Guangzhou days China posts #5

Monday, we started out stuffed again and headed out with the Pollards and David and Esther to the Zoo. David is from Guangzhou and knows where to go and what to do! He got us tickets to a show with performing seals and dolphins and clowns, like Sea World. It was great…

 (and someone's cheeks are already a bit fuller than a few days ago… (wink!))

 The seals were trained to catch rings and fetch and clap and walk on their hands…and the dolphin showed off too.

After the show, we went into the aquarium where they had so many fish!  Lots of tanks, and lots of fish in every tank... tanks look like China....very crowded!  ha.  They have this weird thing where some fish drink out of a bottle.. drink milk. Not kidding. You can guess how many times I had to tell Avery not to stick her finger in the water. 

Here are the "bottle fish"… or "milk fish"… look at how many are in that tank.

Samuel loved everything. Naturally, he is very unsure, very cautious and mostly looks all around, studying everything and everyone. He wants to be just like the big kids... he obviously has never been up stairs before, but with a little prompting from the PT on the trip (wink!), he was going up and down like a champ. He began to get frustrated when I continued making him hold my hand! He will be gutsy, I can tell, in time. 

Silas and the snow monster in the aquarium… because that makes sense with tropical fish… hmm. Maybe he went with the sea lions. 

 There are games everywhere in China.  Here we are rolling down tennis balls into holes (think Plinko from the Price is Right). Didn't know we were playing for a prize…

(the stairs…)

 The prize:  a fish or three or four, of course!

 Loot for everyone.

 We did convince them that they couldn't go on the airplane, so Mr. David took them home for his 5 year old boy.

The zoo was great. Again, so many animals in each exhibit... fitting.  Then it started pouring rain. We had brought umbrellas just in case, but of course still got soaked. We stopped for a snack and then continued on anyway. Actually, I think I was drier today with the rain than yesterday because it was much cooler!  Samuel fell flat asleep in the stroller and we drove back to the hotel.

Kids are napping now as I type - before we head to supper. The other family wanted to go to Subway and McDonalds in the mall across the street, but we will go back to the noodle and dumpling place David took us to Sunday night.  We can't believe we only have 3 more "sleeps" before we head HOME! 

Samuel is adjusting seemingly very well. He is very comfortable in the room with us, and really goofy and fun. He is understandably more reserved in public but is doing little things daily, opening up more and more, like an onion...layer by layer. We know this will take time but are so thankful he adores Silas and Avery...and they adore him. He is sleeping so well (knock on wood!), and eating everything we let him eat. Seriously, he will eat until we get him up from the chair, then he will cry for a little while until we can distract him. He will catch up in no time!

Tuesday was the Consulate Appointment. Sounds crazy, but standing on US soil in China was pretty neat. Our appointment was at 10am. We ate THE breakfast again, then headed out about 9. Esther kept Silas and Avery with the 3 Pollard boys at the hotel to minimize chaos (which turned out to be a great decision!).  We went through all kinds of security, waited in line, took an oath, and that was about it.  We were not allowed any cell phones or cameras, hence no pictures.  I asked for a copy of Samuel's medical report and they gave me one (since the doctor spoke such little English) that was somewhat translated. We headed back to the hotel, grabbed lunch and enjoyed a low-key afternoon. 

Wednesday, we went to a local park (HUGE!) and walked up more steps (only about 500 this time) to see statues of 4 goats. It meant something about history of Guangzhou... honestly, I remember very little - we were so hot and slightly tired:-)  

That afternoon, as promised (for each previous 12 days we were there), we went swimming. The pictures say it all. Such fun. 

That's a new belly, right there above...

And, of course, this one is a keeper. Boy, does she make my heart smile and laugh! 

Samuel was cautious at first, but then wanted in the water just like the big kids. He "jumped" off the side over and over and over…. this boy will be fearless.  Pretty stinking cute too: 

You can begin to see his little playful personality in this picture!