Exploring Beijing

We slept in this morning and barely made the breakfast time!  I guess we’ve recovered from jetlag, though the 11:00pm arrival last night at the hotel surely contributed to the sleep in.  After breakfast we had to get our papers in order for the citizenship application for Li Lin.  Imagine a hotel room with our 3 guides, a photographer and a souvenir salesperson, all helping 18 sets of parents, plus kids, plus siblings and some other family members take a visa photo, organize about 17 sheets of paperwork and place orders for a keepsake.  Mass chaos!  We cycled through in about 2 hours but it must have felt like ages to the guides!

Once that was done the same conglomeration of people met for a group photo before most boarded the bus and headed out to visit the Summer Palace

Wow, not a bad cottage, what with your own private lake, many ornate buildings, your own hillside etc...  Gorgeous scenery, gorgeous day and great lesson in history.  

  We learned a fair bit about the Summer Palace, the dreaded ‘Dragon Lady’ and the marble boat on our way there.  We also experienced for the first time in our trip, the sheer number of people in a specific area in China.  It was interesting navigating the narrow walkways through the crowds.

There was a lot of walking and large crowds as it was Saturday.  We were wondering how Li Lin would do in this new environment.  Neither likelihood was all that appealing: Li Lin loving the open space to run and running around hither skitter and yon, or her being overwhelmed by the crowds and wanting to stay in Sara’s arms all day and wondering if Sara’s back would hold up.  The Lord provided option 3 which was the best of all.  Some new friends from Orillia, Grant and Tracy (see http://hofamilyadoptionjourney.blogspot.com are on their second adoption trip and are adding a little boy to their family to make it 4 kids, just like ours.

Sara talking to Grant and Tracey

They had a stroller and their 3 year old son was not interested in using it.  We asked if we could try Li Lin in the stroller to see if she would like it and ended up high-jacking the stroller for the day.  It worked like a charm and Li Lin loved it.  Much thanks!  As soon as we got home (after we dropped off some laundry to be done – we are trying to do our own in the tub but in the humidity it takes days for the clothes to dry), Logan and I ran out to a market nearby and bought a stroller.  We used it going out for supper and Li Lin loves it as well.

Li Lin in the high-jacked stroller!

 The plan tomorrow is a Jade Factory, the Great Wall of China (can’t wait) and the Olympics sites: Birds Nest and Water Cube.  To all the Moms out there, and especially to my own mother, Happy Mother’s Day on Sunday.  It will be interesting to spend the day with several first time Moms here in China who have been moms for less than a week!  To my dear wife Sara, Happy Mother's Day four times over this year!

Li Lin is still not very fond of her baba, and I have battle wounds to prove it.  However, there are some positive signs.  She is an incredible tease and very good at sharing.  Whenever she opens a snack or treat of any kind, all of the kids get some.  One candy for each of the kids, then one for Li Lin.  Mama usually gets one too.  Baba on the other hand rarely got one.  Now, she will often share with baba... but not directly.  Usually she will come close, place it on the table or chair in front of me, give me a wide grin and then take off running!  Occasionally, she will hold out the chip or candy in her hand behind her back and back her way towards me until she feels me take it and then bail off in the opposite direction!  Tonight, I got 3... yes, count it 3 oreos from her... without her being asked to share with Baba.  I think I actually got more than her xiao ge ge (which is fine, cause Hudson does not like oreos) and da ge ge, as well as jierauna (as she is now calling her jie jie Rykauna).  One thing that is very nice is that ALL money that she finds lying around, from coins to 100 yuan bills, she gives to baba.  I guess she figures I'm the bank.  She's making deposits of a few 100 yuan, planning on making withdrawals in the near future to go on shopping trips.  Let's hope for her sake that the interest pays well.