During these past 2 days we've had a lot more free time to hang out and spend with Grace.  Yesterday we went to the largest park in Guangzhou which happens to be located just across the street from our hotel.  After a rather exciting street crossing involving about 6 lanes of insanely busy Guangzhou traffic we spent several hours walking though the park with Grace and the kids.  It was extremely pretty with heavy shade, lots of flowers, lakes and even a large waterfall.  Considering all of the many natural picture spots we were surprised to find that we were the subjects of some home videos as we walked around with Grace.  One of the reasons the park remained so beautiful had to do with the many rules that they asked you to obey while spending time there.  Some of the the memorable ones were:

 

"No schlepping"

"No spitting everywhere"

"No cars on the paths"

"No scattering of the fish"

"No shlapping the grass"

"No striding"

"No relieving of nature everywhere"

 

Turner definitely strided; and we might have schlepped a bit; but we did not scatter the fish nor did we relieve of nature, so all in all I think we behaved pretty well and had a good time also.

 

Later we met up with the group to file our adoption paperwork with the local police station.  We did not mention the "schlepping" from earlier in the day and so we were in and out very quickly.  Next the entire group headed to the local pizza hut for some American food.  Pizza Huts here serve the normal fare although the topping selection is a bit more broad than back home.  Shellfish of any sort; eel, corn and many other delicacies can be included with your pepperoni.  Our group proved somewhat less adventurous than some of the local patrons.

 

Today the entire group spent the morning at the local zoo.  It was a beautiful day; the clearest day in Guangzhou so far.  Grace and the other babies had a big day and they all enjoyed the time outside with their new families.  We took lots of pictures and Turner worked out on the video camera with some animated commentary.  We did not scatter any animals which was a rule here as well.  On the way to the bus we met several street vendors selling local produce.  We bought about 20 of the sweetest mandarin oranges we've ever tasted for a whopping equivalent of about 40 cents.  Grace LOVES these oranges!!!

 

We had dinner tonight with the group outside overlooking a beautiful lake.  A huge amount of food (and drink) was had for 14 adults and 6 kids for a grand total of about $120 dollars for all.  Unbelievable!

 

Grace is getting more and more comfortable with us.  She goes freely between Sherri and I as well as the kids.  She laughs and plays and is very very bright.  She put on a little show for us after dinner (back at the room) which involved trying to stand with both feel on the bag of diapers and raising her arms triumphantly (and clapping) for each time she managed to do it without losing her balance.

 

Life is good.  God is VERY GOOD!