The last post before we travel home

This will be my last post from this amazing adventure, not only do we have an awesome daughter, we have had great travels. I know it seems crazy to pick up a daughter from another country, live out of suitcases, ride on a tour bus everyday, eat food you've never tried before and shop till you drop, but we've done it all and really are in good shape. Thank goodness our active Lily needs lots of sleep. We all get a good rest every night.

I need to do some catch up on the trip. We did go to the doctor for clearing Canadian immigration and Lily fared really well. She weighed in at 21.5 pounds and is 75 % in height and 50 % in weight on the Asian baby growth chart scale. She has a small head circumference but the doctor is not worried about her as she is so active and walking and talking and "generally crazy" with energy. Our babe I think was the largest weight in the group at her 9.8 kilos. I think another two babies were 9.7 and 9.6. Lily also has the most hair and eats the most. Although her eating did get the best of her last night. She just won't stop eating and filled herself up so much that there was only one way to go - out! Needless to say I've been baptized by my daughter and my gag reflex did not kick in so that means I am her mother now. We are not feeding her as much today because she can not regulate her intake yet.

Back to the travels. After the doctor we went to the Beijing zoo and saw the giant pandas. The weather was 16 C - the highest for this day in the history of weather in China. We also saw some zebra and Lexi really wanted to see the giraffe but when we got to their cage they were not there. At night I stayed in with Lily and Charles and Lexi went to the Chinese acrobat show. Lexi loved this and is still talking about it. Lily and I went for Japanese food in the hotel and she ate an entire order of tofu all by herself plus rice cereal, fruit, biscuits and milk. Her stomach was so big I don't know how she kept all the food in but she did and had a good night's sleep.

Now for the shopping the past two days we've done the silk market, pearl market and clothing market. I am great at getting the price I want and can do it so fast. My favorite place was the pearl market, gorgeous pearls and so inexpensive. The stores would string what you wanted while you waited. I'll post a photo of my baby gift pearl set (necklace, ring and earrings). Thank you Charles! The clothing market was an adventure. Shopping was so much fun and I got great deals, for example 7 pairs of children size shoes for 50 yuan each which is about $7 a pair. These shoes are nice and I would have paid $80 in Canada for a similar pair. Also picked up a Gucci bag and Rolex oyster watch. They are really nice fakes! Plus I had to buy more luggage to get everything home.

This morning we all went on the tea house tour to learn about the Chinese tea culture and of course more shopping. I really loved the lychee and rose tea and the best part everyone loved was the "pee pee boy" who tells you if the tea water temperature is correct. Again I will have to post a photo of this. Basically if the water is hot enough this little clay "pee pee boy" will tell you by squirting water out of his ?EKGIM:#$$#%#.

Tonight is the final night and we end it by our agency throwing a birthday party for all the babies. Everyone is going to wear their purchases and Lexi can't wait to wear her red silk Chinese dress with her purple leather boots. Lily also has a Chinese outfit she will wear. It will be a great party. I can't believe we have to leave already, today is the first day I've felt like I'm ready to go home. I'm tired of washing dishes and bottles out of the hotel room sink. I miss the dishwasher and Lily needs to be contained to a high chair for eating so it will be nice to have one of those as well.

So since we've come to China the travels have been great, weather has been exceptional, we've all stayed healthy and we get to bring home Lily.

My thoughts on Beijing are this city is amazing and the growth is exceptional. The traffic is a nightmare all day long. The Chinese say it is rush hour all day long. We've seen lots of the 2008 Olympic sites but I can't see how this city will work with the Olympic crowds.

When we were in Guangzhou it was a much "wilder" city, more exotic. Beijing is very cosmopolitan and going very Western very fast. We've learned so much about the Chinese culture and we all really like it here. We've also made some really nice friends with the other families and we hope to see them again in the future.

We leave here on Friday and get back to Toronto on Friday. We don't know if we will return home late Friday night or stay over and drive back on Saturday. It all just depends on how tired we are and the weather.


See you all soon.

Charles, Jill, Lexi and Lily