First Day Home Late 7/22 early 7/23

Things didn't go exactly as planned with the arrival. I started getting the kids ready around 5:30. The girls had baths and ponytails and dresses. The next step was to get in the car around 6. Of course, the boys were scheduled to arrive home at 7:30 on the 22nd but through many problems with planes being late and mechanics, it was actually 12:13 when they arrived . . .July 23rd. I was able to talk the luggage girl into giving me a gate pass but not my niece or her boyfriend who were along for the ride. Despite the fact that luggage girl was willing to give it to me, she still felt the need to explain to me how I didn't need it. I wasn't meeting unaccompanied minors and she had children and a husband and my husband didn't ask for help in Newark so he'll be fine. I'm wondering if anyone told her that after sitting on the tarmac for over two hours with hot oil and firetrucks and then finally being cleared for take off, a boy stood up and pulled down his pants to pee in the aisle and had a waling, feral fit delaying the plane even more. That was my boy. And, I feel like delayed four hours after having traveled for over 24, that my husband did, indeed, need gate help. Had it been me, I would have insisted on three wheelchairs. But it wasn't; it was Pete and so he didn't ask for any help. I raced onto the airport train and into the terminal because by the time the lady had finished insisting he didn't need any help, almost all of the people on the flight had arrived landside. I also raced up the escalators and through the D terminal but it didn't take long until I saw them. Boys in lime green shirts (thanks to Gymboree for the crazy green color that I thought would help Pete recognize his own children in China) and there was Pete with a baby dangling from the front of him walking sideways watching the boys behind him and half looking ahead. He was in tears but trying to wait for this emotional floodgate until we got home. Duncan informed me that everyone on the plane hated them and had mean things to say especially when Daddy went to the bathroom on the plane. I believe Pete had tried to explain that Kai didn't speak English because apparently when he went to the bathroom, the guy behind them said to his lady neighbor, "Then learn some Mandarin." Thanks for the advice buddy but kinda late. Pete explained that the people in the neighboring seats were all drinking for free thanks to the stewardess who apparently realized that they, did, indeed, need help or medication or at the very least for the plane not to be four hours late reaching it's destination. At any rate, I was amazingly happy to see them. Duncan had lots of things to say about Kai's behavior and how Kai ruined his day and so on and so forth. And my husband's eternal cuteness is surely in part to the way he wears a baby. Welcome home boys!

In Pittsburgh

One little guy is asleep on the floor. Not because it's a Maxwell Family Christmas where we all huddled in one room awaiting the big day. Though, we are awaiting the big day. Also, not because he is too big for the bed he's sleeping in or because someone else pulled the sheet off earlier in the day. He's just sleeping on the floor because he's a thumper. Not so much a head banger as a body banger--throwing himself against the mattress to the beat of a song (sometimes one he's singing and sometimes one he hears). He's supposed to be sleeping in his sister's bed tonight as his room is being painted but it just doesn't give him what he needs in his thumping ritual so he's on the floor. Quinn is upside down in her bed. It's hot here. Aila is in time out. Well, in the bed formerly known as time out. She asked to sleep there. For the longest time, she could only sleep in a dark closet with no one walking anywhere near. Two of those three create their own sensory havens at night with the head banging and the upside down sleeping. Aila can't manage much sensory input but I know she's getting more organized as she is now able to sleep in a crib near to her brothers and sisters. Also, she's quite a bit more tired with the nearly full day preschool she is attending. The last little one is actually watching TV. When Daddy gets home, this is all going to change but for one more night, Mommy would rather let her watch four movies in a row then deal with her sensory overload that involves jumping all over my bed throwing her head into the covers, or over the edge, or possibly throwing her whole body from our rather high bed. Actually I should probably write a thesis in prenatal exposure causing sensory and sleep issues in children. However, that thesis will have to wait. Because tomorrow, if none of my fears regarding the North Magnetic Pole come true, I'll have our China boys home. If they have sensory issues, I don't know about it. As a matter of fact, I'm sure they have a whole slew of issues that I know nothing about. I haven't looked up every little detail in their files on the internet. I've just barely got their room painted (and only because of Christina's help will it be done by tomorrow). These boys are going to give us a run for our money. We know. In part, we picked our older China son, Kai, for behavior that looked the same sort of trying as our ten year old's. We wanted him to be an equal partner in that brotherhood. In retrospect, this may not have been the best idea. Tomorrow, though, it won't matter. It will only matter that everyone has a sleeping bag for family movie night and that there's a popcorn for everyone.

i·tin·er·ar·y

CO9726		9:45 a.m. Fri., Jul. 22, 2011 Hong Kong (HKG)	3:10 p.m. Fri., Jul. 22, 2011 Tokyo, Japan (NRT - Narita)	Boeing 767-300 Fare Class: Economy (S) Meals: None	Flight Time: 4 hr 25 mn
Flight CO 9726 is operated by ANA All Nippon Airways.
	CO8		4:35 p.m. Fri., Jul. 22, 2011 Tokyo, Japan (NRT - Narita)	4:30 p.m. Fri., Jul. 22, 2011 New York/Newark, NJ (EWR - Liberty)	Boeing 777-200ER Fare Class: Economy (S) Meals: None	Flight Time: 12 hr 55 mn
	CO3076		6:00 p.m. Fri., Jul. 22, 2011 New York/Newark, NJ (EWR - Liberty)	7:39 p.m. Fri., Jul. 22, 2011 Pittsburgh, PA (PIT)	Embraer RJ145 Fare Class: Economy (S) Meals: None	Flight Time: 1 hr 39 mn
Flight CO 3076 is operated by ExpressJet Airlines Inc. dba Continental Express.

Wednesday July 20

Finally a day to move!! Today we travel to Hong Kong, the place we fly out of.

We got up, not too early, and went down for a late breakfast. It was nice not being in a hurry. Our friends came down towards the end. We managed to get a decent Skype connection and talked to Emma and Marie for a while. It was good for Emma to meet the boys.

We went back to the room and started to pack. It really wasn’t too bad. With the extra suitcase we had enough room and with a scale there was no question on weights. I did have to contend with the boys wrestling now and then and Finn reorganizing things the way he saw fit.

Walked around town a little bit after that in the pedestrian mall. Met some friends with a daughter who was in the same room as Finn and walked around with them and chatted. Then stopped in to 7-11 for lunch: Chicken for Kai, Pizza for Duncan, and Yogurt for Me and Finn. We ate in the pedestrian mall, though Kai ate at the doorstop of a store nearby, as he was in a mood…

Then we headed back to the hotel to get ready. Duncan and I showered. Kai wouldn’t and I didn’t fight him. Finn had a bath (he has hated them since the first one which he loved – not sure why). Then we headed down to the lobby with the help of our friends.

I checked out. I guess they go and check your room because they couldn’t find the handset for our phone. I went up and looked and couldn’t find it either. So they charged me 100 RMB ($15). They said I had to pay for the whole phone, but when I said OK, but I want the rest of it (sorry Marie) then they said I just needed to pay for the handset. I am guessing Finn put it in the trash (since he couldn’t fit it in the potty!)

We took the van to the consulate. Our facilitator went in to get the Passports and Visas for the boys. We waited in the van. That accomplished we headed to the train station, about two blocks away. We parked in the loading zone (like quadruple parked) and got out and got the bags. We had three rolling suitcases – one big, one medium, and one small. Three backpacks, and one little fella on my chest in the carrier. The facilitator took us up to show us where to go. We waited about 20 minutes until it was time to go into the waiting room for the train. There were about five other adoptive families from Guangzhou there.

Into another waiting room. Finn and I bought some drinks and chips while Duncan shared a cookie from Subway (what a nice surprise!) with Kai. Finally it was time to get on the train, about 20 minutes later. We went down the escalator to the train, now just us 4 boys and all our stuff. We carried the bags onto the train. The big one we left in the entry way and the others we put above our seats. Pretty heavy to lift them with a big backpack on my front and a Finn on my front. Soon thereafter the train left the station and on to Hong Kong.

It was a wonderful trip. Only one Kai meltdown. The big boys drew some (trains). We ate Subway (a Maxwell-Thompson train tradition now). Duncan READ A BOOK. Many trips to the potty, which apparently drops straight onto the tracks. When you get into Hong Kong the bathrooms are locked so you don’t use them. Of course Duncan had to go then, but apparently in Car 4, this is not the case so he was allowed to go back there.

Got to the station and went through immigration, including the station where your temperature is read as you walk by to make sure you don’t have a fever, I guess. No problems. Then into the station. McDonalds! We went and changed money and then headed up there. We had hamburgers and fries (Kai had chicken). I had a Sweet Potato Pie (mmmmmm). Then we went back down the escalator, this little train of suitcases and boys. And onto the taxi.

Duncan rode in the front and was officially freaked out. In Hong Kong, the drivers side is like England, so he was quite impressed that he was riding in the “drivers seat” on the right.

Got to the hotel and got the room. We were “upgraded” to a Harbor View room on the 36^th floor. Nice place. Room small but fine. Boys didn’t last long before they were in sleepy land. And now it’s my turn, with big plans to see all of Hong Kong tomorrow before we leave on Friday.

Tuesday July 19

Tuesday was the day to go to the US Consulate to do the paperwork for the Visa. We had what I think was the first appointment there which was great, except that it meant we had to leave at 7:30. So up early, run to breakfast, slurp it down, and run. Everything went pretty well getting going. I think I even got to eat. Nice thing is that running around like a chicken with my head cut off is typical for meals at home, so I haven’t gotten out of practice. Running for food for kids, getting coffee, more food, getting Kai away from the elevator, cleaning up spills, and on and on. It is both hectic and normal for me.

We left for the Consulate in the same van we’d been using, again with our friends. About a half hour drive. We got there and there were long lines out front, apparently Chinese people waiting in line for Visas. We passed that line and went inside. There were about 15 other families there in the lobby. We waited a bit and then went up the escalators and waited in a line. After about 10 minutes we through a metal detector and into another waiting room. There they started calling names. We got called second. They collected all of the papers we had and then took them to review. A bit later (it was longer for us, because of 2 kids), we got papers back. Then we had to wait for our friends, because they had to get fingerprints for their daughter. Finally we were done and left.

We got home early from that, and found ourselves faced with a whole day to fill. Our friends suggested we go to a park.

After spending a bit in the room getting ready, we went to the park at 11:00. I need to ask my friends the name but it was a big mountain park, maybe with a big monument at the top, though we didn’t get to the top…

Both families took their own Taxi to the park (all the taxis are VW’s – 4 door manual transmission sedans). We got dropped off at the park entrance. No friends. So we waited a bit then decided to look around some to see if we could find them. We hiked down the road a bit in search of them. About ten minutes later, down by the restaurants, we found them. We decided to eat there. We chose a little local place. Maybe they knew about us because they ushered us into a room in the back that just had one big table. That way we could make as much noise as we wanted. We all ordered some dishes and then shared. Some soup, some chicken nuggets, some meat on stick, and some noodles. The noodles were actually a mixture of noodles and cow intestines. And the chicken (like all meat I have seen here) is cut in very interesting ways, You get bones, and other interesting parts. Not really Chik-fil-A.

After lunch it was raining, but we decided to walk up into the park. We bought a couple of umbrellas since we forgot ours. They cost 12 RMB ($1.50) each. It was a beautiful place. With beautiful rainforest plants. I wish my mom could have been there to see it. She would have loved it. We hiked up the road for a long while, past pagodas, streams, weird looking plants, sculptured gardens. We got as far as we could, but then decided that was far enough. Our friends hiked up a little higher to see the “natural birdcage.” Then back down.

We took a taxi home towards the hotel I wanted to stop right across the bridge at the stands in the “real” part of town (off Shamian Island). We got the taxi driver to stop where we wanted (“Jilli” – “Right Here”). We got out and looked at a few stands. The baby was asleep (he always falls asleep in the car) and I carried him and he stayed asleep. We settled for a nice rolling red one that is carry on size. It cost 80 RMB, which was like $12. It was a lot cheaper than having to pay the overweight charges on the way home, and I knew I wouldn’t have a problem carrying them with my two competitive boys.

Right down from the suitcase stand was a place selling little baked things. I decided to be a little adventurous and got some stuff there to try. For about $1.50 I got a few pieces of what tasted like tasty cornbread, some white things with I think date paste inside, a rice thing with chicken all rolled up in a giant leaf, and two indescribable things (meat in pasta?) that Kai wanted. Finn ate the rice thing, Kai ate one of the indescribable things, I ate the cornbread and date things, and Duncan ate Subway.

Why do they keep playing “Locked Up Abroad” commercials on the National Geographic channel that is on in the room. Scary.

After dinner we walked down to Jenny’s Place. I have started rewarding the kids 1 RMB per hour they are good (which has really worked out to 5 RMB 2x a day) and Kai has been pining for a 10 RMB yoyo. He asked about it all day after seeing it last night but didn’t have enough. Finally he did and I told him we would eat then go. So we headed down there. He got the yoyo and before I knew it Duncan was in the midst of negotiations for another watch! Long story short he got another very nice “replica” Rolex for 109 RMB (like $15) – a lot less than the 170 he paid last time. Two watches. Hmmm. It was all his money, and later he was mad he could not get the army men, but I think he made a good choice.

After that we walked around a bit then headed up to the room to bed. One day closer to home!

Monday July 18

Today I feel as if I am stuck in a time machine, an alternate sense of reality, where time keeps going slower. Starting to feel like Marie does on every vacation she goes on. Ready to come home. Things keep dragging on and I need to keep these boys engaged or else the whole thing degrades into a bad scene.

Today was an easy day schedule – wise. Just needed to go get the TB tests read. We were to meet at ten.

As a result we could have a long and somewhat leisurely breakfast (crowd willing). It worked out and we sat longer than usual. I got to eat enough which was a nice (though somewhat unusual for this trip or my life in general) occurrence. I know I really miss the romantic Fruity Pebbles late night snacks with my love that we have most nights at ten or eleven. I actually miss a lot of what is so much the routine at home. It will be so nice to be back there.

We went back to the room and the maid was there. It became quickly obvious to me that we had to get out so she could actually do something in there so we went out to the center park-like mall on the island. There are lots of places to run around, beautiful gardens, fountains, bronze statues of kids playing, etc. out there. A nice place to run. We walked up the opposite way that we did last night. It was morning, and lots of people were exercising. One large group of mainly women were doing exercise/dancing to music. Lots of badminton players. People walking, jumping. One lady walking backwards and clapping. A few blocks down there is a little rubber track with 2 lanes for jogging and some exercise equipment. The equipment looked like a cross between playground equipment and nautilus equipment. The boys had fun on it. And the old people using it enjoyed seeing those youngsters playing and trying to figure out what some of the odd ones did. Also there were parallel bars and a gymnastics bar, so Duncan showed off a bit.

We walked back to go to the TB reading. Then walked down to the clinic. Place was swamped with people. But we were in and out quick (passed the test!). Then walked up to the hotel. I exchanged some money. Our facilitator, who brought her seven year old son with her today (who was appalled and probably frightened by Kai’s behavior I might add) offered to go get our train tickets without us and I gratefully agreed. I figured she had to go anyways and there was no great point in bringing my circus along.

At the bank, Kai was again displaying his penchant/love for buttons, etc. There you have to push a touch screen to select what you want to do and you get a little ticket with a number. It’s like our Social Security office at home, though at home it’s funny because there is only one choice and you push the button and the armed guard tells you to sit and wait and then they come to the window and call that number. In the US it’s a waste of time. Here it is useful. Kai loves buttons. So as I am doing the exchange (which takes a long time. Several forms, a copy is needed of your passport, you have to sign it all, they have to stamp each copy in triplicate with the red stamp and the little rectangular stamp…) Kai is managing to sneak off and push the button. Ends up with several tickets with numbers. He also loves the elevator. Pushing the buttons. Holding the “Open Door” button for all to get off. Just being kinda crazy. And on escalators too. Has managed to turn off several by pushing the little red emergency stop button on them. I need to hold his hand on every escalator to prevent this (note to self), though sometimes this is a challenge.

We decided to go to You Yoaung (spelling??), i.e. swim. Got there at 11:30, and it was closing at 12 (closed 12 – 2, not sure why) but that was fine. Boys swam around. Duncan did jumps. Kai continued to work on his swimming, which is greatly improved – using the inflatable ring we bought. Finn warmed up a little to the pool, sitting at the edge and splashing in the water. I even got in briefly. Felt great in the heat.

On the way home we decided to get Subway, so we came up to room and I sent Duncan (the wonderful big-brother responsible helper) to get the sandwiches. We ate in the room and then the whole place erupted into one big GUN FIGHT.

These boys are so much the same, Duncan and Kai. So it’s a love/hate thing. After lunch, somehow they decided to get into an imaginary gun fight. I laid down the rule to Duncan on, like the first day that he could have no weapons of any sort, real or play, on this trip despite how many times he asks. So they had the fight the old fashioned way, with finger guns. Back and forth, to the bathroom and to the beds, hiding behind the beds, falling dead, reviving. They had a blast. And I got to download and email 26 photos.

My goal is to take 3 – 5000 photos, and I think I will manage. It is so nice with digital cameras to be able to do that. I’ve only posted or sent some but the rest I have and it will be great to sit and show them.

After all the troops were dead we decided (OK, usually it’s me deciding) to go to town. I strapped Finn on my back and off we went. We headed off the island and into the zillion little shops which are in town. We walked through the Spices and Mushrooms area and then through the Pets area (generally each store just sells one type of item and they are typically clustered together. Sucks if you are in the pet area and looking for shoes though). The pets were different – fish, turtles (all sizes, but mostly small, with the smallest about quarter sized), crabs, mice, hamsters, chipmunks, guinea pigs, cats, dogs. Marie – warning – Duncan “Really wants another hamster.” Thank you US Government for not allowing importation of live animals.

We bought some sox (3 pair for 10 RMB/$1.50 “Best Deal”) so I don’t have to handwash Duncan’s and Finn’s and looked around. Duncan was thirsty so he went into McDonalds for a Sprite (he is so good at managing things like that – I just sent him in to the very crowded place and he did it. Amazing) He also needed the bathroom so we went there, which was through a whole floor of jade sellers with hundreds of stands all selling anything you might ever want from Jade. Then we went down to the outside place. Kai (who was crabby and didn’t want a drink) decided he wanted one so Duncan gave him the rest of his. It was so hot and Duncan was so nice so I told him he could get a Mango frozen drink from the reputable looking stand there. He got it. MMMM. So I needed one. I paid and in getting my change (I was asking for 2 5’s for change instead of a 10) somehow I got two. Which was fine. So each boy had one (and I got some when Finn would let me). They all loved it.

This was the same place we were yesterday, and Duncan had seen some odd fish feeding thing when we were leaving so we went over to see it. Here was the deal. There was a little fountain, with these giant goldfish (10 inches long) in it. You went to the lady there, gave her $$ (6 RMB / $1) and she gave you a baby bottle full of some brown fish food. You take the bottle to the water and stick it in. Immediately you get like twenty fish fighting for it and sucking on the nipple of the bottle. Very fun and odd. The boys loved it. Finn was intrigued and I saw him having the thought that he could have some of that bottle, which would have been a mistake.

Walked home from there, down some other streets with other vendors. I bought a $3 wallet that actually zips.

We continued past the hotel to satiate Duncan’s burning Rolex desire at Jenny’s Place. On the way we passed a man with long grey hair, walking slowly with a cane. Probably sixty five. Finn was fascinated, presumably never having seen someone that looked like that. Then man commented on Finn’s look. The man was from USA, had a Boston accent. Here on vacation from an inland province in China. He was here on vacation but teaches English. He was very friendly and even invited me to stop by his room to chat and go out for a beer as I expressed interest in how he got here and the details of his teaching. But I told him this was not likely since I didn’t think I should bring the kids for a beer…

From the hotel to Jenny’s place I carried Kai (a pretty skinny but not so light 8 year old!). I had been carrying Finn all day and wasn’t sure what that was about, but I did (my arms hurt now) figuring this was good bonding with him. Trooper Duncan fell into line and helped out by carrying / shepherding Finn. Out of Jenny’s I carried him to another shop and then to the hotel, stopping for a while to (sweat and to) talk to another adoptive family.

Jenny’s Place was the site of the Rolex fest. Duncan: “Are they real?” Lady: “Yes……….replicas” He saw these yesterday and was dying to go back. He had that first one, but could not find one identical at the Rolex store so wanted one of these, as they are really pretty close knock offs. He chose a nice big blue one with two tone gold and silver band. In all the mayhem I really missed the (small amount of) bargaining that happened. Will report later on it. But you know - “Best Price” for you.

For dinner it was noodles (like Ramen) and Gatorade. The boys liked it. It was easy and cheap. I had a Peach Fanta which I really like. But it makes me miss Marie.

Then the kids went to bed. I need to do the same.

Sunday July 17

We were up with the roosters again. Today we had the plan to go to a park, leaving at eleven. We went down to eat and again our friends were there, which was again wonderful as they are so helpful (as is their 14 year old just-adopted daughter) so that I can actually have a chance to eat. Again, Finn ate noodles. He loves them. Is very hesitant to eat anything else.

We ate breakfast then headed back to the hotel room to relax and have the regular morning wrestling match. Duncan actually fell asleep for a while which was a good idea.

We met down in the lobby to go. Again with our friends since we share the same facilitator. Today she hired a Van for us to get there. It was fantastic. It was a 11 passenger van with 3 rows of three and two seats in the front. There are a zillion of this style of vans here – they are all designed a lot like the Mercedes/Freightliner/Dodge Sprinter Van. There is even one that Ford makes. I wish they had it in the US instead of the older style they make. The other cool thing was our can actually had two fold down seats, so in the first and second passenger rows there were two “normal” seats and then one that folded down into the aisle. Will be perfect for us when we move to Shanghai J.

We drove to the park which was only about 15 minutes away.

The Park was quite nice, though lacking air conditioning (!). Hot. Humid. As is all this town unless you are inside. The park is a big city park with a large lake and lots of people (all Chinese) walking, playing, and so forth. A group of people singing and playing violin and flute. Four, and then four more playing hackey-sack (but Chinese, with the Chinese feather- topped version). People sitting, fanning themselves. Paddle boats. Four year olds dropping their pants and peeing on trees (I guess that’s OK here). It was fascinating. I could have spent a week just there watching the people.

We of course were there for the action. The Amusement Park was inside the park. It was a little park like maybe White Swan or an older Kennywood. Maybe twenty five rides, and so many cool things we’ve never seen at home. And some we’ve seen, like trains, parachutes, and (Yeah) the bumper cars. Boys again loved that as a way to go after each other without me yelling. The unusual rides were my favorite. Like there was these giant stuffed animals you could sit on and drive around. Kai rode the Panda. They had little formula 1 cars you rode (if you were like between 3 and 7, much to Kai’s chagrin) that had rubber tires and you steered and controlled yourself on a track with many turns and curbs. Kids going every which way. It was hilarious. Kai and Duncan loved the ride where you squirted the animals in the center as you spun around and then the animals would spout water. There was a dragon roller coaster (not to big)(I guess dragon roller coasters are required at Chinese amusement parks) and Kai didn’t want to ride it in favor of the giant stuffed panda that he wanted to roll around on. So I rode with Duncan. After about six or eight rides, we decided we were good, and decided to head over to a central commercial area of town because the other family we were with wanted to get some DVD’s that their new daughter requested.

The mall area was a short drive (actually it was just about 4 blocks from hotel it turns out). We went to the DVD store. They had to order what they wanted but of course we could find a hundred things to buy. I found Little Mermaid in Chinese/English and also a few others that I thought were also bilingual but it turned out none were in Chinese. A disappointment, but at $4.44 each not too much. I told Kai he could pick 3 DVD’s (presumably these are only in Chinese, though we’ve just watched one) because I thought it would be nice for him to have something that he liked. He picked some Power Rangers-type movie, Pikachu, and Spiderman cartoons. Duncan knows most of the Spiderman episodes so boys like that one together.

The boys were hungry so we decided to go to the Pizza Hut next door. It was interesting. Giant menu there including pizza, pasta, and all kinds of weird drinks. Boys had Oreo milkshakes. They were not to impressed, as it appears that the High Fructose Corn Syrup Lobby has not gotten hold of as much here as in the US. The shakes (as was the frozen mango thing I had) were not very sweet but really all of them were very good. We lose a lot in the US due to sweetness.

After that we went out of the multi story building we were in and into he pedestrian mall filled with throngs of Sunday shoppers. Our friends enjoyed some local delicacy meat-on-stick from the fast food places down there and we headed back to the hotel.

We came up to the room and decided to cool off and relax a little. I told Duncan he could watch the first movie and he chose “Despicable Me” which was one of the disappointing ones not in Chinese. Kai was not happy. He spent about an hour crying and moaning on the floor while Duncan watched and Finn napped. I felt bad but thought that a lesson on not always being the prima-donna was not a bad lesson even though we had to endure the moaning. He needs to understand that now he is part of a nine person team. It’ll take a while for that to sink in I am sure. Kai is pretty strong willed and reactionary, like a certain other pre-teen boy who id on our trip…

So we watched that and then some Chinese Spidey and then decided to go out a bit. We walked around on the island, to the huge pedestrian are down the middle. Kids ran around and we just relaxed some. Nice.

There are about ten (probably twenty) “tourist trap” shops on this island. They mainly go by the name of “_____’s Place” and all have US girls names. Jennifer’s Place (next to hotel), Jenny’s Place (DIFFERENT FROM JENNIFERS PLACE they will tell you) Emma’s Place, and so on. Some of these stores have aggressive marketing campaigns in the form of young girls who will walk up along side you and strike up a conversation. Some are better some are not. The conversation always includes a suggestion you should come down to my shop. “Best Price” You have to just say yeah and keep going. I thought the people for Jennifer’s Place were nice, and persistent (over a few days) and felt sad they weren’t smart enough to get prime location so we stopped in there (right across from Sharon’s Place. Sharon needs to work on her marketing, which seems to solely be based upon trying to get Jenny’s Place customers to come into her store which is right across the hall). Pretty much all stores same, and all have “Best Price” but its fun to go in and haggle a little and see what they have to sell and what they have to say. Bought the boys those Chinese Hackey Sacks. 10 RMB ($1.50) each.

We walked down to the end of the island and around the block and then back. Thunder was starting to threaten and rain, so we started to hurry. We stopped into a little bakery/take out place which turned out to be part of the White Swan hotel and got food – Duncan got a hot dog (he was happy but it was a “little hard”), Kai got noodles and soup (I asked the counter girl to ask him what he wanted) and Finn and I had curry chicken and rice. We took it all back to the room to eat so we wouldn’t get caught in the rain.

The afternoon / early evening downpour here is standard. I think it has happened every day since we arrived. Hot and humid all day, then sky starts getting black, then thunder, then torrential rain, then it stops. Cools things off at least one degree and doubles the humidity.

Back at the hotel we ate on the floor again, as we do often. Being the lazy /bad dad I let the boys watch Spiderman and eat (we have never done so at home). Finn, the noodle boy, actually ate rice tonight and loved it. He and I had a great time eating dinner together, taking turns feeding him rice. Him cracking up having fun. Me trying to teach him how to hold a spoon. It was memorable.

Finn cried a lot before bed but I held him and rocked him and sung and he didn’t last too long. Then I laid down with him and held him and napped a little myself too. Fortunately Duncan falls asleep early (it’s one of the things that has kept us sane over the past 10 years!) and Kai is probably the same, though I’ve been giving him a little melatonin to be sure. So the bedtime thing was not too painful.