Last Full Day in Guangzhou

Today is our last full day in Guangzhou.  So far we've had a huge breakfast (as we do every day here, with the awesome buffet!), played in the playroom, sent off another batch of laundry, and are now sitting in the room for awhile.  After Caylie has a nap (read: after we TRY and HOPE for Caylie to have a nap) we will go down to the pool for awhile.  She hated the pool in Nanchang, but she likes it most of the time here.  Our guide will go back to the consulate this afternoon and pick up Caylie's visa.  

Tomorrow we will take a van to Hong Kong at about noon.  It's supposed to be a 2 1/2 hour ride, so hopefully it won't be any longer than that!  

We have enjoyed our time here, and there are many adoptive parents in this hotel, including a couple of families that I have talked to in Facebook adoption groups over the past several months.  Very fun to meet them at last, with their little ones.  Hopefully I can get some photos of us together before we all leave!

Caylie is doing well, although we have our rough moments.  It kind of looks like she has rarely been told "no".  She can throw a doozy of a tantrum if she does not get her way!  But she is getting better and learning what is expected.  Most of the time she is happy, and laughs and plays with us, and goes with the flow, whatever we're doing.  She is starting to allow us to kiss and hug her, instead of screeching and hitting when we try to show her any affection.  Please pray that we will have wisdom with all of this.  We don't want to push her into accepting affection that she's not ready for, and yet we want her to know that we love her and will not stop pursuing her!

Yesterday we had our consulate appointment at the U.S. Embassy.  Jim and I had to stand and swear an oath on behalf of Caylie.  However, Caylie saw what we were doing, and also stood and raised her right hand.  It was very cute.  Too bad we were not allowed cameras in that room!  Here were are standing in the main lobby of the consulate.

Caylie in the hotel room.

 And Justin being Justin.  :)

Haha . . . I just found this one.  This girl worked at one of the Chinese restaurants in Nanchang, and took a serious liking to Keelan the first night we were there.  She came right up to him and started talking to him in Chinese, then asked our guide if he spoke any Chinese.  When she found out he did not, she just kept smiling at him.  The next night we went back to the same place, and she was very happy to take a photo with him!  Too bad it came out blurry; it was very cute.

Around the hotel . . .

We've just been hanging around the hotel the last couple of days, and exploring the neighborhood a bit.  Which reminds me, I still need to write a post about Guangzhou.  I'll get to it eventually!  Here are a few pictures from today.

Caylie loves the hotel playroom!  She kept locking herself out of this castle, so Justin had to keep going over the top to let her in.

Big brothers are nice to have sometimes.  :)

Girlfriend LOVES raisins!  I had brought some with me on the plane and discovered that she liked them.  The funny thing was trying to get our guide to understand what they were when we were at the store!  We found them eventually!

Playing with cute friends Bennett and Beka-Joy at the pool.

Studying the poolside menu.

Justin being silly.

Tomorrow morning we will have our Consulate Appointment at the U.S. Embassy and on Thursday our guide will pick up Caylie JiuChang's visa.  When we land in San Francisco on Monday, she will become an American citizen.

Random Photos of the Day!

Today we went to Shamian Island, where we bought some fun souveniers and keepsakes for Caylie.  Interesting taking a taxi!  When we got back we played in the pool, and this time Caylie loved it.  Very surprising since she hated it at the pool in Nanchang!  I'll try to get some pics of her at the pool over the next couple of days.  Here are some photos of the day:

 Justin in the hotel room, doing what he does.

 The White Swan Hotel on Shamian Island, which apparently has been completely gutted and is covered with this green construction stuff.

Amy's Place, a tiny little shop jam packed with merchandise, where we bought several items.  These pictures were on the outside, including a picture of Jesus. 

 Keelan and his friend Bryce modeling hats.

Some interesting things that Keelan found.

 Caylie at the island.

 Buildings on the island.

Justin at Starbucks on the island.

 I have seen so many adoptive parents post photos of their children with these little statues.  But Caylie did not like them at all, so our photo is of her standing there fussing about it, haha.

 Keelan and Justin at the island.

 This is from last night, but I couldn't get the photo then.  We ate at a Mexican restaurant with our friends the Wongs.  Yummy!  Well, not as yummy as Mexican at home, but that night in China it was yummy!

And tonight we ate Italian!  Hee hee.

Keelan is growing his hair out .

So, funny story.  Last night I was trying to find a church service to go to today.   In the Garden Hotel's book of amenities, they list a "religious service" and it says to call for more information. So I call. They ask what kind of service I'm looking for. I say a Christian service. She asks me to repeat that. She asks me to spell it. She goes off to talk to someone else three times, and then patches me through to the concierge. The concierge has no idea what a Christian service is, either. So I said thank you and hung up.

Sigh. 

Last day in Nanchang, First day in Guangzhou

Yesterday we said goodbye to Caylie JiuChang's province and the hotel where she'd come to us and our guide Shirley, who had been so great.  I was very sad to leave there.

Caylie getting a ride on the luggage.

The lobby of the Galactic Peace Hotel.  Caylie began to feel like this was "home", and would smile and shout every time we came back from an outing and into this lobby.

Some goofy pics while we were waiting for our driver.

Caylie and Keelan listening to music.

The Altmans with our guide, Shirley.

 When we got to the airport, Caylie was determined to wear her own backpack.

She threw a serious tantrum over having to have a seatbelt on, and then fell asleep.  Yeah, we're really looking forward to the l-o-n-g flight and the carseat when we get home. . . 

So now we are in Guangzhou.  I will write a separate post about that in a day or two.

Today we went for the medical exams.  There were many, many adoptive families there.  Caylie did well, except for the TB test.  It went much better than I expected.

They had Christmas decorations hanging on at least two of the doors in the medical offices.  Maybe they think Americans just really like Christmas?

Jim got a few shots of the medical office.

And when you are finished with the medical exams, you may need some alcohol.  (We did not.  Hee hee.)  This vending machine was on the way out.

Keelan and his friend Bryce in the hotel pool.

 OK . . . we are having trouble getting the rest of today's pictures in.  More tomorrow!