A day with the family…

Day 8

By now we are all so much more settled and enjoying the fact that Guangzhou is mostly all walkable…no vans or driving!

Photos from day 8

(If you can't see the Flash slideshow above, click here.)

Friday began early, and we all hit the hotel breakfast. I think the kids have settled into a mostly eggs, bacon, and watermelon breakfast each morning. Today we were supposed to visit a local garden, but the weather is cool and rainy. Highs in the upper 50's so we went to Chen's Ancestral Lineage Hall. Everything is freshly painted and planted in Guangzhou since the Asian Games took place here last year. I asked about dragon boating and was told that does not take place much here in this part of China. Mostly North and West. I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed. Anyway, the Chen home definitely was a different style than anything we saw in Beijing. Even Chris's favorite Foo Dogs guarding the gates were smaller and skinnier (smaller city, less power, is symbolized in the statue's size). However, I thought this was much more beautiful. The wood carving was much more ornate, and the small courtyards and gardens were full of trees and flowering plants. Indoor rooms all looked out on the beautiful courtyards, and Wil and I followed the sound of a flute playing. He was fascinated and scored himself a flute to play the rest of the day, as well as a more complicated Calabash for the family. The Calabash is a high pitched flute type instrument played by some mountain communities. They have a traditional peacock dance where a woman in silks dances to this instrument's tune. Very beautiful.

We were back by early afternoon and decided to try the Thai restaurant on the corner. While Anna slept through the entire meal, we tried duck skewers, vegetable wonton, fried rice, and some outstanding fresh juices. The iced lemon and mango were the best. Service was slow and it was late afternoon when we left. Quick trips for more formula, a new suitcase for all this stuff we are buying, and to pick up our clean laundry (thank god!), and we were in for "family game night." A few rounds of poker, a Poppa John's Pizza delivery, and we were asleep by 9 PM. The laundry was extremely cheap and we would all love this type of service at home!

As for dear Anna; she is doing so very well. She is drinking tons of the new, more age appropriate formula. We've gotten a few bites of yogurt in there, a few bits of baby food, and she spent a good 15 minutes playing with a few Gerber Baby Banana Puffs. I think maybe one or two actually went in her mouth. But she is very content with all of us. She crawls to all of us on the bed to play. She hugs and cuddles. She crawls right in and laughs when the boys wrestle. Today she has her TB test read at the medical center. If she has TB we will have to stay in country for longer while she takes medicine. We are feeling confident though, as the bruise on her arm from the test remains flat.