Slower Day! :o) April 1, 2008@11:13PM China Time

Whew! Still only slept until 5 AM. These rock hard beds are killing my back and hips. I miss my Tempurpedic!(sp?) Everyone was joking today that the beds must be made of marble or at least wood. Andrew still isn't crazy about bath time. They put them in a much smaller tub and in a little seat similar to their potty swings. I saved his split pants. You want believe them. They're all split in the crotch on the little ones so they can just squat and go. They don't wear diapers. Couldn't really go with that. We'll work on potty training later at home.  After bath, we went to eat breakfast. Andrew ate some rice noodles and bread with a few sips of water and juice. We played in the hall today with the other wee ones. They're getting along well and passing their toys around and sharing without much fuss. Guess they're used to that at the orphanage.

Kevin has even changed a few messy diapers! He'll be a pro before you know it! Andrew gave us 4 nasties today. The last one was a definite 2 person job and went up his back! 

We're all getting a little tired of Chinese food. We all like it but not for every meal. The only American restaurant her in Lanzhou is KFC. We had that for lunch yesterday. Ate crackers last night. Andrew's turning into a little southerner already. He's eaten cheese grits twice and liked them! Can't say that for his dad but his dad will eat collard greens!

We sent out 2 bags of laundry yesterday and got them back tonight. Hopefully, we'll not be itching from whatever detergent they use. That wouldn't be fun! :)

This afternoon we went to the park of the 7 springs and the zoo. Lots of walking. Maybe I'll lose a little weight and tone up while I'm here! While we were at the zoo, we could here the Buddist monks singing and praying and playing their drums. You could also see the  very steep stairs that work up the mountain side to another part of the monastary. Would hate to have to walk those very often! It's a pretty long ways up.  Afterwards, our guide, Megan took us to a local pizza place. Wasn't too bad. Didn't have a tomato base and had a little different taste. We had pepperoni and mushroom. So far we've all stayed pretty healthy. Lanzhou is in the mountains and is pretty arid. You can see why they have sand storms.  

Few more pictures for you. The first 2 are with Abby Grace Mitchell, Jennifer and Sean's daughter. The older child is their 9 yr old daughter, Victoria. She and the other kid's have been a great help! The 3rd is play time with the stacking cups and 4th is Daddy and Andrew strolling around at the zoo. Will try to download some video tomorrow. We go to a park along the Yellow River, mother river to some Chinese, tomorrow afternoon at 3pm. So, we'll be able to relax and bond a little more tomorrow. He's coming around a little more each day and has had no problems going to Kevin.  Hudson and Abby haven't gone to their dads very much. Their clinging to moms more. They have let the girls carry them some and play with them. It's normal for them not to go to the dads very much at first. There are many men in the orphanages. The director was male at Qingyang City. I think that's what has helped more with Kevin and Andrew! We thank God for all His many blessings that  flow abundantly from above. You are all in our prayers and thank you for praying for us. We can finally read your comments. We miss you all and look forward to getting home on the 11th and seeing you all. Can't wait for you to meet him! Yawning every other word now so I guess it's time to go to bed with the others. It's 11:42pm now. Ouch!