Visiting Mount Qingxiu, March 2014

Part 3 of our March 2014 adoption trip, catch up post.  This is put together from emails and Facebook posts from that time.

Entrance at Mr Qingxiu

 

 
The park has a lot of statues in it. Some are realistic looking ones, like these which portray the various ethnic minorities in the area. Some are playful and you'll see those a little later.

This was made for a celebration held for the largest minority groups called the Drum People. The thing in the middle is a huge drum.
 

Isaac was amazing in his chair. He went up, down, popped wheelies, etc. And he LOVED zooming down the hills and squealing his tires. I told him that Mama was going to have a heart attack, but you know Baba. He said something to the effect of, "HE IS FINE let him go."  Ahhhhhh!

The building in the back is a monument to the students lost in the war with Japan. In the forefront are statues that have a kid's theme. It seemed as if some of them might be Disney princess stories like Cinderella and Snow White.
 

China seriously must have the best parks system in the entire world! This place was huge. While the rest of us walked, Tikvah made her way around in a series of ropes and other obstacles.

 Fun statues...

Family photo op

Next up - climbing the mountain.

Nanning, March 23, 2014

Part 2 in our March adoption trip, catch up post.  This is put together from emails and Facebook posts from that time.

We got to Isaac's province of Guangxi, and were to meet him on March 24 in the city of Nanning. It always takes awhile to clear passport checks and immigrations, but then they had to xray our bags as we LEFT, not sure what that was all about. :)  It was around 45 minutes to our hotel from the airport. Our guide met us as we came out of luggage claim. We had been told we were having the same guide we had with the girls, (Elsie) so were surprised to have someone else approach us and ask if we were the Lanz family.  I guess it was kind of obvious?

Our guide, Sara, was very nice.  She tried to get us to go somewhere with her to eat or at least go to Walmart and buy some groceries. At that point all I could think of was that we desperately needed sleep, so we did something we've never done and ordered room service. Let's just say that the crackers and peanut butter we had last night was better, and I actually left just about all my order mostly uneaten and got the crackers out again! Nanning is apparently in a spicy food area and I just really couldn't take the burn! 

We stayed at the Marriott in a super nice suite type room since we have an eleven year old girl AND boy. With medical needs a second bathroom was also necessary.  We had a large bedroom, a living room where Tikvah slept on the couch, an office area where Isaac had a roll away, and a small eating area with a table.  Adoption trips are so stressful anyway without having half the family sleep on the floor. In spite of the extra cost, we made a wise decision.

I did manage to get out a blog post on the actual day that we got custody of Isaac.  It is found HERE..

There are fewer adoptions in this province than the one where the girls were from, and not as many of the staff spoke English.  One of the funny things that happened, was on the actual adoption day, Isaac was sleeping on and on and we were running late. I attempted to order breakfast from room service.  This is what I requested:  oatmeal, danish and apple juice.  They called me back twice to ask again what it was that we wanted and somehow translated it to an omelet instead of oatmeal. The staff had me spell it and that helped. Then she wanted to know if we wanted milk, and since my attempts to tell her that two milks would be plenty just confused her more, I said, "Yes, four milks." So we did end up with the juice, the oatmeal, too much milk -- and we got croissants. I called it a win!

We did get some shopping done near the hotel after this, and were able to make breakfast in our room after the first day.

 
I loved the turrets on the apartments there. This is a view out our hotel window. Note: We were told Isaac was from a rural province and much smaller city. Defined that means there are ONLY seven MILLION people in Nanning!

 

Because there aren't as many Americans visiting this province, we were stopped several times to have our picture taken. As Ethan put it, "They do exist, and I've seeeen one!" At this point when this lady (who spoke no English) grabbed me and then kept calling other family members to get in the picture (this wasn't all who eventually were in it) I totally lost it. I was giggling like a mad woman - too little sleep and too easily amused I guess. I'm sure they went away thinking that Americans must be the most cheerful people in the world.

 

Next up: Visiting Mount Qingxiu (Ching shoe)

 

Cathay Pacific flight - Ni Hao from Hong Kong! March 2014

 March 21 - 23, 2014 -  2nd China trip, catch up.  It is catch up time for our travel log that I intended to do months ago.  We've been home with Prince Isaac nearly eight months now. Thanks to notes, emails, and keeping the family at home up to date with Facebook posts, I am able to reconstruct this with what I believe to be accuracy.  Why at this point?  There were some special details surrounding our trip that I've been asked about over and over, and requests from people to make some apartment photos, etc. public.  So here goes!

We left Cincinnati on Friday, March 21.  The Little Princesses were excited to have their beloved Ruth staying with them this first weekend.  After a speedy trip to the airport (in which I thought we might die in Cincinnati traffic -not naming any names) we arrived at the airport.  One of the first things that happened was Ethan decided to try out the PIN number for the credit card to be sure he had it right.  Guess what?  He didn't.  The teller machine ATE the credit card he thought would be our primary one for use in China.  Oh well....

Our "luxury vacation" began (seriously, how can people think an adoption trip is ever - in anyone's wildest imagination- a vacation?) with being stopped at the baggage inspection when they spied something "suspicious" in my carry on.  Yup, it was a dangerous, unopened, large bottle of powdered Miralax.  I needed this over counter medication for our son and it wasn't available in China.  The officer informed me it should go in my checked luggage.  Not much chance of that since everything that HAS to go with me is carried on.  Not to imply that I don't trust that our luggage will arrive with us.  (see our homecoming surprise in a later post.)

Next stop -Chicago.  They didn't seem to care a bit about my bottle of Miralax, but the drug sniffing dog was VERY interested in ME and I was pulled aside for further dialog.  Where was I going?  Who was traveling with me?  Had anyone given me anything to carry on with me?  Had anyone given me any money?  Was I wearing a money belt?  How much cash exactly did I have on me?  Turns out that the dog smelled TOO MUCH MONEY on me!  Having too much money had really never been an issue.  Like EVER!  We giggled about that experience for days to come.

No, I wasn't intending to go on a huge shopping spree.  Those of you who have adopted from China will recognize that the parents have to carry cash for the provincial and other fees in country - in crisp, clean, undamaged bills to be changed into Chinese yuan once you arrive.  The officer accepted my story and let us board the plane.

After hearing so many good reviews about Cathay Pacific and their wonderful service I was super excited to have our international flight with them.  Perhaps going into it with such high expectations was my downfall?  In any case it was NOT the great experience I had hoped for.  Here is a rundown of my experience on this particular flight - Chicago to Hong Kong.

It didn't take very long to discover that the seats on our particular flight didn't fit my short frame at all.  There were no foot rests either.  It is a bad feeling to settle into a flight that you have to be on for about fourteen hours and be uncomfortable within the first hour. 

The next thing was shortly after take off they insisted that all of the window blinds had to be closed even though it was still very much during daylight hours.  Anyone who knows me knows I don't do well without light.  On our previous trip to China both international flights had been at night so I was looking forward to not being in the dark the whole time.  Seriously?  All day with the darkness and the flicker flicker of all the entertainment consoles?  I guess they wanted people to be able to sleep if they were inclined?  Wanted to encourage them to sleep so they wouldn't have as much work to do?  I am not an experienced flyer by any stretch of the imagination, so perhaps it is just standard practice.  Who knows the reason, but it was awful.

There was very little space between the rows of seats.  I get it, we were in economy, but they seemed extra close together - at least in comparison to the airline we'd flown previously.  At one point Tikvah (11 years old, and a very well behaved kid) was attempting to retrieve something from her bag and the grouchy guy in front turned around and grumped at us.  Well... I was sorry we disturbed him (and his very violent movie that I was glad Tikvah couldn't see from her seat) but seriously she was just attempting to work within the tiny space allotted to us.  I apologized to him and told him we would be more careful.

Thus far the actual airplane had been the primary complaint, so I didn't hold that against them so much.  What I had heard about over and over though was their stellar service.  Um- not so much.  True, Mr. Grouchy Guy in the seat in front of us got a refill on his alcoholic drink every time he (frequently) requested it.  I asked for coffee.  I was told, "Not now."  Another request, "We'll bring it later."  And I finally got up and went to their little service area and asked if  I could please have my coffee now.  I was told, "Oh, we just dumped it, but you can get a good cup in Hong Kong."  Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?

I am a coffee addict.  There I said it.  I generally make two or three pots of coffee a day at home - no I don't drink it ALL by myself!  But, a fourteen hour flight - really?  Probably the only thing that prevented an international incident was I pulled out instant coffee packets from my purse and sent my sweet husband to get me a cup of hot water.  Cathay DID give us that much.  Not impressed, Cathay, not impressed.  One a scale of 1-10, I will give them my personal rating of comfort 3, service 2.

Hong Kong - We stayed at the Regal Hotel at the airport. It looked very fancy. We had multiple minor issues - like ever try explaining to a barely English speaker that a feather pillow will make your head blow up like a balloon? I didn't even attempt explaining that our (non smoking entire hotel) room smelled badly of smoke. And I let Ethan handle the internet connection issues.  For some reason (lack of sleep - or maybe lack of coffee???) I found the whole exquisitely expensive hotel room issues fairly amusing,  AND my first thought when I woke up to the sound of VERY LOUD Chinese was, "I wonder how these people to talk to one another when they are angry?"  For some reason they seem to yell - like ALL THE TIME.

Since our flight left early in the afternoon we were advised not to leave the area of the airport.  So, not much to show or say about Hong Kong!  We walked around outside a bit, and looked at the HUGE mall within the airport complex.  One thing that caught my attention were the large amount of taxis parked outside!  

 

I've since learned that they are color coded for the parts of the city they serve.

 We didn't get to see much, but it looked like a beautiful place.

 

Next post.....On to Nanning!

 

We are OOT!

 OOT = Out Of Translation.  Our dossier has been translated from English into Chinese. All materials submitted to the CCCWA  (China Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoption) must have a certified Mandarin Chinese translation.  I got the news today that ours has been translated!  Our dossier now goes to the Review room where it will be matched up with Patrick's file.  Yay for progress!

A photo to help me smile

I get restless when our paperwork hits a stall.  The branch of government that handles adoptions has been shut down for the past week while the APEC meetings were going on.  BUT it is morning time now in China and I'm hoping to hear soon that our file is making progress through their system. 

In the meantime, here is a photo that helps me smile.  It was taken this past summer during the second weekend we spent with Pat.  The little boy in the background was adopted shortly before our little princesses, and both of these boys were especially good friends to our Jen during her years in the orphanage.

Love these boys!

Heart Borders

Fun stuff!  This is some family history that my oldest daughter wrote about on her Facebook this week...

Sometimes, life actually gets to be like one of those Paul Harvey broadcasts: "and now you know...the rest of the story!  Just keep your eyes peeled for about 25 years, and all of those boring little details add up to something interesting, after all.

This past summer, the Hobbits and I had occasion to stay overnight at "Grandmama" Dorothy Lanz's house.  (I call them Hobbits because they are all shorties who like to eat.  Rachael dubbed them the 'Horde of Ravenous Dwarves' after we were discussing holiday "snacks" and while she suggested crackers and cheese, I thought that pots of chili and a baked potato bar would be more apropos.  Okay, okay: her descriptor is probably more accurate).

So while we were at Grandmama's house this summer, something very, very mundane, indeed, happened: someone took forever in the bathroom, leaving me standing around waiting.  And so I wandered in circles (not too far from the bathroom door, mind you, lest someone sneak in and swindle me of my turn), observing the million or so photos and mementos posted wall-to-wall throughout the house.

Grandmama and Papa were married in the 1950's so there's a lot of family history to see.  But one thing caught my attention: a pink-and-blue, cross-stitch picture which my mom had made.  I hadn't seen it in awhile, and for some reason, I decided that I needed a photo so I could study it later.

The cross-stitch picture said, "Grandchildren hold our hands for awhile... our hearts forever," and it had a border of hearts, flowers and bluebirds around it.  Pretty typical, early-1990's stuff, but it took me back to when I was eight years old, watching my mom sort her floss colors and put together her frame for working on the Aida cloth. 

I remember Dad coming home from the office, loosening his necktie.  (It was probably a brown necktie in a diagonal stripe pattern, because that's the only necktie I ever remember him wearing for the entirety of my early childhood.  We were probably too broke to buy him another one.  That, or the other ties were such hideous representatives of the 1980s that I have barred them from my memory in self-preservation.  That's a possibility, too). 

Mom popped up from the old, beige-yellow recliner, excitedly explaining her latest (possibly crazy) project to him.  “Look, Ethan!  I'm making this for your mom and dad.  It has a verse about grandparents and there are hearts all the way around the edge!  I’m going to add the names of all the grandkids under each of the hearts.”

Dad surveyed the pattern for awhile.

“That’s a lot of hearts…” he commented.

“Well…!  I’m going to add Niki’s kids, too.  It won’t be just ours.”

Dad weighed this reply, and after awhile offered: “My sister only has three kids…”

“Well..." Mom was tabulating an argument, clearly making it up off the top of her head: "Well maybe there will be more kids!  YOU don’t know.  Maybe there will just be extra hearts on there or something, I don’t want to change the pattern.  It’s fine this way.”  (In hindsight, I'm certain that she was plotting Hannah).

Dad seemed to decide that it wasn’t worth arguing about and left Mom to merrily make her little X’s until Christmas, at which time the grandparents received their present and there were probably more comments about the number of hearts around the border.

My aunt and uncle declared they were done.  But they surprised everyone when, several years later, they adopted Mark from the Bolivian orphanage where my aunt was working.

My parents had two more bio kids, and then it seemed that the family was complete.  Until a decade passed and the Tailgate (a.k.a. Tikvah) arrived, and they turned it into an entire Tailgate Party with three more kids from China.  They were saying that they thought there was one more child out there they would find sometime later.  Over the summer though, mere weeks after returning from China, Mom and Dad announced that they had met a little boy named Pat, a little boy who had been raised with two of their other children, a little boy who was practically their brother already, whom they would be adding to the family.

At some point, it hit me that I had been studying that “Grandchildren” cross-stitch picture only perhaps five weeks prior to the "Pat Announcement."  Amazed at my oblivious foresight, I went to dig out that crookedy snapshot I'd forgotten all about, and started counting the hearts in that cross-stitched border.




Sixteen.

Sixteen hearts.  Four Elliott cousins…and Pat makes twelve on the Lanz side.  Sixteen grandchildren for Niki and Ethan’s generation: 9 bio kids and 7 adoptions.  When Mom made this thing, there were seven grandchildren, total, in the family.  Who would have thought? 

“That’s a lot of hearts, Randi…”

Cincinnati Wheelchair Dragons Basketball

Yesterday we attended the call out for a brand new youth wheelchair basketball league.  They are called the Cincinnati Dragons!  I had to pretty much TELL Isaac he was going - he is a little timid - but once he got there, he had a  really good time.

It is coached by men who are in chairs themselves, and I know it was good for Isaac to see that these men are very capable and living full lives.  The founder played college ball, in the paralympics, and even professional ball so he knows his way around a basketball court!  One of his assistants currently plays college ball.

The sports chairs were provided by the league as loaners.  They also gave us details and instructions to apply for a grant for a custom sports chair for Isaac to keep.  Oh boy, more grants to write - but we do what we need to for our kids, right?  After applying for all of those adoption grants, I could likely do this one in my sleep.  In fact it may come to that...

The personal trainer in me was cringing when it was announced that they were going to stretch.  Oh no....with no warm up?  But they had a gooooood warm up!  The coach had them "running" up and down the gym floor over and over before their stretch.

Then they played a game of sharks and minnows!  Isaac was pretty good at evading the sharks, but not so aggressive when it was his turn to BE a shark. 

 Play ball!

The rest of us watched from bleachers that were on a balcony up above the gym floor.  Crazy Mama here was hooting and hollering when my boy made a basket.  At first it seemed that Isaac didn't know what to think about that nonsense, but we soon saw him looking up at us with the most adorable little grins on his face!

The sisters were, well... being sisters.  They were eating candy, making faces, and clapping for their brother.

 

The benefits are numerous.... making new friends, getting exercise, playing a game he loves, seeing that his life isn't really that limited just because his legs don't work.  We are so excited for Isaac to have this opportunity to play basketball!