Goodbye Hefei, Hellooooo Guangzhou

11:30 a.m.

We've repacked everything into our beaten up suitcases, careful not to touch them after we zipped them in fear of a suitcase explosion.  Our last day in Hefei was not all that exciting.  We had planned on going over to the park for a bit, but Harper crashed and burned by 11:00 and needed a nap.  This petite little thing sure does have a set of lungs on her.  She's got that high pitched, glass breaking scream that I'm sure Mariah Carey couldn't even come close to reaching.... even with her vocal range.  The good thing, Harper falls asleep pretty fast.

Today will be her first plane ride.  We leave at 7:00 and arrive there around 9:00 or so.... in the evening.  Who's bright idea was it to have us fly so close to bedtime?   Yeah, we're going to be "those" people on the plane that no one wants to sit next to.  Luckily, the other family we've come to know will be flying with us, so I'm sure Harper will have a screaming buddy.   We've packed every single possible snack we could think of.  Suckers are her favorite, so we've made sure they are easily accessible.  We really have to watch it because we've been using suckers as a sort of pacifier.  When she lost it in the car going to her orphanage, we were all yelling "give her a sucker!!"  Until I'm home, I'm not going to worry about it though.  A screaming kid in close quarters should be given a fist full of suckers as far as I'm concerned.  

I sent Scott and the boys out to walk to Starbucks or the park.  The boys are rolling around here like a couple of tiger cubs, and even though we have a decent sized suite, it still isn't big enough for that business.  So, now that I've got some quiet downtime ALONE,  here are some random pics.....

I found this in the closet of our room.  I'm really glad we didn't have to use this seeing as we only have ONE!  Not sure what Scott and the boys would have done had their been a fire.  Haha!

Poor Harper.  Every move she makes is watched by all 4 of us.  Even bath time.  Good thing she really loves her big brothers.  

The "finding ad' that ran in the paper after Harper was found.  She's the one that been circled.    Part of the description of Harper says she has a cleft lip (obvious) and she has round face and black hair.  Well..... THAT narrows it down!  Don't most Chinese have round faces and black hair??  

Before leaving for the airport, we went to Lord Bao Park, which honored a dude who lived a thousand years ago, and apparently was a pretty good guy.  I didn't get any other details as if you haven't noticed.  

In the temple

Lord Bao

With the other family we were traveling with.  Such a sweet family, and their son 

who they adopted 2 years ago from China, LOVED Brannen and Griffin

 Outside the temple and ready to go to the airport

Harper's first airplane ticket!

As usual, everyone flocks to Griffin.  This guy was a teacher and really

 was interested hearing about Griffin and his school.  

In her seat and ready for take off with sucker in hand.  Sitting in her seat only

 lasted long enough for this picture.  This is when she wanted to start running the aisles.  

12:00 a.m.

It's now midnight and we are finally at our hotel in Guangzhou.  Our flight was delayed, and it took forever to get our bags, meet our driver, check in at the hotel, etc.

The flight was ok, and Harper slept thru all of it.  Of course, she did scream bloody murder when we were taking off, but that was because I wouldn't let her roam the aisles.  She doesn't like to be constrained..... can't wait to introduce her to her car seat back home!  mwahahhaha.  But, never fear, she had a sucker in her mouth as soon as I could get the wrapper undone.  

As I predicted, we were "those" people on the plane with a screaming kid.  Not only that, but we were the only non Chinese people, with the exception of our friends.  As Harper was screaming herself into a sweaty mess, I was praying for God to help me out.  It's hard to soothe a two year old when they have their minds made up to do something, but it's equally hard to soothe a two year old that has no idea what your're saying and has never been on a plane. 

Well, God answered.   In the form of a little old short Chinese man sitting in seat 46 D, right across from me.  You know the type of old man..... sunken in cheeks, tanned leathery skin, and bad teeth.  As Harper was well into her fit and I was doing everything I could to calm her down, he started speaking to her (which I'm surprised she could hear over her shrieks.)  He then started to 'write' in his palm with his finger.  I thought he was trying to write something for me to read and I'm thinking I can't even speak or understand Chinese.... there is NO way I can read it.  Well, he was doing something else.

Whatever he 'wrote' in his palm, he then took his palm and placed it on her forehead.  

Mmmmmkay.

I have NO idea what that was about but just smiled to him and thinking I might need to move seats.  Quick.  

Harper did settle down, but I thought it was because of the sucker.  The old man thought it was because of his 'writing'..... voodoo..... whatever you want to call it.  

The flight was again riddled with turbulence.  Seriously?  Can't we fly anywhere in China without being bounced around?  Again, it didn't deter them from bringing out the food/beverage cart and  serving dinner.    This flight, we were able to watch tv during the flight, with different clips of various stuff.  Any guesses what we were watching while we were being served dinner??

The Last Supper.

Swear!

Now, if that didn't make me nervous with all the turbulance!  Dang.  Although, it wasn't the story of the Last Supper as we know it, it was some Chinese thing, but still!!

Just can't get enough of her!

With GeGe (guh guh), which means older brother in Chinese

Ready to get the heck out of the airport and to the hotel!!

This was waiting for us in our room...

Our hotel suite this time around is fabulous with enough room for the two tiger cubs to get all their energy out.  Right now, I just want to sleep .  Tomorrow we have an early morning for medical exams.