Hello from Nanjing!!!!!

Well, we are here in Avery's province!!!

After getting up at the crack of dawn and managing the Beijing airport (which is a story in itself) we arrived around 9:30am after a 1 1/2 hour flight. The security at the Beijing airport is a little different than we are used to....everyone gets wanded after passing through the metal detectors. Lo and behold the metal plates in my legs set off the alarm. The security guard kept tapping at my leg saying "OFF! OFF!" wanting me to take off whatever was setting her alarm off. Since she didn't speak English (except for OFF) and I didn't speak Chinese we had a little language problem. I finally had to pull up my pants legs above the knee and show her the faint scar left from surgery 13 years ago! After we survived that little escapade I saw mom being escorted to a different security area, I took off after her to see what was going on, she just happened to be the lucky random person chosen to have their carry on sniffed for bomb paraphernalia. Always an adventure with us!!!!! We finally got on the plane and had a very smooth flight.

Me and Paul getting ready for take-off.

I wanted to mention that their are only 2 families in adopting from the Jiangsu province this trip. Us (of course) and The Downing family, Mary and Kevin brought their 3 kids along and will adding 4 year old Piper to the bunch tomorrow. Their family and our have already shared a tons of laughs together. We get along wonderfully and we couldn't have asked for a better family to travel with.

I can't believe we are actually in Jiangsu!!!!

Our guide, Grace, met us at the airport and we loaded into the bus to head to our hotel. Along the way we were able to see some of the more prosperous and the not so prosperous areas of the city. We also passed a motor brigade and couldn't figure out what was going on. Grace explained that it was a wedding party. That when a couple gets married in China the family rents identical autos for the bridal party to ride in to the reception. There were about 10 identical cars with bows on the doors and then in the lead was the wedding couple in a convertible. A great sample of local culture!!

The wedding couple at the lead of the pack.

After settling in our hotel we ventured out to the CF mart for drinks and such. Needless to say it was quite an experience. Nanjing is not nearly as modernized as Beijing so our group was definitely a spectacle while walking down the street.

I just love looking at the English translations of the signs!!!

This particular store was huge!! It was like a Wal-Mart with everything from groceries to clothes, to household items, to scooters. Everything you could want!!!

Paul and Kevin hamming it up in the beer and wine section!!

Mom, Kathy, and I trying to check out. We purchased a 12 pack of water, a 12 pack of cokes, tons of juices and snacks, and a travel stroller for Avery all for about $35. Can't beat that!!

On our walk back we spotted this cage of chickens outside a restaraunt. I guess we know thier meat is fresh?

For dinner tonight we ventured out to Pizza Hut. It was very fancy (for Pizza Hut) but surprisingly the food tasted the same.
Mom and Paul posing after dinner.

We are now back in the rooms for the night getting things together for the big day tomorrow. I can't believe that it has all come down to this and in about 15 hours we will finally be holding our daughter!!!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter!!!

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