Chanukah, O Chanukah, Come Light the Menorah.

Mary Alice made this travel menorah, featured in Family Fun magazine, so we would not miss out on lighting our Chanukah candles while in China. Shanna and Megan have really enjoyed singing the blessing and putting the toothpicks into the cardboard. It is corrugated on top, so the toothpicks stick right in. The flames are made of two color tissue paper and the blue paint is metallic. It's a great idea. Since we are an interfaith family, we also celebrate Christmas and are looking forward to putting up our tree with Shanna. Last night was the last night of Chanukah, so the menorah was fully "lit". Somehow, we managed not to loose any in this messy hotel room! We did not go into the detail of the Chanukah story, just enjoyed the fun..... save that for next year. :)

This morning the regular dining room was full again, so back up to the 30th floor we went. This time we were "upgraded" to our own dining room, which we found very comfortable!

Here is the view from further back.

This is the entrance to the Guangzhou Zoo. These are the Five Goats of the Asian Games. They are each made out of silk flowers and are really pretty up close. 

Map of the Park.

Gramma Marion says that these flamingos need to eat more carrots so they will be pink. I think she should tell the zookeepers. :)

I can't believe they let these animals roam free throughout the zoo!

Matthew photographed this interesting flower.

Shanna really liked the elephants. Their enclosure is really spacious and nice. They have another pair that was in a grassy plain area behind the house and I am sure they switch them around.

This is a bamboo forest area.

Near the two cute pandas.

More cute pandas. Megan is still trying out different poses.

We learned that Shanna loves mushrooms, to eat and to draw.

This was a popular posing spot.

We did all combinations of siblings.

And then there was the Kangaroo pouch to sit inside.

And Gramma had to try it.

This kangaroo seemed a little bored.

Giraffes having lunch. Two babies. Very cute.

I would think his arms would fall asleep like that!

The Zebra family (mom, two babies, dad) taken by Matthew.

The Zebra family taken by Mary Alice.

There were hundreds of different kinds of birds at this zoo.

And at least five cats,

And an adorable rat, who was swimming along a bank and pulled himself up by these plants and scurried along his way.

Shanna holding Rong Rong's hand and our guide Grace in the background. I don't think I have said much about our guides before, so I will take a minute to tell you how Wonderful they both have been. We had Joanna help us the first 4 days with the adoption registry paperwork and then Grace took over last week for all the tours and the rest of the paperwork. They have both been very valuable to us in so many ways, especially talking to the children and figuring out what they like and need. Shanna is talking to her all of the time, now, in Mandarin and Grace says she knows many things and asks many questions. She seems to warm up quickly to people, although she can be shy at first.

I just love these poses. How did she learn so many?

Here is a sweet picture of Rong Rong. She really likes to walk by herself and she loves monkeys.

This one speaks for itself.

I am sure you are all wondering if the tooth fairy visited China and the answer is YES. Shanna received four shiny Yuan coins under her pillow this morning and her eyes glowed with happiness. We spent some time kicking around Megan's soccer ball outside on the 4th floor near the pool/fitness area, where they have a very nice deck area. We also used a battery operated bubble machine that Gramma bought Shanna at the zoo. We did not realize it made gun noises, and had to "modify" it with tape to be softer sounding. Shanna loves it and is running around saying "pow" to everyone. The 1000 piece puzzle that we bought yesterday was finished by the evening (yesterday) apparently much by Matthew. Today they are re-doing it, upside down. Yes, it has been a long trip.

Tomorrow will be our last full day in China. We do not have any tour plans so we will sleep in, go to the buffet, then tidy up the rooms. We will receive Shanna's passport at 12:15 from our guide. After that I think we will head to Subway and walk to a nearby park for a picnic lunch. I hope the day doesn't drag.

The weather has been absolutely amazing, although in the mornings it is a little chilly and we are glad to have sweatshirts. I actually needed two layers over my t-shirt today.

Today I am typing this at 6pm China time, so I actually have a chance to relax before bed. I am not going to be available to Skype with anyone tomorrow night as we will need to get to bed early in order to wake up in time for our ride to the airport. We have to be downstairs when the buffet opens at 6:30am and then in the lobby ready to leave by 6:45. Grace is worried that we will be late because we always have someone in the bathroom at the last minute. I will have to be up by 4:30 to get everything and everyone ready on time. Don't worry, Mom, we have an alarm clock AND I will request a wake up call!! I will NOT miss that flight. We are watching several families leave today (their consulate appointments were a day or two earlier than ours) and it makes us really want to come home. It has been a wonderful trip, but we are ready to come back home.