Guangzhou Here We Come.

Friday was our last day in Kunming. We thought our flight was going to leave at 5:30 pm. We had planned on getting up eating breakfast and getting in our last trip to the local Walmart. Our guide arrived at the hotel while we were eating breakfast to inform us that we needed to get our bags packed because our flight had been switched and we needed to leave in 2 hours. We were just starting breakfast. Anyone who has traveled with children know that this was no small feat. I ate quickly and headed back to start packing. We also needed to get our guide and driver tip/gifts together. The pictures are of the girls the last morning in the hotel room and then of Emmy at the airport. The last one is for laughs. That sign was in the women's room the one in the men's read Warm Tips, Please Aim Carefully. ;) You can interpret that any way you want. Scott and Steve were laughing so hard in the bathroom they had to leave when they saw that one.

The Stone Forest

On the day we went to the Stone Forest it was extremely hot. I don't know what our guide was thinking when he said it wasn't a lot of walking or climbing. It was all stairs. Uneven stairs, made out of rocks, no railings and many drop off points of 30-40 feet. Great fun with 2 very active toddlers. It was a beautiful park...but you may notice we have no pictures of the stairs...which was the majority of the day.

Kunming Green Lake Park

Green Lake park was right across the street from our hotel. It was beautiful. There were a lot of fun things to see and do. You could rent paddle boats, feed the koi, or shop the local vendors. Lucy,Beba Uncle Steve and I got to spend some time there while Emmy napped. The picture of Lucy with Uncle Steve is of some candy you could get for like 25 cents. The kids got to spin a wheel that would choose the shape of the candy. The woman then spread the candy on a marble slab and created it for the kids. Lucy got a bird. It was beautiful. We walked around there a couple of days in a row. We were so lucky to have it right across the street from our hotel. We went back a few days later with Emmy. As always we drew a lot of attention but we got even more attention when I was helping Scott put Emmy into the carrier. I guess men don't wear those in China. We had about 40 people circling us and laughing.

Emmy Smiles

The first night went as well as could be expected. Emmy was extremely upset and didn't want to be comforted by anyone. Luckily Lucy laid down with Daddy and passed out. One down one to go. Emmy tried in the worst way to escape from the room. When I would let her walk the halls of the hotel, she would run to the exit and try to get out. When I would pick her up she would get upset and start crying so hard she would loose her breath. There was also a bit of hitting and hair pulling involved. Slightly uncomfortable when local people walked by. Luckily is was the middle of the night and there were only a few people around. SO that is why I opted to go to the roof top. I walked the halls and then the hotel roof top for a few hours until Emmy could barley keep her eyes open. Amazingly when I decided to go back to the room and lay her down, she stayed asleep all night ! It was amazing what a difference 24 hours made. The girl loves food so that helped give us a bit of an edge. :) She chowed at breakfast. Another note she weighs as much as Lucy. Incredible. The pictures above are from Emmy the second night. We took out glow sticks and made bracelets. Uncle Steve discovered when you pulled them apart they made a hysterical popping sound. So the girls, Daddy, and Uncle Steve all played with the glow sticks for about an hour laughing hysterically. Emmy's got a great laugh. It was awesome to finally hear it.

Gotcha Day

Sunday, August 8th was the day we got to meet Emmy for the first time. They (our guide and caretakers from the orphanage) were going to bring her to our room at the hotel at 3:30. I barely slept that night so now in about 3 days I had a total of 6 hours of sleep. I was a little concerned how I would be functioning by gotcha time. We needed to go to the local Walmart to pick up a few things that we couldn't bring with us like a potty chair and we decided to get a step stool while we were at it, We also needed beverages and some local snacks that a 2 year old might be familiar with. We accomplished that and then got the room prepared for the big moment. I was a nervous wreck and my stomach was churning. I kept organizing things which was driving everyone nuts. Lucy seemed excited. And then suddenly there she was standing at our door in a little pink dress. She looks so adorable and terribly nervous. She stood there not wanting to make eye contact with anyone. Lucy ran around the room grabbing toys, blankets, sunglasses and snacks trying to find something to offer her. She wouldn't take anything. Lucy was very determined. She tried to put a toy in Emmy's hand by grabbing her hand and placing it in hers but Emmy hauled off and smacked her. We tried to explain that she was very scared since she didn't know us and Lucy seemed a little disappointed and hurt. I think she thought they would get right to playing. It took about an hour after the caretakers had left for her to accept anything from us. She slowly warmed up cautiously. She liked the playdough and the little puzzle Grandma sent along. So that broke the ice. We all played together on the bed for about an hour and then Lucy passed out on the bed right next to us and we were able to give Emmy a little more individual attention. It went better than we expected. She was very attached to her shoes and glasses. So we let her sleep in her shoes and with her glasses that night. They were a comfort to her so we just went with it.

We are Home!

So we are home safe and sound. The trip home went well. We are all exhausted....of course. It is 3 am and Lucy and I are up. I'm letting her catch up with some episodes of Harold and the Purple Crayon and hopefully we will be off to bed again. Scott and Emmy have been sleeping from 9pm on. I hope this means she likes her new bed. Time will tell.

Most of you are aware that we had no access to this blog in China so I will do my best to update now that we are home. I was really bummed that I couldn't journal our experience on the blog like we did for Lucy. I hope I can recount all of our experiences and emotions accurately.

Our way to Shanghai and then Kunming was a long trip. We were beyond exhausted. I wasn't able to sleep at all. It took us about 36 hours in all to get to our destination. Lucy was a real trooper. She slept for short amounts of time and then would get rudely awakened by the turbulence. It was a bumpy ride. The picture of her on my lap is in the Shanghai airport. We still had about 9 hours to go at that point. We had to sit at the Shanghai airport for about 6 hours. While we waited the staring began. It didn't help that Lucy fell and smacked her head. She of course had a huge lump. It took forever to get ice and then she promptly fell asleep. SO my nerves were a wreck at this point. When you start letting your imagination get the best of you it's no good. Then we had to fly for 2 more hours and got picked up at the airport by our guide Jerry. When we arrived at our hotel we all fell asleep but Lucy got up 3 hours later. IT was a little rough but we made it.

We leave in 24 hours!

So I guess the robin outside our bedroom window this morning felt that I needed to update everyone on how we are doing 24 hours before we leave. Never mind the fact that we were up way too late. But, the bags are packed! Other than a few last minute things we are as ready as we will ever be. I had a slight panic attack about all of the things that are out of our control yesterday. The fact that we will be traveling all day Friday/Saturday (in China) and then getting Emmy on Sunday makes me excited and FREAKED OUT all at the same time. Since we have Lucy to consider this time, I'm worried how she will be doing at this point in our trip, along with a million other things that us sick perfectionists worry about. I know, I know, all I need to remember is, He lead us to it, He will lead us through it. Not that easy to remember and be convinced of it all of the time.

I hope that Emmy is in a safe place this morning/night and that by some miracle she will be comforted by us when we meet her. I pray that Lucy will cope with all of the changes that are about to occur in her little world. Even though she has completely amazed me so far. Just a little note about our " Big sister". She has loaded Emmy's bed up with the suffed animals she is sharing with her. She has been bringing me things we need to pack and will say "Take to China". Like her play dough packed into a little bag that she spend 15 minutes tying up. And then while at Walmart, the fact that she nearly filled the entire cart with toys, sippy cups and clothes all for Emmy she would say " Yeah that Emmy, it little, she need." I am amazed at how much she is thinking of her little sister. Still not so sure what she is truly understanding but, it seems like a lot. She also said the other night, while trying to prolong going to bed. " I get up, let's go to China now, get Emmy" . Yeah lets!

So good-bye to life as we know it. Bring on the next adventure!