July 2 ~ Medical exam and familiar faces

We actually enjoyed a good night's sleep on Friday night.  Daniel went to sleep without much of an ordeal and while he slept with those little sandals on, he slept through the night and we all felt like new people on Saturday.  Another thing we were thankful for is that our flight landed just before 7pm.  We were actually to our hotel before 8:30 which was a first for us getting to Gz.  On both Caleb and Darcy's trips our flights were dreadfully delayed and we didn't leave our provincial cities until after 10pm.  We were the first of four waves of arrivals and man were we thankful when Rebecca told us that our medical exams were not until 11 so that the families getting in later could rest.  After that good rest, we headed down to eat.

Oh the breakfast buffet that is the Garden Hotel…  

(Laine, I smiled and thought of you as I topped my waffle with chocolate syrup, toasted coconut and whipped cream!)

We had a quick stop at the photo shop for Daniel's visa photo (which I didn't get to record as Ian took the big kids outside and he had the camera) and then on to the medical exam.  I think in our other kids' travel logs I'm the one holding them in front of the exam room sign, but Daniel was totally into Daddy yesterday.  

Daddy's little man at the medical exam.

 Oh, and if you ever want to give your guide a heart attack, randomly give your heart child a blueberry Dum Dum pop while at the medical exam.  Ian said that Lily almost passed out when she saw Daniel's lips…  She was still talking about it today and made us promise that we won't give him a blue lollipop again in China. 

He sailed through the exam pretty quickly, we just had to get Rebecca to translate his heart condition for the doctor.  One other thing I was glad to see was that he was uneasy around the physician and began to lean into me and wrap his little arms around me for comfort.  Baby steps…

Holding on to Mama as the doctor gets closer.

 We were the first ones through all three check up rooms, so Daniel joined his siblings in watching a little Tom and Jerry while we waited for the others.  In this episode the kids learned to play with matches, hit other people on the head with metal objects, and smoke cigars.  Funny when you watch cartoons you enjoyed as a child with a critical eye.  

A little cartoon time

TV only entertained our little dynamo so long, and he began to play catch and exchange with Grandma.  

Here LaoLao, let's play a game!

 When we got back it was nearly 1pm so for a quick lunch we headed to another oasis of Western food ~ Subway.  I even ate lettuce on my sandwich.  Daniel was thrilled to have cucumbers.  He ate some ham and some bread but I'm pretty sure that he consumed an entire cucumber's worth of slices.  Then it was rest time.  We all (except for Ian who had to go to the Visa paperwork party) benefited from a little shut eye.  The boys were the first ones up and Caleb was in hog heaven to play with his little brother while the girls continued to rest.  

Two pretty loud little guys having fun playing cars ~ music to my ears!

Then we headed downstairs to meet up with our friends Adam and Lindsay and their baby, Zachary.  They've been in southern China since last February (they moved over within a week of us coming to meet Darcy) and when we left 16 months ago we figured that we'd see them again after they moved back to the states.  Funny surprise that we made it back toward the end of their stay here (they move back at the end of August).  So they were the first of all our friends to meet our two newest additions, and we were the first of their friends to meet Zachary who was born in March.  

My kiddos watching the fish.  (Of course Caleb noticed one that was "sleeping")

 Ky, Caleb and DQ helping Ms. Lindsay show Zachary the fish.

Daniel and LaoLao in a bonding over fish feeding moment.

Adam tried several times to speak to Daniel in Mandarin, but my little guy wanted no part of a Caucasian speaking in his native tongue.  Adam did get a few smiles though.

 Temporary containment...

We hung out in the garden for a while and then went up to a small play area near the pool for our kids to stretch their legs and run a bit.  

When he smiles I just can't help but smile too!

 Three kid pile up on slide 3!

 They had fun, but they sure did get sweaty!

Three of mine did just that, but not my future babysitter.  She was totally content to hang with Zachary.

 Kylie prefers to not get sweaty and coo over Zachary.

We went to a totally yummy Asian fusion restaurant and had Thai, Indian, Chinese and Vietnamese dishes for dinner in our own private room.  After we stuffed ourselves Adam suggested we go down to a plaza that was created to host the Asian games.  While it was a warm evening, we thoroughly enjoyed our stroll along with thousands of other people.  There were LED lights interspersed with the concrete tiles, so our kids enjoyed jumping on the ever changing colored lights in the ground.  

Jumping on the lights.

The highlight of the plaza was the Guangzhou TV tower across the river.  It also had a changing light display and Daniel for one was totally fascinated by it.  He kept pointing and saying, "Waaooh!" in the most darling little voice.  

 The ever color changing tower in our favorite rainbow display.

For those headed to GZ soon, I totally recommend going down for an evening.