jet lag will throw a wrench into things. But I can at least tell that she won't mind sleeping in the crib by herself.

Elise is even taking naps. I think she's suffering from jet lag still! Amelia just laid down in her bed and fell asleep. Isn't that dandy! Keeping my fingers crossed that continues. Maybe Elise will fall asleep too!

We passed on the Guangzhou Zoo today...not a very good zoo in my opinion. It's something we didn't really care for the last time we were here. So, we're relaxing in our room while it's so hot and we'll head out later. I'm thinking Danny's Bagels tonight and shopping!

Trying to get a picture...it's tough sometimes!