Eighth Day

Kate organizing her clothes drawer

Our Tuesday -

Early morning for us again!  We had a GREAT day though!  After breakfast we were lazy in our room for awhile but decided to take a walk when the cleaning people came.  We were going to try to walk around the island but ended up only going about 3/4^th of the way because we kept stopping and it got too hot. 

Pictures from the park… I wish the pictures could truly convey how cool it was!  011 was the group singing

We started by walking through the park which is right next door to our hotel.  The park was so busy with people doing activities everywhere and lots of music.  There was a radio playing music for Tai Chai groups, there was a large group of people singing all together farther in the park, there were smaller groups of people dancing, there were groups of people playing cards…  It was so cool to stop and watch!  We enjoyed watching everyone but especially the groups playing shuttlecock (which is similar to hackeysack).  Brennan tried playing with a few of the people and loved it, so we bought him one and then farther in the park bought him a second one (he is the child of “two”- he always needs the back up one).  J 

The park leads to the path that goes along  the Pearl River and then to the canal.  There were people swimming, doing laundry, and fishing with nets.  The people swimming had floats that they had made which were tiny.  It truly didn’t seem like it would hold anyone afloat but they worked.  Brennan was very impressed that they used recycled materials in such a cool way!  We spent a lot of time watching all the activity.  Kate was happy to sit in her stroller and draw.  She is so happy to be out and about and when she has had enough she “closes up shop” as Brennan and I call it. She pulls down the weather protector and disappears into her “fort”.  Whenever we peek, she is smiling and happy as can be!

We stopped in an air conditioned store to cool off and get a few more snacks for our room and then headed back to the hotel.  We were soooo hot!  We changed into our suits and went to the pool which is one of our favorite places to be.  It started raining after about an hour, so we headed back to the room to eat lunch.  We had fun watching the rain from our fifteenth floor window and watching everyone running around outside. 

Peter, our guide, called us and brought a few more papers that we’ll need for our consulate appointment.  We talked for awhile and he was excited to tell me that he has some pictures of Kate on his camera!  He had visited her orphanage back in February or March to check on a different child for a family but totally remembers Kate and being enthralled with her!  He had actually looked into her status to see if perhaps he could adopt her… but was happy to find out that another family already had their paperwork in for her.  He’s going to e-mail me the pictures- I can’t wait!!!

Brennan’s friends called after awhile and the storm cleared up, so we headed back to the pool to meet them.  After about two more hours of swimming, we needed to run a few errands before we met Peter again at 5:00 PM.  We ran and picked up our laundry, made a quick copy in the business center of a form I need for tomorrow, and ran to the Deli to get some dinner.  Peter called around 5:00 PM and so we met him in the lobby.  He is now working with four families, including us.  There is another family from Raleigh working with West Sands!  We didn’t have much time to talk, but we exchanged information and will try to catch up soon.   There was also a family that just picked up their precious daughter only an hour earlier.  It’s a mom traveling with her ten year old daughter (Jessica), seven year old son (Aiden), and now her new one year old daughter.  Her husband had to go to Iraq only a few days earlier.  They truly looked worn out, so after talking with Peter, checking paperwork, etc.  I offered to take the two older kids and grab Subway for them for dinner.  The mom was very happy to have a little help!  So we walked to Subway and then took the kids to our room to eat and play for a little bit.  Brennan’s other two friends called and so they also came to play for awhile.  So in our small hotel room, we had six kids playing!  It was fun!  After Jessica and Aiden got picked up, Brennan, Seth, and Eli played with Legos.  Brennan was sad to see them leave because they are headed back to America now.  It makes him feel a little better that Jessica and Aiden will be around to play with for the next few days!

Kate loved all the commotion and played so nicely.  She especially loved Jessica!

We’re off to our consulate appointment tomorrow!  I’m excited!!!!

I still have more pictures to upload from her post, just not enough time this evening. I will get them up as soon as I can - Wendy