Saturday April 21- Day 9

Friday we said goodbye to Anhui and our many adventures there. I personally am hoping that I am done being scared for our lives when we cross the street. But we haven't been out much here yet so that remains to be seen. I do believe that some of our family members will miss their celebrity status, however. Emma sort of enjoyed people staring at her and wanting to touch her face. We had a long travel day as our flight was delayed. They announced on the intercom that our flight  would be "very, very late". We wondered what that meant and Dan asked for an estimate. They said, "no estimate..very very late. Go to waiting room!" We were envisioning the idea of sitting there all night. But it was only a couple extra hours so we survived. Ivy continues to be such a brave, adventurous girl. She loved the airplane, and squealed with delight and cracked up laughing at the landing. 

Arriving at the beautiful Marriott in Guangzhou was like a breath of fresh air.  This was the first sight of Westerners and English speaking people in almost a week. We were ready to start hugging strangers! We topped the night off with a hot fudge sundae from McDonalds. We never go there at home, but it was the first stop in Guangzhou. 

This morning we enjoyed the breakfast buffet and then met our travel group in the lobby. It was fun to see all their beautiful children and hear stories from the week. We all went to the health clinic which was packed full with other adoptive families. Ivy had a check up and TB test. She continues to amaze us with her strength, intelligence, and sense of humor. One thing we noticed is that when she falls down and gets hurt she refuses to cry. We are trying to nurture and encourage her expression of emotions. We had our guide talk to her about it and she said she doesn't want to cry. This is common in orphanage children. The guide told her that her mama would like for her to cry when she is hurt. The little sweetie said she would try. Sunday is a free day and we plan to go to Shamian Island for some shopping and fun.

Snackin' on raisins 

Ivy discovered 'Temple Run' and pushed her way in on the game.

She enjoyed "Kids Praise" on the ipod and broke out singing in English.

We got a kick out of this sign at breakfast this morning.

Gotta love this doctor

Starbucks never tasted so good!

What a doll..