Touring Hangzhou

Today was a day to tour the city of Hangzhou, which is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful in China. We took a walk through a park, then a boat tour around West Lake. We were in a modern boat (Circle Line style), but there were many Chinese traditional boats with gondoliers (would have considered trying one of those except I could pretty much guarantee that one or both daughters would have ended up IN the lake! J) The lake is beautiful and our guide gave us a brief history of the stone pagodas that surround the lake. Next was a tour of a famous green tea plantation, and lunch at a local farmer’s house! Very interesting and cool!

And then, of course—more SWIMMING!

My new daughter continues to amaze me—there is just something so sweet about this kid—she will offer EVERYONE a taste of whatever she is eating (sometimes whether we like it or not!) , holds the elevator door to be sure everyone is out, and always checks to be sure Ellie is safely in and out of the car when we travel. Of course, she is also a typical nine-year-old; we had to stop her from making her soup, fruit, chicken, and ice cream a disgusting science experiment at dinner tonight! J  And her favorite food is apparently—are you ready for this—chicken feet! YUCK! (but we’ll be cooking them anyway when we are home!) Just love this kid!

Tomorrow we fly to Guangzhou—every American adoption is finalized there because it is where the American consulate is located.  Guangzhou means we are in the homestretch—one more week to go!