Day 10, Six Tree Temple, Museum

Today we where blessed by some Monks from Six Tree Temple in downtown Guangzhou. Boy did we need some blessings!! Sydney has been sick as a dog the last couple days. She woke up yesterday morning fine, then threw up at breakfast. The rest of the day and the morning after she stayed in with mamma. She could not keep anything down. No fever though. She seems to be getting better now. Hopefully it will go away by Wednesday afternoon so we can come home!! Anyway..today, we went to Six Tree Temple. It surrounds a pagoda that is nine stories tall and 1400 years old! We were blessed by the monks there and climbed the stairs of the temple. Very nice experience for Nick and I (dad). Mom stayed home with Syd since she turns into the Devil when I try to pick her up! Ha! Anyway...we had a great time and bought some cool Buddas, worship bells, and good luck dragon statues there. We came home and went shopping with Kathi and Sydney. Bought lots of fun things and ate some incredable Thai food. Walking home, Nick joined in a game of Jian (hacky-sack with feathers) with a group of young locals. I joined in for a while myself. It was great! The people are sooooooo nice here. I really like the local people we have met. They are very friendly and kind. They LOVE America as well!

Sydney seems to be doing just fine now. Still grumpy as hell....but not as sick as she was. She loves her mamma for sure!! I'll work on the daddy thing when I return home with separate rooms and earplugs!!! Ha!

Check out the photos....3 pages worth!
http://www.metasisdesign.com/china/Day10/index.htm

Day 9, Sydney Loo Hoo!

Today was a good day! Sunshine, smiles, great food! Finally!! On all counts! We had the final medical exam this morning. Pretty minor stuff. Paid the final payements...and we are done! We just hang now until Tuesday night when we have the final ceremony with Gladney Adoption and the US Cousulate. Then...we are off to NYC on Wednesday.

Sydney and family had a GREAT day. She was very happy and smiling today. A real turn-around from other days. She still has not warmed up completely to me yet. I can't pick her up...but she gives me stuff to throw away. I can just add that to my list of things I do...gardener, curb-side-pickup, and now, butler to Sydney. Oh well. She's comming around!!

The island is a very pretty little place. Full of great restaurants and giftshops. It really reminds us of Florida or something. Not China. Big Banyan trees with moss hanging down on cobblestone streets and side walks. No real traffic. Sweet!

Here's a link to some photos of Sydney in Guangzhou.
http://www.metasisdesign.com/china/Day9/index.htm

Day 8, Made it to Guangzhou!

Well...we made it to Guangzhou today! The trip was easy. Sydney slept for some of the 2hr plane ride. She did great! We are at the White Swan Hotel. It is sweet!! Its on an island in the middle of the city. Nice little shops and restaurants all around the hotel. Western restaurants!! We ate a a little place called Lucy's for lunch.....it was AWSOME! Real western food, finally!! Nicky was thrilled to say the least! I don't have pics to post right now. Will do that after we go out today. (Saturday) Stay tuned!

Day 7, Buddist Temple, Tea Room, Shopping

Today, we visited a Buddist Temple, a brocade market (slik), and a Tea house. They were all great places to see. The buddist temple was big! Three different open air areas to pray and light incense to take your prayers to Budda. Nicholas prayed for some good food I think. Ha! We purchased some things in the brocade market and had tea at the tea house in the temple. We all wanted to come home after that thought since Sidney kept us up all night. She was crying and we could not figure out exactly why. Today...she has been fine so far though. Terrible 2's I guess. Tonight we pack, and tomorrow morning (Friday) we are off to Guangzhou for the final part of our trip. Should be nice in Guanzhou. Clear skys at least!! Chengdu is ALWAYS overcast and nasty looking. Ready for some sunshine!!
Take a look at todays shots. Very cloudy and gloomy..so shots are not very good.
http://www.metasisdesign.com/china/Day7/index.htm

Day 6, Pandas, pandas, pandas!

What a day we had today.....Sydney's first field trip and Nicky's first time holding a giant panda!!! We went to the Chengdu Panda Preserve - one of the only panda breeding preserves in the world. You get up close and personal with the pandas. Nicky held a red panda cub and that was easy. Then it was time to hold a giant panda "baby". This "baby" was 100 lbs. and the staff was concerned that he would crush Nicky, so we settled on having him sit beside Nicky. Next it was time to meet an adult panda. While he relaxed on his tree stump, eating bamboo, Nicky walked into his cage and hugged him. It was an unbelievable sight.....these animals are amazing. Sydney was impressed at first, but since she's got a bit of a cold, she quickly tired of all of it and just wanted me to carry her. We went to the panda museum and learned all about panda breeding....some things you just don't need to know. Then we went for some authentic Sichuan chinese food. It was actually very good.....very hot, but very tasty. Charles and Nicky went exploring this afternoon for souvenirs for Nicky's class (and of course the daily stop at McDonalds). All in all, it was another great day in China. Sydney was worn out and was face down on the table by lunch (literally!)


See the photos for an up close look.
http://www.metasisdesign.com/china/Day6/index.htm

Day 5, Paper Signing and hangin' out!

Well Sydney is officially our daughter today. We spent the morning at Registration and with the Notary....just formalities, no big deal. It's amazing what a difference 24 hours can make. She's more relaxed with us and has even started to smile. And, the big news is that she's stopped screaming when Charles comes near her....that's progress!!! We walked around this afternoon and saw some of Chengdu It's a nice city. People continue to be amazed by Nicky...today a couple of people came to shake his hand....it's quite funny actually. Our next 2 days are just fun days - no official business at all, so we're off to do the tourist thing.
Here's a link to the latest pictures:
http://www.metasisdesign.com/china/Day5/index.htm

Day 4, Gotcha Day! Sydney comes home!

Today is Gotcha Day! We picked up Sydney at the orphange. It was a great place! At least, for what you would think of, of an orphanage. Nice, new building, VERY clean. Nice young caregivers and teachers. We were very impressed! Was not some gloomy, depressing place by any means. Sydney, afraid of any strangers, cried a lot when we showed up. She quickly stopped though, once we got in the van to go back to the hotel. Nick and Iwent out to McDonalds to eat and get "the girls" something. When we returned, Kathi was soothing Sydney because she was crying again. She stopped almost immediately when Nick came in. Thank God for Nicky!! She is deathly afraid of me though! I expected that. The are NO male caregivers at the orphanage so I must look VERY strange and scary to her! (No comments from the peanut gallery please!) Any way, take a look at the pics I took. Some from the front of building, entrance, inside, classes, her class, her crib, her caregiver, etc. Also..below the first link are some movie clips (.MOV files about 4mb each) of sydney and family.
http://www.metasisdesign.com/china/Day4/index.htm

http://www.metasisdesign.com/china/Day4/sydney1.MOV
http://www.metasisdesign.com/china/Day4/sydney2.MOV
http://www.metasisdesign.com/china/Day4/sydney3.MOV
http://www.metasisdesign.com/china/Day4/sydney4.MOV
http://www.metasisdesign.com/china/Day4/sydney5.MOV