Friday's Post

This is our hotel, the Garden. It is so very beautiful inside and out. Everything is so well placed and designed, especially in the room. Like an organizer planned it out ;)

If you click to enlarge this photo, you will see window washers in the middle on the left of the building.

Here they are bigger. Matthew spotted them and took their photo.

These men are installing a giant Christmas Tree in front of the hotel. Christmas is "very popular" here in China, and they celebrate it as a fun holiday to exchange cards and gifts, especially for children.

The hotel has a wonderful buffet filled with all kinds of foods, both Chinese and American. Shanna is eating just like Megan did when we met her. She loves all kinds of food and eagerly tries everything. There are some things she does not like (for example avocado), but for the most part, she has an excellent appetite. This morning at breakfast, after she ate her first plateful, I had a bilingual waiter come and talk with her to see if she had enough to eat or if there was something she wanted. She said "noodle" so he brought her a big bowl of noodles with broth, and had the stir fry chef make her a special dish, which was called "gelatinous rice wrapped in a lotus leaf". She enjoyed this very much. I think it is like a sticky rice. It was so beautiful to look at in the pretty package.

This little cutie was jumping and dancing in front of one of the stores. All the dogs here have sweaters. I have no idea why, as it is not cold. No leashes, just sweaters.

This cutie was dancing around our hotel room. No sweater.

Today we went to another Garden called Yue Xiu Park. There were lots of steps up and down and paths that wound around and through the foliage. Again, there were many people, and in this park the ages were more varied. Some younger people and many older people, some caring for a grandchild. Our guide told us that each district in Guangzhou has its own park, near enough for residents to walk to. I think it is so neat that they can connect the people in this way.

We were surprised to see Pointsettias. They call them Christmas Flowers.

These are the Five Goats that are the logo of the Asian Games.

These are really neat. Two colored leaves. Shanna really liked these.

This building is 5 stories and 600 years old. The stone at the bottom is a wall all around the building.

Here is the building from the front.

And a soccer field.

The Park is famous for its Five Goat Statue. 

Copied from www.newsgd.com:
As the legend goes, a long time ago, the farm lands in Guangzhou ran dry, food could not be grown and the people experienced a famine. They could do nothing but pray to the heavens for luck. Moved by their piety, Five Immortals descended from the sky, riding on goats with coats of different colors, each holding rice ears in its mouth. The Immortals gave the rice ears to the people and declared that the land would be free from famine.Afterwards, they disappeared into the sky. The five goats that were left behind turn into stone. From that time on, Guangzhou reaped a bumper harvest of grain every year and grew into one of the most prosperous cities in China.For this reason Guangzhou is also known as the City of Goats or the City of Rice Ears.The Statue of the Five Goats in Guangzhou's Yue Xiu Park is a reminder of this legend and has, over the years, become the symbol of the city and one of its most well known landmarks.

Here people gather each morning (rain or shine) to play the Chinese Opera. This is a kind of violin.

This is the music he is playing.

Lots of people in wheelchairs are watching from the back of the shelter.

Marion bought a racket so she can learn to play. She got some private lessons. Then I tried it, too. It is VERY hard. All of these activities that we have tried, the dancing, the racket, the hackeysack, are extremely tiring to do and give quite a workout!

This man was so cute. He was so happy for us and interested in our family and our adoptions. He and other bird owners bring their birds on their bicycles to the park so they can get fresh air and companionship.

I wish I could send him these pictures.

Sisters

We found this butterfly wing. Now Matthew can start his own sculpture!

Matthew took about 8 shots, but not once did both girls look at him!

Another butterfly.

Here are a variety of signs that we thought were so funny. Pay particular attention to number 1 in this picture.

Number 4 in this one.

Number 3 in this one.....(Mrs. McG--- skip this one....)

This was posted outside KFC

Yesterday, Shanna called herself Shanna, when she was looking at my new necklace with my four children. It was a gift for my birthday from Gramma Marion & Grandpa Tom. I just love it and have had the two children, the three children and now the four (which is just plenty for me :)). Shanna can name all the people in the family (with the formal Chinese address- not given name--) Mummy, daddy, gege, mei mei, jie jie, and SHANNA--she says with a big smile.

Later on I was cleaning up the laundry and asked her if she wanted to sort the lights and darks and soon, she was saying Light and Dark after me, giggling and laughing. Then she clear as a bell said "MeGan" accent on the Gan. It's so fun to watch her learn. She is so motivated by love.

You know all those photos and stories about us that I sent her and translated to Chinese? Well, they were returned to us with Shanna and they had been loved and handled and looked at and the folders were in shreds. She obviously had used them and the nannies wrote me a letter telling me how much she enjoyed them and how proud she was to show everyone her family. She was so well prepared and I know that is why she is having such a wonderful adjustment now.

We checked out the pool today. There is a beautiful large pool and a perfectly sized kids pool, but both are freezing!!! Megan was brave enough to get all the way in and enjoyed a polar bear swim. There is a really nice climber playset in that area, too and both girls enjoyed sliding and climbing.

A few minutes ago (10pm our time in China-9am at home) we had a Skype call with Megan's class. It was so fun to see them in the room. They shared their show and tell items with Megan and they sang her a song. It made us feel very connected to each other. Megan can't wait to see everyone again. We had to wake her up to make the call, as she and Shanna are so tired they are falling fast asleep by 8pm.

This is Megan waving to everyone.

Once again, I am the only one up. I am nowhere near as tired on this trip as I was on Megan's, but I am still very tired by the end of the day. It seems like we are constantly hurrying to get ready to go to something, or preparing for a meal, and I only seem to have a few minutes each afternoon to take care of some tasks, such as tidying up or working on the computer. In the afternoon, there is time for a little quiet time and today the girls did some cutting at the table, while I sorted my photos for the blog.

Megan is watching some gymnastics on TV. It's really a rare moment for her to be so absorbed in TV. She is obviously quite pooped!

Tomorrow we go back to Shamian Island to the Guangzhou Medical Center for Shanna's visa Checkup. A new law was passed exempting children under 11 from needing to have multiple vaccines prior to going to the US. Some babies were having to have 9 or 10 shots, even if their shot record said they already had them. There were no waivers granted. On December 1 it was signed by President Obama and it went into effect, and Shanna will be one of the first children to benefit. Parents can now have their own doctors evaluate the shot record and vaccinate as needed according to a reasonable schedule. I am so happy about that.

Thursday Morning A Visit to the Park

As they say in China;
Warm Attention: For all videos I post, it is best to let them load, then click "replay" to watch in the entire thing. Otherwise, you will have problems with buffering. Also, click on any photo to see it enlarged, then click the back button on the browser to return to the blog page.

This morning we have a new guide, Grace, who took us to this lovely park. There were people everywhere, dancing and playing games of all sorts. The older people retire early, between 55-60 and enjoy their free time.

The gardens are lovely and immaculately maintained.  All over Guangzhou, people can be seen, wiping, polishing, sweeping and trimming.

They are proud of their work!

Matthew is finding butterflies all around. This one  is a little battered.

These ladies were so interesting to watch. They are balancing this ball on the racquet while they dance and they rarely drop it and move in perfect unison.

These people are ballroom dancing. As far as we could tell, someone brings music and they gather in informal groups of whoever is there and dance together.

Another very common game is this hackeysack. The people are so good at kicking the feather back and forth. We bought one and tried it and it looks easy, but it is NOT. Matthew is getting the hang of it, but not me....

Marion joined in.

We joined in and more joined us. The ladies were teaching us the moves and laughing with us.

Outdoor table tennis--many tables. People bring racquets and balls to play

Groups of people doing Tai-Chi (everywhere)

Incredibly big Banyan Tree.

There were some small rides for the kids. Megan did not want to go. She is not feeling too well. She has had a lingering loose cough that has gotten worse in the last few days. I started her on a Zpack today and hope she will feel better soon. Now she is very sniffly and sneezy, too. That is probably why she did not want to go.

Shanna kept banging into the side. She is a crazy driver! And she laughs at it all. Mommy was a nervous wreck, even though she was the only one on the road!

We thought this looked like Minster Tim giving his sermon!! :)

On the way home, the girls were having fun singing. We are not sure what language Megan is singing in! She says its "Grasshopper and Bunny"!!

Mary Alice needed a nap after all that, so Gramma stayed with her and the rest of us went to lunch. We found a great pizza place yesterday (thanks to guide, Joanna) and we went back there again. Matthew feels very safe there, as they understand his allergy and do not use peanut oil. The morning buffet here is much better for him, too. Many more choices and not much peanut. All of which helps me sleep better!

While I have been blogging, Eric is working, Matthew, Mary Alice and Gramma went back to their room to rest and the girls have been playing playdoh together. They play so nicely. Megan and Shanna both hum to themselves all the time. They giggle and laugh and snuggle together like two puppies climbing all over each other. It's very cute.

Yes, this is the room. Can you believe how beautiful it is? We are now off in search of the playroom.