The Red Couch

OK, I'm not gonna lie to you. I'm really tired tonight. So I could fill this blog with our tour from the morning which included a visit to the Six Banyan Buddhist Temple that is 1500 years old (the actual structure on site was rebuilt 500 years ago), our visit to Old Chen House which was built in the 1800's by the Chen family (and was quite impressive) and finally our visit to the Provincial Arts and Crafts center. But I'm not going to do that. I will include these photos from the morning though:

Emma drinking her bottle at the Buddhist temple while sitting in the stroller.

Julia, Ryan and Jenna at the Buddhist temple. Notice that Ryan has a pretty good pouty face going on. That boy has an EXCELLENT pouty face! He's pouting because Julia is sitting beside him and for whatever reason he didn't want her there. When she sat by him he pushed her really hard so I told him "NO" very sternly and pushed Julia close to him and the pout began.

Jenna and Ryan in the stroller at the Old Chen House. This stroller is getting quite a bit attention, especially when Emma is in front. We often hear people commenting on both the stroller and the fact that there are 3 Asian children in it. We are a bit of a sensation.

After the tour we were back in time for lunch and guess where Jenna had to go?

Squatty #3! At least it looks pretty clean.

At 5:00 our group was scheduled for our "Red Couch" photos. For those who are familiar with the Chinese adoption world, no explanation is necessary. But for those of you who are not I will explain.

As I mentioned yesterday, traditionally people stay at the White Swan hotel. The second floor lobby area has several red couches. People began to take pictures of their babies grouped together on the red couches and the tradition began. Now they seem to be including family photos.

Penny, Shannon and Norah on one of the World Famous Red Couches.

Jim, Shannon, Grace, Ashley and Brooke.

And here's my family: Me, Ryan, Jenna, Julia and Emma. Since we just got to Guangzhou yesterday I hadn't had time to get the kids Chinese outfits so after lunch it was a quick shopping excursion.

And here are my angels. Sorry about the glare. This red couch is facing a window because all the others not facing a window were occupied.

The Jiangxi babies. Norah, Grace and Ryan. Doesn't Norah look like a happy girl???

And here is "our group" baby photo. Here's the weird thing. We really don't know who these other babies are or who their parents are. We didn't see them in Hong Kong. I think they went through Beijing. These children are absolutely precious but them being included in a group photo doesn't really mean anything to the other two Jiangxi families and I. (And I'm sure the other families must feel the same way.) Two of the other babies in this group's families are staying in the Victory Hotel with us and the others are staying in the White Swan. We all just happened to be lumped together into a "group" who shares a guide, Grace.

Here's my little Emperor Ryan. He has no idea what is going on but at least he's not crying.

Today Jenna made a friend with a little girl who is in our "group."

This is Chloe. Her family is in our "group" and Jenna met her on our tour this morning, although they didn't play together until this evening while families were having their red couch photos taken. I'm not sure how much these two will interact because Chloe's family is staying at the White Swan.

After the photos it was off to a group dinner at the Cow and Bridge, a Thai restaurant. Jenna is walking with her new BFF.

The restaurant was crazy. It was LOUD and with a huge group the food came out in pieces. I had my food and Jenna got hers about 5 minutes later. Jenna and Ryan were hungry NOW and I forgot to bring a bottle for Emma.

The photo above is of Julia holding Emma in the restaurant and Jenna standing next to them.

Strike a pose! The girls are bored so they are taking photos of themselves to pass the time.

They also got these photos of Ryan:

My mischievous looking little guy!

And here is him smiling and laughing. In a restaurant. And he's not on my lap. Progress!!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday I promised some photos of the island and I have to let you down. There was no time to get photos. But tomorrow is another day and has a freer schedule. Let's see if I can deliver.