Now This is More Like It!

After the crazy and slightly nauseating adventure of this morning, we got Aidan down for a long (late) nap and rested in the room with her. We got refreshed and recharged and headed down to the play room to let Li'l Empress burn off some energy. The play room, sponsored by Matel, is chock full of all kinds of great toys. Aidan was really excited by the majority of the toys, but by far and away she was most captivated by a Fisher Price toy that had mirrors, lights, music and a really good beat. That's my girl :) She's gonna love Mommy's iPod with Bose speaker docking station - at full blast when we dance together to David Cook, Keith Urban and Third Day. Throw in a little Josh Groban and Michael Buble for some class and my girl will be rockin' the house right along side of me!

Come on everybody, let's sing!

We met Brittany, Bayley and sweet Addie and walked to this great little Italian place for Wednesay's dinner. By then, the waters had receded back to their places. The rain had washed most of the debri off the streets. Shopkeepers were out in full force, drying their wares and luring in gullible travellers. The restaurant was crammed full of people, likely adoptive families like us, anxious to get out of their hotels after a long day. We heard earlier that the owner was a gentleman from Capri, Italy and that the food was very authentic. We heard right! All 6 of us thoroughly enjoyed the meal and it was really fun to be surrounded by families who were all celebrating their blessings right alongside of us. In fact, behind us was a group from Bethany Christian Services, including a couple from Lancaster County, not far from us. Turns out, we have a mutual friend, one sweet SH who has been faithful prayer and encouragement support to me during the long wait to Aidan. SH had told me to look for this couple, and until they introduced themselves after chatting about the Lord and all He's done for us, I had completely forgotten their names.

The famous White Swan, as viewed from the shopping thorough-fare

After dinner, we strolled back along the main shopping street. The thorough-fare looks like a tropical resort town, with beautiful architecture and iron scrollwork. It reminded The Boss and I of a long-ago trip to Tampa. The palm trees were swaying and the streets were bustling with tourists, adoptive families, and business people catching dinner after work. We stopped by an adorable little shop called the LadyBug and got an adorable two piece traditional red silk outfit for Aidan. Suitably royal for her royal cuteness, don't you think? We also stocked up on diapers and wipes, having found formula earlier in the gift shops of the hotel. Brittany and Bayley went off to find a new suitcase and we met them later for the traditional photo session on the red couches. I learned about this late in the game, but it seems that there is a tradition among guests at the White Swan to dress up their new children in traditional silks and pose for photos on the beautiful red couches. We couldn't figure out exactly which couch was "THE" couch, as the hotel lobbies are all equipped with red couches. So we chose the ones down by the play room in front of two gorgeous Chinese silk painted screens.

Pretty little Empresses

Hey, girl, gimme a high five!

We ended the evening quietly after parting ways with Brittany and her girls. They had some serious packing to do, as they had to leave the hotel at 5:30 a.m. to catch a flight to Hong Kong and then on to Newark. Please pray for them - they only had one hour in the huge HK airport to catch the flight to Newark and once in NJ, they have an 8 hour layover till they can get onward to Maine. That's a long, long 30+ hours with a toddler who has already experienced a ton of change this week and last. We haven't heard yet about how they did on the connection, but we should know soon. Our guide has offered to help us out with some alternatives, if that connector is too hard to make. There are some options we can work on.

While you are at it, pray for us - that same leg, minus the 8 hours in NJ will be US in just two days. I can't believe I just typed that! In two days, we will be on our way home, to the sweet arms of our gang. To our own soft beds and clean water. And to a steaming Tigger mug full of hot coffee with sugar-free hazelnut creamer. Oh, I can hardly wait!

Oh, and Uncle TS?

Happy First Day of Fall - belated.

I know I missed it. But I was, well,

in China and I've been a little busy :)

All you CCC'ers, make sure

Pastor T knows I gave

him a shout out here

with our traditional annual greeting :)

Thanks!