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5.15.2017

his first swim and conquering noodles

Our Sunday (both Mother's Day and Ian's birthday) began with the little boys chattering away at each other in their respective languages as they tried to solve their Rubik's cubes.  Originally we were going to do some touring, but most everything here is outdoors and so we postponed the tours until Tuesday and Thursday when better weather was predicted.  


Of course postponing our touring time meant that while overcast, the monsoon rain called for never materialized.  After we had finished breakfast there was too much energy radiating from our hotel room, so we decided to let everyone burn some steam in the pool.  At first Nicholas loudly protested with, "Bù yóuyǒng!" (not swim!) but before long he was LOVING it...which is good because we practically spend out summer at the pool in our neighborhood.


And of course our other fish were happy to be in the water for a while.


Post swim, everyone was pretty hungry, so we headed out from the hotel in search of noodles.  On our own.  Because Ian went down to the concierge at the hotel and asked if there was somewhere we could get noodles for lunch.  I'm hoping that it was a "lost in translation" issue because his answer was, "Uh. No."  Really?  Really?  We're in China and you can't recommend a place to get noodles?


So we simply walked out the door and within five minutes were seated in a place that while no English menu existed, pictures and Ian's willingness to use what our tutor Linda taught us provided bowls of noodles and bottles of Sprite.


While the noodles were clearly mass produced and not the hand pulled ones we hoped for, the broth was tasty and our bellies were filled for less than $15.


The birthday guy with his noodles that he ordered in Mandarin.  He just continues to pull out the surprises as we walk this road of life together.  Even the waitress was quite impressed with him.


And the imp.  Who initially protested eating with his "Bù Chī" (not eat) but eventually asked for some of his brother's noodles. There are some "orphanage behaviors" that we're going to have to overcome, but this kiddo is amazing overall.


After lunch some rest time was clearly in order.  While protests of " Shuìjiào" (not sleep) initially were quite insistent, they grew quieter and quieter until he was indeed quite asleep.


He wasn't the only one...Daniel rested his eyes for a while while I read the latest Lisa See novel.  Parts of the book are set in Guangzhou, so it was fun to read it while here.


Halfway through nap time I decided to treat Ian, my mom and myself to a coffee treat to celebrate our special day.  Sorta made me giggle that while I noticed the Chinese folks were asked their name and then it was written in characters on their cups, I was given the generic "Miss."


By the time naps were over, it felt like the day had to be as well.  But there were still hours to fill...

1 comment:

Glenda said...

What a precious picture of Nicholas!