We're halfway through our trip and starting to have fond thoughts of returning home! But, for now, we're making the most of our time in China. The weather warmed up a bit today, to the mid-50s, thank goodness. Tomorrow should be even a bit better, though maybe raining. We just weren't prepared for the cold - clotheswise. I'm getting really tired of the one pair of jeans I brought. This morning we had a great outing to Qingping Market. It's about a 15 minute walk from the hotel. Easy for most people, but for a group of eight families with strollers and Tony on crutches, even the easiest outing can be cumbersome. Needless to say, we drew tons of attention as we walked through the streets and alleyways, where vendors display their medicinal products. Shown here in the picture are two women selling scorpions. You never know when THOSE might come in handy. Our guide, Samson, challenged us to pick them up with chopsticks, but we demurred. After the Qingping Market, we wandered through the streets of Guangzhou (avoiding lots of bicycle and car traffic) and headed to the pearl market. This was like a seven story mall with hundreds and hundreds of small shops, each selling jewelry. This afternoon is a cocktail reception (woo hoo!) and then another Chinese dinner. Things will Sydney get a bit better each day. She's settling down a little and seems to just be starting to understand that we're not going anywhere. She's almost always happy, with a ready smile and is eating like there's no tomorrow. Put a big bowl of noodles in front of her and she grins with her whole face. We had a great laugh last night when she put Sam in "time out." Apparently Sam had committed some infraction, and Sydney, in typical toddler fashion, was playing the parent and pulled her by the arm into the bedroom, all the while lecturing her sternly. Then she closed the glass door. The other funny thing was when we decided to play Claire's Mulan tape in Mandarin rather than English. For the first time, Sydney watched at least part of a video with rapt attention. On our outing today, Tony was able to get several Disney DVDs in Cantonese, which she should understand even better than Mandarin. So curious to see how she'll react. Hopefully she'll like them and they'll help us with the long planeride home. Fortunately most of these movies Claire has already seen, so it doesn't bother her that they're speaking another language. She's even been requesting Mulan in Chinese again. Joe has just returned from "Lucy's" with our lunch, so I'll sign off for now. Oh, before I go, a quick comment on the "bubble bath" photo. Sam and I wanted to take the girls outside yesterday to blow bubbles, but it was just TOO cold. So we came back in, let them stand in the tub and blow bubbles. As you can see, it was a bit hit with Miss Sydney. I guess I did pretty well when I brought the balloons and bubbles. Oh, one MORE thing - she is learning a little English every day. She'll now say the words "shoe" and "Joe" but can point out quite a few things when we say them. It's going to big a long process, but it has to start somewhere. Take care everyone. We're counting the days until we get to come home and see you all!
Love, Katie, Tony, Joe, Sam, Claire, and Sydney