Friday Update

I guess I got too busy yesterday or too lazy and didn't post anything...but I think Lori gave you a little update on the orphanage trip. The orphanage was a large two-story rectangular building with a courtyard in the center. We saw a small group of the children with a teacher working with them. A few of them looked out the window at us and smiled. They seemed well taken care of...and were very interactive with the teacher. We also saw some of the real serious special needs children and they make your heart ache... but the orphanage workers were very attentive to them and their needs.

Wanda, Hannah, Lauren and myself went to a Pagoda in the afternoon. Hannah and Lauren went all the way to the top...9 levels up. Four levels was enough for me and I got some great video from there. After we came down, Lauren and Hannah fed goldfish in the lake nearby. The water was churning with hundreds of very large gold fish and Lauren was thrilled ( I'm sure she was secretly wishing for her rod and reel). Lori and the other girls stayed in the room to nap. We have eaten most of our meals in a nice restaurant in the hotel that serves "western" food. (They also play John Denver instrumental music a lot...kind of a hoot when you think about it). Keeping LiLi in the same environment (the hotel) is supposed to be a good thing for her (less stimulus) because as you know toddlers take in everything around them.

LiLi is a very quick learner... she dresses herself...including socks and shoes... and even puts on her own coat AND zips it! One of the times we left her in the bathtub with no toys, she pulled her pants into the tub and washed them by hand very meticulously...wringing and all. (Wow...and in the U.S. we can't even get teenagers to drop them in the washing machine). I think she is bonding very well with both of us... I know we are both completely in love with her. When she has been crying at night, we have often pulled out the stacking cups to cheer her up. Last night at one point Lauren was upset about something and fell down on her bed pouting...LiLi immediately ran and picked up the stacking cups and held them out to Lauren. She also follows Lauren around quite a bit so I guess the sister bonding is working too.

Today we went to an open market that sold everything...plants, flowers, fish, carvings, jade, etc... At one point Wanda was bargaining with a man for jewelry and Hannah jumped in the middle of it ( she thought he was overcharging) she told Wanda not to make any offers without asking her first. To us, everything seems very inexpensive...but nothing is price marked and often the street vendor ups the price considerably for the "rich American". Tomorrow we fly to Guangzhou and the White Swan Hotel... we can't wait to get there... our rooms here have been hot the whole time...not enough air conditioning. Hopefully, we will have a computer in the room there too...if not, we will try to do updates from their business center. Most of the paperwork is done now...we just need travel visas. Rick