The Island

Once again, connection problems are limiting my ability to post pictures. For this trip it looks like a lot of our plans that we had put together are just not meant to be. Obviously this would include a beautifully daily updated blog, but there are others too. For example, Tracy took some camera classes this fall for the camera I bought her last Christmas but since Teagan wants to be in her arms all the time she can't really ever be the one taking the pictures. We also had dreams of "tag teaming" better this time and allowing each other to get some naps along the way. Obviously for the same reasons this hasn't worked out either. However, we are just rolling with the punches at this point and trying to get to Friday when we can head home. We have entered an interesting time in the trip though. You spend most of the time on the trip thinking about getting home, but around this time when the end is within sight you start to get a little sentimental about your time here. That hit both of today as we visited Shaiman Island. This morning we took taxis to the Pearl Wholesale Factory. It is a pretty amazing place. As I said to some of the other parents it is one of the places in China where you can really get something for much cheaper than you would in the States. Don't get me wrong, we still spent plenty of money, but we got them for probably a fourth of what they would have cost in the US. After that we took a taxi to the island and we all had lunch at Lucy's which really brought the memories back from the last trip. It is pretty famous place in the adoption world as they serve western food. I call it 80% Western though. It is better than having another Chinese meal, but it doesn't quite taste like home. Anyways, it was a fun group meal and I enjoyed a German beer as an American in China which I found humerous. We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping. It was great walking around, especially since the weather is so much nicer than when we were here last time. Tracy got some shopping done and taught some of the others the art of negotiating withy the vendors. After some difficulty getting a taxi back to the hotel we arrived with just enough time to get cleaned up for group pictures. We really missed the White Swan and the red couch for this. Speaking of the White Swan, it was so strange seeing it today all boarded up and empty looking when it was so full of life and energy when we stayed there last time. Anyways, we took a photo here in the lobby with the families all together and the kiddos all dressed up in traditional Chinese outfits. After that we put the kids on a couch there in the lobby for their photo. We had a pretty funny moment as we set them all there and then stood back to take pictures. All of the kids burst out into tears except for Teagan who just sat there wondering what in the world was going on. It wa pretty cute. Tomorrow is another big day as we will spend all morning at the US consulate getting Teagan's Visa so she can travel. It will be interesting as we are the only family from our travel group that got an appointment tomorrow. Everyone goes on Thursday. I am not sure how we scored that, maybe it was because we got our paperwork in sooooooo long ago, maybe someone in the consulate is a Jayhawk fan, or maybe they saw a picture of our beautiful girl at home and wanted to help get us back sooner. Whatever the reason we are pretty excited because it means we leave a day or two days before everyone else. Thursday will be a completely open day for us as everyone else will be at the consulate. Thursday evening we get her Visa and Friday morning we start the insane 32 hour day back home. Teagan is such a ...should we say strong willed kiddo, that I think the plane ride home will be super challenging. We got so lucky last time with Izzy sleeping for so much of it that I think we will probably be in big trouble this time. I guess I should add that Tracy is on the mend but still pretty weak. I am fighting it, but started my antibiotics yesterday and am hoping I can stay out in front of it a little bit.