In Guangzhou

Yesterday was a very long day!! We had to be up at 4:45, packed, had breakfast at 6:00 and left for the airport for our 3 hour flight to Guangzhou. Allie didn't like the seatbelts at first, and wanted to be able to be up. After a few minutes, when the plane started moving, she was excited to see how things outside were moving past us so quickly. As we took off, she just wanted to watch out the window. It was sort of sad to know that we were leaving the only place she has known as home - the place where she was born and spent the first 3 years and 8 months of her life. We are happy though, that she is ours, and tht soon we will be on our way home with her. We can't wait for everyone to meet her - she is quite a character, and has the sweetest smile.

She is saying a few words in English now. When she picks up her cell phone, she says, "hello" - so cute, then she carries on a entire conversation in Chinese.

We landed in GZ just after noon, picked up our luggage and met our guide. She sent us on to the hotel and she had to wait for the other families to get in. We had a couple of hours to get out and explore to find the shops we visited last year. We did a little shopping, then headed back to the hotel to get ready for Allie's medical appointment, and VISA picture. She weighed exactly what her paperwork said as of November last year, 31.5 pounds. She has grown several inches since then, though, and is 37.8 inches tall. So, she is 9 pounds heavier than Emma, and is 4.5 inches taller - about right for 14 months older. After all this, we went back to the hotel to gather up our documents so we could finish up the paperwork. I went to do the paperwork, which took a little over 2 hours, while Bobby, Josh and the girls played and walked around the area some more.

After we finished up the paperwork, we headed to Lucy's for dinner. Lucy's is a place that has some western choices in foods, as well as other items more familiar to adoptive families from the states. Enjoy the pics from our very busy day!!