5/14 Kowloon

We took the train to Kowloon which is just across Victoria Harbour from Hong Kong Island. Violet had a great time playing with the trash/vomit bag, she found out it made a great hat! We had a great time, she was busy busy busy for the whole two hours… we couldn’t imagine a 24 hour flight! She is so active! We took the shuttle 10 minutes down to the waterfront to walk around. We would have walked because the waterfront was close to the hotel but trying to cross over numerous expressways made the task much more difficult it wasn’t very pedestrian friendly. We went thru the Avenue of the Stars, their version of Hollywood Boulevard with the handprints in the pavement, and were surprised at how many we knew. Later we watched the light show. At 8pm each night the buildings on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon participate in a light show for 20 minutes. It's all set to music that can be heard over the harbor speakers.

5/13 Violet gets Sworn-In at the US Consulate

Well, once we got to Hong Kong it was too difficult to blog and when we got home the spaghetti hit the fan. I’ve now downloaded the photos and can catch everyone up…
We spent our last day getting everything in. The first photo is us with our guide Judy. We visited the Chen Family Home which was a marvel. Interestingly enough the Chen family men all pooled money to have this built so they could come for the Moon Festival (around Thanksgiving) and the Chinese New Year in January to pay homage to their ancestors. We were all dressed for Violet’s swearing in ceremony later that day. Violet had a great time running on the grass and being chased by Todd. I had wanted eat at the White Swan for Mother’s Day so because we spent Sunday at the safari, today was a perfect day to go. It was nice but not what I had created in my mind. Afterward we took photos on the “Red Couch” which is a MAJOR tradition of Chinese adoptions. It was like a comedy routine! So, we have Deb and Steve with their two well behaved children that are calm and nothing like our wild child, I was having images of Violet not sitting still and Deb’s two girls looking at us like is she ever going to sit so we can take the photo. Poor Chloe didn’t want to take the photo and was going thru all sorts of antics trying to get off the couch and Violet is looking on like this was all for her entertainment. We did get a photo of just Violet as well as us three on the couch. Kids will keep you guessing every time! From there we took a group photo in the play room and were off to the US Consulate for her swearing in ceremony which was as uneventful as we had heard. We went thru security, waited in a room for about 40 other families to all arrive, finally a lady steps up and spends about two minutes congratulating us and telling us what paperwork we are about to receive, we all stand up and repeat after her on behalf of our child, they pass out more paperwork and it was over. There are two major events, both unable to be photographed, our swearing her in today and when they stamp her Chinese passport as she comes thru customs into the US when she actually becomes a US citizen, this one was pretty anticlimactic. After that it was pretty much going back to pack to leave the next morning.

5/12 First US Embassy Appointment Day

We had to hang out at the hotel this morning because Judy, our guide, was at our first US Embassy appointment. No news was good news so we were able to go out in the afternoon to walk the mall, a pedestrian road full of shops. We brought along a plentiful supply of Cheerios, the magic food for children. Later we took a photo with the Beijing crew on the Holiday Inn red couch. Then it was one more trip to play at the outdoor gym on Sha Mian Island before one last dinner at Lucy’s. It was so hot that we took a dip in the pool before bedtime. Only 4 more days and we’ll be home. We love China but are ready for our own home!

5/11 A Day of Relaxation

It was a relaxing day. We walked to Sha Mian Island and then when it was too hot we spent the afternoon in our hotel room. We went back to Sha Mian Island for dinner and ate at a restaurant on the Pearl River, it was a wonderful view. Violet is back to sleeping with shoes… too funny!

5/10 Mothers Day

What a perfect Mothers Day. Deb’s brother Dave came in yesterday so we all went to the Xiangjiang Safari Park and saw the elephants (that you could ride, she was a little freaked out by the animals so we kept our distance and she did great), the giraffes (that we could feed and one even spit up on Steve, which was humorous for all but him), the tigers (which were huge and a little scary that there really wasn’t anything between us and them besides a 5’ moat a 3 line electrical fence and a hill of 10’), the panda’s and koala’s were awesome and many more.










It was a really hot day and Violet got a bad case of heat rash. We had ice cream a couple times, which was such a huge hit there wasn’t much left for momma! She will fit in great with her Gramps who is an ice cream fanatic. Her heat rash got so bad we came back a little early and took a cool shower and she ran around in her diaper, with no shoes! But later when we got ready for bed she had to have them back on… funny girl. Violet’s gift to me was that for the first time she ran up to Todd, put her arms out, he picked her up and she was content to just be held. She loves playing with him and he zerberts her belly, and tosses her in the air, but she hasn’t wanted to just sit in his arms. The progress daily is amazing! Later she even went to Sandy. We went to pick up the photos we had developed and I just started crying. There were a bunch of pictures of the director and her ‘half the sky’ caregiver saying goodbye and I just lost it. We are so attached after five days, I can’t imagine how attached they were after eight months. She is such an awesome person, so full of life and happy; she brings us such joy, already we feel like she has been ours forever. Needless to say it was a pretty emotional day. God is so good! We have been blessed beyond measure!

5/9 More Firsts...the Pool and Summer Salts

Violet slept in her crib last night without her shoes on, it was only because she crashed and we were able to get them off without her knowing, we’ll see what tonight brings. We went to Sha Mian Island early this morning to take photos of all the wonderful bronze statues. We came back to change into cooler clothes and have some fun playing before we needed to do more adoption paperwork. Afterward we were off to the Park and Shop for more Pampers and crackers… her two staples. Today the new thing was summer salts, she did one by accident and it has been the favorite all day long. She is a busy beaver, on the go all the time, and beyond animated, we have started calling her our WILD CHILD! She now differentiates between us and calls us mama and dada. It was so hot we went in the pool and she LOVED it! We received back the disposable camera we mailed to the orphanage and we finally found a place to develop the film, it should ready within the next day or two. Tomorrow will be my first MOTHER’S DAY, we are going to the Safari!

5/8 A free day for shopping and the park

Violet will still not go to sleep without shoes, we’re not sure where that comes from but if that’s the worst, we’ll have it made in the shade! She has been sleeping 10-11 hours straight (how did we luck out so well) but getting to bed is a trial. We had a WONDERFUL day! We had no adoption paperwork so we were free all day! From the Holiday Inn Shifu to we walk four blocks south, thru the Qingping Market to Sha Mian Island. The Qingping Market is sensory overflow from mushrooms the size of end tables to herbs, spices, sea horses, snake skins, deer antlers, lizards on a stick, live dogs, fish, turtles, mice, and more. So today we spent some time and took some pictures.










We went to the park (outdoor gym) and then did some shopping. We learned that Violet does not like shopping, she enjoys being indoor, just us three, in the morning but does better outdoors in the afternoon and evening. We went to the park (outdoor gym) and then went shopping. After another wonderful dinner at Lucy’s (an American favorite) we walked back to the promenade for a night view of the Pearl River…what a great view.










Violet learned ‘high five’ today so between that, waving good-bye (furiously) and blowing kisses, it was a pretty humorous day. She over dramatizes everything; eating is diving in and yanking back, there is no walking only running at mach speed, when she waves her whole body shakes, so she will fit in fine. She is a stubborn but happy girl, today we had belly laughs all day and we are learning new ways to hear them more frequently, it is amazing that she is the same little girl we received just three days ago! We asked for a crib and she was so exhausted that we were able to change her without her waking and putting her in the crib was only a half-hearted cry for a couple minutes before she was back asleep WITHOUT SHOES! Progress comes in all forms!