It's really lovely here especially at night. It's like your favorite little vacation place where you can just walk around, eat, shop, and enjoy a balmy evening. We are all remarking at how fast the time has gone for us here in China. Most of our group is leaving on Thursday so that is just 2 more days together. We've been seeing our little girls blossom and it's fun to watch the other girls' personalities emerge like Grace's has. At dinner tonight at the German restuarant, one of the most listless little girls (at first) was giggling and laughing as her Daddy threw her up in the air (as Daddies tend to do!). Up until this point we've only seen a faraway stare so that was wonderful to see.
As we walked through the quaint Banyan tree lined streets, Grace kept looking for me. When I would turn toward her she would smile really big and get very animated. I just can't get over it, and it moves me to tears. In addition to this affect she also snuggles up to me. I have been longing for this for the whole long wait and didn't know when it would happen. For Grace, she just seems to want to be near me. She also likes to lean over toward Pat when I am holding her and tug him on the arm until she gets his attention and then smiles at him and bops her head onto him. She really likes us, and I don't know when like turns to love, but I dare say we're starting to cross into that territory and will silently pass through that threshold without much realization on our part.
I was shopping again today and found some lovely things for my boys and even a beautiful Mah-Johng set and amazing little box with drawers for it. It's weighing in at 6 pounds, so we almost passed it up, but with getting 200 pounds on the way home, we figure we will be able to distribute the weight enough to get it home without extra pay.
Tomorrow we go to the Pearl Market and the Electronics Market and then end the afternoon with the famous Red Couch pictures. You'll see the photos tomorrow of Grace and the other little girls and yes, I went for frilly with a pretty white jacket and tulle skirt with little white shoes. I don't know how well Grace will behave for the photo op, but if she doesn't like the group endeavor, I'll be sure to take her there with just me and Pat and get some better photos of her then.
I'm posting a few more pics from today as we head off to bed. I'm also updating the Itinerary page to make it more specific to what we've been doing. Have a great day everyone, and we hope to see you soon!
Sharon
As we walked through the quaint Banyan tree lined streets, Grace kept looking for me. When I would turn toward her she would smile really big and get very animated. I just can't get over it, and it moves me to tears. In addition to this affect she also snuggles up to me. I have been longing for this for the whole long wait and didn't know when it would happen. For Grace, she just seems to want to be near me. She also likes to lean over toward Pat when I am holding her and tug him on the arm until she gets his attention and then smiles at him and bops her head onto him. She really likes us, and I don't know when like turns to love, but I dare say we're starting to cross into that territory and will silently pass through that threshold without much realization on our part.
I was shopping again today and found some lovely things for my boys and even a beautiful Mah-Johng set and amazing little box with drawers for it. It's weighing in at 6 pounds, so we almost passed it up, but with getting 200 pounds on the way home, we figure we will be able to distribute the weight enough to get it home without extra pay.
Tomorrow we go to the Pearl Market and the Electronics Market and then end the afternoon with the famous Red Couch pictures. You'll see the photos tomorrow of Grace and the other little girls and yes, I went for frilly with a pretty white jacket and tulle skirt with little white shoes. I don't know how well Grace will behave for the photo op, but if she doesn't like the group endeavor, I'll be sure to take her there with just me and Pat and get some better photos of her then.
I'm posting a few more pics from today as we head off to bed. I'm also updating the Itinerary page to make it more specific to what we've been doing. Have a great day everyone, and we hope to see you soon!
Sharon
