We LOVE Shamian Island!!!!

Our only scheduled event for the day was a group picture with about a third of the families in our travel group. The other two thirds went to two provinces and our group picture is comprised of the families that traveled to their child's province alone or with just one or two other families. KayLi didn't want to sit still so we didn't exactly get a great shot :0( Maybe the picture our guide took will be a little better.

We headed back to Shamian Island after our picture was taken. We REALLY love that island. It is an amazingly peaceful place in the middle of what feels like traffic chaos to these country folks. I've heard that the parks around our hotel are that way as well and I'm sure we will get to them before we leave. Right now we are thrilled with the beautiful trees on the island.

We also REALLY love Lucy's. So we headed there for lunch again today. While we waited for our food to arrive, we played our new favorite game....makin' silly faces at each other. Pitifully this face started the first time Emily told KayLi no. "Bu" is no in Chinese so KayLi had no idea what Emily was saying. She just mimicked the way Emily said it...chin down, eyes open wide and eyebrows raised! Eventually I'm sure she will learn the meaning of the word no but right now this face is cracking us up! I'm so thankful that she does understand what Bu means. She decided to play in the toilet today and I broke her heart by telling her bu in a firm voice for the first time. Seriously this was the first time I have had to scold her...pretty amazing. Typically most 35 month olds wouldn't be so fascinated by toilets but it was pretty obvious that KayLi had never seen one. Or at least not one like this before. We have a few pictures from an update the orphanage sent and in one of them there are potty chairs lined against a wall. I'm sure she used those but this girl LOVES to flush the toilet! I'm actually a little happy that she won't be using the frog potty chair I bought a couple days before we left. Oh and just for the record I figured out how to help a toddler use a squaty potty today...yeah. If you are traveling here and want a few tips, e-mail me. I'll save the rest of you from the gory details :0)

We can't help but stop and pose by the bronze statues! It's actually nice to see Chinese people pose with them too...it helps us feel less like tourist. :0) Since we couldn't read the plaque next to this statue we aren't sure if this statue depicts the progression of Chinese women or three generations of Chinese women. If any of you that have already been here have any idea, I'd love your take..

We found the coolest store called A Gift From China. It was founded as a non profit store by an English woman who adopted her daughter from here. All the profits go to help Chinas orphans. It was wonderful to shop a little while Allie, Emily and KayLi played with toys in a corner of the store. They had some of the cutest Chinese dolls and even some Christian things....sooo cute! You can even shop online at www.agiftfromchina.com They had so many things that I wanted and I'm sure I'll be visiting their site often once we are home.

One of our favorite purchases of the day were silk throw blankets for Emily & KayLi. Emily's is red & purple with flowers. It will look so cute in her room. KayLi's is pink and soft green with dragon flies...she loves loves to run her hands over it. She went right to sleep when I put it on her at the end of our gloriously slow day. Allie and Emily also found mandarin style shirts that they are thrilled with. Allies is cotton and he wants to get a couple more tomorrow. They both surprised me when they wanted them but I'm glad they like them...they look cute in them :0) Oh and I found some of the cutest little silk shoes for KayLi. They will look so sweet with Sunday School dresses!

Tomorrow is our consulate appointment and I would appreciate yours prayers that everything will go smoothly. The adoption is final here but now our government has to look through all our paperwork and issue KayLi a visa. It's the last hurtle to jump through and then we we will pick up KayLi's visa Thursday and head to LA on Friday. Then lastly we will leave LA for Midland on Saturday. Oh and please keep praying for KayLi's ear. She finished the antibiotics today but we wasted about four doses the first couple days when she would spit it out so bad...we finally started putting it in kiwi milk to get it down. Any port in a storm right? Anyway, she still messes with it a little but it doesn't smell anymore. I'm not sure if it's gone but it's A LOT better. So thanks so much for your prayers both past and present. I appreciate them and your sweet comments more than you know.