Another two days go by....

Well, yesterday we tried to do the blog and emails, but the computer we were given blocked gmail and blogger. So, today I specifically asked for our same ol' computer from before. Wah-lah... it worked. :-)

Yesterday we had all morning to ourselves, so the four of us toured Shamian Island a little. We visited Jenny's Place, Sherry's Place, Andy's Place and Susan's Place. :) Oh, and also "A Gift From China". These names of businesses crack us up!!

At each store we saw some neat little Chinese trinkets and such. At each new store, I swear the prices went down too! Figures. We found a beautiful scroll painting with the Chinese characters on it that read "Christ is the Lord of our Family" and bought it. Turns out they are a Christian store that is non-profit. Their proceeds benefit orphanages and disabled children. If you plan to be in Guangzhou, I recommend this store. The ladies were very sweet.

We dropped off our laundry at Susan's Place... although the people there were Susie and Dong. Very nice, sociable people... but wouldn't let us leave the store easily. :-) After dropping off the laundry, we returned to Papa John's Pizza. Yes... Papa John's. We have a photo of Grace eating her first pizza (we assume). Then we had a quick rest before meeting up with Elvin and the Tellis family to go apply for Gracelynn's passport. We went to the local police station for that. The only English sign in this place read, "Please be quiet". LOL We were also advised to NOT take photos. It was quick and easy. We also received our adoption certificate from Elvin that day. It's all in Chinese, so we'll just assume it's correct. LOL Tomorrow we'll get the notarized form which is more in English.

After the police station, we went to a local department store for pull-ups, a straw-cup (since Grace seems to like straws best) and some water bottles. Gracelynn quickly found a Cadbury candy roll (chocolate caramel pieces) and clung to it like mad. Wouldn't even give it up for the cashier to scan it. Another saleslady had to go pick up another one to scan! She LOVED them. Ate them continuously until we reached our dinner destination... McDonalds. Yes, we had a very AMERICAN meal day. :-)

You'll never believe this though.... we were waited on at our table with a MENU at McDonalds! It was so wild. Of course when I asked where the bathroom was, there was none. ???? Anyway, Gracelynn loves fries and hamburgers now too. So, she'll be set once we return and join the other kids. And, the food tasted GREAT! For the first time, we finally had really cold soda, too. No diet Coke, but I was happy with icy cold Sprite. Another interesting fact about Mickie Dees.... we all ordered the "medium" size meals... and got American-child-sized-drinks. Bummer. I don't know how Chinese drink in this country... can't drink tap water and only drink small amounts at meals.

When we returned, Dad and I walked back to Susan's Place for our laundry. Dong was waiting for us... waving his arms and all. "Hey Bob, Where's Mike this time?"... he even remembered our names. :-) They had a little chuckle at how hot we were in their store. Just an FYI... it was 98 degrees yesterday and HUMID! That store had very little in the way of A/C and they were wearing pants and long tops. We were in shorts and tees sticking to our skin... and they said this was nothing. In a few months... THAT'S when it gets hot. What??? On my short walk back, I was attacked by mosquitoes. I have YET to see one little mosquito, but I know they exist. My ankles have 10 little bites to prove it... and poor Grace has a bite on her cheek.

We slept okay last night. Mike and Gracelynn slept through the night. Dad and I both had some sleep issues again. I was up at 1am... and then again at 4:52. I've been up ever since. We had our normal HUGE breakfast. Gracelynn loves breakfast... she normally eats bread, french toast, bananas, apples, rice noodles, and apple juice. The girl has an appetite, that's for sure.

After breakfast, we met our group and guide to head to the Temple of the Family Chen. Geesh. It must've reached 100 today. Good golly... we were all hot. Poor Grace did not like it one bit. She threw her little mini tantrums (head back, grunting, looking away from us, hitting anything in sight) a few times. After a bathroom run and a trip back to the bus, she zonked out at the Market we went to. The prices were crazy, so no one bought anything. We ate at a really nice Chinese restaurant. Let's see... today we had wonton wrappers (pork?), beef soup (not pleasant to the eye, but tasted great), some sort of tomatoey chicken, "local vegetable"-which-has-no-English-name and mushrooms, spring rolls, fish patties, pork and veggies, fried rice (which is not like at home, but tastes wonderful here!), cabbage and vegetables and tea. Even I drink the tea here. Again, Grace ate a lot! Ben, Reagan, and Tommy won't know what to do with a sister that'll eat most anything!

We're done for the day now. We plan to go out to eat later. Maybe we'll hit Lucy's again. In case I forgot to mention Lucy's.... it's an American/Chinese eatery. We went late on Wednesday evening. They played the Carpenters the entire time we were there, had photos of American celebrities on the walls with American movie posters, and had American license plates on the walls. Mike and Dad each had a cheeseburger; Gracelynn had grilled cheese; and I had spaghetti with meat sauce. Ahhhhh.....

Tomorrow is a "walking tour" of Shamian Island. Wish us luck that the weather stays COOL. Ha ha ha ha ha.

Christy