We're Comming Home

What a great journey it has been. And just think, we have just started. Our bags are to be outside of our door in 45 minutes. Don’t know why, other than that the Chinese love to have a plan. It seems that 10:30 PM luggage pickup is part of the master plan. In the morning we will meet some of our tour group at 6:00 AM to get on the bus to go to the airport. Guangzhou to Beijing to Newark to Orlando. If I’ve done my math right that is about 30 hours of travel.

We spent our last day in Guangzhou doing a lot of kid stuff: both for fun and for official stuff. We went to the zoo which is way better than the Beijing zoo. It is a combination zoo/safari. The kids loved it. Right when you walk in you are met by four people in animal costumes, each holding a
different baby animal. So, in the span of 5 minutes we each got to pet a baby kangaroo, brown bear, tiger, and orangutan. The rest of it was pretty good, but that was the highlight for all of us.

You have got to love this very subtle reminder to keep out of the tiger area. Check out those bones!!! No signs or language translation needed here.

On the way back Collin finally lost his first tooth. What a stud!! He worked it for weeks. And today he just yanked it right out. He was quite proud of himself.

The afternoon consisted of our paperwork and oath taking at the US Consulate. We received Caleb’s visa to enter the country. Upon arrival he will be a US citizen. There are no pictures of this. They don’t allow any cameras inside the building, and with security being the way it is, I didn’t take my chances outside either. First, I wanted to actually be able to return home with my family. Second, I didn’t want to be that guy you hear about on the news who spent three weeks in a Mongolian jail cell for taking suspicious photos outside the US Consulate. If you want to see it that badly, you’ll have to come see it for yourself. However, there are far more impressive sights to see in China.

The wrapped up with a great dinner at the local Thai restraint with some good friends the Saubers. Walking home from dinner Caleb wanted to do some walking on his own, and was actually quite successful. You should have seen him squeal with delight and pride. He was quite the ham. We finished our celebration with some ice cream and a playtime at the local park… a fitting beginning to the next leg of our journey.