AM/PM

Keep in mind there is 9 months between my angels.

Our bodies are not sure what time it is. We had a nap at 4pm and here it is 10pm and I am ready to start another day. Just crazy. Tara probably thinks we are wierd.

We went to Lucy's for lunch/supper. Tia had a stirfry black pepper chicken noodle she thought it was too spicy, I traded her my chicken tomato lettuce rollup. Both were very good. Gene had sweet sour chicken and Curt a beef stirfry. We will spend alot of time at Lucy's :) Oh Yeah! Tara only wanted french fries, I hope the picture turns out. Too funny--she almost ate them all. At home she would have to try something else also. Here anything goes! It rained on us the way there, Curt grabbed the umberella (comes with the room). Someone was alittle put out he wouldn't share with her (Tia) bad moment. First time her brother pushed her aside--ouch!:( He was the charmer for the new sister.:) We watched it pour while we ate. When it let up we tried to hurry, but it took sometime paying ($252 yuan for 5)and we got soaked on the way to the hotel. After we got changed and warm with full tummies we were in trouble. TV on lights low. I should mention Tara knows exactly what the remote does. Curt puts it down, Tara picks it up. Competition will be fierce at our house. Good thing I don't watch alot of TV. Curt runs the air cold, I hope none of us end up with the summer sniffles. There is so much humidity in the air even with the airconditioner running. Time to read for a couple of hours (Kay Hooper)

The Zoo

It was a quick visit to the zoo, but good to do something. It was raining when we got up and Tia wanted to cancel. My thought was, if it is cloudy it won't be disgusting hot. I was right, but some of the animals were in hybernation of the rain. It is a fairly lrge zoo and we probably spent 2 hours walking. Tara would say the animal in Mandarin and then in English, she was doing pretty good. Me on the other hand was doing lousy trying to say the animal in Mandarin. But it was good for a laugh. We enjoyed our outing. Tara is very quiet, so opposite of Tia. We will have to check this comparison out in a month. Tia was getting eaten alive by mosquitos so we made our way back to our van. Just in time for a down pour.

We stopped on the way back to the hotel at a small store. Tara wanted Doritos, none like we have at home. They taste Chinese (if you can imagine). Tia is happy she has Sprite. Gene picked up a Coors light and I have my Coca Cola light(not the same, but it will work). Everyone is ready now to go for a walk and find lunch. I woke up at 3 am, so will need a nap shortly.
Wish you all were here :)

Picture Time

So far I can add to the blog, but cannot view. So no clue how I'm doing.

Thoughts from Gotcha Moment

I hadn't exchanged enough money. So right before we headed to Civil Affairs, we stopped by the White Swan Bank. The bank wasn't busy and for those that have been here traffic was light. The room was child friendly, lots of couches. I had pictured it different. We were the only one for that time, so it was all about us. Tara is shy, but she had a few smiles for us. They ask her if she was happy about the adoption and she said yes. A few questions were contradicted, so we will see with time. Cordelia came back to the hotel with us and spent some time. Cordelia helped show her the bathroom. I think she is used to the squatty potties. She took a shower and didn't want to wash her hair so used the shower cap. Curt played a couple of games on the computer with her. She was frustrated we couldn't read her writing. As she got tired she tried to call her foster family. We tried a couple of times but couldln't get through. We called Cordelia and that seemed to soothe her for a bit. We had few tears at bedtime (very quiet tears). We went to bed at 8. Here it is 3:30 and I am wide awake. We planned a trip to the zoo tomorrow. Communication right now feels heavy, but I know it won't take long. You can tell she has been well taken care of. Haven't figured out how to do pictures yet, but have plenty of time to play.
Curt and Tia were the photographers, so not sure what we have for pics. Oh yeah I forgot to pack the curling iron, so forgive the hair. Which it rained on the way to Civil Affairs.

Ni Hao From China

We made it. And guess what it is raining. We checked CNN and it looks like Iowa is still getting it. The Boy Scout camp had a tornado.

The flight. As you could have guessed was very long. You are never so ready to finally get where you are going. I have never showed one document to so many people before, I can't even count how many times I had my passport out. The flight from Japan to Guangzhou had the movie National Teasure Book of Secrets (5 hour flight). We all agree the food on the flight was pretty good. It reminds you of tv dinners, but was very tasty. It was very clear and smooth until the last hour (just a little turbulence).Tia got to see her squatty potty in the Narita airport, they also had the bodeigh>sp. It was 11 pm when we arrived and Cordelia (our guide)was at the airport to meet us. I think I heard it was 88 degrees when we landed and my guess is 100% humidity.

We were all ready to get up at 7. Breakfast is the best part of the day. Tia had spagetti.?? We meet Cordelia at 2:30 to go to the Civil Affairs office to meet our daughter. We were suppose to do the adoption tomorrow, but the office will be closed. So we will do it today. I needed to make copies of documents and I think they were 6 cents apiece. It has been 9 yrs and even though there has been changes I remember where the important places are.

Tia had a funny --- She thinks all Chinese people look alike. :)

We Leave - Less than 12 hours

I am probably as ready as I will ever be. Although I could easily use another day. This doesn't happen very often. Gene is washing the dishes that didn't fit in the dishwasher as I do one last blog. The frig is clean, the last of the laundry is in the dryer.

Tia had one more game before missing several. She played SEW, it was a good game, but they couldn't pull through the score last I heard was 5-1. Big brother Curt was there to see Tia take a pitch to the arm and walk her base. Maddie had a b-day today...Happy Birthday Maddie:)

The weather held out for the game, but the wind just came up again and it is starting to thunder. Which means the computer needs to be unplugged. The tree limb hit the back light and blew the light bulb. I hope our sump pump hangs in there while we are gone.

Tia thinks she wants the new bed. I really had expected this. She changed the sheets on it today to the sheets she likes. Gave her sister the new ones.

Bad Weather

Tia had a game at 6 @ Milo. Gene was the base ump. I ran some erands after work. I got a battery for a watch to take with us. Picked up sheets for Tara's bed and a new pillow. Of coarse we need a bag of M&M's for the trip. It would only be fair if I pick skittles for Curt and Tia. I have lots of gum and picked up tootsie rolls for the kids at the orphanage. Tia's game was called at 1 hour due to lightning, they lost 4-0.

Curt called to check in and we also received a call from Linda our travel guide. We are in the middle of a nasty storm, so the computer is off. Tia is nuts that she is going to be killed by a tornado. We are on schedule, gotcha is still June 12th, paperwork the 13th, hopefully Dongguan the 16th, Gutian the 17th-19th, back to Guangzhou the 20th (Gene and Curt will head home)The girls and I will twiddle our thumbs for the next 5 days, sight see and play with everyone elses babies. Sounds good! :)

Oh yeah, we got a head start on the hard beds. We slept in the basement bedroom lastnight because of the storms.