A Long Bus Ride to Yangjiang
Paitently Waiting
(trust me, there was very little patience after a while)
Big sister feeding me puffs
(Thanks to the neighbors for insisting we take baby puffs instead of Cheerios!)
Workers in the Rice Paddies
(We saw alot of these today)
The Sisler Family and the orphanage Associate Director
The entrance to the restaurant we ate at for lunch. It was a 5 star restaurant and you had the option of picking your seafood entre right out of the tank if you wished (we didn't).
Here is one of the seafood options to choose from. This fish had to be at least 60 lbs. It was bigger than Lillian.
A Chinese family standing in a store front.
One of the several HUGE statues/monuments we saw driving through Yangjiang.
| Good morning to you all! We are wrapping up our Monday and I can tell you we are all exhausted. Therefore, unfortunately, my post tonight will be rather short. Today, we took a 3 1/2 hour bus ride to city of Yangjiang to visit the babies' orphanage. It was a hard trip for the babies (as well as our 7 year olds). Actually, it was pretty hard on all of us due to the erratic driving styles in China. Seriously, I have been on some pretty scary roller coasters and amusement park rides, but they are nothing compared to riding a bus on a Chinese "Super Highway". I really doubt that they understand what the white lane stripes on the road are actually for. Yikes! Anyway, aside from the bus ride there and back, it was somewhat an emotional day visiting the orphanage. I am very glad we went so that when Rose gets older we'll be able to share with her details from where she came. This orphanage is very well run, it is clean, and the babies are very well taken care of. We were able to have lunch with the Associate Director of the orphanage and ask her many questions about the babies and the orphanage. All in all, it was a great visit and hopefully will be cherished by Rose in the future. I think it was a little eye opening for our older girls as well, but they enjoyed it and hopefully understand a little more about their past. I'm sorry, but I only have a few pictures to post tonight. I hope you enjoy them anyway since there are some decent ones of great things we saw today in the city and countryside. Enjoy! |
How wonderful to have her history and for the older girls to see the process of the basics of how they came to be! Oh you poor people, everyone looks so so exhausted, but goodness how it is all worth it! And I don't care if you only post 1 pic, just keep posting! The beach is wonderful, Ben is having a blast, we all got a little burned today so may take a break tomorrow and visit Destin to shop, putt putt, go cart, etc. Tonight just the adults are going out to eat, a big thanks to Paige and Kelly for sitting. Have a great Tuesday, don't know what you have in store, but hopefully no long bus trips! Carolyn
ReplyDeleteOh my, that is a very long time on a bus. Especially with kids. How cool though that you got to see the orphanage and meet the people there. I have so many questions about what they told you about Rose and the babies in general and what you saw there (I think that'll take at least a whole swim practice). I hope you got tons of pics there for her to see later on. I couldn't have resisted visiting the only other home she will have known.
ReplyDeleteI know you all must be itching to get home. It looks like a lovely place and the weather seems to be consistently nicer there than here but to bring her home....
Counting the days....Elizabeth
So how far were you from QuJiang? Any idea? Malia was from there, and it was a 3.5 hour bus ride from Guangzhou as well. It was north of GZ. I'm so happy you were able to visit her orphanage. That's something I will never forget, and you're right--it definitely had an effect on the older kids on our trip as well. Did you take any pics of the babies still waiting? The photos we took proved to be priceless treasures to their later forever families (there's a Yahoo group set up for all QuJiang parents where we connected w/later fams).
ReplyDeleteWOW...you guys look exhausted. I hope you can get some rest at some point so you can enjoy the beautiful things there are to see. It must have been an overwhelming relief to see the orphanage and to know that Rose has been well cared for. It looks like a really nice place from what I could see in the photos. I can't imagine being on a bus with two children for over three hours! You are wonder woman!! Keep the photos coming...we miss you!
ReplyDelete--Debbie M.