ahhhhh...Guangzhou

We left our hotel in Zhengzhou at 5:45 am on Saturday morning to catch an early flight to Guangzhou. It was definitely time! And it came not a moment too soon: when housekeeping did the required room check before we could check out, they told us that they had seen our girls carrying power converters out of the room with their things, and that we needed to replace them! WHAT??? Hello--we dont' have anything that needs a power converter with us, and why on earth would the girls want to take that??? If they were going to take something from a hotel, it sure wouldn't be a power converter we can't use in the US! It was amazing how quickly they decided that the staff must be mistaken when I offered to let them check our luggage... OY! I don't have any need to visit Zhengzhou again any time soon (maybe ever??). :(

Our flight was uneventful (except for the lovely dancing flight attendants and the in-flight exercise class) and we arrived in Guangzhou to heat and humidity. Drippy humidity--like about 1000% humidity. Or at least that's what it feels like here.... We went immediately to Shamian Island (where our hotel is located) and took Logan for a medical exam and visa picture. THose things must be completed so that we can do our consulate appointment tomorrow morning. THen we checked in to our hotel. It's AWESOME! The rooms are large and lovely, and very comfortable. I think the Victory Annex wins the award for best hotel on this trip. :) We're very happy here. When we adopted Ryan, we didn't stay on Shamian Island, which is where most adoptive families stay. We really didn't visit the island at all, except for the medical exam and visa picture. We missed out!! This place is amazing. We are loving it here. Not so much that we want to stick around longer, but it's definitely a great place. Our guide is awesome too, and very competent. Connie won the girls' hearts right away when she offered to take them (and the rest of us, too) shopping tomorrow afternoon. Can you feel the excitement?? It's flowing in the room next door...

Today we visited the wildlife safari. It was fun, and Logan loved it! Connie said he speaks very clearly and is obviously quite intelligent, given his very inquisitive nature. She was impressed. After the last day or two, that was such a treat to hear! Today was a much better day overall for him, too. He's finally put together that the signs we've been trying to teach him actually mean something, and he's begun using them correctly. He took a ride on Daddy's shoulders and did well. He played on the playground with Daddy and Ryan and didn't flip out that I wasn't there. He rode on Hailey's shoulders adn let the girls swing him around while we walked. Those are huge steps forward. He still gets very whiny if he can't have exactly what he wants from me immediately, but progress is being made. It's much easier to like him when he's not screaming all the time... :)

Last night we had a treat, too. A gal from Portland, Oregon, who is waiting for her referral from China using the same agency we used for Ryan was in Guangzhou on business. Kelli and I have emailed back and forth over the last few months, and she came by to visit yesterday afternoon! That was such fun!! I loved meeting her and visiting with her, and I think she had fun too. She got to see our crew in action, and maybe decided that 5 children is a bit much. :) I'm glad she came by and will definitely look her up the next time we head south. And she'd better email when she's up our direction, too!

No pics tonight--the connection is slower than dirt--but I do have a couple of prayer requests for you. I have a sinus infection, probably from the combination of being sick when I left, the air pollution, and the constant air conditioning. I started taking Zithromax today, so hopefully I'll feel better before we fly home. Prayers appreciated that way! Ryan's feeling quite crummy too; probably the same thing. I don't have antibiotics for him, so pray that we can find something to help him get better before we get on the plane. I have some options, but so far I'm striking out... Also, Logan's had some tummy issues, and because communication isn't the greatest we've ended up with some real messes. I think learning and understanding the sign for "potty" will help tremendously! In the meantime, pray that we'll have an "eventless" remaining few days and flight home. I can think of few things worse that a child with diarrhea on an airplane for 13 hours... Plus, we don't have the clean clothes for that!!

Thanks for the notes and the prayers. We'll post again a few times, I'm sure, before we head home on Wednesday. And I promise loads of pics once we get home and can use the computer there. It'll be so much quicker. Thanks for your patience!

And one last thing: HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEC! SPECIAL WISHES COMING YOUR WAY FROM CHINA! LOVE YOU BUNCHES.