HOME!

It was hard to believe at 8:15 this morning as our plane landed in Seattle that we had left Guangzhou China at 8:20 Wednesday morning!! The travel felt relentless, and yet we made it. Logan did great--he slept about 90 minutes on our first flight. He did have a huge meltdown as we approached Tokyo, mostly because he was disoriented and wanted to sit on my lap but couldn't because of the turbulence. It wasn't pretty, but we survived. Ryan also napped on the Guangzhou-Tokyo leg, then both boys ate cookies and ran around for a while at Narita airport. Then we boarded yet another plane, this time headed HOME. Logan fussed a bit, then slept nearly 4 hours of the flight. Perfect for the little boy who was headed into an unfamiliar situation. Ryan was very good but had trouble getting too tired. He finally fell asleep the last hour or so of the flight. We cleared Immigration--Logan is now a US citizen--and gathered our bags to go through customs. Then we headed over to baggage claim where Grandma and Grandpa were waiting to meet their newest grandson.

Now, 5 loads of laundry, 4 showers, a trip to the grocery for some staples and a new pair of shoes for Logan, I am so glad to be here!! Jim and the boys are napping; Emily just went to bed for a bit. I am up after a 2 hour nap, feeling quite a bit better. The girls visited school for lunch but are glad to be home the rest of the day. We have some wonderful friends providing dinner tonight, so I don't have to think at all. Logan's handling all the change very well; eating grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup with gusto and trying new english words every time I hear him. He's going to be a great fit here!

Some thoughts about our trip that I wrote sitting at Narita airport in Tokyo:

Some things I won’t miss:

The horrible stench of the public bathrooms. Every visit with Ryan became a race—could he empty his bladder before his stomach emptied itself?? I think his stomach only won once, but it was not a race any of us enjoyed…

Brushing my teeth with bottled water. There’s something awful about using bottled water to brush your teeth. Somehow, when I was finished, I always felt like my teeth weren’t clean yet.

Feeling dirty, even right after a shower. Washing up in water that smells vaguely of sewer gasses makes it hard to feel clean. Ever.

Humidity. I can’t wait to walk outside and feel like I have at least a few minutes before I’m dripping with sweat…that doesn’t go away. Plus, I don’t really enjoy the “damp” feeling of sheets and clothes when I put them on. And being able to be someplace without continual air conditioning sounds heavenly.

Air you can see. The air has improved since we were here last, but it’s still pretty gross. Visibility was low—probably about ½ mile much of the trip. We had only one clear day the whole time, and it was lovely. The rest of the time you couldn’t see the buildings down the street much less the sky or the sun. Not a fun way to spend 2 weeks.

Eating out. As much as I love to eat out on occasion, 3 meals a day for 2 weeks is a bit much. I’m ready for my own kitchen, and am even excited about going to the grocery store.

Living out of a suitcase, and doing laundry in the bathroom sink. Hotel rooms are great, but they really aren’t designed for long term living with 2 three year olds. I think I’ve decided that my washing machine can be my new best friend. J

Cup of noodles. Because there were 7 of us, we went the “cheap” route and ate cup of noodles from the store every day for lunch. Can’t beat feeding 7 for about $5 or less…but if I NEVER see another cup of noodles it will be fine…

Some things I WILL miss:

Great Chinese food. We had some excellent Chinese food in Beijing and one afternoon outside Zhengzhou. This trip didn’t have as many good places to eat as the last time, and I really missed the food. But the good places—yummy! Those will definitely be missed, and “American” Chinese food leaves something to be desired…

The people we traveled with. We had the most incredible travel group in Beijing! It was so much fun to spend time with other families adopting special needs kids. Even though we weren’t a “group” because we used a different agency than the other families, we missed them while we were in Zhengzhou and were happy to meet up with them again in Guangzhou. And the CHI families we traveled with…incredible! Pete and Jess kept us in stitches much of the time, and Julie and Dave were a great addition to our group once we got to Guangzhou. We will miss you all.

The opportunity to spend time with Logan in HIS country. It was much harder to leave this time because he is leaving so much more behind that Ryan did. But, it gives me the chance to look forward to taking those two boys back to China some day, when they are old enough to appreciate the beauty of their native country.

The best of the trip:

Best hotel: Victory Annex, Guangzhou. The room was incredible! We had space galore and HEATED TOWELS!! Nearly perfect.

Best shower: Zhengzhou, no doubt. I don’t’ like wimpy showers, and showers that can’t keep the water at a single temperature don’t thrill me either. Zhengzhou was awesome—lots of water pressure, and good hot water too.

Best food: Beijing. No questions asked. Our guide took us for incredible meals every day, and the Chinese food was awesome. It was fun to watch Ryan learning to use chopsticks, too. He got quite proficient.

Best breakfast buffet: Tie between Beijing and Zhengzhou. While the Victory hotel was nice, the breakfast buffet did leave something to be desired…

Best shopping: Guangzhou. Shamian Island, to be specific. The girls had a heyday buying souvenirs from this trip, and we all brought home some pretty amazing things. It was fun to have nearly everything within walking distance of the hotel.

Best sightseeing: Beijing. Hands down. But it’s pretty hard to compare to the Great Wall and the other things we saw there.

Best experience: Having the girls and Ryan with us on this trip. I am so thrilled that we were able to bring them. God provided abundantly for all our needs, and we are so grateful. Their help was invaluable and the time with them was irreplaceable.