U-S-A! U-S-A!

We are now on American soil...PTL! While our flight into LAX was almost an hour late, we sailed through customs and immigration without any trouble...and in less than an hour! What a difference between here and Chicago-OHare during our last adoption! The first picture is of our son with our guide, Kelly, just as we were leaving China, followed by Kai learning that he could watch his own movie on the plane...then the one of our newest American Citizen...even if he was a little tired and cranky!

We have nearly a 6 hour layover until our flight to Memphis, so we had an all-American-hot-dog-dinner with another adoptive family from Minnesota (Yeah, you betcha!) who were also on their second adoption. Very nice people who were still fighting the plague of China (fingers are still crossed that we don't get sick!) After dinner with them, we still had another 2 hours to wait, so we went to a place where we could chill out with some chips and salsa (a big hit with Kai) and waited to move into our boarding area.

Kai could not hang on, until boarding (after midnight) so we have now let him fall asleep and made him a little pallet at our feet. I hope that we do not regret this on the 4 hour flight back into Memphis.

Anyway, We had a great time in China, but GOD BLESS AMERICA! We can't wait to squeeze our other 2 boys in a few hours!

More from Memphis!

Last Day!

I knew it! We stayed up until 10 pm and slept until 0500...finally adjusted to China time...and we leave in 12 hours:-) That's OK...we're headed home!

I think we have decided to catch a cab out to Shamian Island, and enjoy it one more time before we leave, today. There are a few more haunts that we want to get to, and we think we will have plenty of time.

Last night, we decided to go back to our new favorite restaurant, and we are hereby declaring it the new "Lucy's" for all adoptive families! I will write a separate post, once we are home, with a new and improved packing list and some places that have easy walking access and are kid (and wallet) friendly! The Greenisland Western Restaurant was a big hit, again, last night. We ordered a dish that equates to Chinese fajitas made with spare ribs. Our other dish had a little meat mixed with fresh ginger and broccolini. The meat in both dishes was so tender and had such great flavor! Kai LOVES meat! So much so, that I had to perform the Heimlich maneuver on him. It was pretty scary! He had shoved a big piece of meat in his moth and it was stuck! It finally came out to the point that I could physically pull it out...whew! OK...so we really have to cut his meat small and watch him like a hawk with meat. (Do you think my nomination for Mother-of-the-Year will be revoked?) I think it scared him pretty good, too, since all he could do was stare at his plate for several minutes before deciding he would continue to eat. In the end, he decided that sucking the marrow, right out of the bone, was safer.

Since it was our last night, we splurged, and the three of us split an ice cream sundae....also a big hit, and no choking hazard!

Below are a few pictures of our last evening, here. You can see that Kai is a real comedian and an escape artist. (BTW: The pull-up on his head was clean:-)

Next post....U.S.A!!!!!

THE FERLANDS HAVE LEFT THE COUNTRY (well...almost)

Consulate Day

We finally made it to Consulate Day! All of our paperwork is in and Kai's passport and visa are being prepared for pickup, tomorrow...just in time to make our plane tomorrow night...YEE HAW!!!

Jay and I cringed as we got on the bus, this morning. Everyone was complaining of fevers and coughing...even the last two people that were sightseeing with us, yesterday. Although we felt bad for them, we DO NOT WANT TO GET SICK! So we kept a polite distance and moved through the US Consulate. Everything there went off without a hitch and we were back at the hotel by 1000. Unfortunately, because everyone else was sick, the bus was deviated to the local hospital, so no visit to the medicine market, after all.

Therefore, Jay and I strapped on our backpacks and took ourselves on a four-hour walking tour of the city. We started with Yuexiu Park (the one we visited the very first day) but took a different path. It was quite warm and humid, today, so we were pretty sweaty by the time we made it up the first of many hills and monuments in the park. We walked past the original wall of the city (from like 1600) with very old banyan trees growing right out from the sides of it. Kai walked a good portion of our tour in the park. He also feels the need to pick up every leaf and rock he sees:-) You'll see in a couple of the pictures, below, that he had taken a leaf and was picking up little tiny pebbles and loading them on the leaf. He then carried the leaf up a huge set of stairs, so that he could dump the pebbles over a wall...then proceed to sweep the steps with this leaf. Several people stopped, laughed, and were trying to talk to him. It took us a while to convince him to leave the rest of the leaves there. On that note, I had to take a picture of the brooms that are consistently used, here. While technology is quite advanced in many places, these brooms are the only ones ever used! If only I could pack one for Kai, my steps may get swept, yet!

The other pictures are just random shots from around the park and the city: a bird that we have seen everywhere, tango dancing in the park, a wanna-be-Starbucks, and some stuff I thought was cool.

Tomorrow, our bus for the airport leaves at 6:00 pm and we are sooooo anxious to get home to Cam and Cael! Please keep us in your prayers as we prepare for a 13 hour flight from here to LAX, make it through customs and security, and another 5 hour flight on to Memphis. We know it will all be worth it...just don't want to make it a miserable flight for the rest of those on board!

I plan to make one final post from China, tomorrow, but until then...Good Night!

GZ Zoo and Local Park

Boy Oh Boy! Our travel group is dropping like flies with fever and congestion! We are religiously hand washing and trying to stay healthy, before we leave on Thursday. As a result, there was only two other people on the bus with us, today. Therefore, our guide gave us the option of doing something that would be more fun for the kids. So, we went to the Guangzhou Zoo.
While not as impressive as the Safari that we took on our last trip, it was just the ticket for a two-year-old who is just as pleased with the ducks in the pond as the Chinese Panda taking a soak in his personal hot tub or the Red Panda strolling in the gutter. We even paid the 10 Yuan to feed the giraffes...it was awesome!
Despite the Coke that we let Kai taste, he was exhausted on the bus ride home and there a couple of great pictures of him falling asleep next to Jay (notice him holding Jay's finger!)

After a nap, we ventured out to another one of the local parks...and to try one of the restaurants on the lake. Once again, we could not have asked for better weather on this trip. What a difference one month makes for travel (we were SOOO hot in April, during our last trip). In fact, rain is not expected until we leave!

Please take note of the birds in the cages. We could not help but notice that there were men with bird cages, everywhere! They were beautiful song-birds in beautiful cages and we thought that this is just how people in GZ, birdwatch. I asked one of the locals if I could take a picture of his bird and he agreed. His buddy had spent some time in California, so we struck up a conversation. It turns out that these were all fighting birds! GASP! They meet in this park, early in the morning, then make their way to at local "restaurant" to compete...I did NOT see that coming!
We wrapped up our walk with dinner at the Greenisland Western Restaurant (Yes. That is how they spell it). They offered up Angus beef and Foie Gras...but we opted for spaghetti and sautéed veggies and rice (If I'm having beef and duck liver, I will get it back home for a much better price).
Dinner was delicious, the company was grand, and the view was spectacular!

We ended the day with a bath since Kai has learned to LOVE bath time! And it seems that we will, indeed, adjust to the time difference just in time to leave! Tomorrow is our oath taking ceremony and the US Consulate. This appointment is what our entire travel schedule has been planned around. We basically go there, take an oath that we will never abandon or abuse our new son, then we can officially get his visa the following day and We-Are-Outta-Here!! We do plan to get to that medicine market, tomorrow, after the consulate. Until then...Good night!

Shamian Island

Today, we were able to go back to visit Shamian Island and it was a gorgeous day! Jay finished his schoolwork, literally, seconds before the bus left, so he was able to join us...YEAH!!!
The first picture, below, is the current condition of the White Swan. It has been taken down to the bare bones of the structure.
We were able to visit many of our old haunts, including Lucy's, a Western Restaurant that has the best of everything. We ate lunch, there, on the patio with some of our new friends from Texas. Then we walked around the island a bit, taking pictures with the many children's statues.
After a little souvenir shopping, we finished up at the Starbucks, where Kai completely passed out.
Tomorrow, we will visit the Five Banyan Trees temple and then a visit to the medicine market (home of all the creepy crawlies!)
Three more days before we go home!!!
Good Night!