Busy Day in the City

Our day began with a trip to the Folk Arts Museum which is 100 year old. One of the pictures is a man that paints using just the sides of his hands and his nails. The paintings are gorgeous. We also were able to see another person that was creating a painting on the inside of a tiny bottle. The entire city is getting ready for the Asian Games in November so everything is under construction making it difficult to get around town at times. We have a fabulous driver that handles the traffic with ease. Riding in the Chinese bus allows everyone to enjoy the sights. Did you know that an elephants trunk that points back to his/her body means good luck? The reason being is that the good luck comes out of the trunk and back to you (if facing back to the elephant). Pretty crazy!
Next on the agenda was the government store. They have higher quality tea sets, china dishes, chess sets, porcelain vases, clothes (actually saw a kids shirt that said Made in China but we were tired of shopping by that point) and lots of other goodies. For the boys, we purchased a chess set, a very durable tea set, and a brick scroll that has the Great Wall etched into the brick. The other family that we went with had a lot of difficulty finding a complete china dining set making our stay a tad too long. Jace was the smartest of all as he slept through all of it! We then headed back to the hotel and Jace continued to sleep for another two hours...long nap today!
Our guide stopped by to grab my paperwork that I got from Jace's orphanage so she can translate it for me...so excited to see what it says. I hope she is able to spend the night with her family tonight...she is a very busy lady! After Jace woke up, we walked to Shamien Island to pick up our laundry and purchase some fun little items for our Christmas tree. I think I only have one more shopping trip to the island and I have had all the shopping I need (crazy for me to actually say that!) Rob best describes our walk over to the island like this: It is something you would see watching Anthony Bordain...scorpions on a stick, starfish, seahorses, etc. The shops next to our hotel is like the day after Christmas shopping times 100! It is insane to see all of the people walking around and buying items in the stores. We enjoyed dinner at Lucy's where Rob had steak, Jace had noodles with eggflower soup, and I had a hamburger....delicious! The rest of our night consisted of walking around the beautiful Shamien Island. We are having a very adventurous time...so glad all of us are continuing to stay healthy. The weather continues to be hot (96 degrees with a ridiculous percentage of humidity) but everyone endures the heat and walks around with beads of sweat.
Jace continues to love riding in the backpack. He is getting really good at using the sign for more (have we said how much he LOVES to eat??). He is using his signature move (we call it the PanYu aka stiff arm) less and less. We are trying to teach him the sign for all done or finished along with eat. He loves to play with his Toy Story Woody doll which has a pull string and allows him to say various sayings. He will put Woody's arm in the pocket and "feed" himself. I love the fact that he enjoys looking at books (yes, a teacher's kiddo loves to read)! All of us sit around and play silly games with his stacking cups. He cracks up when Rob puts a cup on his head and it falls into his lap. You can probably tell by the pictures that he is still very attached to Rob. He did let me get him out of his crib, help him get ready for the bathroom, and get his clothes on!! He feeds himself so good....yogurt is a hoot as it is a thick liquid. Another favorite for him is milk that has pineapple chunks. He isn't going to know what to do when we get to eat at home every night...something we are very excited for. Another day brings a great day of attachment and bonding. I no longer fear the first day that Rob has to go back to work for Jace allows me to help him throughout the day.
Our agenda for tomorrow is very light. We have to have Jace's TB test reviewed and then the rest of the day we are free. We do want to go back to the Chinese restaurant so we are going to ask Helen to translate what we want to order.