July 4 ~ TB test read and shopping on Shamian

Y'all.  It is so, so very hot here.  And I live in NC, (one of the) humidity capital(s) of the south.  So I know hot.  But this is ridiculous.  Seriously, it's a you really not just want but need to change clothes halfway through the day kind of hot here.  But we are pressing on…

Today breakfast was a bit frustrating.  The table where we had been sitting was taken, and they had singles sitting at many of the tables that could be pulled together to form a table for seven.  So it came down to either sitting outside ~ have I mentioned how hot it is? ~ or sitting at two tables.  Keep in mind adults are outnumbered by kids in our party, so Ian and Mom ended up with Caleb and Darcy while Ky and I sat with Daniel.  Not so easy to get all we needed when split up that way, but at least the food quality was constant.  

Following our meal it was back to Shamian to have the TB tests read.  Initially I had been a bit concerned because New Day told us that Daniel's orphanage had requested that he be tested about a week ago so that there would be no surprises for us.  Sometimes such a recent test can give a false positive, but this morning Ian asked me if I could remember which arm the test went in and while I was pretty sure it was the left, we couldn't see anything on either arm.  So all was well for Daniel and all the other kids in our group.  And thankfully the vaccination policy has changed and you can once again sign an affidavit stating you'll do vaccinations back home.  Poor Darcy is the only one of our kids that faced seven shots over here.

Following the test, we had about 3 1/2 hours to mill around the island.  

 The "new face" of the main street on Shamian.  So different than back on our first trip.

Armed with my shopping list, we headed up the street to Jordon's and were very sad to see a note that he was on vacation and won't be back until the day we leave.  I have pictures of my older kids beside Jordon as he printed their names in calligraphy, so I was really bummed.  Guess we'll have to come back for a visit soon…

The ink artist with the creation he was working on while we watched.

We spent a little time doing some light shopping and I got to spend a little time in conversation with a fellow An Orphan's Wish volunteer.  I've talked to Branda several times on the phone, so it was so nice to put a face with the voice.  We were so surprised when we learned that we'd be here adopting at the same time!  

  I got to meet another one of the An Orphan's Wish volunteers on this trip!

Then it was off to do our red couch photos.  In the packing I somehow missed sticking in silks for the three big kids and I was just going to take a picture of them in their red white and blue today.  But Ian reminded me that I'd probably kick myself later for not getting pictures the way I would want them, and then we saw the peacock dresses for the girls which were so unlike any of the ones I know we have at home.  The boys' outfits are cotton and can double as pajamas, so I bargained the price down a bit and then played the "I'll have to ask my husband card."  I walked out, he walked in, and with our tag team strategy, we did pretty well.

There were a few other good ones, but this is my favorite because I think it captures personalities and what my life is going to be like for a while.

 My boys

 My Girls

After we fired off about 150 shots at the White Swan, we put the kids back in their 4th of July clothing and took them to the new play area behind Lucy's.  I could hardly believe that they wanted to play in the heat, but they did have a chance to burn off some energy and somehow seemed to forget how hot it was.  

  Happy 4th of July!

We skipped a real lunch in favor of peanut butter bread and then settled in for a quick nap before our group photo at 4pm.  

 

Did you say I had a little peanut butter on my face?

 

Even though there are just nine families, we are a pretty big group.

All the kids in our travel group ~ nine "new kids" and lots of siblings!

 Our family.

And I'll say here, Ian and I maybe would have made it without Mom, but it sure would have been hard.  We're SO GLAD she came along!

While we had our kids already in silk, we decided to try to get a few nice shots out in the hotel garden.  While none of them are perfect, I think we got some pretty good ones for the price of one Mento each.  

 "Really, do you have to take our picture?"

 

"It's really hot out here."

 They didn't know they were being photographed...

"That's the last smile your getting for one mento!"

It was strange to be here for the 4th of July.  In my family growing up, the 4th was a pretty big deal as it was my Grandfather's birthday and he had served our country as a Marine during WWII.  I remember big family picnics, swimming, and fireworks.  So this evening we recreated as best we could some 6000 miles from home.  We had burgers (from McDonald's, it was the quickest food we could think of ~ Ian walked to get it while Mom and I got the kids ready to swim) and we spent long enough in the hotel pool that we all had prune hands and feet.  I chose not to take the camera with me and now of course wish I had as Daniel not just liked, but LOVED the pool.  He had absolutely no fear ~ which terrifies me ~ and he had a blast as did his older siblings.  My kids were like fish that had been out of water too long, trying all sorts of swimming moves and actually making it halfway across the pool without stopping.  

It was a great evening topped off with the bonus that all four are snoring as I type.  Daniel had a hard time expressing to me exactly what things he wanted to hold, but once we finally figured that out he went right to sleep within seconds.  And yes, his shoes are on.  We'll work on that one day…

Happy 4th of July America!