Safari Park Pictures

On the way back, we saw this truck carrying boxes labeled Hitachi!

Everywhere you look, you can see apartments buildings like these.  Just everywhere.

Tuesday - Safari Park

Quick post because i'm trapped under a sleeping baby! Tuesday, we went with the other families in our group to a Safari Park. We were there for about 5 hours and didn't get to see all the animals! Kenzi seemed to like the animals, which is good because we go to the zoo a lot.

Dinner was Papa John's pizza in the room.

Tomorrow is our US Consulate Appointment and the rest of our shopping. We leave here on Thursday to head to Hong Kong. We'll apend 1 night there and then fly out the next morning.

Fuzhou Lakeside Hotel

Trying to catch up here.  Here are some details about this hotel for future families:

• There is a staircase down to the path around the lake.  You'll need your room key.
• You can rent strollers from the hotel.  I think it's around 10 RMB per day.
• Not all of the hotel staff spoke English.  However, they were great about going to get someone that did if they didn't understand you.
• The hotel does have a doctor, but she doesn't speak English.  Just ask the Assistant Manager of the hotel and he will go with you and translate.
• The food at the hotel was great.  They did have some Western food in the restaurants.  The pepperoni is not the pepperoni we're used to, it was salami.
• There is a great grocery store about a 20 minute walk away.  If you're standing in front of the hotel, looking at the lake, walk to the left around the lake.  And just keep going!
• The hotel staff will empty your minibar so you can use the fridge for drinks or whatever!  This is true at all the hotels we've stayed at in China. 

Pictures!!!!!

Here you go!  Just click the link below.  I think they're in reverse order.

Pictures

Catching Up .....

It’s been a while since we have been able to post.  Kenzi is still attached to her mama and won’t let Aaron carry her.  We have seen a little improvement with daddy and she will at least give him high fives and smiles when she wants to.

We have all been sick with a stomach bug.  Sherry got it last Thursday, Kenzi got it on the plane from Fuzhou to Guangzhou and then Aaron got it last night.  Hopefully this will put it past all of us and we can all start feeling better.

Here is a recap of our trip so far.  We will try to get some pictures up soon.  Dates may be off as we are 13 hours ahead of Eastern Time

12/2 – Arrive in Beijing

12/3 – Orientation, meet other families in our travel group, sightseeing at Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City

12/4 – Leave Beijing, Arrive in Fuzhou, Get Kenzi!!!!

12/5 – Finalize Kenzi’s adoption paperwork.  She is officially ours!!!!

12/6 – Visit Buddhist Temple in Fuzhou

Wednesday, 12/7 – Panda World (panda rehabilitation center).  This was pretty small, but Kenzi LOVED all the red pandas!  Walked to Grocery store and back and then just kept walking to keep the kiddo happy.  I think we ended up walking about 5 miles.  We almost got lost in the middle of Fuzhou!  Thankfully, our hotel is REALLY tall, so we just made sure we could see it and kept walking.

Thursday, 12/8 – In the morning, we went to a wholesale market.  They had lots of jewelry, jade, and pearl.  We got a piece of Shoushan stone for Kenzi, which her province is famous for.

Friday, 12/9 – Today, we spent the entire morning packing our stuff to head to Guangzhou.  Our guide, Tracy, had a friend that is a radio DJ in Fuzhou.  She called him and had Sherry say some English sentences and the Chinese translations for a commercial he is making.  He said that Sherry's Chinese pronunciation was excellent!  So Sherry is now a radio star in Fuzhou!  We picked up Kenzi’s passport and then flew to Guangzhou.  Kenzi got sick on the plane, so Sherry and Kenzi changed clothes in the airport bathroom as soon as we landed.  Kenzi continued to be sick the entire van ride to the hotel … about an hour.

We walked into our suite at the China Hotel by Marriott and we just about cried from relief.  The hotel is beautiful and the suite is AMAZING.  It was just what we needed after such a rough week.  We were so happy we had decided to pay the little extra for the suite.  And the bed. The bed is SOFT.  Again, I almost cried from relief.

Saturday, 12/10 – Today, we had Kenzi’s photo taken for her U.S. Visa – she is crying in the picture, of course.  She also had her medical check that the U.S. requires.  Aaron went to a meeting in the afternoon to work on the paperwork for this part of the trip.

After the meeting, our entire travel group (around 13 families) went out to dinner together at a local restaurant.  The food was WONDERFUL!

  

Sunday, 12/11 – Aaron had been sick the night before, so we slept in this morning and had a lazy morning.  In the afternoon, we took a taxi to Shamian Island.  That’s where we stayed on our last adoption trip.  There are some cute shops there and we needed to pick up our laundry.

Friday - Last Day in Fuzhou

We seem to have turned a corner!  At this very moment, Kenzi is sitting on the floor, 4 feet away from me and she is PLAYING with the toys we brought!  Thank you, Jesus!!!!!!!

This adoption stuff is hard.  Not only has Kenzi had a hard time adjusting, I managed to get the dreaded Montezuma's Revenge last night.  I'll save you the gory details, but let me just tell you how hard it is to be that sick with an 18 month old who only wants you to hold her!!!!!

We are packing up today and heading to Guangzhou.  Thankfully our flight is only about an hour.  Not sure my stomach could handle much more.  Guangzhou is where we do the American side of the paperwork.

I'd better not push my luck too much .... any second, I'm sure little Miss Kenzi-bug is going to realize that I am not sitting on the floor with her.

Short update

Sorry no blOgging. Kenzi is having a hard time. She only wants me to carry her and walk all day long. I have carriers, but i can't physically walk all day with an extra 20 pounds strapped to me. We leave tomorrow for the next place. Hoping things will be better there.

We are so thankful god has given us this previous little one. We knew it could be hard and we're hanging in there. Keep the prayers coming!