Back in Guangzhou!!!!!

Although it is HOT! 100 degrees today with 80% humidity. Stifling. Thank goodness for a very nice outdoor pool under the shade by the river with a breeze. But how we got back here is another story.

Yesterday we took a morning trip to a "museum"/gift shop where we browsed for awhile before deciding on a few souvenirs. The museum side really housed Ming Dynasty artifacts and boy was it fun keeping Aidan from running amok in the rows of porcelain vases. We spent time out on the front steps while Angie finished the shopping.

After lunch and an Aidan nap we quickly packed for our 6:30PM flight from Kunming back to Guangzhou. Then the fun really began. Imagine 120 people all cramming into one big tram bus to go out to the tarmac and board the plane. Standing room only on the tram, and mayhem getting off and onto the plane. No real "line etiquette", just push and shove to get where they are going. That was a treat carrying Aidan and our carry-ons. Once we were on the plane the five babies took over. One by one they all started crying and having issues as we flew for two hours. We were extremely lucky. We had one of only about three empty seats on the plane next to us. This was a blessing. Aidan in all of his 21-month-old active self would not have stayed on a lap. In fact he barely stayed in the seat. Couldn't use a seat belt. He was up and down playing peek-a-boo with the people behind us. Luckily they were into it. The other babies with our travel group each had their turn fussing and probably bothering people around them. Then it was Aidan's turn. With 30 minutes to go in the flight he got himself so worked up that he was wailing at the top of his lungs for many minutes that seemed like hours. Keep in mind that I was physically and mentally drained from chasing him around all day through Ming Dynasty vases and airports. I was done... My feeble attempts at trying to calm him down went nowhere. And remember that up until this point Angie is chopped liver to him, sort of, unless she has food. I could see her frustration while trying to console him among stares from nearby irritated passengers. I think just to show the starers that this really was a hopeless case she pulled out every stop of mothering, diversions, and tricks up her sleave to calm him down. No toy, food, trinket, or anything would make him stop wailing. The more people stared the harder she worked it. Finally, with simple stroking of his sweating head and singing songs softly into his ear she found the key. He settled down and whimpered the rest of the flight. And I think while doing so she turned the corner with him and they have been very good buddies today. So that's a two-hour flight. How are we going to make it on the 27 hour return trip????? News at eleven.

Aidan leaving his birthplace, Kunming, China

Glad to be back at the White Swan in Gunagzhou. Our room wasn't what we had last week (smaller and unworkable bathroom), so Angie marched right down to the front desk and demanded an upgrade to a suite, for which we are paying handsomely. It is really very nice.

This morning we walked a few blocks to a medical clinic to get the kids one last official check up. The doctor went over the records and performed a very brief check up. I could have done that with Alex's toy medical kit. But it is, afterall, something else for which someone gets paid. Does it sound like I'm getting tired of all the red tape here?

Aidan not happy with doctors. Lookout Dr. Srsic!

This afternoon we hung out at the pool, had dinner at a deli a half block away, and got a tired and hot Aidan his bath and early to bed. AAAHHHH! So here I am. Speaking of dinner, wow the prices at the hotel restaurant are high. We have breakfast buffets included in our room rate each day, but no other meals. Choices are limited elsewhere. We had a buffet lunch at the hotel today for $116 good ol' American dollars and I maybe liked about three of the choices. Enough of that. Half a block away is a deli with pretty good Chinese dishes of pork and rice, and for dinner tonight we paid less than $10 total. A Tsingtao beer there is $.82. I had a few. Or there is always the 7-11 across the street for some beef jerky and a Heineken ($.87, ripoff).

The Deli Shop. Cheap food and beer!

I'm so tired I don't even know what we have scheduled tomorrow and being in survival mode I'll just take it on hour at a time. I do know we'll be back at the pool.

Still rambling on I thought I'd talk about the stress and strain of making this trip and the toll it takes on everyone. Last night after an all-afternoon/evening flight with tired, hungry, and crying babies, and getting to this hotel at 10:00PM, rumor has it there was quite a bit of husband-wife dissent in the ranks just trying to keep our sanity. I can attest that the rumor is true. Practically all of our kids came to us with runny noses. So that's got them in a foul mood if they are not feeling 100%. Other friends have fallen under the weather including Angie. I guess as we continually wipe snotty noses all day the chances are pretty high we might catch something. Donna is under the weather and lost her voice. Poor little Hanna needed medical attention today. Then there is poor John. Not with our core group, we met him on the first night arriving from the airport. He is traveling alone to pick up a new son. Mother and daughter were back in the states. A brave soul he is, I thought, and couldn't imagine doing this myself. While our five families went to our province, he traveled to a far away province by himself and would meet a Holt escort there. We just found out that he became seriously ill (diarrhea, vomiting) to the point he was having trouble dealing with his new child and his illness. Holt had to fly another escort to meet him and help get him and baby back to Guangzhou. He is back now and apparently still under the weather, but he is in good hands and hopefully all will be better soon. Our thoughts and prayers go out to John and his family back in the states, who I'm sure are freaked out about the turn of events. Hopefully over the next few days we'll catch up to him and see how he's doing.

PS - Aidan has taken a liking to pooping in the tub. We avoided a major catastrophe tonight and got him onto the toilet just in the nick of time. I just thought you'd all want to know that... :-)

Bonus picture. Anyone want to hazard a guess what this doctor is wearing under his scrubs?