More information from today's adventures

Clay helped us out by taking this picture. It is a beautiful shot of the park we were in.


Just a neat picture of how some work is done here.

I love this picture! Mark was "attacked" by the Chinese women and men interested in seeing Elizabeth. When they attacked me, they pulled her blanket up and checked her pants and shoes and then her hat and then scolded me! (At least that is the impression I got).

Today was full from beginning to end. We woke up (well, Elizabeth and I wokeup at 12:00, but the rest of the crew woke up at 5:00. We went to breakfast. Sam insisted on eating Sushi. You won’t believe the things they serve for breakfast here! It is not the typical breakfast food, though that is definitely available. They have the best selection of dried fruits and nuts! I love it. We mix it with yogurt, it’s awesome. They fresh fruit is incredible. The pinapple is to die for ! They have some kind of fruit that is a lot like a grapefruit. It is very good. The cereal selection is great and very good for you! The breads are fantastic. The girls have discovered some kind of bread that tastes like soft pretzels. They also have congee, plainand with chicken and spices. Elizabeth likes it. To us, it looks and tastes like glue. There is fried rice, sesame chicken, peppered steak, eggs any way you like, bacon, veal sausage, regular sausage. It is great. But Sam tried Sushi, took a very small bite, liked it and then put the whole thing in his mouth. Immediately, he wanted to spit it out but thought it would offend someone, so he ate it ALL. Ugh . He was not well after that. So he, I and Elizabeth went to the room. Mark took Jacob and the girls outside to play football where there is no place to play. You all know my husband. He cracks me up! Anyways, they got tons of stares. Then Jacob through the ball in the bushes. Bad mistake. Mark had to walk into them to get it. The bellboy or guard or something took off running into the hotel. The girls were freaked out. They all came up and told me that Mark and Jacob are probably on the wanted list now!

On the way to the museum, we saw a wanted poster and we all cracked up! The museum was pretty uneventful. It was very cool and if I hadn’t been enthralled wth all of our babies, Imight have learned something. It was the 3 gorges museum. Erin did buy 2 purses and wanted to buy a 3rd, but the women refused to sell to her. We really don’t know why. I guess I am wrong, the museum was pretty eventful. As soon as we all got off the bus, the women mobbed us. They surrounded all the people holding babies and laughed and smiled and scolded and giggles and STARED. It was wild. I hadn’t come out yet because Elizabeth was asleep, so I stayed on the bus. Sam came in and begged me not to go out. He didn’t like how they were treating the babies and did NOT want Elizabeth to go through it.

When we got home, we ate a lunch of power bars, oatmeal, and chips. We have opted out of lunch since we have been here. I am so very thankful for the stuff I brought. Elizabeth napped and then we went out for dinner with a family. I met 2 families that Ihave been emailing to on the yahoo group. That was cool. We decided to go to a Chinese Restaurant (again). Ordering was hilarious. We finally found someone who spoke both English and Chinese. She corrected our order and we enjoyed a great meal! Mark tipped over my water into our diaper bag which contained our camera… but I think it is still working ok. Elizabeth was on Erin’s lap. Erin didn’t see the waitress place soup beside her. Elizabeth grabbed it and scolding soup fell onto her little foot and Erin’s leg. She is ok, but Erin has a blister on her leg now.

After dinner, we went ice skating.. well the kids did. They had a lot of fun. I have discovered the total frustration of not being able to communicate! We think of Will and Mindy and what they must go through. Our experience in China is nothing compared to theirs. We have talked to the kids about the things that they must have given up and how difficult it must be at times.

Elizabeth has been happy all day. I gave her tylenol this morning but not since. She is asleep right now. When she wakes, she screams until a bottle comes Then she is happy. We did find out that she has had poor nutrition. She has NO teeth. That is very concerning to our guide. She thinks she has not had the nutrition sheneeds and that is why she is so tine and has no teeth. We have switched the formula to half and half of China’s formula and enfamil. I am anxious to go full force! If the Walmart scale is accurate, she only weighs 15.4 pounds.

Well, I need to sleep. I will write when I wake up … hopefully not at midnight AGAIN!

Love to all of you!
Darcy