weather in Guangzhou. We ventured out into the cold today to the 2008
Olympic Park and tested our ability to use taxis. The first taxi
driver took the scenic route, but got us to the Bird's Nest. Back in
2008 when we came here for Claire, we saw the Olympic Park and
buildings from a distance, but could not get close since the Olympics
hadn't started yet. This is the first time Caelyn had seen the
Olympic venues as well. The Olympic Park was blocked off, so we could
walk pretty much anywhere. The Bird's nest is a very large stadium.
We decided not to go inside it and walked around about half of it.
While waiting to take a picture of Robin and Caelyn by the Olympic
rings, a teenage girl getting her picture taken wanted us Americans in
her picture. So, we accomodated. From there we walked to the Water
Cube--swimming center. We decided to buy tickets and tour through the
cube. We got to see and take pictures of the main competition
swimming and diving pools and the practice pool. The practice diving
and water polo pools have been converted into an indoor waterpark.
That looked like a lot of fun. The rest of the water cube seemed to
be filled with shops and restaurants.
After a quick snack at a McDonald's in the Park we caught our taxi
ride back to the hotel. We had to bargain for our taxi fee this time.
We paid more for the trip home, but we got to see a more scenic route
back to the hotel. This driver stuck to the city streets instead of
taking the freeway like the first driver.
After returning, we met William, from Holt, who delivered us Caelyn's
new Chinese passport. Another major milestone complete! William also
took a couple large bags of Caelyn's school work and books for us and
will mail back to the U.S. We have been blessed by a large amount
information about Caelyn and much of Caelyn's school work. All will
be a great help as we get Caelyn settled into school back in the
states and as we meet with doctors. William also provided us with a
copy of the news article from 2007 where they advertised to find
Caelyn's birth parents and with a copy of the official police report
when Caelyn was found.
We closed this day with a great time of fellowship with Caelyn's
foster family--Dean, Megan, Mia, and Oliver. We ate at one of our
favorite Chinese restaurants located right next door to our hotel.
Mia and Caelyn had a great time together. Again, we could not have
asked God for anyone better to take care of Caelyn for us. It was a
final, bittersweet good-bye tonight for all. Good news...they plan to
visit us in America next summer. A baby girl they fostered before
Caelyn now lives in Milwaukee with her new adopted family, they have a
wedding to attend in D.C., and then of course Caelyn. So, they plan
to take an extended summer vacation in the U.S. Now our challenge
will be to keep Caelyn fluent in Chinese so Mia and Caelyn can talk in
Chinese together.
Tomorrow, Caelyn gets on a plane for her first-ever airplane ride.
She seems pretty excited right now. Pray that enthusiasm carries over
to the actual flight. Caelyn had a great day today. Except for our
short time with William, she was talkative and bubbly everywhere we
went today! Of course, she loved beating Mommy and Daddy multiple
times in UNO today and let out a belly laugh everytime she played a
Draw 2 or Draw 4 on Daddy. Daddy got her back with several tickle
episodes!
See you in Guangzhou!
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