A rest day and a day at the Guangzhou Safari Zoo

We had a day off on Saturday. After breakfast Rachel and I worked in our room. It had become a mess with four open suitcases toys, and a pile of dirty clothes. We sorted through the clothes and decided what we would take to the laundry. Laundry services are provided by almost every store on the island and they all advertise 40% off. We chose Jessica's because it had been recommended to us by former adoption travelers. We stopped at Subway for lunch on the way back. You don't get exactly what you ask for but it's really a traditional shop just like at home, except for the warm soft drink.

Bella played all day and watched a video we bought at the mall for her. It's called something like "Happy Sheep" and she laughs at it and talks back through the whole thing. She will say something then turn to look at us and laugh. She's so stinking cute! She also watches the movie trailer for "Despicable Me" on the iPad and loves it. She has watched it over and over and over again.

Bella is very smart. She loves electronics and is very quick to figure out games. She's a pro at fruit ninja and has some sweet moves for a 4 year old. I also had downloaded some matching games and she's great at memorizing where each match is located. She likes to win! One of her favorite songs on her "so gee" is "All I Do Is Win." She certainly loves music. She has four songs that she plays over and over. Repeatedly we hear Lil Wayne, Adele, Taylor Swift and Colbie Caillat. By far, "Fallin for You" is her favorite and we will never hear it without thinking of China. It has been the background music to so many of our experiences here.

On Sunday we went with two other families to the Safari Zoo. One family was from Ohio and they adopted a 17 month old boy named Benjamin. His Chinese name was Fen Fen so they were calling him Fen Ben, then Ben Ben. He looked tough and had a stocky build. He was very serious but when he smiled his while face squeezed into a smile. So cute!

The other family was from Indianopolis. Dad, Pat and 9 year old son, Evan made the trip to get their new 9 year old son from China. He was with them for 44 hours. Pat said he had some emotional problems that made it impossible for him to bond. He said this was somethingnthey should have been told about in advance. Pat said those 44 hours were terrible. As much as they wanted to love and provide a family for him, they knew it was best for him to go back to the orphanage. So they sent him back. He said as foster parents they were taught first to protect your current family. He said one broken child can break another and he knew that would be the case if they didn't let go. Pat is a strong Christian and is handling it well although it was visibly hard for him to talk about. Evan talked a lot but said nothing when his dad explained that experience. It was obvious he was trying to process what to do with that kind of disappointment.

It made me sick at my stomach to think about what Pat and Evan and his wife and daughter (adopted from Russia last year) were sorting through. I was reminded of our scare that we were going to run out of time and lose Bella as our match. We all tried to be strong but our hearts were already so attached and in love with her. It was too heavy to process at that time. Today, I stopped and said yet another prayer to God of thanksgiving and His deliverance to bella in this journey.

On a lighter note, the safari zoo was awesome! If captured animals could choose where to be held they would pick here. Every exhibit was like the animals natural habitat. They boast over 20,000 animals in the zoo side plus several hundred others in the safari side. They even had eleven pandas spread out over a large habitat several hundred yards long. In a koala exhibit you could go on a stage and pet a koala while it sat on a branch and ate leaves. Only one volunteered and she had pictures taken by her mom for 10 minutes while st petted and caresses the koala. We tried to get Rachel to do it but she wasn't very trusting of a wild animal. I cannot imagine Bella enjoying that either. She would have been a little intimidated I'm sure!

In China, even on Saturday and Sunday kids are in school. There were large groups of elementary kids at the safari zoo in uniform. They would yell "Hello!" to us and wave then laugh when you greeted them back. Several older Chinese school girls wanted their picture made with little blond headed Evan but he would have no part of it. We did notice we were the exhibit being photographed on many occasions. That feels very strange and esoecially when the photographer turns around from right ahead of you to snap a shot. We just tried to ignore it. One man did walk right up to Rachel to see her blue eyes. He made a gesture with his hands like "bright." Just a little awkward.

We ended our day with dinner...at Lucy's again. Bela was loud and giggly. We videoed her eating spaghetti which is something to see. She can attack a plate of noodles. She and Dale ended with a milkshake. She sucked it down and ended with a smack and an "Ahhhhhh!" She and Dale sing an ice cream song too. They are so funny together.

Our bonds are growing closer. She plays and wanrs to receive and give love to each of us. Working through the language barrier is not easy. We have all had our moments of disciplining her. We habe seen her cry over discipline twice now. Rachel got on to Bella at the safari zoo while we waited to see a white tiger show. Bella tried hard to win but she was no match for big sister's commands. It was evident Bella knew full well she was not obeying when sissy told her not to stand on the seats to dance, but she wanted to be in charge. Rachel won and sat Bella down in the seat between us. Bella's mouth turned into a frown and tears rolled down her cheeks. Her feelings were hurt. She sat in my lap and I consoled her until the show started. Later at dinner she was banging her phone on the bar of the stroller. It's an old phone and after being dropped a couple of times it already had a crack and won't make it much longer. We are just praying it lasts from Hong Kong to Chicago! Rachel told her "no" which is universal for "no" and Bella did it over again. Rachel gave her a couple more tries and she finally took Bella's so gee away. Again, the sad face and tears. They made up a few ,unites later.

Overall, Bella's adapting very well. God has richly blessed us with her. We are anxious to get home and into our normal routines with her. We miss you all!