Kai is coming home!!!!
Thank you. Blessings
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August 10th - We are here!!! After about 24 hours of travel time, we arrived safely in Beijing. We checked into the Hyatt about 8:30 pm last night and received the best of service immediataley upon arrival. They even left Ru a really nice stuffed panda and she felt so special. Today we tour the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven on our own. We hope to meet with our adoption coordinator today and see things at our own pace with her. She happened to be in Beijing for other reasons so we get to meet her early. We hope to have a wonderful and fun day! I will add some pics tonight.
Kelc and Joyce Ru sends big hugs!!!!
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August 11th - We had a great day yesterday but it was very hot. Our adoption coordinator Aina is great! It was a busy day and having her with us was a huge blessing (Libby W if you are reading this, she brought us a bunch of gifts, jewelry, tshirts, sun hats, maps and so on and she is a riot!) We decided to fully enjoy the Forbidden City moreso than we had originally planned because there are just so many fascinating buildings and artifacts. We never made it to the Temple of Heaven, but that is okay. We really enjoyed the Forbidden City to it's fullest. Today we visit part of the Great Wall and the Summer Palace and are very excited. Ru wants to take the chair lift up part of the wall and back so we will do that. It will shorten our visit at the Great Wall so maybe we can get to the Temple of Heaven after all.
For those of you considering a trip to Beijing, and looking for an adventure, try a bus ride! They put as many people as they can in them, which can be equated to stuffing as many people in a VW Bug to try to break the record. It was actually kind of fun and part of the experience that we will remember forever. Cab rides are also fun but you have room to breath so not quite the same adventure.
Some pics from Wednesday:
Ru enjoying the pool and what a pool, hot tubs, waterfalls, oasis design - simply beautiful.
Forbidden City:
Blessings
August 11th - Today was part of the Great Wall, the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven. We had a great time!! By the time this photo was taken though we were melting. It was so hot and humid it literally felt like a sauna and you can tell in Ru's face. :)
August 13th - Chengdu - PANDA BASE!!!! Today was awesome! We made it to the panda base and our guide was able to get Ru one of the first appointments to hold a cub. In her case though it was almost as big as she was so it was more like a hug! She loved it! We also made it to a Temple, a bamboo weaving factory and a nice tea shop. Monday we get Kai!!!
August 13th - Chengdu - PANDA BASE!!!! Today was awesome! We made it to the panda base and our guide was able to get Ru one of the first appointments to hold a cub. In her case though it was almost as big as she was so it was more like a hug! She loved it! We also made it to a Temple, a bamboo weaving factory and a nice tea shop. Monday we get Kai!!!
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August 15th - Kai!!!!
He is healthy, happy, beautiful and so smart!
August 18th - We had a chance to go to Kai's former school for the deaf. He had only been there about a month by the time I received him. We were the only foreigners ever permitted there because all of the other kids have families that either paid for them to attend or boarded them there full time. This is a pick of some of Kai's classmates. He was not in the pic because he was actually quite frightened to go back. I sensed he thought we were leaving him there again. Obviously we did not. All of the kids in attendance had one version or another of a cochlear implant.
We also had the chance to visit a nice little park that had amusements for all ages.
Kai and Ru enjoying their first hug while we were in China!
