Coming home...you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it swallow it

Home sweet home, are we ever glad to be back.  We had a good trip, but it was a hard one. 

We left Guangzhou at 6am to take a van ride to Hong Kong.  The ride was about 3 hours long.  When we got to the border of Hong Kong, you'd think we were entering into another country.  We had to show our passports at three different checkpoints and the agents had to match each of us with our passport.  Something tells me the concern is not people coming from Hong Kong onto the mainland...

Once we got to the airport, our driver decided to make his own lane and weave in and out of it.  I was getting carsick and apparently so were the girls.  Naomi tossed her cookies once, and Lydia got sick four times right when we arrived at the airport, and I was in the line of fire.  I was coated all down my left side from my shoulder down.  I was very glad that we had not yet checked in our luggage as I was able to change my clothes and Lydia's clothes.  Still, each of us really needed a decontamination chamber (I'm amazed they didn't have that at the Hong Kong airport, they pretty much had everything else). 

Thankfully we had plenty of time, as in addition to the wardrobe malfunctions, we had one of the farthest gates away (it required a small train ride).  We only waited about 45 minutes before we boarded. 

I like this shot of Sissy and Lydia looking at the planes.



Here's our bird that took us home.



After I took the shot of our plane, I was excited to see the "Hello Kitty" plane going by.



As I was standing by the window, a man standing next to me said, "It doesn't get old seeing that, does it."  I said, "No, what fun that is to see Hello Kitty on a plane."  As I turned to look at the man, I realized instantly that I was talking to a United officer of some kind, perhaps even the pilot.  Before he said anything I quickly added, "Of course the United plane is wonderful too!"  He chuckled and I wiped the sweat off my brow.  Later on, this same man was passing out chocolate (American made thank you very much).  I wanted to marry him, but that would be against the law.

On the plane, Lydia and I sat in the middle section, while Pam, Sissy and Naomi had the three seats to the side of us.




Overall, the girls did well, but at times we were "that family" with the crying kid on the plane.  At one time, poor Pam had both little girls with her.  They didn't want anything to do with me at the time, so all I could do was take out a book and read (poor, poor me, he he he).  I thought that was a pretty good scam, but it didn't last too long.

Getting through customs and immigration was very easy (it was so nice to talk to airport personnel that spoke perfect English! We were even in San Francisco!).  It's hard to see, but this was perhaps my favorite sight of the whole trip.



Yeah, ignore the guy on the left.  Concentrate on that group of people in the middle,  Can you see a small figure running toward me?  (By the way, I am going to change my kids' names once again for the blog.  Only those who know my kids well will be able to know who is who.  From oldest to youngest, I will now call them: Daniel, Bob, Sissy, Kara, Micah, Malachi, Naomi, and Lydia.)

So that little boy running, the one we will call "Micah," crossed into the no-no area to give me a hug, ask me to hold his cup of milk, and then take the handles of the stroller away from me and proceed to push his youngest sister toward the other members of her family.  It happened so quickly, it took me a minute to understand why I was holding a cup of milk.

The girls seem to be thinking, "What in the world have we gotten ourselves into?"

 That is one proud big sister.  I know the picture is blurry, there was a lot of activity going on.

Malachi didn't seem to know what to do.  Perhaps the realization that he was now replaced as the baby of the family was sinking in. 



The girls slept on the way home, which was good because it took a long time to get home (4 car accident on the Bay Bridge, bleh).  When we arrived at our domicile, Lydia, true to form, began to cry (she gets scared every time we arrive at a destination.  It makes me wonder if she thinks she is going to get left somewhere.  After all, her first car ride ever was to a place where she was taken and never went back to her home.).  Micah kissed her on the head, but not even that helped.  Imagine that.



As I predicted, both girls became "Baba" (Daddy) girls.



Here's our motley crew.  It would have been nice if everyone was smiling and looking at the camera, but we've used up our allotment of miracles for the year.



As you can see, we've had some "improvements" made to our home.  I think the girls think the kitchen is the holy of holies.  They hang out at the gate and make it look like feeding time at the zoo.



My parents came up the day we came home and brought dinner for us.  Lydia went right to my dad (who was quite pleased with that).



We have outgrown our dining table for 8, so we put two tables together to fit all of us. It also took two shots.



As you can see, the girls are fitting in very well and are enjoying the attention they're getting from their older siblings.



The Wonder Twins have really embraced their roles as older siblings.  It is so fun to watch, it wasn't long ago that they were the trouble makers. 

Remember these pictures?????



Those are circa 2011.  These are the new and improved wonder twins (WTs).



That Micah kid is one smart cookie.  We've been having trouble with Naomi, who we were told was not a picky eater.  She used to spit food out until I pushed it back in.  Now she doesn't spit the food out, she just keeps it in her mouth.  We knew she understood precisely what we were meaning when we wanted her to swallow her food.  We thought that if we made her stay at the table, she would eventually swallow it.  Here's how that idea panned out.



Note the leg that has managed to wiggle out, and the sock that is now on the hand, and the child fast asleep with food in her mouth. I did get her to finally swallow the food, but it took about a half an hour of pouring small bits of water in her mouth.  That little stinker was so clever, she would push the food under her tongue and swallow the water.  Finally, I decided to brush her teeth.  In a secret Ninja move known only to my people, I swept the food out from under her tongue with the toothbrush, poured a little water in, and the food was swallowed.

Tonight, I tried moving her mouth up and down saying, "Chew," hoping she would get the picture of what she was supposed to be doing with the broccoli in her mouth.  Micah watched me for a while and said, "Mom, why are you doing that?"  I explained my brilliant idea to him and he was duly unimpressed.  I left Naomi do practice what I had so skillfully taught her.  A bit later, Micah said, "Mom, I gave Naomi some of my cookie."  Before I could tell him what a bad idea that was, he said, "Now she's eating her broccoli."  Sure enough, she was happily chewing cookie and broccoli.  Uh huh, Micah, score 1...Mom, score 0.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Pacific

The report given to Julie one day: “Well, someone fell in the pool and someone shot themselves in the toe with a nail gun, and you’ve been gone all of two days.” Yes, that does make it sound like everything is falling apart around here. Yes, we do miss Mama & Sissy and they would be a great assistance here, but we are truly surviving just fine.

Things are a little different without the Mama around. There has been a definite increase in pork & beef products, Kimi’s hair is a LOT messier (Thank you Jesi & Darlene for the hair help!), and Big D generally gets less effective help with his Algebra. (Except one day, thank you Jo!) But some things don’t change like MB & Bob maintaining their grip on big word usage and the ability to make us all laugh and LB continuing his job as the household reporter.

I would be remiss if that was where I stopped with the thanks. Thanks to Carol for watching the triplets & picking up boys from karate so I could take care of stuff at church. Thanks to the Pitzers for multiple rounds of triplet watch, rides, filling in when I'm late, etc, etc. Thanks to Kevin for the help on a very long all expenses paid trip to Palo Alto! Thanks to the Hodgen's for triplet watch so the boys could get their school stuff done. Thanks to numerous family members in helping to keep an eye on the triplets on Thanksgiving, for taking care of issues on the couch!, and housing and feeding the single dad with all those kids. (Yes, I still have the ability to turn heads, just watch everyone around us at the grocery store!) Thanks for so many of you being that extra pair of eyes at church so I could look away for a few. And thanks to the numerous offers of help in so many other ways. It's great having been born into and adopted into such a great families!

Maybe some day I'll get some of the pictures loaded that were taken in my brides absence, but once again everyone else is asleep and I have no clue where the camera is. And now it's time to get FIVE car seats into the new van, get some more cleaning done, and get some sleep as I get to get four of my ladies in the morning!!!

O, and in case you really wanted to know, MB got the nail just about 1/8" into the fleshy part of his second toe (starting from the big toe) and was just fine. Not exactly sure how he pulled off shooting himself and that mildly, but now he knows not to mess with a nail gun. And the one that fell in the pool, let's just say that he never realized how cold that water had gotten and is sure glad his wonderful flip phone still works!

There and back again

Oh my, how we are looking forward to being "back again."  This is my last post from China, yippee! We will be boarding a van bright and early to begin the long journey home.  As one mom put it, "I have been dreading that day the whole trip."  Of course, not dreading being home, but dreading the getting there.  In case you forgot, it's a long journey, especially with little ones.  Many prayers are going into this leg of our trip, and most of those are for our fellow passengers.

Unfortunately, Pam wasn't feeling so hot today, so I took the three girls to Shaiman Island.  We stayed there when we brought Kimi home in 2010.  The hotel we stayed in is undergoing a major renovation and is not slated to reopen for another year and a half.  So the next time we adopt, oh wait, I said we were done, didn't I?

Here is what the White Swan looks like now:



Still lots of work to do.  It was sad going back, since the economy of the island was very dependent on adoptive families who stayed at the White Swan.  With it being closed for renovation, lots of small businesses on the island have had to close.

I was happy I went back.  The island is a beautiful, unique, and historical place.  The US Consulate used to be on the island.  The Polish embassy is still there.



It's hard to see, but there are two guard stations in front of the building.

In the middle of the island, it is gorgeous.  There are many fun statues and lots of trees.



This statue apparently shows the progression of the Chinese woman.  I guess it's very progressive to wear tight jeans and a midriff top...



Sissy pointed out the giant chess board.  Perhaps you use human chess pieces, because the ones around it didn't move.  By the way, the man to the left is turned around staring at my girls.









 














We saw some interesting happenings as well.  These guys were dressed in fatigues, but seemed to be doing some gymnastics training. 



We also watched a group of school kids walk by singing a song.  We kind of did some mutual staring, which I have come to realize is not rude in this country, so I've been staring with abandon.  It's actually kind of fun.  I have been suppressing the urge to stick out my tongue at people just to see what they'll do.  Anyway, these kids were too cute and seemed pleased to practice their English words of "Heh-low" and "Good-a-bye."



This building looks like it belongs in New Orleans.



Because the island is very beautiful in spots, there are photographers everywhere.  There are many fashion photographers as well as wedding photographers.  I don't think this was for a wedding, so if this was for a fashion shoot, this guy was sure enjoying his job of modeling.



Lydia could not bear to leave China.  Actually, she could not bear being told "no" by her mean nanny that calls herself "Mom."  She's so mean she takes pictures of her children when they are having fits so she has much blackmail material.



I wasn't the only one photographing her.  Apparently it is not rude either to take pictures of other people's children without parental approval.  Oh that's right, I'm not the parent, I'm the nanny, the not nice one.



Looking forward to blogging from home, but I doubt it'll be everyday. Okay, I know it won't be everyday.  This has been a long hard journey, but the road goes ever on and on, and there is much waiting for me further down the lane.