The Garden Hotel in Guangzhou was really nice. The nicest hotel I've ever stayed in by far. We didn't arrive until after midnight, but even then the bellboys and the manager, they were all very nice and welcoming. There was a restaurant/bar in the lobby and it was so loud with music. I couldn't believe Kailin slept through it all. Our awesome guide, Jack, got us upgraded to a suite, which was SO nice to have a little room to spread out and made it more comfy as we were already so homesick and sick of living in hotels.
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| our "living room" - it was so nice to be able to be up in here after Kailin went to bed |
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| rainhead shower.....I want one! |
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| the view from our window |
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| the view from our window |
Saturday:
After not getting up to our room and to bed until around 1 am, we were up early to get ready, eat breakfast and meet our guide in the lobby at 8:30. We had do go to a place to get Kailin's picture taken for her citizenship paperwork and have her medical tests done. The US requires every immigrant to pass a medical exam before coming to America, but our guide said we should feel lucky because they require a much more extensive medical if it isn't an adoption. They just did things they would do at a basic physical here: height, weight, check in mouth and nose and ears and eyes, feel their belly, listen to their heart and lungs, etc. The worst part for Kailin was when they had to do a TB test because she is over the age of 2. They took her from us into an examination room all by herself and shut the door. Everyone seemed to think this was a great idea but Chris and I. They had to do some kind of blood draw and then they brought her out to us and she was crying, but we were right there to hold her and give her a sucker!!
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| there was a liquor vending machine outside the medical office - I was a little worried why that would be needed. Fortunately for us, something like this wasn't warranted!! |
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| All done! She did great! |
On the way home from the medical Kailin fell asleep and so when we got back to our hotel room we just laid her down and she stayed asleep for quite a while! Chris also got a nap and I got a nice quiet break. We just ate a snack lunch in our room and when Kailin got up and had something to eat, we went and walked around the city a little bit. We looked at what restaurants were around us and then we walked down to the 5-level grocery store (which also had clothes and TV's and bedding, etc) and got some bottled water.
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| the grocery store/clothing store/electronics store |
After that we took Kailin to the playroom they had at our hotel and explored the gardens at our hotel.
For dinner, we went out to a Thai restaurant called the Banana Leaf. It was really good (we ended up going back again!)! Restaurants in China are weird. The waiters don't pay much attention to you. You don't get service immediately. They basically hang back until you motion for them to come over and take your order, get you a drink, bring your bill, etc. It was very hard to get used to. You also don't tip in Chinese restaurants, it's considered rude. The tip is included in the price of the meal, which is really amazing considering the menu items are much cheaper there than the same thing would be here.
After dinner when we were back at the hotel, my phone started wigging out, I was getting all these error messages that people were leaving the network and then my phone just shut off. It was scary, I thought someone had hacked my phone. I was taking pictures when it happened and I was so worried I had lost all my pictures, but after I was able to get a hold of T-Mobile, they were able to retrieve all but the last 2 days for me!!
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| Daddy and Kailin looked at the koi fish |
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| family selfie (this was right before my phone wigged out!) |
Sunday:
Sunday was very laid back and easy. It was a nice change from the prior two days where our schedules were messed up and Kailin was tired and fussy and way off her schedule. In the morning after breakfast we took a walk around the hotel gardens and up and down a little outside our hotel. We even walked up and down the hallways in our hotel - just anything to not have to sit in the hotel room (i.e. we were bored!).
After a light lunch in our room and while Kailin took a nap, Chris and I just rested. At 2:30 we met our guide and the other family we were traveling with to go over some paperwork for our upcoming consulate appointment and then we left for Shamian Island for some shopping and dinner! Shamian Island is an old historic place where it seems a lot of people go to hang out. The architecture looks European.
There are lots of shops there that cater to tourists and it was fun to look for some souvenirs and get to haggle and find good deals. We had fun buying for our kids and for the people who had helped us watch the kids and the house while we were gone.
The dinner was an authentic Cantonese dinner and it was delicious! We had some eggplant dish that was really good and (Chris' favorite) BBQ pork. While at dinner our guide was telling us a lot about the history of China. From his perspective, communism has gotten way less strict because of the leaders in government currently. Their first Communist leader, Mao, was very strict but since then he admits they are still communist, but it doesn't feel communist in that he feels free to live and work where he wants. (Obviously he doesn't realize he can't be a Christian or doesn't see that as a downside to the communist government)
Monday:
After a light lunch in our room and while Kailin took a nap, Chris and I just rested. At 2:30 we met our guide and the other family we were traveling with to go over some paperwork for our upcoming consulate appointment and then we left for Shamian Island for some shopping and dinner! Shamian Island is an old historic place where it seems a lot of people go to hang out. The architecture looks European.
There are lots of shops there that cater to tourists and it was fun to look for some souvenirs and get to haggle and find good deals. We had fun buying for our kids and for the people who had helped us watch the kids and the house while we were gone.
The dinner was an authentic Cantonese dinner and it was delicious! We had some eggplant dish that was really good and (Chris' favorite) BBQ pork. While at dinner our guide was telling us a lot about the history of China. From his perspective, communism has gotten way less strict because of the leaders in government currently. Their first Communist leader, Mao, was very strict but since then he admits they are still communist, but it doesn't feel communist in that he feels free to live and work where he wants. (Obviously he doesn't realize he can't be a Christian or doesn't see that as a downside to the communist government)
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| In the front of the restaurant, you can pick our your fish for dinner |
Monday:
Kailin was up at 5 am crying, but she got back to sleep fairly easily. It is hard to see her grieve sometimes and know there's nothing we can do as parents but be there for her. However, once I got her back to sleep I was up and couldn't fall back asleep, so I got up and tried to post to Facebook. The internet in Guangzhou and the wi-fi at our hotel was always better and faster in the morning, it got noticeably slower as the day went on. It was practically impossible to use it at night. We would even get kicked off of Skype, which was so sad and hard!
We had nothing on our schedule at all on Monday, we had to wait 48 hours (not counting Sunday) from Kailin's medical until she would be cleared and we could go to our consulate appointment. Chris and I decided that we would go back to Shamian Island on our own to finish up some shopping and just hang out somewhere besides the hotel. It was a really fun morning! We got a few more things for the kids and some stuff for us as well. We found a couple of stores that were Christian stores! They were playing Christian music and selling plaques with verses and stuff. We don't know how they are allowed to do it, but it was really cool.
There was a Starbucks there and it was so yummy and felt so much like home to get a little something!
We got Kailin some squeaky shoes (they are huge in China!) and a new bracelet. I think she loved being spoiled a little bit and she definitely felt very pretty with her own jewelry!
Our guide told us that in China, people get all dressed up in their wedding attire and take all their pictures months ahead of time. Shamian Island must have been a popular place for this because we probably saw 10-15 couples the two days we were there. The brides were absolutely beautiful, it made me think a little of how Kailin might look on her wedding day!
The driver picked us up at 10 and we shopped until 1, when he picked us up again and took us back to the hotel. After we got back to our hotel from Shamian Island, Kailin and I took a nap. After that took Kailin down to the playground at the hotel. She was having fun until another little boy came over to play and Kailin got all selfish and wouldn't let him play on the park, so we had to leave. I get it, her whole life she has either had nothing of her own or what she did have she had to fight for to keep it so another little kid didn't, but it's still frustrating to see that level of selfishness!
We went back up to our room and relaxed a little. That's when we discovered that Kailin likes to dance. There was music on the TV and Kailin was dancing along and having so much fun!
We went back to Banana Leaf for dinner and it was just as delicious again! Kailin was really grumpy when we got there because she was hungry and she wouldn't look at us or play or anything, she just hung over the side of her chair and pouted. As soon as the food came (well not soon, it took a long time) and she ate a little, she perked right back up and was her usual playful self!
When we were getting ready to leave, we noticed all these people standing in the entrance to the mall (Banana Leaf is on the 6th floor of a mall). When we looked outside we realized it was because it was pouring rain. We were across the street from our hotel. We walked around the mall a little bit but it was still raining, so we just decided to brave it and go. We just had to walk to the escalators that go down to the underground subway and then we could use that to go under the street and back to our hotel. We did get wet, but it wasn't too bad. And I'm glad we just decided to go because it poured all night! I guess that's why you see most people in China carry an umbrella with them everywhere, because you never know when it could rain.
It was actually really beautiful and the people there must be really used to it because it didn't seem to stop them much!
Tuesday:
We had our consulate appointment this morning. We had to meet our guide in the lobby at 7:30 and go over to the U.S. consulate with a whole bunch of other adoptive families from different agencies. We mistakenly didn't bring the ergo and I so wish we had. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it took longer than I expected and Kailin was not cooperating. She didn't want to stand in line with us and it was completely packed. Thankfully they had a separate adoption line, but it was still a crazy process with security checks and walking to different places and waiting for our turn....
The whole point of consulate is that when we landed on U.S. soil, Kailin became an instant U.S. citizen! So that part was nice, we didn't have to do anything once home to get her citizenship (like you do with adoption from some other countries).
After the consulate we came back to our room, fed Kailin some cup-o-noodle (her lunch of choice while in China) and laid her down for a nap. She took a good long nap, thankfully! When she woke up, she was acting all kinds of silly, she put on Chris' socks as leggings and her shoes and had a ball making us laugh!
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| Shamian Island when it isn't super crowded |
There was a Starbucks there and it was so yummy and felt so much like home to get a little something!
We got Kailin some squeaky shoes (they are huge in China!) and a new bracelet. I think she loved being spoiled a little bit and she definitely felt very pretty with her own jewelry!
Our guide told us that in China, people get all dressed up in their wedding attire and take all their pictures months ahead of time. Shamian Island must have been a popular place for this because we probably saw 10-15 couples the two days we were there. The brides were absolutely beautiful, it made me think a little of how Kailin might look on her wedding day!
The driver picked us up at 10 and we shopped until 1, when he picked us up again and took us back to the hotel. After we got back to our hotel from Shamian Island, Kailin and I took a nap. After that took Kailin down to the playground at the hotel. She was having fun until another little boy came over to play and Kailin got all selfish and wouldn't let him play on the park, so we had to leave. I get it, her whole life she has either had nothing of her own or what she did have she had to fight for to keep it so another little kid didn't, but it's still frustrating to see that level of selfishness!
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| the elevator doors at our hotel |
We went back up to our room and relaxed a little. That's when we discovered that Kailin likes to dance. There was music on the TV and Kailin was dancing along and having so much fun!
When we were getting ready to leave, we noticed all these people standing in the entrance to the mall (Banana Leaf is on the 6th floor of a mall). When we looked outside we realized it was because it was pouring rain. We were across the street from our hotel. We walked around the mall a little bit but it was still raining, so we just decided to brave it and go. We just had to walk to the escalators that go down to the underground subway and then we could use that to go under the street and back to our hotel. We did get wet, but it wasn't too bad. And I'm glad we just decided to go because it poured all night! I guess that's why you see most people in China carry an umbrella with them everywhere, because you never know when it could rain.
It was actually really beautiful and the people there must be really used to it because it didn't seem to stop them much!
Tuesday:
We had our consulate appointment this morning. We had to meet our guide in the lobby at 7:30 and go over to the U.S. consulate with a whole bunch of other adoptive families from different agencies. We mistakenly didn't bring the ergo and I so wish we had. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it took longer than I expected and Kailin was not cooperating. She didn't want to stand in line with us and it was completely packed. Thankfully they had a separate adoption line, but it was still a crazy process with security checks and walking to different places and waiting for our turn....
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| Kailin got to wear her new squeaky shoes, which she is obviously very happy about! |
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| outside the consulate - that line behind us was NOT the line we had to wait in, thankfully - that was the line for Chinese immigrants wanting to go to the US |
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| outside the consulate - I swear we didn't plan matching outfits |
After the consulate we came back to our room, fed Kailin some cup-o-noodle (her lunch of choice while in China) and laid her down for a nap. She took a good long nap, thankfully! When she woke up, she was acting all kinds of silly, she put on Chris' socks as leggings and her shoes and had a ball making us laugh!
After that we took a walk down to the grocery store again for more water and then met the other family we were traveling with and went to a Mexican restaurant called Tekuila. It was pretty good, as far as Mexican food in China goes!
You can tell I was getting sick of China and even more homesick because the amount of pictures we took these last few days was way less. I was like "been there, done that, got the t-shirt, let's go home now!".
Wednesday:
We went to the zoo this morning with the other family we're traveling with and our guide. It was a nice zoo and not too hot until right at the end. It wasn't necessarily a super exciting outing, but at that point, we were just trying to stay busy and un-bored until we left the next day!
The zoo was nice, it was a zoo. Kailin wasn't too interested in animals, in fact at one point we were at the petting zoo part and she was really scared of the animals. That made me worried she would be scared of Sadie, but I'm happy to report the dog doesn't bother her!!! The bears were my favorite, Chris' favorite was probably the white tiger.
The rest of the day we just hung out while she napped and then went to Pizza Hut for dinner. It was good, about what you would get at a Pizza Hut at home. Kailin liked the spaghetti (big sigh of relief there - she fits in perfect with the other kids!)
After dinner we worked on getting packed up and ready to leave our room the next morning at 5:45 am and put Kailin down early hoping she'd get a little more sleep. Then Chris surprised me with a cake for my birthday. It wasn't my birthday yet, but the next day was and Chris knew that we wouldn't have much time to celebrate and then we'd be exhausted when we finally did get home. It was so sweet of him and it was a delicious cake. Sadly, we had to leave most of it behind as there was no way to take it home.
Goodnight China! (for the last time)
Thursday:
I realize I could have maybe gotten an extra half hour of sleep, but I chose to wake up early and shower and get ready knowing it would be over 24 hours till I was able to be clean again. We all were up and ready on time and the bellhop met us at our room at 5:45 am to take our stuff down to the lobby. Chris checked out while I went and got the "breakfast" the hotel packed up for us. I saw that because unless you like hard boiled eggs, Chinese-style yogurt and croissants, it wasn't much of a breakfast. It was, however, better than the "breakfast" we had at the Hong Kong airport! Needless to say, Kailin ate the most of our breakfasts.
Shortly after it was time to board and we settled in for our 11 hour flight home, this time with a 2-year-old in tow. We weren't sure how she would do. We didn't expect her to sleep much since our bodies all felt like it was daytime and she doesn't sleep much anyway. She mostly put stickers on my magazine and looked through my magazine. She played with her headphones a little and ate some of the food they brought, but she was mostly bored but well-behaved. She didn't cry to get down or try to run around the plane, she was mostly content to sit and wait for the longest plane ride to be over.
At one point she was getting fussy so I put the ergo on and walked up and downand up and down and up and down the airplane aisles to try and get her to fall asleep. She finally did and I finally felt like she was asleep enough I could sit down. I was not even sitting down 10 minutes and a flight attendant walked past and stroked Kailin's cheek saying "how cute". Well, that was the end of that nap. Ugh! I was so mad. The rest of the flight she was awake.
Our flight landed in San Francisco at 8:30 am, which was 10:30 pm China time and it definitely felt like it. We had to go through customs and then we had to wait for Kailin's citizenship paperwork, so we were there a long time. Kailin was SO exhausted and I was wearing her in the ergo, but she just would not go to sleep. She was screaming and crying and nothing worked. So I walked with her around this little waiting area, doing some crying myself as well. Finally they finished our paperwork and we went and got our luggage and then rechecked it for our domestic flight and then went through security again. It was then we realized there was an earlier flight to Denver. We were hoping to get on it, but the lady told us we can't change our flight after we check our luggage (which would have been nice to know before we checked our luggage).
So, we had hours to kill, unfortunately. We got some food, but I wasn't really that hungry because it was the middle of the night to me. Kailin finally did fall asleep after security and stayed asleep until we boarded our next flight. Our next flight I couldn't stay awake any longer. I realize I'm kind of an awful mom for falling asleep when Chris was already asleep and we had a child with us, but I was so tired it like physically hurt. I woke up when we landed and it looked like Kailin had JUST nodded off. I think the rest of the time she had colored in her coloring book. Oh well, too tired to care!
When we got off the plane in Denver, our kids, my parents and a couple of other families were there to greet us. Looking back I wish we had just had our kids there, but thankfully not too many people came and it wasn't too overwhelming. We were very grateful for the support and dedication for some people to show up and welcome us home, but we were so tired, I'm afraid we weren't very grateful and we were so excited to see our kids, everyone else got ignored.
I'm not sure who was more excited to see who at the airport, us or the kids, but we were definitely ready to all be together as a family again! We were blessed by a local photographer who came to the airport and took our homecoming pictures, these are incredible to have and I'm so glad she offered to do it for us!
Ironically, United lost one piece of our luggage between San Francisco and Denver, so they had to bring it to us the next day. Thankfully none of our luggage was ever lost in China or anything though, that would have been very stressful!
On the way home, we stopped at Chik-fil-A for dinner. Kailin didn't make it all the way home!
It never really felt like my birthday, but it was the best present ever to be home again and be all together as a family again. It's definitely a birthday I will never forget!
Someone was throwing popcorn down to this bear from the bridge above (a guest, not a worker) and he was so cute sitting up for it and eating every piece he was thrown.
While we were gone, the kids teased us that they got a red cockatoo, so we took this picture to ask if their bird looked anything like these. We got this answer: "it looks like the white bird, only red"! Haha, silly kids!
The rest of the day we just hung out while she napped and then went to Pizza Hut for dinner. It was good, about what you would get at a Pizza Hut at home. Kailin liked the spaghetti (big sigh of relief there - she fits in perfect with the other kids!)
After dinner we worked on getting packed up and ready to leave our room the next morning at 5:45 am and put Kailin down early hoping she'd get a little more sleep. Then Chris surprised me with a cake for my birthday. It wasn't my birthday yet, but the next day was and Chris knew that we wouldn't have much time to celebrate and then we'd be exhausted when we finally did get home. It was so sweet of him and it was a delicious cake. Sadly, we had to leave most of it behind as there was no way to take it home.
Goodnight China! (for the last time)
Thursday:
I realize I could have maybe gotten an extra half hour of sleep, but I chose to wake up early and shower and get ready knowing it would be over 24 hours till I was able to be clean again. We all were up and ready on time and the bellhop met us at our room at 5:45 am to take our stuff down to the lobby. Chris checked out while I went and got the "breakfast" the hotel packed up for us. I saw that because unless you like hard boiled eggs, Chinese-style yogurt and croissants, it wasn't much of a breakfast. It was, however, better than the "breakfast" we had at the Hong Kong airport! Needless to say, Kailin ate the most of our breakfasts.
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| up bright and early and HEADED HOME!!!! |
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| crossing the Pacific Ocean |
We decided to fly out of Hong Kong to go home because we could get a direct flight to San Francisco. The only downside was that we had to leave Guangzhou super early to drive 3-4 hours to Hong Kong and have enough time to check in for our 11:30 am flight. Luckily, the traffic wasn't bad and we made it to the airport in plenty of time. After checking in and going through security and customs and all that, we had time to get the aforementioned "breakfast". It wasn't great, not bad just not the birthday breakfast I expected or would have chose. Chris was so sweet to go get me a coffee from McDonalds instead.
At one point she was getting fussy so I put the ergo on and walked up and down
Our flight landed in San Francisco at 8:30 am, which was 10:30 pm China time and it definitely felt like it. We had to go through customs and then we had to wait for Kailin's citizenship paperwork, so we were there a long time. Kailin was SO exhausted and I was wearing her in the ergo, but she just would not go to sleep. She was screaming and crying and nothing worked. So I walked with her around this little waiting area, doing some crying myself as well. Finally they finished our paperwork and we went and got our luggage and then rechecked it for our domestic flight and then went through security again. It was then we realized there was an earlier flight to Denver. We were hoping to get on it, but the lady told us we can't change our flight after we check our luggage (which would have been nice to know before we checked our luggage).
So, we had hours to kill, unfortunately. We got some food, but I wasn't really that hungry because it was the middle of the night to me. Kailin finally did fall asleep after security and stayed asleep until we boarded our next flight. Our next flight I couldn't stay awake any longer. I realize I'm kind of an awful mom for falling asleep when Chris was already asleep and we had a child with us, but I was so tired it like physically hurt. I woke up when we landed and it looked like Kailin had JUST nodded off. I think the rest of the time she had colored in her coloring book. Oh well, too tired to care!
When we got off the plane in Denver, our kids, my parents and a couple of other families were there to greet us. Looking back I wish we had just had our kids there, but thankfully not too many people came and it wasn't too overwhelming. We were very grateful for the support and dedication for some people to show up and welcome us home, but we were so tired, I'm afraid we weren't very grateful and we were so excited to see our kids, everyone else got ignored.
I'm not sure who was more excited to see who at the airport, us or the kids, but we were definitely ready to all be together as a family again! We were blessed by a local photographer who came to the airport and took our homecoming pictures, these are incredible to have and I'm so glad she offered to do it for us!
Ironically, United lost one piece of our luggage between San Francisco and Denver, so they had to bring it to us the next day. Thankfully none of our luggage was ever lost in China or anything though, that would have been very stressful!
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| Finally all together again!!!! |
It never really felt like my birthday, but it was the best present ever to be home again and be all together as a family again. It's definitely a birthday I will never forget!
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