our last full day in Guangzhou

It was a happy-sad-happy day.

We started things off early–breakfast at 6:45 so that we could get to the US Consulate for our Oath Taking Ceremony.  We left the kids at the hotel under the watchful eye of our friends while Kim and I took Isaac (ok, our guide Amy took us) to swear that all the info we had provided was true, and that Isaac was now our son.  We were the first family in line, and the first to be called.  However, since Isaac turned 14 (yeah, right) a couple of days ago, he had to be fingerprinted.  We expected a delay, but we were quickly shown to another window where he placed his digits on the the glass, and we were back at the hotel by 9:30.

We spent the next several hours with all the other families on the trip, touring one of the local parks.  We rode rides, ate ice cream (Annabelle still insists that grape ice cream with raisins is good!) and got gawked at by all the Chinese people in the park.  I’m not sure why the park was so crowded with people on a Tuesday morning, but it was.  We parted with the families as they went back to the hotel to pack, and Team Sublett rented some luxury electric boats and spent 30 minutes tooling around the man-made lake.  Most of the children got a turn to drive (Isaac and Annabelle were the worst, and most hilarious!) before we headed back to the hotel to take a break.

Then came the sad part of the day.  We met all the other families in the hotel lobby to say goodbye.  Since they were all adopting babies, they were finished yesterday.  We hugged necks and held babies before saying our goodbyes, then watched them load into vans for a long ride to Hong Kong.  We have had a blast with every family here.  We ate supper together every night, and spent lots of down time walking around Guangzhou with them.  And they all loved our children!  That was one of the definite highlights of the trip for me.

We made one last run through the shops on Shamain Island, spending most of the last of our Chinese currency.  We spent about 30 minutes in Jordon’s Baby shop–he remembered us from our trip here to get Annabelle, and our kids loved talking with him.  He’s hilarious!  He prayed with us before we left, and said that he’d be looking for us to return some day to visit again.  We caught a couple of cabs and headed back to the hotel, where we ate our final supper at the Chinese Restaurant in the hotel.  Lilly opted for McD’s, but the rest of us dined on some good real Chinese grub.

I think we’re all packed up and ready to check out in the morning.  We should have all our papers in order and be on our way to Hong Kong by 12:30 tomorrow afternoon.  The down side is that we have 2 vans to accommodate our family, so we won’t all travel together.  I guess we’d better get used to that!

It’s been a great trip.  Isaac seems to be adjusting extremely well to being part of Team Sublett, and we love him like he’s been one of us all along.  I should be able to get online in Hong Kong, but in the event that I don’t, we’ll see you back in the States shortly!