Shaiman Island - White Swan Hotel

Playing in the hotel play room

After getting our Visa photo taken of Kaitlin

Friendship Garden

Having fun in the stroller - shopping!

After dinner at Thai restaurant

Craig writing here this evening...not that this blog is about me or anything, but the first couple of topics are all about me! Two things...to start with... food and sleep. Food - I had this grand idea that I would come to China...drop a few pounds due to the change in diet and come back a lean mean fighting machine...oops, sorry about that one folks, I have not met a meal yet that I did not love here in China. It has been very, very good to me. Traci has not cared for it much, but ,I love spicy food and we have had plenty of it and for rediculously low costs. We have eaten very well for dinners and only spend 5-8 dollars per person for family style chinese food.



Today was our first full day at the White Swan Hotel here in Guangzhou. (I will take many more pictures of the hotel in the next few days.) The breakfast buffet here has a much more western flair to it than Nanchang did. Today we could have french toast, and much, much more. Kaitlin still loves that congee, (kind of a rice/milk/wallpaper paste substance) steamed eggs, steamed bread, rice, rice cereal, scrambled eggs and of course BANANAS. We are going to try to work in some oatmeal for her to see if she likes it in the morning.

The other topic is sleep - I came here expecting to get very little sleep, but I have slept more than all of 2007 combined. Whenever Kaitlin sleeps we are usually not far behind. I have averaged between 8-9 hours sleep per night with a little nippy/nap in between. Kaitlin sleeps so well at night that she may only stir a few seconds and then right back to sleep. Diapers are a new concept for her, so I do not think she ever let anyone know she was wet before....

Shaiman Island where we are staying is so much different than Nanchang. Nanchang was so loud with all the traffic outside the hotel and 2,000,000 of our closest Chinese friends all honking horns and trying to get in the same lane of traffic. While Guangzhou has 10,000,000 people in the city, this little Island has much more of a Key West/Bahamas/Charleston feel. Just over the bridge I am sure it is not much different than Nanchang , but I will update on that after we get there.

Today after breakfast we did some quick power shopping before our meeting with our adoption agency (CCAI). Traci went to the meeting and this would be my first real test alone with Kaitlin since she has bonded so well with Traci. She is quick to give mind blowing screams as soon as Traci is out of sight, so I was a bit nervous about the possible lengthy crying session. So how did it go??? Drumroll please...... Kaitlin slept the entire hour and forty five minutes. (Whew)

After lunch at the Deli here, we did some more shopping and checking out the Island and then we had a group dinner at one of the local Thai restraunts the Cow and Bridge. I thought it was very good and so did Traci.


Tomorrow the group will go to the Buddist Temple and then to a Jade store in the morning and then Kaitlin's (all the children in group 1147) Dr. appointment in afternoon.
God Bless everyone,

Love Traci, Kaitlin and Craig