Lillian's Day at the Zoo

Graffiti carved into bamboo

Bamboo garden

Lillian, Jae, Sophi, Kari, and Rene'

Time for your daily blog fix! I hope all is well there in the US. We really can't wait to get back home, more than you'll ever know.

Today, our guide took us the Guangzhou City Zoo. It was one of the best zoos we've ever visited. Lillian, Kari, Sophi, and Jae all very much enjoyed it. It was clean, not crowded, and the animals were close enough that you could really get a good look. Additionally, the animals were active due to the fact that it was still somewhat cool this morning (mid 60's). The grounds were very well maintained with beautiful plants and trees. It's amazing to think such a beautiful place is in the middle of such a large city. Actually, the city is full of beautiful parks with lush gardens. Most of the Chinese cities have multiple parks, usually surrounding some type of water feature such as a lake or huge fountain. The parks and gardens are very important to the Chinese people. The zoo was absolutely great! It was a wonderful start to our day. Lillian and the girls even got up close and personal with the giraffes. The girls really had a great time, especially since they got to see PANDAS! The babies didn't seem to care one way or another. Most of them slept through the entire visit. The adults seemed to have a pretty good time too.

This afternoon, after baby naps, Lillian and the girls spent their time in the swimming pool while we (Michelle and myself) took a cab to the a major grocery/department store (similar to a super Walmart). It was a alot of fun to see a Chinese grocery store. The actual store was 3 floors and was huge. The grocery store was on the very bottom. After finding some baby supplies, we strolled around the store to take it all in. It was very interesting. We saw many strange foods and things of which we didn't know what they were. Their meat section was interesting in that the meat is not package. It is laying out in cooled display cases and you can take tongs to pick up and examine the meat you are interested in purchasing before they package it. There was FRESH seafood (in tanks) that you could buy. The rice was in huge bins where you bought it in bulk, not prepackaged. It was very fun trip to the grocery store and we enjoyed grately. One funny thing about our trip was that I was interested in buying a new t-shirt or 2, so we went to the mens clothing section to see what they had. I normally buy XXL shirts. We could only find XL sized t-shirts and it was as big as an American medium. This big boy was not fitting in that. The Chinese people are very small.

Rose had a very good day! She's starting to get very comfortable with us and is really coming out of her shell. She smiled alot today and was just full of life and energy. She really enjoyed playing with us and finally enjoyed it when we would tickle and rough-house with her. She really has a great personality and its really starting to come out. The other babies are also coming out of their shells. The Lund family had some major breakthroughs today as Ariana is starting to warm up to them quite a bit. It's just amazing to see how some constant love, attention, and affection changes these little ones so quickly. If I haven't said it before, I'll say it again now: We are all truly blessed!

Enjoy the pics! Sorry there are more of the animals than there are of the kids.

Kevin