We have had so many wonderful days here in China that, other than the day we got Alexis, it is difficult to choose my favorite. I thought I would feel so ready to come home after two weeks away, but we are not in a hurry to leave. Having the kids here has been wonderful and was absolutely the right decision for us. Instead of missing them and longing to be home, we have been able to enjoy every second of this trip and we have some incredibly special memories to cherish forever.
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| U.S. Consulate |
Today we finished the last piece of adoption business here in China with a visit to the U.S. Consulate. Lexi now has her Visa and is ready to come home with us. There will be re-adoption paperwork upon returning home, so that we can get her a U.S. birth certificate and social security card, but we need to celebrate this victory for now. Patrick has always been in charge of our paperwork and he has done a fabulous job figuring out the impossible labyrinth that is a Hague adoption. Caleb and Lexi were his paper pregnancies and he is doing the happy dance to have finally delivered his babies. ;) For the record, he did everything perfectly without an error...so I am very thankful for him!
We took an afternoon trip to Shamian Island. This is a beautiful, peaceful area that was once a British and French settlement in the mid to late 1800s during the Opium War. It looks nothing like the rest of China and it felt as though we were spending the day in Charleston, SC. We had a very American lunch at Lucy's on the island and Luke was thrilled to finally get his real hamburger.
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| Lunch at Lucy's |
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| A happy boy with a hamburger. |
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| Lexi ate this grilled cheese, only after eating an entire burger patty. |
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| Shaman Island...so similar to Charleston. |
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| There are many Starbucks here in Guangzhou. |
We did some souvenir shopping on the island and thoroughly enjoyed the mid-70s temperature and sunshine. It was a delightful day. Tuesday is our last full day here and we don't have much on the calendar. We are hoping to relax and begin packing for the long trip home.
1 comment:
Ah - burgers at Lucy's! I have so enjoyed following your trip! The funny thing I realized on Sunday was that it didn't seem quite so important to keep up with every day once you had that precious baby in your arms and she was safely with her forever family! Grace and I did at some point during your trip, read her blog and I walked her through some memories. Sweet times! Happy travels home and best of luck with reentry!
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