Nearing the end of the road...at least this stretch of it

It's hard to believe we are so near the end of our trip.  It has been a good trip, but a hard one.  As one dad described it, "It's crazy good."  Yes indeed, it is crazy, but so very good.  I can't wait to get these girls home to their daddy and to their siblings and to their extended families.

Today we had our appointment at the US Consulate.  I don't have any pictures of it because I had no idea if I was allowed to have a camera.  After all, you were not even supposed to wear a watch (do kids even know what those are anymore?).  The consulate was absolutely packed on one side with Chinese nationals trying to get visas.  I was very glad to be a US citizen and be able to waltz right in (after going through two security points of course).

We discovered that the US consulate is built in a very expensive part of town.  Our guide said that the local people think it's silly for us to have a mere 4 story building there.  They think we should sell the building and use the money to build elsewhere.  That however, would make sense, and I don't know if government runs on that.

Today was also group picture time.  Let me just say that the people in this picture have become near and dear to me.  We have two sets of first-time parents in the mix, both of whom have had sick kids.  One family had a child that got both chicken pox and bronchitis, the other family adopted two (who would do such a crazy thing?) and one of their boys has a double ear infection.



I think the best pictures come when we attempt to get all the kids together to take a picture without parents.  We put our kids on the couch first and they were great.



Look how good my girls are...in this picture...at this time...



This was as good as we could get for a group kids' picture.



I have no business enjoying this picture as much as I do, but oh I do.  Plus, I saw that they calmed down the second they were with their parents.



Lydia decided to have her moment later.  You see this long hallway?



This was what is in the middle of it.



I'm not sure what set her off that time, but you notice how far away we can get from her and she still stays there, not crying, just refusing to move.  Earlier in the day, we were walking from our hotel room down the hall to the elevator.  She didn't like something that was going on, so she refused to move.  She just stood there.  I told Pam and Sissy to just go on ahead with Naomi while I hid behind a big cart that was in the hallway.  They did and even got into the elevator and went down.  I could see Lydia's reflection in the walls (there was some kind of reflective substance between rooms).  She just stood there for the longest time, not making a sound.  I was curious to see which one of us was more stubborn.  Thankfully (or not so for my family) I was. 

After a long while, she started kind of swaying, just staying in the same spot.  Then I saw it, little steps shuffling down the hallway.  It could very well be that she saw my reflection too, but that didn't matter.  What mattered is that she realized her walking strike was not going to work. 

Some people here say they are just going to wait and deal with issues at home (I think these are the parents that would get embarrassed having their child lay on the floor of the airport crying in protest.  I am not one of those parents).  I agree that there are some things that really have to be handled at home.  Other parenting issues can start immediately.  I don't have the luxury once we get home of "only" working with these two.  I am hoping that once they are around their sibs and see how things are done, they will get with the program a little faster.  Well...one can hope, can't one?