Someone please turn on the A/C!

Today we went to the Chen's Family Temple and walked around there for about an hour.  It was built in the late 1800's and was an ancestral Temple of the Chen family.  The architecture was pretty fantastic.
It had rained in the morning, so the humidity was out of control.  Plus, the sun decided to come out (or as much as it does in China... it was still pretty hazy/polluted looking) which made it even more miserable.

Griff and his bud were deep in conversation about something

the front entrance

one very big 'front door'!

 a lot of people were sketching while we were there

always climbing on things he's not supposed to!

 the boys with their sister, and the boys' new friends with their sister

These American boys are always center of attention, but they didn't seem to mind today!

It POURED while we were just about to leave.  As we waited under cover, the boys thought it was the perfect time to run!

 soaked!

After we left the Chen Family Temple, we headed to the grocery store to get a few things.  Mainly, snacks for Harper since we can't keep enough in stock for her.  She's a machine when it comes to eating! 

One thing (out of many) that I do miss about the states, is the grocery store.  The store's here seem to have no reasoning behind where things are placed.   We were in the baby section looking for diapers, but there were none to be found.    I finally pulled a diaper out of our backpack and showed it to one of the workers there.  She kept pointing to the floor and I had no idea what she was trying to tell me.  It was like a crazy game of charades!  I almost started laughing because I wanted to say "Ok... first word.  Sounds like....  floor?" HAHA!!
She realized I had no idea what she was trying to tell me and she motioned us to follow her.
She took us to the escalator and took us downstairs.   I had no idea there was a downstairs!  We had already been on two floors, I didn't know there was a third.   I finally knew what she meant about pointing to the floor.
The next hurdle was to determine what size of diaper to get.  Since it was all in Chinese, it was hard to tell, and the lady who brought us down there didn't speak English. Another guy from our group had made his way down to the same aisle....after he also walked circles on the second floor looking for diapers.   Between the three of us, we finally got the sizes we need.... or so we hope!  

She acted like it was her first time in a shopping cart.  She wasn't quite sure about it.

As we were roaming around looking for things, we ran into our guide, Michael.  He was watching Tom and Jerry on one of the tv's on in the store.  Looks like a little girl stopped to watch too.

Waiting for our bus to come pick us up.... Harper is already bossing her brothers around :)

 Too cool to sit next to any of us, the boys claimed the back of the bus.

Home from the grocery store, and ready for a little mommy time out while Harper naps.  It's been a long time since I've seen a pull tab!

Once Harper was up from her nap, we went down to our friends room to celebrate their little boy's 4th birthday.  The boys have really become attached to him, and he really loves hanging out the 'the guys' as he calls them.   It was Harper's first birthday party.... as far as we know anyway.... and we ate cake, and then 'the guys' wrestled with the birthday boy for a while. 

We left the party and headed to the little outdoor playground at the hotel.  Harper LOVED the swings, but started to cry if it got too high.

We ran into a few from our group, so it was really fun to watch the girls somewhat interact with each other.  

Getting a drink after so much play time in the heat.

We're up again early tomorrow to head out to the zoo.  I've been to the zoo in these two weeks more than I have in the last couple of years!

I sure hope it's cooler tomorrow.....

Like a Herd of Cattle

We had to be in the lobby by 9:00 a.m. this morning to meet our group (our original group from Beijing plus the family we hooked up with in Hefei) to go for our medical appointments.  We are also back with our first guide, Michael, for this leg of the trip.  We were so excited to see everyone again, and this time, we got to see their daughters for the first time!  It was so fun hearing everyone's stories of Gotcha Day and their experiences in the provinces they went to.  They are all such sweet and precious girls.  

Michael directed us outside to load everyone into the bus to head for our medical appointment.  The first step out of the hotel hit us all like a brick.  It's so hot and humid here, much like Houston, as opposed to the chilly weather we had in Hefei where we were wearing out heavy jackets.

Has no idea what's in store for her this morning!  I should've taken a 'before and after' shot of her.  She was a wringing mess of sweat when we left!

Once we get upstairs to the medical area of this random skyscraper of a building, it's somewhat organized mass chaos and HOT.  I'm not sure they had any air conditioning on.  If they did, it was very little.  We were all sweating the second we stepped off the elevator.

First we had to get pictures taken for the girls' visas.  Harper of course had her sucker in her mouth, and they needed to remove it.  Bad mistake.  That set her off into a crying fit and it took them several times to get a picture of her where they could see her eyes (much like when the orphanage tried to get her passport photo).  Luckily, they got a picture that was good enough.

Next they move us over so they can do an ENT exam, a general exam, height and weight measurements,  and a TB test.  The ENT check was a joke.  The doctor took a squeaky ball and squeezed it on her right side, then switched to her left side.  I guess since she moved in the direction of the squeak, she passed.  He then looked at her ears and mouth,  and we were done with the ENT.  Less than 5 minutes.

The general exam with the next doctor was just as vague.  He measured her head, flexed her feet, looked her over really quick and we were done. 

Now for the TB test.  With the past two exams,  I sat with Harper in my lap while they examined her.  With the TB test, two nurses took her into a room - without me - to draw some blood.  Talk about losing her mind.  I could hear her screaming through the closed door.  Poor baby.  Needless to say, she was worn out.  We all were.   We were only there for about  45 minutes, but felt like we had spent a full day there, and felt like we spent it in a sauna.

This is my kind of vending machine!  It was in the lobby as we left.  I think we all could have used a bottle of wine after that craziness

 Back on the bus, and she was asleep before the driver even had it in drive.

We got back to the hotel and went to McDonald's, which is right next door.   We all hate McDonald's but we were so hungry and not wanting noodles or dumplings.  

 Catching a ride with Bubba.  Bubba (Bub buh), southern for Brother.  Haha! :)

Her two bodyguards

 Another first for Harper.... eating McDonald's

She inhaled her nuggets and fries....

 ..... but was not a fan of Coke

 One of her many faces.  Every so often she'll look at you and then drop her chin and just look up at you with her eyes.  So funny!

Wiping her face off after having lunch.

After lunch, Harper went down for her nap and passed out.  All the prodding this morning (and heat) really wore her out.  I had to check on her a couple times to make sure she was still breathing! While she was sleeping,  Scott and the boys met up with the other boys in the group to go swimming, so I had the whole place to myself (minus a sleeping baby).  It was NICE.

Up from her nap and ready to take on the world again

 Griffin was really wanting to use the chopsticks at dinner, but he couldn't really get the hang of it, so he just improvised.

Drinking some very foamy apple juice

Brannen took the same approach as Griffin with the chopsticks.

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.

The Long and Winding Road..... Literally

This morning we were meeting Tingting at 8:30 to head out to Harper's orphanage, so it was a fast paced morning trying to get everyone dressed and out the door on time.

We met Tingting in the lobby and headed out to the driver who was waiting for us outside.  In China infants/toddlers car seats are something you just don't see.  So, you hold them.  While this goes totally against everything that I know, it was ok driving the 10 minutes or so to the civil affairs office.  Driving 2 1/2 hours (or 2 and 1 half hours as Tingting says it) was not going to be pretty.  The beginning of the trip.... let's say a whole 10 minutes.... was going smooth.  Harper just sat on my lap, but as any good two year old, she soon got wiggly.  I passed her to Scott, he passed her back.  She sat in back with the boys, she soon came back.  We got juice out, crackers, suckers, you name it and it was coming out of the bag trying to get her to sit in one place.  I was exhausted and we hadn't even gotten out of Hefei city limits.  If this is how she travels, we're screwed on the 14 hour flight home!

Soon, we got into a groove and she settled down.  Just as she did, the driver had to stop for gas.  Not the best timing, but oh well.  We all got out to use the restroom and in this rest stop not one.... NOT ONE stall had a regular ol' toilet.  They were all squatty potties.  Up until this point I had managed to get the stall that was for the handicap, elderly....Americans... but no such luck here.  I hesitantly went in and prayed for good balance.  HA!

We were all back in the car and back on the road, and in no time, we were in Fuyang City where the orphanage is located.  The driver had never been there, and Tingting couldn't remember how to get there, so the director of the orphanage met us and led us there.

I can't even describe to you.  One minute we are in Fuyang, which is no Beverly Hills by any means, but it is modernized a bit.  The next thing I know, we make a turn and we are in a Twilight Zone kind of moment.  It is complete squalor and looks like it was frozen in time.  The "road" we take to get to the orphanage is more like a path that has very steep drop offs on each side.  We needed to make two hair pin turns on that path and I just knew we were going to roll down one of the drop offs.  I wanted to take a picture of it all, but I felt if I stood up, I'd throw the balance off in the car and down we'd go.  By the grace of God, and our good driver, we roll into the entrance of the orphanage.

It immediately looks familiar because whenever they would take pictures of Harper, they would take them there in the courtyard.

Still not sure why they sent me a picture of her crying as an update

Picture from today

Harper was thrilled to be there.... can't you tell?

The whole place itself is not very big.  They said they have about 40 babies at the orphanage, and about 150 placed in foster homes.  They led us into another courtyard and asked if we would like to see were Harper had been.  

We are led into a room the size of a shoebox just about.  There, 5 cribs are up against the perimeter of the wall, and the first we come to was Harpers.  They wouldn't let me take pictures since there are babies in those beds.  I walk to that crib and a complete sadness washes over me.  She was here.  Laying in this bed.  All by herself.   Much like the little boy was who in that very same crib now.  She was only here for four months before moving to her foster home, but this is where she started her life.
I looked up at the ceiling to see what her view of her world would have been.  The ceiling had dingy old tiles that looked like they were the original tile when it was all built.... about 50 years ago.  It was dirty, musty, and mold had crept into a few places.  It was more than I could take.  
I distracted my mind by asking Tingting a question.  I have no idea what that question was now, but I just needed to get my mind on something else for a moment.  I walked to the other 4 beds in the room, and the tiniest baby was in one of them.  She had just been born last week.  And just like that.... a new cycle begins.

The whole tour of the place only took about 20 minutes total.  Not much for the 2 1/2 hours we spent in the car getting there, but it was worth it to see with my own eyes.  The staff at the orphanage wanted to take us out to lunch, but before we left, they gave me a copy of the note that was pinned to Harper!  Tingting translated it for me, and then rewrote it in Chinese because she said the original was not grammatically correct .  It said she was born January 19th, 2011, which is by the lunar calendar.  Convert it to our calendar and it's February 21, 2011.  It even listed the time of her birth at 6:08 in the morning.   Roughly translated it says she has a cleft lip and that Fuyang People hospital can give her a free surgery.  Then it said, "I have many kids".  What?? What does that mean?  I thought they could only have 1, 2 kids tops.   Does that mean Harper has brothers and sisters?  There's really no way to find out.

We head out to the place we're going for lunch.  I wasn't sure what type of dishes to expect being served, but I had a pep talk with the boys (focusing mainly on Scott) to try everything at least once and to be respectful.  To all of our surprise, it all was really good.  Probably the best meal we've had since we landed in China.  

They ordered rice wine for us, and Tingting said it was a sign of respect for them to fill our glasses (the glass was about the size of a thimble) and for us to drink it with them.  That was ok for the first couple "thimble shots", but the wine was so strong -  it could've taken paint off a car - we really could have stopped there.  

I was taking pictures around the table, and took this one of Harper.  She was making faces at the camera and the ladies from the orphanage couldn't believe it.  They said they took her down to the police station to have her passport photo made there and she wouldn't look at the camera, open her eyes or anything.  They said they waited two hours trying to get a picture and here she was goofing off for the camera.  haha!

The whole group at lunch

Once the food was on the table there was no holding Harper back.  She eats more than any kid I've seen.  Plus, this was 'her kind of food' so she REALLY was shoving it in.  There were several "Mmmmm!" heard coming from her over the course of lunch.  She even was slurping with the best of them!

It was time to go, and since Harper was up (unlike when we got there) we decided to get a few pics with the staff.  The lady below is the director.  They had asked Harper's foster mom to join us, but she's been sick for a while and couldn't.  I REALLY was hoping to see her just to say "thank you"  In a weird kind of way, I was sad.  Sad for Harper to leave her hometown, her culture, everything, but I know she's right where she needs to be.... with us.

 Griff, still living the rock star life on this trip, was asked to take a picture with the director.  Blond hair and blue eyes do it everytime.

On the car ride home...

Griff does anything to get a laugh out of Harper

Back at the hotel we just hung out and stayed in.  Harper was a ball of energy and all over the place.  We can tell she's getting much more relaxed with us as the days move on.  She's even comfortable to throw down and give us an all out 2 year old tantrum.   I'm still amazed at how well she's done.  It feels like she's always been with us.  God has definitely blessed us with the perfect girl for our family.  He's given us more than I could possibly ask for.   

Trying on Brannen's shoes.

Tomorrow night we pack our bags and fly out of Hefei and head to Guangzhou.  Just one more step closer towards home!