Day 5 - Part one

So, part one of day 5 is about the hotel since the best part of Day 5 is yet to come. I thought I'd do this part now. We checked in yesterday and got up to our room and it is so nice. We have an amazing view! It was pretty foggy when we arrived, but this morning was much clearer. We're right on the Pearl River on the 18th floor. It won't be hard to call this home for the next week and a half.

This morning we got up early....again....got ready and went down to breakfast. The buffet was huge and soooo good. Much better than the hotel in Beijing. Omelets made to order, french toast, fruits, hash browns, sausage and bacon, and anything else you can imagine. This comes free with the hotel cost every day, so we'll be starting our days out with a good meal.

The inside of the hotel is beautiful. There's a waterfall and pond with tons of fish.........the boys would love this place.

When you leave out the back of the hotel, the outside street is very quaint. It's lined with little shops and a park. There's a couple places to eat along the way, some more different and authentic Chinese than others.

This morning we saw a group of women exercising in the park. We were told that since not many people have a car and it's far to go to the nearest workout place, this is the way they improvise. This is probably part of the reason that I haven't seen one overweight Chinese person yet since we arrived. I'll take some more pictures at night sometime because there are lights in the trees and a lot to see that's not open right now.

One funny thing, while we were walking down the street we were stopped by a Chinese man who asked us where we are from and if we are here for an adoption. We said we were and he asked us about her and told us congratulations. Then he introduced himself as Jordon, a local shop owner. This is so funny because my friend, Sue, told us about him. She said to look for Jordon, then she said...no, actually, Jordon will find you. Haha.....guess she was right. He told us to bring her down to see him and he will do her name in Chinese for free. Very cool.

Well, it's about 10:15am and we are meeting Lucy, our guide, in the lobby in 4 hours. My stomach is in knots, I could hardly eat breakfast. I am considering taking a nap just to make the time go by faster, but then I'd have to redo my hair and makeup. We'll see. For now, I just want to go and get her. I'm so ready.

Day 4 - One more day

Today we left Beijing and flew to Guangzhou. This is where we will now be until the last day here in China. We got checked in to the White Swan hotel and it is, by far, the nicest place we've ever stayed at. It's beautiful! We have only seen a small portion so far because by the time we checked in, put our bags in our room, walked down the street to get some dinner, come back.....we are beat....again. I'm saying that a lot lately, aren't I? Our days are so full that we're pretty tired by the evening. I am keeping tonight's post short and will try and update tomorrow with more hotel pics and stuff. I'm hoping to do that before we go to get Livi cuz I'm pretty sure you'd all think I'd lost my mind if I posted hotel pics instead of her. haha....The plan is to meet our guide in the hotel lobby at 2:15pm to go to the Civil Affairs office and meet Olivia for the first time. It's hard for us to believe that at this time tomorrow night, she'll be with us. We just had a knock at the door and it was someone bringing us a baby crib. That makes it pretty real seeing that next to the bed. This hotel is known for hosting adoptive families so we have seen several already with their new little ones in tow. Very cool. I suspect we will be getting to know some of them throughout the next couple weeks. Well, that's all for now. I will get some hotel pics tomorrow and try and post them before going for our GOTCHA DAY. Til then......adios! Whoops, wrong country.