Our journey: Eleventh Day

It’s hard to believe that today is already Saturday! I remember when we first arrived I thought the stay was going to be so long- boy was I wrong! It has been GREAT! What an amazing trip this has been. We’ll be checking out of our room today at 4:00 PM and then Peter will pick us up at 7:00 PM to take us to the airport. Our flight leaves Guangzhou at 10:45 PM and arrives in Hong Kong at 11:45 PM and then we have a long layover (10 plus hours)! We’ll depart Hong Kong on Sunday at 10:45 AM for the 16 hour flight. Then we have a five hour layover in Newark. All said and done (and with no delays) it will take us about 38 hours of being in airports and airplanes before we land in Raleigh! I hope Kate is a good traveler like Brennan!!!

The sleepover- look how they are sleeping. J

Eating ice cream and relaxing

We had a nice and relaxing Friday. All four kids woke up at the same time at 7:10 AM. We decided to eat breakfast together and then they all came back to our room to finish the movie from the night before and to play a little. Leigh had another appointment, so the kids were happy to stay with us. After playing in the room for awhile, I took them all to the Swan Room to play for a bit. Kate loves it in there!

After Leigh came back, I decided to give Kate and Brennan a little quiet time so the three of us walked to a few stores and got ice cream. Back at the room, Brennan watched a short movie and we ate lunch in the room. At about 2:00 PM we met up with Leigh and her kids at the pool and swam for the next three hours! Kate took a short nap out by the pool and so did their new baby.

Our favorite statue in the park

We were all hungry so we agreed to the kids pleading to eat dinner together. We went to a delicious place next to our hotel and sat outside by the Pearl River. It is beautiful at night with lights everywhere! We had a great dinner, but I was a little sad at the end when they overcharged me and got angry at me for bringing it up… then they brought me the wrong change. I let the shortage in change go since it was only a few dollars. I hate being taken advantage of though! After dinner we let the kids play in the park. Kate was running around and then would stop and yell, “momma”. When I’d answer she’d squeal and come running back to me. She loved the game she made up until a few dogs came running through barking at each other. She jumped into my arms and yelled at the dogs in Chinese. I think she’s a little afraid of dogs- I wonder what she’ll do when she meets Zamboni?!!!

We all stopped at a few more shops on the way back to the hotel and ended up buying all the kids red Chinese Outfits for a picture on the red couch at the hotel. We’ll take the picture tomorrow.

The kids talked me into another sleepover since Leigh and the kids will be gone all day on Saturday, so it was their last chance to be together. Midway through the night Brennan crawled into bed with Kate and myself. It was a little cozy and I woke up often with a foot or elbow in my face, but I LOVED every second of it!!!

One of our favorite shopkeepers, Jordan

Notice Kate is still eating her ice cream

Brennan has truly enjoyed China! We were surprised that only two people so far could tell that Brennan is Korean. Everyone else thinks he’s Chinese and will often squeeze his cheeks or rub his head. They LOVE him here! Many people also go up to him and start talking to him in Chinese. He just shakes his head and explains that he speaks only English. He’s amazed me with how well he’s handled all the attention. Two years ago it would have truly freaked him out. He’s grown up so much and is so much more confident! He’s also found a girlfriend on this trip. Leigh and I are pretty sure we saw Jessica and Brennan holding hands and Aiden reported that they kissed (on the cheek). Leigh took the cutest pictures of them sitting next to each other at dinner… she’ll send me a copy and I’ll make sure to post it. We think it’s cute since they are still so innocent and sweet.

Kate has been doing great! The zoo day she was happy and cheerful all day but yesterday she had two “moments”… I know she was tired and I’m sure she gets so frustrated with the language issues. She always cheers up and then apologizes in her cute manner. She is so funny and animated and is full of personality!