handsful

Well, the last 2 days have gone by fairly quickly and I’ve not had time to post. As of 8:30 tonight, we are totally packed and ready to leave in the morning. We leave for the airport at 10:45. Fly to Seoul, Korea – then Atlanta – and then finally, Charlotte. We should arrive home around 11:30pm 12/11. Weird, since our total transit time is around 24hrs!

Yesterday, we went to the Guangzhou Safari Zoo. There were 4 families total, along with our guide…we had a blast. An open air train took us all through the safari where we saw elephants, tigers, lions, hippos, giraffes, camels, deer, etc. Some came very close to us! It was very well done, and looked like authentic wild lands. Dylan loved it! After the train, we spent a couple of hours on the walking trails seeing other animals and an elephant show.

Our favorites were the pandas! We even saw the famous Ming Ming who is 33 years old. :) They had around 12 pandas there, some of which had been brought in because of the Asian Games in Guangzhou and all the tourists that brought in.

We manage to time it right to see feeding time. They were literally throwing bamboo stalks to them and they were peeling them with their teeth and crunching away.

Kristin and I found a buddy to pose with. Dylan wanted NO part of it. Just like our other kids, does not like dressed up people!

Randy paid for a couple of branches to feed the giraffe…we think Dylan liked it, but he was holding on tight to baba! After they were done, there were two women and little child picking up pieces to feed him so Randy quickly bought a branch and gave it to them. They looked totally floored that we did that, and were very grateful. It’s fun to do little surprises like that for others.

This shot sums up how much he liked the zoo!

A few nighttime shots…

Inside of our hotel, taken from the open balcony on the 3rd floor.

The river comes alive with lights at night. The boats are decorated with lights and just beautiful.

Self-portrait :)

Jumping to today, 12/10…breakfast, playtime in playroom, and some last minute shopping to finish. We called Ann back and she met us at 2pm – we remembered a few extra things we wanted to check out and she can get us SUCH good prices!

I’ll explain this next picture…

Ann took us to several markets today, this one was a small “store” that sold mostly jade figures. When we came in, there was a gentleman with a young boy. He started talking to Dylan (like EVERYONE does) and he realized that they spoke the same dialect – he is from a neighboring city of Luoyang. He helped us realize that something Dylan has been saying over and over means “father”. Sweet. Dylan saw a basket of wooden pipes and the man gave him one to see. Dylan called it a “pipe” and said that people shouldn’t smoke. Really? I couldn’t believe he said that! The man ended up letting him keep it. Hence, the shot of Dylan with a pipe. Now, the other man is the 97 year old father of the man that was talking to Dylan. We asked if we could take a picture with him, and he initially said no…that pictures of older people were a sign that you were expecting them to die soon. Yikes. We said it was okay, but he said his father would pose with us – I think he was very smitten with Dylan and felt a connection to him. It’s encounters like these that we will forever treasure and remember most about our time in China.

So many people, SO many markets. There are countless store fronts, and hundreds and hundreds of stores devoted completely to jewelry, beads, and other things to find. Ann said that they all make money, because other store owners come to buy in bulk and re-sell. She said, because we were with her, we were able to buy only a few items and not large quantities.

I guess you would eventually get used to the crowds. And, the smells. It’s like being at the fair, where smells change on a dime…they’re just sometimes not GOOD smells.

Randy was honestly loving every minute. The bargaining is just plain fun to him…he got very good at showing little interest in something if the initial price was high and successful in bringing them WAY down.

Going through the pet market again, Dylan wouldn’t touch the puppies or turtles, but got up the courage to poke at these little kittens.

Back to the medicine market…dried snake skins anyone?

The jars on the right side of the wall, with the brown discs hold “swallow spit” – basically the spit of a swallow bird. ?? Ann said it’s extremely expensive and mostly foreigners buy it. I must not be foreign enough.

Men gathered around a table, I believe they were playing some type of Chinese chess. A very common sight, men playing board games at all hours of the day.

Well, that’s about it. I’ve got to get some sleep so I’m rested before our marathon travel day! We are very grateful for the prayers that have been said for us during this trip…we have felt very blessed by them! Other than the cold I had early in the trip, and Randy having stomach issues for a few days (he thinks he ate undercooked eggs), we have been healthy and Dylan has been perfect. Praise God! We are very excited to be coming home to begin our new lives of being parents of SIX children.

See you in the states!! Hugs to AMPEL, we’ll be home soon :)