Wizard of Ozzish

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!

A majority of our group just left to go home and we are a little sad right now.  Fortunately we will be leaving tomorrow morning and we aren't completely packed yet.  We just ordered some pizza so we can stay in the room and finish packing tonight.  It was kind of weird ordering the pizza (from Papa Johns), I had to hit the number 3 button for english.  I just hope that Chinese was NO. 1 and anything but spanish was No. 2.

We can't wait until we're back in the good old USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No more paper work!

We have finally finished all the necessary paperwork for Dani to come home.  We got up early to go to the US Consulate to apply for Dani's visa.  Nothing else to do except wait to get the visa (tomorrow evening).  Once we have the visa it is time to come home.

Late this afternoon we had the famous "red couch" picture.  Of all the girls who no one thought would make a big fuss, Dani certainly did when we tried to get a picture of her with the other girls.  At least she was fine for our family picture.  At least we all got laugh out of it.

Before dinner we all enjoyed a nice birthday cake for me.

Tomorrow will be our last night in China so I may not post.  We will arrive in West Palm around midnight Sunday.  I sure hope Dani like flying.  So far she's been good.

Just a few more days before Dani comes home

Yesterday the only plans we had was for a dinner cruise on the Pearl River in the evening. Marney did some paper work for our appointment at the US Consulate pretty much in the afternoon. We then went to Lucy's for a cold one waiting to meet the our friends from Vero at the play ground with their new daughter Annie.

It was then off to the dinner cruse. The cruise was fantastic. Guangzhou hosted the summer Asian Games last year so they made a bunch of improvements along the river. You'll notice in the video the large (500-600 meters tall I think) tower and stadium right next to the river. All of bridges had lighting installed along with some buildings. Very impressive at night.

Today we went to the zoo to see some pandas. Unfortunately they had the pandas inside while they were disinfecting the exhibit outside. Our guide sweet talked the workers into letting us sneak in the back door to see the panda. A nice special treat for the girls. We were able to see them from only a few feet away.

A quick update

We took Dani to her "physical examination" today.  A little different than in the states.  Looked like a public health department.  Fortunately we had a room in the back for just adoptive families.  I'm sure we pay extra for that too. 

The rest of the day we spent walking around and enjoying the nice warm weather (finally).  We all got to wear shorts and the sun actually came out for a while.  Of course there's a front coming through tonight or tomorrow so it'll be back to warmer clothes.  It should be too bad though, in the 60's.

Our friends from Vero got their daughter today and we understand things are going well for them.  We were glad to here that.

Here's a couple of videos of our hell raiser Dani.  She certainly likes to have fun now.

It's good to be in Guangzhou

We arrived in Guangzhou yesterday afternoon, and enjoyed a nice dinner with the group and a stroll along the Pearl River.  Today we went took a tour of the Six Banyan's temple, Provincial folk Art Museum and Guangdong Arts and Crafts shopping center.  In the afternoon, we strolled around Shamian Island. Since it was a Sunday, it was full of locals out enjoying their day off and there was much activity to see.  Late afternoon, we ran into friends from Vero Beach who arrived yesterday to adopt their second daughter also.  It was fun to catch up with them with some cold beverages at Lucy's and then dinner at the Cow & Bridge Thai restaurant.

Dani has transformed from the shy, quiet introverted child we were expecting from her paperwork and updates into a very active and happy baby.  She is walking all over the place, getting into anything she can, laughing, babbling, making noises and being quite the clown.  She is reserved around new people, but very comfortable around us and those in our group. She has also become a squirmer and it's hard to get her to sit still unless it's in her stroller or she is asleep.  It's so wonderful to see that happy smiling face all the time.  She loves to be out and about and is a very good sport.  She did great on the flight from Nanning to Guangzhou.  Let's hope she does that well on the long flights home.

Leah is having a blast with her friends, and is a wonderful big sister.  Here's a few photos from today.

Belated Hello again

Sorry for the delay.  The internet has been sporadic since right before leaving Nanning.  I figured I get a quick post in now while it's working and hopefully it'll be OK for the rest of our stay.  The weather is getting better.  It is now warmer and not raining.  It could be better but we are just glad not to be cold.  I actually wore my sunglasses this morning.  We are having a great time and Dani is doing great.  She is such a happy little girl.  The video is a few days old while still in Nanning and I will try to update later tonight.

This picture was taken 6 years ago also

And this one just the other day

Our group picture

Hello from Guangzhou

Sorry for not posting yesterday the internet was too difficult to access.  We just got to the White Swan Hotel and will add a more detailed post later.

Sight seeing in the country

The weather is still rainy but we still headed out to the country today. We actually went to the same village as we did last time and believe it or not but it has actually changed. There are a lot of new buildings there especially up near the main road.

Dani is really starting to show her personality and is now walking all over the place.

P.S. Happy St. Patty's Day!

Hanging out with the locals.

The do everything pond (wash clothes, dishes, pots & pans and food)

   

The local market (fresh produce & meat)

Dani day two part deux

Thought we'd share a very happy moment with Dani.  The girls started playing peek a boo with her at dinner and she was having a blast.

Dani day two

Dani is starting to come around and her personality is showing. We stopped the medicine she had which was knocking her out. She is much better, still quiet but has some great happy moments. She is finally napping (as this is being written) and has slept through the night. It looks like she is not going to be a fussy eater. She ate a bunch of different things for breakfast. She loves riding in her stroller.

The video below is from yesterday when we went to finalize the adoption. She is legally ours as of yesterday and now we just have to get OK'd by the U.S. government to bring her home. The women in the video and picture are from her orphanage. They were very nice and glad to see her get adopted. They gave us a photo album they made which has a few pictures of Dani when she was very young, as well as the camera we sent in the care package.  They also gave us some wonderful Chinese New Year decorations.  They hugged us when they left and it was pretty emotional.  Never got to spend that kind of time with the orphanage folks when we adopted Leah. The director even called our guide David this morning to see how she was.

The weather here is not all that great. Right now it's in the 40's (2:00 pm local time), cloudy and rain of & on. It's supposed to be like this until we leave. Hopefully it will get better so we can take the girls outside for some walks & sight seeing.

Meet Dani FuWei Fisher

Thankfully we got the internet stuff figured right before we went to get Dani. 

We went to the Lottery Hotel around 2:30 this afternoon.  When we got upstairs there were some nannies and directors standing further down in the hallway with a beautiful baby.  I thought maybe, then thought no, she is too small to be Dani.  Our guide then came up and took just Leah to meet her new baby sister - it was her.  I lost it, Leah relished it, and Dave made it upstairs just in time to catch the moment.  The "gotcha" day went amazingly smooth for our entire group - not a single crying baby among us.

Dani is much smaller than I thought.  They said she was sick with a cold and some sort of rash and is on medication.  She is so sweet and beautiful, poor thing was just overwhelmed and exhausted today.  She ate some congee (rice porridge) at dinner, we got her upstairs, changed and into pjs, Dave made a bottle and she practically grabbed it from me to stick it in her mouth and downed it.  And promptly fell asleep.  Yes, it was worth the wait :-)

45 minutes but who's counting

We had some problems with the governemt blocking sites (like this one and YouTube).  As you can see we got it figured out.  Heading to get Dani in 45 minutes.  I'm sure we'll have a big post later.

Heading to Nanning

It about 10:30 am local time.  We're packing once again for the second leg of our trip.  We'll be taking a bus into China to the airport in Shenzhen Bao'an.  I guess all the flights from Hong Kong were full.  It will be nice to see some of China on the way to the airport.  


While in Nanning, we'll be staying at the same hotel as last time (The Majestic).  We are looking forward to going to the restaurant next to the hotel and the Thai restaurant down the road.  This is going to be a deja vu trip from hereon.


And of course, tomorrow we will be a family of 4.

Another Touristy Day

We had a nice tour around the city today (same one we did 6 years ago).  We took a sampan ride, went to the jewelry factory, Victoria Peak and then a real  nice dim sum lunch.  After that we walked around downtown Kowloon before heading back to the hotel.  Today's tour was with all the families in our group and it was nice to finally meet them all.  You will be seeing lots of pictures and videos of them as time goes on.

Here's a pic from the top of Victoria Peak.

This picture is vary similar to one taken 6 years ago.  This is in the lobby of the hotel (Kowloon Shangri-La) we stayed in on our first trip.  We thought it would be cool to get some of the same pictures as our last trip.

This picture is from Heritage 1881.  After reading some info about it, it was the early English marine police headquarters.

And this video is of Leah and her new friend Kenna.  She is 8 and from Montana.  They hit it off great and are having a blast together.

Tomorrow we travel to Nanning and Monday is the big day.

Hong Kong day two

March 11, 2011, 5:30 pm

First off, no need to worry.  We haven't had any earthquakes or Tsunamis.

Had a very active day being tourists today.  We took the train/subway into Kowloon and walked all over the place.  Saw everything from the ritzy hotels, Prada & Rolex, to the run down noodle shops and everything in between.  Dave was offered tailoring services every 2 minutes while Marney was offered fake watches and knockoff purses - fun.  We went to the Hong Kong Space Museum which had some interesting things.  Really enjoyed the harbor front, and the main drag along Nathan Street and others.

Now for the real coolness of the afternoon.  The ground did shake a little bit while we were out but not because of the earthquakes.  While walking down Nathan Street what would you think we stumbled upon?  An Irish pub, what else.  The reward for walking for hours.

L8tr.

Hong Kong

We made it to Hong Kong yesterday.  Got in around 2:00 in the afternoon.  We were a little tired from the flight so we went and had an early dinner and went to bed.  Nothing like 14 hours of sleep to make you feel better. 

We're heading to breakfast now and then going to do the usual tourist stuff.  Will post later.

Hanging out in Seoul, Korea

It is March 10th, 5:30 am here in Seoul.  No idea what it is back in the US.  We made it here with no problems but we're slightly tired.  Leah has been a great traveler so far.  Korean Air was definitely the way to fly.  I even had leg room.

Stop No. 1 on the journey

Traveling pretty light for a two week plus trip to China.

At Palm Beach airport now.

Next stop Atlanta.

T-Minus 1 hour, 55 minutes

Almost time to go.  Shutting down & packing the laptop.

We're heading to China

Marney is just finalizing our travel plans with the travel agent (thanks Todd).  We will be leaving on Tuesday March 8 (late evening) and arriving in China on Thursday around noon. We will be returning home with Dani on Saturday March 26 (very late).

Now all we have to do is get ready and pack (the hard part).

Latest Dani update

We just received an update on Dani.  She is 27 inches tall, weighs 20 pounds and is walking.  They also sent a more recent picture which was taken on February 10.

Leah loved the picture because Dani is wearing a pink outfit.

It really, really, really looks like it's almost time to go.

Looks like our travel will begin next week. Our agency is fairly positive we will be leaving sometime between 3/9 & 3/11. I guess it's crunch time.

It looks like it's almost time to go!

We received word last night that we will be leaving for China on 3/9 or 3/16. We are starting to get very excited.

Leah and friend's nature presentation

Leah's grade gave a little show last night about nature. Here's a few short segments from it. The second video has her best friend in it.

Test Video

Test same video uploaded to YouTube.

02/20/11