Make This Place His Home

All work and no play makes Charlie a dull boy.

All work and no play makes Charlie a dull boy.

All work and no play makes Charlie a dull boy.

All work and no play makes Charlie a dull boy.

Sorry about that…it’s been raining for nearly 3 days and cabin fever is starting to set in.

On Saturday, we had a quiet day.  Breakfast was a good start here at the hotel, the Kelly took us to a local Park (Yuexiu Park).  We had a nice walking tour.  It was a tad warm, but at least it was humid!  There were a lot of hills and steps, and we got our weeks worth of exercise in one day.  And there was sweat.

The boys made fast friends with an older gentleman, who was a whiz at shuttlecock (hacky-sack).  He was an expert salesman as well, and we will be bringing home a brand new leather-bottomed shuttlecock (apparently leather lasts much longer than the cheaper plastic models!).  If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by for afternoon games in the driveway!

We walked to a Sun Yat-sen Memorial near the top of the park.  We ran into a group of College Students who were collecting support and signatures in their effort to improve China’s reputation for international travel.  They were very nice to the children, and the kids signed the banner that the group was using for their project.

Dinner started out as an adventure walking tour through the Middle Eastern (i.e. the area where many people of middle eastern descent – NOT the area to the middle east of central GZ).  Anyway, we finally found our bearings, and made it to a really nice friendly (and busy, which is usually a good sign) restaurant.  Lots of western options for us!  We had a nice meal, and on the way back to the Hotel, AR spotted a little Kiddie Arcade.  We spent about 30 minutes playing games & riding small rides.  Luckily the rain held off for the rest of the night, and we were even able to jam in an evening swim!

At the pool we met up with another adoptive family (from the UP in Michigan).  There had been in China longer than we had, and were adopting TWO more children.  That brought their total to eight – SIX adopted and two bio.. a very special family.

Here are some photos…

 

Walking the Guangzhou Wall (UPHILL!)

 

 

Sun Yat-Sen memorial in YueXIU Park…Did I mention it was hot?

 

 

Posing with the University Student banner.

 

 

 

Navigating the slippery downhill section of the GZ City Wall

 

 

Amazing image of a very mature tree, clinging to the outside of the wall, with its root system fully exposed.

 

 

We would have gotten a better photo, but we didn’t want to misbehawe.

 

 

 

 

Statue of the 5 Goats in the park.  Legend has it, the goats brought rice plants to the people (the head goat has a rice plant in his mouth) so that they would always have food.

 

It’s not a very clear image on the iPad, but that’s Aunt Meg being interviewed on local TV in Missoula, Montana.  She and Uncle Curt were camping out and they made it onto the local evening news – They’re Famous.  This was Ryan’s first introduction to Aunt Meg.  We told him that she was a Movie Star!

 

 

This gentleman (at 85) was more limber and agile than most 35 year olds I know!  He was also a consummate Shuttlecock Salesman – we got one!  Below, Ashley’s lining up a toss from him!

 

 

Cha-Ching!  Kyle is holding our new purchase.

 

 

Our Hotel hosted a Muay Thai Boxing demonstration last evening.  K&D were mesmerized, and we almost couldn’t tear them away to go to Dinner!

 

 

In advance preparations for rainy days, Mom packed some Wiki Stix.  These were a huge hit with Ryan – here he is with Ashley modeling the latest in Wiki jewelry.

 

Thanks to AR we dropped some Yuan in a local kiddie arcade!

 

 

Though he had a little trouble making out the screen, Ryan seemed to enjoy himself.

 

Dylan keeping an eye on Ryan at the Arcade.

 

 

Ryan getting a kick out of the 7 Dwarfs

 

 

Look for Ryan, and you’ll usually find Ashley…

 

 

Dylan thought he’d sneak a selfie in at the pool last night (since he didn’t go in the water)…busted!

 

More Soon.

Thanks for following…