Last Day in China

Bittersweet - our last day in China.  I'm ready to get home, but not ready to be back to reality...ready to see people we know, but not ready to leave the birthplace of my sweet little girl.  We've already talked about putting money into a savings account so that we can bring her back someday when she can really appreciate the country and culture of her birth. 
Today was another relaxing day...nothing on the schedule to do except pick up her visa in our hotel lobby.  We got up late and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast.  I can't believe how much Lydia likes plain yogurt.  That is her food/beverage of choice for breakfast.  The yogurt here is mus more liquid, so she drinks it out of a straw and won't put it down until she can't get anymore out.  While we were sitting at breakfast, two of the families from another group were saying that their older children were throwing up in the night.  Another little girl next to us was coughing and croupy sounding, so I told Brian that we should get outside as soon as possible into some fresh air.  We'll, I'm not totally sure if that's possible in big city China, but at least we got outside.
We took a taxi down to Shamien Island to pick up some things that we had ordered.  They were ready when we got there and we also did a little more shopping.  I got a new flute for my collection.  : ) So DiBlasi girls, you'll have another one to try out the next time you're over!!!  I also found a panda bear quilt that we had to have and a lady bug backpack for Lydia.  Every time we were in the shops, there were more things to see.  Lydia was walking around and we started to go into one of the shops.  There was a little kitty on the step and I pointed it out to Lydia.  She started screaming and jumped into my arms.  We tried going in the shop, but no matter where we went in there, she kept crying.  Needless to say we decided to leave! 
We were planing to go to some gardens for a picnic this afternoon, but it started raining while we were on the island and it was very cloudy.  We just came home and Lydia had more noodles and Brian and I had some snacks.  Lydia took a good nap while we packed all our stuff.  We made it without having to add another suitcase.  The suitcase that was full of food is now full of souvenirs and we left a few things behind that we don't need.  We just have a few things to pack up in the morning, like the computer and our pajamas.  We leave at 6am tomorrow to fly from Guangzhou to Beijing, so we have to be up early. 
When we went to the lobby to get Lydia's visa and immigration packet from Helen, our facilitator, Lydia was going crazy.  She was running around the lobby and talking.  We decided that she needed to burn some energy, so we took her to the play place.  The Kragels (from Saylorville) were there again, so we got to talk to them.  Lydia suddenly became a wall flower.  We put her in the swing and she started screaming and then she just stood there.  In a matter of five minutes she went from going crazy to standing in one position, not moving a muscle.  We are wondering if she is not used to being outside, because her orphanage did not have an outdoor play area.  Maybe she just doesn't know what to do when she gets out there!
Well, we ended up at McDonald's again for supper.  We were going to go to the Cantonese restaurant again, but it was raining and I really didn't feel like lugging a 30 pound 2 1/2 year old down the street for 15 minutes to eat something that I'm not sure is going to be good.  Brian consented and we ate McNuggets again.  Lydia liked the ketchup and kept using her fries to get the ketchup into her mouth.  She just sucked it off the fries and didn't eat them. 
Back in the hotel room we turned some of the videos on just to see how they looked and she was so excited.  She watched them for a half hour and probably would have watched them longer.  She was so funny when she was watching them that we took a video of her.  She kept talking to herself on the screen and told her what to do and then laughed.  So funny. : )
We took a bath and now we're off to bed.  Lydia and Baba are in bed, but Lydia doesn't want to sleep tonight.  Hopefully she falls asleep soon, since we have such an early morning tomorrow. 
Our flight from Beijing arrives in Chicago around 4:30pm and then we have to go through immigration and customs.  We leave for Milwaukee at 6pm and are scheduled to arrive at 6:48pm.  Our plan is to head to Marty's Pizza in Delafield to meet family and friends.  We should be there around 8pm - we know we'll be hungry, so we thought that would be a good place to meet.  Don't know how long we'll be there, but if you want to stop by, feel free!!!
My next blog will be from the good old USA. : )

Doing the Chinese picture pose!

McDonald's fries - a way to get ketchup from the box to your mouth. : )

Nap time!