Day 9: Leaving Hefei

This one is for Bryan.

Today was pretty tame, which was nice after the last couple days. We went to breakfast with Chloe and her parents, packed to leave for Guangzhou, Chloe and Zoey took an hour-long bath, and we were off to the airport.  We just kind of hung out in the hotel room and played.  Kids were silly-lots of smiles and giggles from Zoey.  She ADORES Jenna, and Jenna loves her.  I did see a little big sis-little sis frustration go on today-which was cute.  They are starting to bicker like siblings, which to me means that things are moving in the right direction and she is settling in.

Although Hefei will always be a very special place for us, as that is where we first met Miss Zoey and had some amazing experiences, it was time to leave.  We look forward to moving toward being a family of 6 (instead of the family of 3 that we are temporarily right now).  We have many wonderful memories of Hefei, and will always treasure them, but it is time to move on and look toward the future. 

Reverse planking-check out those abs!

This was actually from last night-she tumbled off the bed and came up giggling her head off.

Hoping to be able to flush the toilet paper at our next stop.  Ew.

We will miss doing laundry in the sink and hanging it in the bathroom, miss the “air conditioning” which cooled the room down to about 75 degrees and not a degree lower, and miss not being able to flush the TP but instead having to throw the TP into the garbage.  I am hoping to leave some of my computer issues behind as well.  In Guangzhou, the US Consulate is there and more of our traditional US comforts, and we are one step closer to coming home.

Baby Hercules x 2.

Another hour long bath with Chloe. 

Her eyelashes are adorable.  Apparently short eyelashes are more socially acceptable here in China.  Thought that fact was pretty wild.

She loved splashing in the water.  We might be okay this summer.... lol.

Two Peas in a Pod.  They were cracking us up with their chattering in the tub.  Couldn't understand a word they said, but it was darn cute.

Party Rockin' in the Holiday Inn, Hefei.

Good bye Jane.

 We said goodbye to Jane, the “baby whisperer” as I dubbed her-she was absolutely wonderful.  I could not have done this week without her (well, her, Jenna, Lisa and Tim, to be accurate).  Her support and knowledge were invaluable, and she made a potentially difficult trip totally doable and almost (dare I say) “easy.”  (I will also note that as you can see in this picture, I am average or above-average height here.  Hehe)

The Baby Whisperer (or more accurately, the pre-school/kindergarten whisperer)

We are off.

Zoey's first plane ride

 I have to report that Zoey was a bit of a maniac during the flight.  We thought we’d put her in the center seat on the plane, in between Jenna and me.  She was a little miffed that Jenna wanted the window, so Jenna gave in and sat on the end.  Zoey immediately began fighting us because she did not want to wear her seat belt, so I moved Jenna to the middle to see if she would respond better.  Jenna had to deal with the Mandarin Tornado during the flight.  Tray table up, down, up, down; HATED her seat belt, kept trying to sit on her knees and take off the belt (they do not use seat belts here-she is going to pitch a huge fit when we get back and not only does she have to use a seatbelt, but also sit in a car seat); kept kicking the back of the seat in front of her; dumped Jenna’s sprite all over Jenna; window shade up and down, up and down… All in all, typical 3-4 year old stuff.  But we finally spoke a language that she could understand-we just fed her candy and gave her my iPad, and she calmed down.  Ha!  She fell asleep about an hour and a half into the flight-15 minutes before landing.  We are SO EXCITED about the 14-hour plane ride we have next Friday.  Lol. 

Ready to land.  Lol.

The China Hotel, Guangzhou

I don't think motion sickness is an issue with Zoey.  She loves to spin.  Megs-you, Jenna and I might have another roller coaster addict to join us soon.  :)

Welcome gift from the Marriott

Another crazy see-through bathroom.  Zoey saw it and started to run her own bath.  Had to say no, as much as I want to keep this love for water going-it was late late late.

Dinner for the 3 of us.  She is a pretty hefty eater.  Loves spaghetti and pizza.  Thank goodness. 

Gave her the option of sleeping in the crib, or in the bed again with me.  She took the bed.  Not sure where I am supposed to go... :)

Tomorrow-medical appointment, we see our group that we left in Beijing, along with their new additions.  Maggie, our new guide, gave us our itinerary-crazy but good week.  Lots of business and fun planned for us, as our group of 8 families joins a group of 10 families that are one day behind us in our itinerary.  Should be a hoot watching all these little cuties acclimate to Guangzhou and their new lives.  We might also hit the 7-Eleven down the street for Zoey’s first slushy...