Friday in Dongguan

Well i am trying to catch up on our trip to Dongguan. In the morning we had a great breakfast buffet, one of the better ones we have had. Taylor is still trying to figure us out as we are with her and i think the staff figured us out quickly and moved us to the far back of the restaurant to a large table. We were thankful for this. Taylor had a couple of episodes where i had to leave the restaurant with her.

David our guide met us in the lobby later and took us to a historical park which is called OK Garden in English. It was pretty hot and humid and was raining. We thought we might be going to a park where the kids could run off steam. It turned out to be a beautiful garden that two hundred years ago belonged to a land owner, very wealthy and it has a pond with fish.... two men we watched fishing in the pond using prawns as bate. Taylor just wanted to run and it was hard to manage her since she did not understand. It was very slippery with the wet rocks. Did get a couple of photo's until my memory card was full.

We left about an hour later and just drove around the area. It is pretty much an industrial area that is booming and is in the begining stages of becoming a major location for future growth and economical trade. It has a lot of Japanese and European influences and we saw quite a bit of both at the hotel. There is a lot of fashion textile business, furniture, shoes... all made in this area. Taylor was abandoned in a place about another 40+ mins north of Dongguan, but the police listed it as a general area so have no idea of her real finding place which is disappointing.

We then headed back to the restaurant we had gone to lunch at the day before. Scott liked this root candy that tasted like peanuts we had there and David could not find it so we went back and bought some to bring home. I have had something like it before but David was not sure what it was made of.

Since we had a large breakfast we decided to just head back and eat in Guangzhou. We all pretty much crashed in the van and slept most of the ride.

We got back unpacked and headed to Lucy's for dinner. It is more american food and pretty kid friendly. We got there early which helps for our family. Taylor was struggling - actually they all were so dinner was a challenge for us and Scott thinks it would be wise not to return :-) we may have worn out our welcome there.

Scott headed back to the hotel after dinner with Reagan crying and Kaitlyn in tow. I took Taylor in the carrier to pick-up our laundry. We did finally stop in a store and take a look and i found these cute panda t-shirts for the kids. So got one for Reagan and Kaitlyn- but will probably return and get one for Taylor even if it is huge on her :-)

They have a Starbucks there too so got Scott and I a drink to relax with. But will not be doing that much since the prices are close to those at home.
I went for a quick run for a couple of blocks with Taylor on my back in the humidity - hoping I lots a couple of pounds LOL - or maybe sweated them off!

Back at the hotel the kids and Scott watched a cute show and then we got them to bed. Our days really are consisting of about one activity a day, naps and eating.
But can say we are spending a lot of family time together and each day we see a bit more from Taylor. So feeling more and more at peace about her. We still know it is not going to be a bed of roses and we will probably never experience such an easy adoption like we had with Reagan.

In a week we will be in Jingdezhen meeting with his foster mother and it will be interesting to see how he does and if any emotions come out through this experience.

I am thankful we have had this opportunity for things to come together and that we are getting these great experiences in meeting foster families and seeing different areas. We can see how this trip will be a strong memory for both Reagan and Kaitlyn and then are soaking it all up.