Timeline to Pat
07/12/2014 Met Pat for the first time
07/19/2014 Second meeting
07/26-28/2014 Family time with Pat
08/06/2014 Began homestudy
08/11/2014 Submitted LOI
08/19/2014 PA
09/04/2014 USCIS confirmed current i800a is a GO! We don't need a new one for this adoption.
09/11/2014 Rough Draft of Homestudy
09/18/2014 Homestudy approved
10/16/2014 Dossier sent to agency
10/17/2014 DTC
10/22/2014 LID
11/14/2014 OOT
12/26/2014 LOA issued
12/29/2014 LOA received
12/30/2014 I-800 sent
01/20/2015 I-800 approved
01/26/2015 GUZ# issued
01/26/2015 DS-260 completed
01/27/2015 Cable letter copy received
02/12/2015 Article 5 issued
02/18/2015 TA!
03/25/2015 Began travels (delayed due to birth of grandchild)
03/30/2015 Received custody of Pat
03/31/2015 Legal adoption completed
04/13/2015 HOME!
More details:
07/12/2014 - First laid eyes on our boy. We were at a picnic in Illinois for orphans from China who were being hosted for a few weeks. Since the Little Princesses were from the same orphanage where the hosted children were from, we, along with several other families with children from there were invited to the "reunion." He took my breath away when I first met him, and it was obvious that there was an attachment between him and our two girls.
07/19/2014 - Spent several hours with the hosted children again.
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| "Pat's" host family invited us to have lunch with them. |
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| Our family with "Pat" and his host family |
7/31/2014 The hosted children returned to China.
8/6/2014 Notified our homestudy agency that we were ready to begin the process again.
8/9/2014 Submitted our official paperwork to the placement agency.
8/11/2014 Agency submitted our LOI (Letter of Intent to adopt)
8/19/2014 Received PA (pre-approval) from China
09/04/2014 USCIS confirmed current i800a is a GO! Since we were approved for two children when we applied with Isaac, we don't need a new one for this adoption.
9/11/2014 Rough draft of homestudy received by placement agency
9/18/2014 Homestudy approved by placement agency
9/22/2014 Homestudy issued
In international adoptions one has to create a "dossier" which is a collection of important life documents. These have to be certified at the county level (at least in the state of Ohio), the state level, and then go on to be authenticated either at the Sec of State and Chinese Embassy or a specific Chinese Consulate depending upon where the document was issued. Ours had to go through New York and through Washington, D.C.
This was the first time that we had done the authentication, and I had LOTS of questions! I've put these extra details in for those who may be certifying/authenticating and wondering how long it took.
10/02 Asst Stork received documents and submitted them at Sec. of State for certifying. Same day sent the Ohio documents to Legal-Eaze in New York
10/03 Legal-Eaze received documents
10/10 Legal-Eaze sent back our documents authenticated in New York (Friday)
10/13 Received documents from Legal-Eaze
10/16 The final documents arrived with all of the certification and authentications done. I sent dossier to my agency that day.
10/17 Agency received dossier and sent them to China (traveled all weekend) DTC!!
10/20 Dossier arrived in China, waiting on official log in
10/22 LID!!! We are officially logged in!
11/14/2014 OOT Our dossier has been translated from English into Chinese.
Since our agency was on Christmas break, we don't know when we were "Reviewed" but we know from the date on our LOA that it was issued on 12/26/2014 .
12/29/2014 LOA received at our agency and they emailed a scanned copy to us. I had been told that they wouldn't be processing any documents during their break and didn't think we'd hear until they reopened on January 5, so I was totally surprised by the email!
12/30/2014 I-800 sent. The petition is filed by the U.S. Citizen prospective adoptive parent to finalize the immigration process of a child who habitually resides in a Hague Convention country. This is the petition to classify Pat as an immediate relative.
01/20/2015 I-800 approved at last! Our USCIS officer had advised us to send our Supplement 3 (which renews our fingerprints) with our I800 application. Not sure why she wanted us to approach it in that way. It caused us a delay of a week to a week and a half as compared with others we know in this step. But it is what it is. Glad to be approved and moving again.
01/26/2015 GUZ# issued -- indicates it was entered into the system at the National Visa Center
01/26/2015 DS-260 completed - online form to determine Pat's eligibility to enter the country and become a citizen
01/27/2015 Cable letter copy received - the final document needed for our Article V drop off.
02/12/2015 Article 5 issued
02/18/2015 Travel Approval received!
03/25/2015 Began travels (delayed due to birth of grandchild)
03/30/2015 Received custody of Pat
03/31/2015 Legal adoption completed
04/13/2015 HOME!
Pat's adoption trip, Guangdong Province
We chose to take four children with us on our 2015 adoption trip. Here is why, how we handled it, and what we did.
1. We missed our international flight on our 2014 trip and hadn't made arrangements for the kids at home past our originally expected date of return. It worked out just fine in the end thanks to some flexible and wonderful people Stateside, but scarred me for life. I was determined to NEVER put myself or my children in that position again.
2. Recent delays at the Consulate in Guangzhou (passport printer down, white powder scare, etc.) causing a delay in travel home for families made #1 seem more possible.
3. Our soon-to-be son was hosted in the States and we all spent time with him as family. In addition he was being adopted from the same orphanage where two of our daughters spent their first several years. The three of them were babies together and spent at least six years together. Everyone wanted to go!
4. This new adoption was the fourth child added to our family in just under two years. We really felt that we ALL needed to be a part of this transition, right from the start. Since we had already spent time together as a family the previous summer, we were pretty sure that we weren't going to experience him being scared of us or extreme grieving which would require our sole focused attention.
Wanting to take them with us, I researched for months, literally. There are many ways to cut costs and many ways to make your journey less stressful. I recommend you think long and hard about the stress triggers you and your children have and then come up with creative ways to avoid them. Realizing your triggers and needs are different from ours, I am including my thought process to show you what I mean. Here are the top concerns we had about the trip.
1. For me, RUSHING is stressful. We have three children with mobility issues. We don't do ANYTHING in a hurry. Rushing to catch a connecting flight is NOT going to work well with us, ever.
2. We have two children who require special potty routines due to medical issues. Lodging with only one bathroom is just not doable. The mobility issue mentioned above was another big concern. One child is unsteady, one requires the use of a walker or wheelchair, and a third is unable to walk at all and must have his chair. Medical needs were a huge concern.
3. None of us functions well when we are low on sleep. Everyone must have comfortable place to sleep, and a place to "get away" if needed.
4. Two of our children require a calm environment at home and a predictable routine to avoid meltdowns.
5. Two of our children experience anxiousness if they THINK there isn't a drink or snack readily available. Anxiousness leads to meltdowns, and their meltdowns are loud and messy. This makes EVERYONE near them stressed. Enough said.
6. Packing for SEVEN people for a nearly three week international trip is a monumental task. But sending out laundry to be washed on a previous trip was EXPENSIVE.
7. The Little Princesses have some flight anxiety.
This is how I dealt with our particular top concerns.
1. RUSHING. I made every effort to avoid it. I thought through the realities of rushing to make connecting flights versus sitting for hours in airports on layovers. On our other trips we flew from Cincinnati to one of the larger airports to get to our international flight. I researched flights from other airports -in our case it was Dayton, Indianapolis, and Chicago. I discovered that we could fly out of Cincinnati then sit for a five hour layover at O'Hare and pay over $6000 more to do it, or we could take control of that time by driving six hours ourselves. Even after paying tolls, gas and two nights in a hotel we ended up saving well over $5000 with this option.
2. MEDICAL NEEDS. An international flight is a long trip. There is no way around that. If you find yourself with some kind of a repeating medical need however, you might consider breaking up the trip. Again, I researched extensively, ran the figures, and found a flight that was direct from Chicago to Beijing (13 hours) that had a several hour layover. I discovered that they didn't charge extra if you extended the layover. Instead of sitting in an airport I requested an over night in Beijing. This allowed time for medical procedures and a break from the travel. We were more ready to take our flight to Guangzhou the following morning. There are many different travel websites, but I found http://www.onetravel.com/ to be the most helpful in comparing variances in options. I requested the specifics from our travel agent http://www.adoptionairfare.com/ who then booked the flights for us.
3. SLEEP. It is very important to us and one area that we were not willing to compromise on. We went into it knowing that our lodging would cost more because we could not settle for kids camped out on the floor in a hotel room. (that doesn't bother some people which is awesome!) Again there are options to minimize the costs though. The Garden Hotel at $150 per night was the recommended option, but it has only one bedroom and one bathroom. At the time our agency still allowed the freedom to choose where we would stay. Our child was in Guangdong Province so we needed to be in Guangzhou the entire time. I concentrated my search in the area of The Garden Hotel, The China Hotel (Marriott), Shamian Island, and the district where the Consulate and health appointments take place.
After hours and hours of researching we finally decided on Springdale Serviced Residence. This gave us the three bedrooms and two bathrooms that our family required, but unlike other apartment options, this "serviced residence" also provided us with daily cleaning and changing out the towels and bedding as needed. This gave ME a little bit of a break from the work. At the same time it gave us the ability to make our meals and do our laundry in our apartment. It cost only $30 more per night than the usual hotel that is recommended! There are many options for researching lodging. I found http://www.booking.com/ to be very helpful.
IF YOU GO: be aware that a big consideration in China is the lack of handicap access. Be sure to check with any hotels/apartments to confirm they have a ramp and an elevator. Also be prepared on any outings for an alternative plan as some will simply not be doable.
4. CALM ENVIRONMENT: We were able to take charge in this area since we had a home type setting.
The boys had a room
The Little Pricesses had a room
And, as it turned out, we bought an air mattress which went in our room for Tikvah.
We had rented a roll away for the first night, but at $15 per night, it was more frugal to purchase the air mattress outright - $30. Once we delivered the donations we took to the orphanage it left room in the luggage to take the mattress home with us. Ann, of Red Thread had it delivered, complete with air pump, to our apartment.
The photos on their website actually looked nothing like our room. There was nothing the least bit fancy or plush about our apartment, but it was very adequate and comfortable. It came with breakfast for three and we discovered later that they would allow us to use the meal tickets AHEAD (don't try any for past days you didn't use) and get free breakfasts for us all every few days. They had a good selection of Asian and Western foods. The other days we ate from little instant oatmeal/grits/cream of wheat packages that I brought from home.
We used Madison for this adoption, and this agency has since changed their policy and specifies from among only a few places where a family must stay. Check with your agency and be sure they allow you the freedom to choose before spending hours on researching rooms and apartments!
5. Food and Drink Anxiety: It is easy to keep bottled water and snacks in an apartment.We carried on our usual practice of fruit available at all times for the asking. Obvious perhaps, but here is the reminder to be sure you have bottled water and portable snacks in your bag when you go out.
IF YOU GO: be aware that grocery shopping was a little trickier for us since our children in wheelchairs couldn't go to the store. Either Ethan or I had to go since it required multiple escalator rides to cross the street UNDER the ground.
6. PACKING AND LAUNDRY: Vacuum bags are so awesome here! We had a LOT of extra luggage. We transported two large bags for Show Hope/New Hope foster homes plus our two largest suitcases were full of educational materials for the orphanage.
Added to that was the need to check TWO wheelchairs and a walker, plus an entire large suitcase of medical supplies that one of our children needs. Another large suitcase was snacks and comfort foods for our long stay. We obviously didn't want to add several more large suitcases of clothing. We actually carried most of our clothes on the plane with us in our backpacks (our personal item) and two small carry on suitcases. I separated out a daily set of clothes for each of us into different vacuum bags, sucked the air out and they became amazingly small! We were gone nearly three weeks and took changes for about a week. Yes, we kept the washing machine/dryer busy all the time.
IF YOU GO: be aware that in China the same machine washes AND dries the clothes and it does so in teeny little loads. Be prepared to run laundry pretty much every time you are in the apartment.
The vacuum bags are great for the return trip also, even if you don't have a vacuum and just squeeze the air out of them. Abigail's foster mom gifted her a huge stuffed bear when she visited the orphanage. The bear was smooshed in a vacuum bag for the trip home so he wouldn't take up an entire suitcase!
7. FLIGHT ANXIETY: We drove the six hours to O'Hare. This eliminated one to two flights each way. Short of that, you just get through it. Each child had a backpack with lots of distractions in it, gum and snacks. On our trip home we were stuck on the runway in Beijing awaiting take off for nearly two hours. Awful. This will not be a relaxing journey for you, but it is worth it.
So what did we do for three weeks and how did we manage kids in wheelchairs?
Since there were so many of us we had our own hired van and driver each day which our agency's guide arranged for us. This allowed a lot of freedom to pick and choose where and when we wanted to tour. We were also able to meet our guide as needed (where he specified) when he met up with the other families from our agency. We had an advantage since Isaac is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and could communicate with our driver who knew very little English.
At times our driver also spoke on his cell phone with our agency's guide to get his instructions for the day. We didn't actually spend much time with our agency's guide except for official business. If you have never been to China before, this option may be intimidating, but it worked well for us and gave us the flexibility that we really needed to have with our kids.
Here is a day by day of what we did, how handicap accessible the option was, and anything I might have learned from the experience that might be helpful to you.
March 25 - left Cincinnati. We made a day of it. We divided the trip by stopping to visit family half way there in Indianapolis then arrived at our hotel in Chicago around dinner time. We stayed in a suite hotel that was just a couple of miles from the airport. We had a two bedroom suite with a living area that had a sofa bed. It also had two bathrooms. Driving to Chicago the day before avoided my stress trigger of rushing by not only avoiding a connecting flight, but by giving us plenty of time for things like traffic delays or van trouble.
IF YOU GO: be aware that some hotels have a park and ride option. Included in the price of our room was parking at the hotel for our van while we were in China. A shuttle took us to and picked us up from O'Hare.
March 26 - left O'Hare for Beijing. The staff in O'Hare was great in arriving promptly with transfer chairs and helping us and all of our backpacks, carry ons and kids onto the plane. Expect helpful staff on the China end and return trip, but don't necessarily expect the same level of service. At times we had to do stairs (piggy back the kids) to unload/load from the plane, and then get onto a transfer bus to get to the terminal. People will stare, they may push, but it is doable.
We flew Hainan Airlines and the flight was pleasant. Each seat had an entertainment console with movies, games, music, etc. The remote on Jen's didn't work so I had to swap seats with her. I wasn't playing games so it wasn't a big deal. The food was pretty standard with a few options but they had often run out of some of the options by the time they reached our seats. Still, Cathay Pacific could learn a lesson from them because they gave me coffee every single time I asked for it. If you weren't around for the trip with Isaac, our steward on Cathay would't give me a cup the entire international flight. Only instant in my purse kept us from an international incident! Hainan's staff was pleasant and responsive.
March 27 - arrived in Beijing and spent the night at Sandalwood Marriott Apartments
It was a gorgeous three bedroom, three bathroom apartment. IF YOU GO: be aware that smoking in Beijing is the norm, small rooms are the norm, and you may need to really look for what you want. One of our daughters is allergic to residual smoke and we could not stay where smoking had been allowed. We had to pay a lot more for what we needed in Beijing so we were thankful that this wasn't the province our son was from! One hotel actually told us that all of their rooms were smoking rooms but they would open a window for us. IF YOU GO: be aware that air pollution in Bejing is sometimes VERY bad. Opening a window will not be the thing to do!
March 28 - left Beijing and flew to Guangzhou. We hired a private guide for both of our layovers in Beijing to make sure we had reliable transportation to and from the airport. He provided excellent and reasonably priced service, and was an all around nice guy with good English skills. You can find him here David Wang
We checked into our apartment in Guangzhou Springdale Serviced Residence and went grocery shopping to stock the apartment. IF YOU GO: be aware that you cannot drink water from the tap in China. You need to either boil it or buy bottled water.
March 29 - Driver only. We were dropped off at the Nanyue King Museum and later Yuexiu Park. IF YOU GO: be aware that the place is full of stairs. We were dropped off in front to get admission tickets then had to walk several blocks down the street to get to a level access, up an alley, etc. It was hilly and a tough walk, and we had only brought Jen's walker. Ethan ended up having to piggy back her. IF YOU GO: be aware that if you need handicap access, you should go to the BACK entrance where it is level.
The Museum of the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King houses the 2,000-year-old tomb of the Nanyue King Zhao Mo in Guangzhou, China. Zhao Mo ruled from 137 BC to 122 BC, and his tomb was discovered in downtown Guangzhou in 1983.
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| Tikvah is VERY interested in archeology and was the primary reason for this visit. |
Yuexiu Park is the largest park in downtown Guangzhou. We went specifically to see the Five Rams statue. IF YOU GO: be aware that there are many, many stairs leading up to the statue and apparently no way to get around them. Ethan and I took turns going up to get pictures. Our kids with special needs did not get to see it.
Instead, after the long, long walk up the hill they got ice cream and became as much of an attraction as the statue was! Lots of stares and photos taken of us.
IF YOU GO: be aware that there are shuttles that will drive you around the park and they will allow special needs kids on board if you can get them on there. We went on the tour, but it stuck to the road and there really wasn't much to see from there.
March 30 - "Gotcha" Day
March 31 - Adoption registration and notary work at Civil Affairs office. Lots of this going on.
Then we did some more shopping while we had a driver. Carrying gallons of water up and down escalators and across town is HARD.
Patrick is legally ours!
Looking at the fish outside our apartment.
Walking to find some dinner. Yes, they park on the sidewalks in China.
April 1 - Medical Exam followed by a tour of the Canton Tower (driver only.) NOTE IF YOU GO:
be aware that this is one of the pricier tourist attractions. Also,
the elevator doesn't go all the way to the top so you cannot ride the
"bubbles" up
there
if you can't climb stairs. Most of the kids and I stayed at the "part
way up" look out area -- and it was plenty high enough!
Abigail's foster mom met us there. It was really wonderful to meet this lady and to understand a little better what Abigail's life was like before she came to us. This is a dear lady who loves the kids in her care a lot!
Sometimes you just have to love on the kids. This little guy is being adopted by a friend soon. Tikvah spent some snuggle time with him.
They prepared a special lunch for us and some other visitors.
It took several reassurances from me that we were ALL going back as a family after this visit. This was a happy little girl on the ride home, happy that I had kept my word.
My take away? It was a hard day. It was a couple of hours drive to get there and one of my girls threw up on the way - nerves I expect. But I believe the three that lived there came away with a better understanding that we are a family. They visited, they came back home. They belong.
April 3 - Tikvah and I went shopping with Ann of Red Thread while Ethan and the other four kids went with the agency guide and the rest of the group to a Buddhist Temple and Chen Clan Academy.
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| Ann is one of my most favorite people in life. It was great to see her again. |
April 4 Pearl River Cruise. IF YOU GO: be aware that those with special needs will be required to have a staff member help them down the very steep ramp and load them on board the ship. You will be limited to the lower deck dinner area because the outside areas and the museum located downstairs require the use of steps. There is a restroom on board. I did not go in them, but the restrooms at the station were squatty potty only.
Note: We had been warned, both by families who traveled before us and by our guide that the food on board was sometimes "not good" as in may make you sick. Choosing to be safe rather than sorry we ate only the rice and snacks that we brought on board with us.
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| This is the same tower we went up in a few days ago. |
April 5 - Easter Sunday! Tikvah was feeling bad that we were going to miss our usual family traditions so I brought Easter baskets (bags this year actually), candy for a hunt, and egg colorings. We had a full and busy day after attending church on Shamian Island.
April 6 - Safari Park. The Safari Park is a fun place. You can ride a train to look at the animals. You can walk around like a traditional zoo. There is a farm animal petting zoo. The animal shows are amazing. There is also a good sized amusement park with rides on the way out. Everything is included in the admission price which is comparable to the cost to get into a large city zoo in the States.
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| With the driver that took really good care of us. |
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| We saw the baby panda triplets. |
Fantastical treats! The bowl of caramel corn was attached onto the fruit drink cup!
We all loved the Safari Park except for one thing. IF YOU GO: please be aware that (at least the day we were there) they were very biased towards children who have special needs. There is an amusement park on the way out. Isaac stopped to use the restroom, and since it often takes awhile I decided to take the other four on a nearby ride while we were waiting. We marched in through the corral area, weaving in and out of the metal guardrails that separate the line. I got the kids settled on the ride and walked away.
Only to be chased down by a worker who told me that Pat and Jennifer could not ride. She had limited English and I kept attempting to find out what her problem was. She finally marched me over to a sign that said something to the effect of "no psychosis, handicaps or heart disease." Jen has braces, but we walked in. I don't know what her issue with Pat was. Tikvah later noted that maybe it was because he had a cold and had been breathing through his open mouth? We will never know but they insisted I take the two of them off. There was no way I was going to take just the two of them off, so all the kids got off. Our child who has the MOST issues regulating herself and her emotions had done so, so well but that did it and howling ensued. IF YOU GO please be aware of this and take caution with the rides if your child has a visible need - or in Pat's case, even if they don't!
April 7 - Consulate appointment followed by a visit to one of China's beautiful parks.
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| The closest we could find to "big kid" play equipment. |
Did you know you can get a dance lesson in the park?
I bought some bubble blowers at the park and we had a lot of fun with them when we got back to our apartment later that day.
April 8 - we got Pat's immigrant visa to come home. We also met a photographer who is from the USA, but living in China right now. She is taking Gotcha Day and family photos. If you are traveling, give her a shout! Shannon Gill
It
was towards the end of this second week that homesickness began to kick
in and the little kids were getting on the big kids nerves! I took
Tikvah and Isaac to the book store then out for hot chocolate and
dessert.
I
ventured out with just Tikvah another time to visit a tea restaurant
that was across (down under and up) the street. These little jaunts out
helped to break up the constant togetherness.
April
9 - our last full day in Guangzhou. We had pretty much done everything
we wanted to do - except for the parrot show at White Cloud Mountain.
We were told there wasn't a practical way to get our kids in wheelchairs
up there. So, we did something just for kicks. Ann of Red Thread took
us to IKEA! Don't worry, the only thing we bought were ice cream
cones!
IF YOU GO:
be aware that they have placed cement pillars in front of the ramps
into IKEA - perhaps to discourage you from using them? Ethan moved one
of them and in we went. Ann found an employee to take us up the freight
elevator as there isn't one for people. They make it difficult, but it
CAN be done if you want to go.
April 10 - plane to Beijing where we extended our layover for two nights. IF YOU GO:
be aware that you should take an older wheelchair if you have one. I
took Isaac's older chair, and don't know why in the world I took Jen's
better chair! The airline totally lost a leg and foot rest off her
chair and they broke the break mechanism on Isaac's chair. Sounds like
there was some pretty rough handling going on. They wouldn't allow me
to file a claim so they could return the leg/foot rest off Jen's chair
if they were to find it, but finally gave me the equivalent of $30 US
dollars to get me out of there. Yeah, that isn't going to replace the
damaged parts. Sigh.
Ok on to the Beijing part of our trip.
The pedacab took us to this home where the owner and his niece had prepared dinner for us. By this point I was pretty much tired of Asian food and my tummy had been a little off. I was wondering how I was going to manage to politely eat what was put before me, but wow! There was no worry about that! This seriously was THE BEST food I have ever, as in EVER had!
Note the Coke which seemed to be available with every meal! I finally requested tea when we were at a noodle house. People talk about China and tea, but we saw very little of it this trip.
With our hosting family.
IF YOU GO:
be aware that the hutong communities have common restroom facilities
and none in their own homes. You will need to walk (a short distance)
to a shared facility. There were western toilets available.
After
dinner David took us to our hotel. There were no nonsmoking apartments
available where we had stayed a couple weeks prior, and the only place -
literally - that I could find that met all of our needs of
1. NONsmoking,
2. A bed for everyone and
3. Two bathrooms
was a huge three bedroom apartment at the Imperial Mansion Beijing (Marriott)
which ended up being within walking distance of Tiananmen Square and
The Forbidden City. It seemed pretty luxurious, but at this point in
our trip I really welcomed the western niceties and the space!
Right
about now you are probably wondering why we didn't just get two rooms?
We seriously considered it, and at one point thought we would, but
remember the stress triggers? Anything unexpected sets Jen off. This
trip combined with Baba and the boys not being in the same "house" would
likely have been enough to set her off. Sirens can't do competition
with this girl when she sets to freaking out. We decided early on that
this was a FAMILY trip and we would take whatever measures we had to for
us all to stay together. This is not always the case when we travel,
but for this trip we deemed it necessary.
April
11 - After breakfast at our hotel we headed out to visit Tiananmen and
Forbidden City. We had to take some creative ways to avoid the huge
lines (I use the term "line" loosely, it was actually a mob) and the
Chinese citizens all had to show ID at checkpoints. IF YOU GO and
have wheelchairs do yourself a favor and hire someone with experience
getting around, like David. Wheelchairs and Beijing don't mix very
well, but he did a superb job at meeting our needs, honestly as best as I
believe they could have been met under the circumstances. I know he
saved us a ton of time and hassle getting into places.
IF YOU GO:
be aware that that the crowds are tremendous and they PUSH. It seems
to be the biggest or fittest or pushiest rules. I was honestly,
seriously terrified for the safety of my children a couple of times. I
finally gave up all together even seeing into the rooms. It was just
too dangerous with small children. Still, it was amazing to be where
all this history was made. I'm glad we went. I likely will never do it
again.
What we ended up doing as the safe option...
Then
David took us to lunch. If you don't hire this man for anything else,
hire him to take you to eat and order for you! We were escorted into
the staff's eating area (so we wouldn't have to be in smoke) and he
placed the order for us. Fabulous food and lots of it! IF YOU GO:
be aware that you may not find a public restroom in the restaurants.
We had to use one a short ways down the street. Also, if you have a
special needs child figure out how to use a squatty potty with them or
come up with a creative other option. The parts of Beijing we went to
seemed nearly exclusively squatty potty. It is a BIG DEAL with kids
whose legs don't work.
We
took a good hour plus drive to the Great Wall. David chose the Ju Yong
Guan section of the wall because it is the closest wall to Forbidden
City and Tiananmen Square. It is also the easiest part of wall to
access since one can park close to it. This allowed our kids who
couldn't climb the wall to at least see it.
See the buses? LOTS of people arrived on those buses. IF YOU GO be aware that the pushing and shoving continues... even in the lady's restroom. I finally put Abigial between Jen's wheelchair and my body, bent down in a linebacker's position and stuck my elbows out. It made the people pushing in back of me mad, but it kept Abigail from being knocked down. Also be aware IF YOU GO that they apparently LOCK the handicap stalls from the inside so no one can use them. We waited and waited and waited for a long time before figuring this out. Again, figure out a way to use a squatty potty with your special needs child before you need it!
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| Jen misses the foot rest on her wheelchair. |
Tikvah
and Ethan climbed way up and walked for some amount of time. David
took Pat up a little ways and let him take some photos and wave at us
below.
And just before we left I zipped up one level just so I could say I climbed it!
We finished our day with dinner at a noodle house. IF YOU GO: be
aware that you may need to carry or otherwise assist your special needs
child into the restaurants. Most have stairs and are not accessible.
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Another adoptive family joined us for dinner. They got their son the following week in Shanghai.
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April 12 - Beijing to Chicago, overnight in the same hotel where our van was parked.
April 13 - HOME!
Summary: Doing an adoption trip with the family is absolutely possible. There are ways to cut costs if you do your research. Figure out your priorities and your stressors. Decide what you can compromise on. For us we saved thousands researching flights, driving instead of flying to O'Hare, cooking our own meals, when we did go out to eat choosing Chinese foods because they are a LOT cheaper, and doing our own laundry. Decide the things you cannot compromise on. For us that was the number of beds and bathrooms which cost us a bunch in Beijing.
Research on travel websites to find places that you would enjoy visiting and GO. We did a mixture of free or very inexpensive things with a few "splurges" thrown in like the tower, cruise, and Safari Park. Keep the kids active, engaged and having fun!
Doing an adoption trip with children in wheelchairs or with other medical needs is also doable, but you won't get to do EVERYTHING you want to do. As long as you go with those expectations you'll be fine. When we came upon an outing where they couldn't all participate we usually defaulted to buying ice cream from a vendor's cart. They are found everywhere you go! This usually provided a great distraction and the disappointment of missing something was soon forgotten.
Keep loose expectations and expect things to go wrong. Laugh often. Allow ample time between flights, between appointments, between whatever you do. Everything will take longer in China than it will in the States because they simply are not set up to deal with the exceptions to the norm. Make memories with your kids! It is a trip that we will remember forever. Oh, and if your driver and guide do a good job for you, tip them as generously as you are able. They can totally make the difference in the quality of your time there.
Contact info with highest recommendations:
David Wang can be reached through his Facebook page or by email at David@chinamissiontrip.com
Ann can be reached through her website or by email at annyangchina@yahoo.com
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