Mina Bao Gui Allman: July 2005

Day 2 in Guangzhou...

Well it was a pretty uneventful day here in Guangzhou. It rained most of the day and was actually kind of cool. Still very high humidity but not too bad. We did a little bit of shopping around the hotel this morning, trying to pick up some souvenirs. We got our first pair of squeaky shoes today. Mina wore them most of the day so I think she liked them.

We took a short trip to the wholesale market around noontime. It was similar to the other department stores we have been to but with booth after booth of the same stuff. Pearle on the first floor, crystal on the second, jade on the 3rd... Or something like that. We did pick up a few items but nothing extravagant.

We all had a nice nap in the afternoon and Suz went off to do paperwork later in the day. We went out to eat for dinner and did a little more shopping in the evening.

Not a terribly exciting day but a good one none the less.

I did get to have a drink with my design buddy Cory. He is over here on business and was just coming through Guangzhou this evening so we spent an hour having a drink. It is quite amazing that we got to see each other half way around the world. Just like getting to spend time with Aunt Kati in Beijing...

Tomorrow’s schedule I think is the medical exam for Mina. This is supposed to be an extremely fun filled event that I am really looking forward to. (Yes I know Stacy and Sherrie are laughing right now...) I think that is about it though. I’m sure we will do a little more shopping and maybe walk a little further around the island.

That’s all for now... we will post again tomorrow night...

The count down till home is on... 4 more days...

An afternoon snack...

Why must you people keep waking me up...?

Nap time in the stroller...

Greeting from Guangzhou...

Well we have made it to the last stop on our journey. Guangzhou, China. The day started out very early. We were up at 5:30am and of course started with the princess’s morning bottle, then off to a quick breakfast. We got on the bus to head to the Guilin airport at 6:30. Talk about a crazy time. It was an hour drive to the airport. We then had to wait to get all of our boarding passes for the plane ride. It was a complete jumbled mess. We got to the gate with no time to spare. We were not all even seated and the plane was backing away from the terminal. After another huge mess trying to figure out who sat where, no babies on isle seats, full plane, ECT, we had a 45 min. flight that went pretty smooth.

We made it to the White Swan Hotel on the Shamian Island around 10:30am. I just found this cool link that has all the shops on the Island...

http://members.fortunecity.com/shamian/

This area of Guangzhou is part of the older European settler’s part of town. The architecture is very European. The White Swan is just spectacular. Every hotel we have stayed at has been better than the last. This is a 28 story building that has just about anything you could want. 5 restaurants, 2 pools, game room, shops, a waterfall and koi pool and tons of sculptures for sale. It is really amazing. I didn’t get to many pictures today but I will try to have more tomorrow.

We didn’t have any official business to do today and tomorrow is a free day also. We are headed to the jade and pearl shops tomorrow. Lots of shopping at very cheep prices.

We walked around the island a little this afternoon. We were just window shopping for now. We had lunch at a little restaurant that caters to western taste. It was pretty good.

We all had a really fun day. We are starting to figure out what Mina wants and when she wants it. She has a great appetite. She loves scrambled eggs, congie, watermelon, French fries and of course cookies. She is also a cheerio nut. We have had limited success with baby food. Some she likes, sum she doesn’t. It just depends.

Her favorite activity is playing together with us. We have already learned itsy bitsy spider and she loves peek-a-boo. She loves to play games like take the lid off the bottle, put the lid on the bottle, and take the lid off the bottle... We are working on strengthening her muscles so she can sit up on her own. Right now she has to roll over to get up. She can walk with the help of a finger or two but she walks like a drunken sailor. She is really ticklish too...

Well that’s all for now. It’s kind of getting late and I’m getting tired. The girls have been asleep for a few hours already.

One last note... I can read the blog now... woo hooo... Keep your comments coming? Its have been really fun reading everyone’s comments. We really appreciate everyone following along the adoption reality show.

Michael Susan and Mina

More Playtime Fun...

We are checking out the koi in the lobby of the White Swan...

Huh, What?

Mina in play room at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou. Im pretty pleased with myself...

Last day in Guilin

Well today was our last day in Guilin. It is very beautiful here but it will be good to get on to our last stop before coming home. We had a free day so our schedule was not very busy at all. Unfortunately, both Susan and I were not feeling to well today so it made it extra challenging.

We hit one of the department stores in the morning and picked up a few essential items. There departments stores are quite a site. Instead of having all the departments spread out on one or two floors they have one or two departments on one floor and there are 8 floors.

This afternoon I took Mina for a walk along the river while Suz took a nap. The streets around this area are incredible with such activity. We had a hard time getting Mina to take her nap this afternoon. We finally got her down and were able to rest ourselves for a short time.

After talking with a few of the other parents, we decided that we are on a new reality TV show. Let stick 14 new families in China with new babies and see how they do. But wait... Let see how much stuff we can through at them. Let see, long plane rides, long bus rides, long boat rides. Lets see... today’s challenge is... you’re sick! Oh and we leave tomorrow morning at 8:30am. So, have all your bags packed for pickup at 9pm TONIGHT... We must leave the hotel by 6:30am so make sure you are up early to have breakfast and get everyone’s baby ready for the trip. Hmmm, let’s see what else can we through at them... Oh and the plane ride is only a half hour flight. Well that’s not so bad. BUT... when we get off the plane, the bus to take us to the hotel can’t pick us up in the airport. You will have to drag all of your luggage and babies, and whatever else you have for a 15 minuet walk through the airport. Yeah, I think I’m going to sell this idea to Hollywood.

Well back to reality. Well that is sort of reality but what else can you say. We are off to Guangzhou tomorrow for our final let of the trip. We are starting to get homesick. Hopefully the next few days will go fast. We look forward to seeing everyone and getting back.

Michael, Susan and Mina

bronze pagoda

We have a thumb sucker...

A walk in the park..

Princess Giggles

I've decided that I'm going to have to post early in the day or I don't get any done. I fall asleep too early. So, while Michael and Mina are still sleeping this morning, I thought I could put up my thoughts too.

Yesterday was a very good day. Mina is slowly warming up to me and we got to see a lot of smiles yesterday. She is very tickelish and so we had her giggling up a storm. We also played peek a boo and find the belly button. She really is a sweet little girl. Oh, and we had the most fun with our bath last night. She loves to splash and get herself wet. We even got the hair washed. It took us a few tries to get that right. But we've only been doing this for 4 1/2 days.

I think they've given us the right baby. She has 0 patience (like her mom), likes music & wakes up slowly (like her dad). And apprently she's never been told no in her life! Ok, that I think she gets on her own. She had a meltdown at McDonalds the other day because I said she couldn't have the other people's food. She's such a cutie, though, I think we're going to have to keep her. (As if there was any doubt!)

Well, since today is a free day, I'm hoping we get to relax a bit and keep Mina from being confined too much. She likes stroller rides, so she doesn't consider that confining, but all the bus riding has been a little tough.

Have I mentioned how much fun this is? We really like China. It's very beautiful and interesting. Lots to see. And this baby thing is fun too. (Yeah, I'm accepting "I told you so's".) Mina is so amazing, I just can't believe she's ours forever. But she is, yea!!

Suz

Guilin day 2

Well today we took the Li river cruise from around 10am till 2pm. It was quite spectacular. As you can see from the pictures, it is an amazing landscape that you might only see in dreams. The boat was quite nice with AC running on the inside and drinks and lunch provided. Outside was not horrible. It was steamy but with the boat running the breeze kept you cool. The sun was not too intense. As you can see in the photos, it is incredibly hazy. After the cruise and returning to the bus you pass through a few streets of shops selling all kinds of touristy stuff. We did pick up a couple of things but you have to be careful. We were warned that a lot of the items are not all that cheep and not the best quality. Guangzhou is the place to purchase all the goodies. We head there on Saturday.

The day has been long though. We had to be up by 6:30 to get ready, eat and be on the bus by 8:30. It took about an hour to get to the river port for the cruise and after the cruise we had another hour drive back to the hotel.

Mina did pretty well for all the time we spent on the bus and boat. She is really starting to open up to both Susan and I. We really had her giggling this afternoon. She is very inquisitive and quite smart. She knows how to help change a diaper and put a shirt on over her head. We keep discovering more things that she can do each day. She has her 2 or 3 words down pretty good and we are starting on a few more.

Tomorrow is a fee day. Finally! We don’t have to do any official business and we have no group tours or excursions. We plan to check out the city a little more. It is just a beautiful place. We head to Guangzhou on Saturday morning to finish the last leg of our tour.

Till tomorrow...

Ni Hao Everyone...

Li River Cruise

The bronze pagoda

Our waterfall hotel...

Mommy and me on the bus ride to Guilin

Guilin

Greetings from Guilin! Our day started out with a 5 hour buss ride from Nanning to Guilin. There is a major highway that links the two cities that runs right through the country side. We were able to see the farmland china with the workers standing in the fields of rice and water buffalo blowing the fields. Unfortunately, we saw it all from a bus but it was cool none the less. About half way between our departure and destination, the mountains start to poke out of the fields. The entire region was under the ocean over a million years ago. With wind, water and time, the landscape has been eroded away to leave these rounded mountains of limestone. All of the peaks are covered with vegetation also. Its very cool looking. The city itself is note very big but it has a booming tourist trade. As in Nanning, there is a bustling night life. I just got to see the waterfall that is the main attraction of the hotel we are staying in. This hotel is by far the best we have stayed at. Anyway, at 8:30 every night, they light up the entire side of the building and turn a huge waterfall on that runs down the entire side of the building. It is very cool. (see pics). Other highlights of the city are a larges bronze pagoda in the world and of course the Li river landscape. Tomorrow we go on the Li River cruse and I will have more pictures of the landscape and scenery.

Mina was pretty good today. She is warming up to Susan some. She spent most of the bus ride with Susan on her lap. We fed Mina her first McDonalds today. Well we think the first. We know her foster parents took her to KFC on more than one occasions. She loved the fry’s and is of course doomed for life.

We are half way through our trip and although we are having a good time, it is trying being a new parent and are starting to look forward to coming home soon. Hope all is well with everyone and we will post again tomorrow night...

Michael, Susan and Mina

Our last day in Nanning...

Well we had our last day in Nanning and she is officially ours. We had meetings with the notary and with the CCAA and she is now ours. We had to pledge our oath to love, cherish and educate Mina. Like that was really ever an issue. The events took up most of the morning. We had a nice hot sunny day today in Nanning. I do believe it’s hotter and muggier than St. Louis. We took an afternoon trip to one of the malls. 7 stories tall and you can get just about anything. It was kind of overwhelming. All the signs were in Chinese and we didn’t know where anything was. We ended up bailing and going back to Wal-Mart. I know, its against everything I stand for but it is easy and most areas and items are marked in English. It is also cheap, just like in the US... Mina was a little fussy this evening. We are all getting use to each other and its challenging trying to figure out what she wants. I’m sure it will get easier as time goes one.

Baba is definitely the favorite right now. She will play with Susan but when she gets tired or fussy, she wants her Baba... She didn’t get a very proper nap today so thisafternoon was challenging. Like last night though we got her to sleep at 8:30 and she will probably sleep till around 6am.

Tomorrow we set out to Guilin. This town is about a 3 hour bus ride away. Yes that’s a 3 hour buss ride with 14 babies and families in tow. I’m sure it going to just be a blast. Guilin is one of the most picturesque places in china. It should be very exciting to go there and I’m sure i will have some great pictures.

Well ill leave it at that. Its getting late and I have to still take a shower so we are ready in the morning.

wan an... (Good night)