Welcome to Mister Rogers' (Blue) Neighborhood

As the Super Bowl hype continues to build, our good friends at the Indianapolis Star keep us informed on what the other guys (knuckleheads in the Second City....or rather, the 3rd or 4th city by now...) are saying about us and our team. The other day, a tribune columnist called Indy the Mister Rogers of metropolises. Hey, we've been called worse. He went on the describe how troubling all the niceness between Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith is. (Thank goodness it isn't our coach named Lovie, or we'd really hear it!) And he went on to list a few others things that were weighing on his mind, trying to stir up a little trash talk. I was going to go on and on about the fact that this is what's wrong with the world today - people have trouble with nice. But instead, since we are all for having fun and playing games around here, please find below, as un-nice as they could be, the thoughts of my kids on the evil Chicago Bears:

Nevermind that the entirety of their dad's side of the family lives in or around Chicago. These kids call a spade a spade, a Colt a winner, and a Bear a big loser. Geniuses already, eh?

And here is Quinn's prediction for the big game: Colts 40, Bears 1.

GO COLTS!

That's 15 Yards and an Automatic First Down!

Personal foul, number 88, roughing the sister:
Nah, not really.....not sweet ol' Quinn. The Patriots, sure, but not a guy wearing the Shoe!
Although admittedly, he was called for a block in the back later in the evening.

And here is Keira earlier in the day, warming up for the big game by loosening up her throwing arm: (Thanks to our super Cincy friends for keeping Miss K in some nice Colts duds!)

The week before, she was ready for the game in her "cheering girl" outfit (Quinn's term):

And here, taking a break to confiscate one of Quinn's favorite cars....afterall, what are sisters for if not to annoy their big brothers?!

And later, she's thinking "Well, if he won't let me have his Lightning McQueen, maybe I can swipe this firetruck while he's not looking...."

Life is good! (Ok - that's what I'm thinking....I hope she is too! I know that's what Q is thinking since he's in the background watching a TV show on Saturday morning!)

Keira has been in our family for over a month now, and I think we've all been doing pretty well. Minor sleep issues aside, the adjustment is going as well as I had hoped. Maybe not as well as daddy had hoped, since she still has a strong preference for me...but well, knowing us both, wouldn't you??! (Ha ha!! Just kidding, sweetie! Really, I'm joking....mostly...!)

Miss K had her second visit to the international adoption clinic here. They've been fabulous and she seems to be in great health. She's only managed to gain about 0.2 kg since hitting US soil, so we are working on that. And, in case you couldn't tell by looking at us, here's proof that she is not genetically related to me: the doctor said "she needs more fat in her diet...you should put butter in her vegetables...whipped cream in her formula...." Ahhh, now that's a diet I can follow!

And now in closing, I leave you with the words you all are assuming you'll find somewhere in my first post-Patriots beating post: SUPER BOWL!

The Stand-Off Continues

No - not between Keira and Quinn or K and her parents. The stand-off between our computer and the digital camera. They apparently hate each other right now and refuse to speak to one another. So, I cannot download the super cute pix of Miss K in her little Colts cheerleader outfit (fabulous gift from her youngest aunt --- xiexie!). She was all decked out for Saturday's showdown between the Colts and the evil Baltimore Ravens. We all know how that turned out. Score another one for the good guys. I am hoping the camera and the laptop can settle their differences soon so we can post some pix in time to bring on good karma for Sunday's showdown versus the also evil Patriots. Until then, here are a few parting thoughts:
1. She called me mama! I was putting her in her PJs on Saturday evening and she looked up at me, smiled, and said mama! Yippee. I gave her big kisses and hugs. And she did it again. Of course, she hasn't done it since, but we are making progress. And I thought the Colts win Saturday was a big deal. This was even better.
2. I may have spoken too quickly about how well she has been sleeping. All in all, still better than I thought. And still in bed some days til almost 9am! However, a new habit has appeared: waking up about 1-2 hours after going to bed, and refusing to close her little peepers for another 1-2 hours! She's the drowsiest looking girl, but those eyelids won't shut. Thankfully, this doesn't occur at 2 or 3 am. But still. The trade-off is that I get these adoring little stares. And periodic smiles. And pokes at my chest to "wake" me up. Apparently me closing my eyes to show her how it is done is not making much of an impression.
3. On a non-baby note, this to the city of Baltimore and the media in general: Stop it already! The Colts have been here since 1984. Granted, leaving in the middle of the night was probably not Mr. Irsay's greatest idea, but it is done. Stop talking about it. And, for the love of pete, would someone please remind them that they stole a team only a few years back! They are playing with the Cleveland Browns. As former Indy Mayor Hudnut commented on game-day, "....get a life!"

R.O.C.K. in the USA

With apologies to fellow Hoosier, John Mellencamp, we r-o-c-k in the USA in a chair. At night. When it is bedtime. And to borrow from Readers' Digest, Life in These United States has been going well so far.
As you can see, there is no shortage of brotherly love for little Miss K. And she loves it. And of course, so do I.

As for day-to-day life, I think we are now all over jet-lag. I was prepared for this to take about 2 weeks (I had heard 1 day for every hour of time difference), but I think we were back on Indiana time in less than a week. And for those of you who know the history of time in Indiana, that is no small feat!

Keira herself is doing great! She's been sleeping 14 hours overnight these last few nights. Although apparently for her, afternoon naps are optional. Very optional. But if the girl can go from 7pm to 9am, I can let that one slip by. She's been eating well and feeling more secure here, I think. Quinn still gets the biggest smiles from her, but she's got plenty for mom and dad too. And, today's "first": first time not crying when being put into a car seat! Yippee!! As Quinn puts it, he can now finally have some peace and quiet in the car. Oh, and by the way, as far as her noodle affinity goes, it apparently only applies to noodles of the asian persuasion. This girl has little use for spaghetti. Except for as a hair decoration.

And now, a little look at what the Guangxi Girl has been up to.

Taking a minute to read. Well, a second, really. She's much too busy to sit down for a story or two. She'd much rather have a crawling race with her brother. (Hey, she knows she's in Indiana...and it's all about racing here.) She hasn't caught him yet, but she can hold her own.

And here she tries to walk to daddy's outstretched hand:

And lastly, just to teach her early on the wise ways of this house, here she is the day before the Colts 23-8 win over the Chiefs. (No, it really isn't all about racing here in Indy!)

(I can't decide if she's thinking "Gee, my big brother is so cool!" or "Stop it with the choke-hold already!")

Home Sweet Home

Sounds cliche - but it's true. We returned safely Thursday afternoon....although it was a bit like the movie Groundhog Day - since, for example, our 2nd flight left Hong Kong at 1130am and we got in to Chicago at 1130am, same day, despite being on the plane for 14 hours. It was like the day that wouldn't end, but yet a day of new beginnings! We had the good fortune of sitting next to Mr. Grumpy Middle-Aged Guy on that long flight...for about 10 minutes. He realized he was located next to a baby, and in front of and behind other babies, so he asked to be moved. Jackpot for us, since we then had the entire row of 4 seats for the 3 of us. What a great flight. Keira was a superstar flyer. We could not have had it better. (Except for maybe getting moved up to First-class, but this was almost as good.) Then, after landing in Chicago, we headed to the immigration line at the airport - the one for "visitors". Luckily, although one of the workers looked to be a sourpuss, she let us jump ahead in line. She did this for one other adoptive family too. I'm not sure why, but maybe she had a soft heart. Anyway, Keira's big moment of becoming a citizen was rather anticlimatic. Mr. INS Worker with Typical Southside Chicago Accent stamped a few papers and said OK. That's it. Woo-wee.
Anyway, after one last quickie flight from Chicago to Indy, we were home!
Here's Q - excited to see us, I think!
And now he's showing off the shoes his sister brought him from China (light-up Spiderman tennies)....a little bribery, um, I mean gifting, does wonders for establishing positive sibling relationships!

And here's Miss K, strutting her stuff around Indy International with grandpa:
We are still adjusting back to Indy time, although doing pretty well for Day 5, I think. All in all, K is doing well, although still basically a momma-cling-on. She is starting to sit and play alone in the family room while I dash into the kitchen (she can still see me - this is key), and she's OK with being in the highchair (again, as long as I am close by). She will play nicely with the boys while I am in the shower, although she stages a loud vocal protest initially. She has met her maternal grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins; as well as our bestest friends and their kids. She lives to tell. And actually enjoyed herself as well. Quinn is adjusting fine too, although ironically, yesterday, Mr. Ask-1000-Questions-Talk-Nonstop-During-All-Waking-Hours-Unless-Watching-TV declared at lunch that Keira was too loud and he needed some peace and quiet. There has never been a blacker pot addressing a kettle.

I am still hoping to get a decent picture of the 2 of them together. I never seem to have the camera at the right time. There have been plenty of really great loving moments. (And also plenty of "Keeeer-UH! That's mine!")

We hope you are all enjoying the start to 2007. We are looking forward to twice the fun and love.

Thanks for the Memories, China

So, here we are - our last day in China. For now, at least. I think it would be nice to bring Keira back sometime, when she can appreciate the trip. And, when/if she wants to come.
I think it goes without saying, what our favorite memory of the trip is. (Hint for those of you reading before your first cup of coffee: she's about 16 pounds and has a cute little giggle.) We will always have some love for this country because of the precious gift we are taking with us. Forever.
And before I get too emotional on the whole topic of how K came to us, I'll move on to another topic: Blogger's crabbiness. I upload pix in the reverse order of how I want them to show up, so I always load K pix last, sightseeing photos first. Well, guess what, Blogger decides to be grouchy on this last day, and for some reason is refusing to let me upload K pix. Sorry. Seems all you are left with now is the following.................
Our trip to a local Chinese medicine market.
For those of you who know my opinions on herbal medicine and such, you can imagine this was right up my alley. (Sarcasm intended.) But actually, it was quite interesting. They will use a bit of anything and everything.
The photo below shows the, um, Chinese equivalent of Cialis (hanging in center; an anatomical part of deer; you can guess the rest from here...)

We didn't see many pets on our trip to China. Maybe 2 cats and 3 dogs, total. Until today. Many a cat around. I was afraid of what their purpose might be in this market. But alas, kitty is safe: they keep them around as mousers, b/c apparently there is quite an issue with rats in a market that sells a variety of dried-up animal parts.

Some cats, by the way, were quite fat. Especially the one I saw hanging around the fish aquarium store.

Here's a general street scene, around the market:

Our guide, Cindy, did tell us about how the Cantonese like their meat fresh.

I'll spare you the rest of the meat market photos that Chris took. Suffice it to say that anything goes.

Now for something more pleasant, here's a photo of the entrance to the park next door to the hotel. The dad-statue has a video camera in hand. Celebrating adoptive parents, or mocking?

Well, that's it folks. From China, at least. Keira has made such strides since we met her. She has shown us many laughs and smiles and giggles. And she went from not appreciating the new woman in her life (me) to becoming quite a mommy's girl. Now, she hates for me to put her down or be gone for long, and she basically cries the entire time I'm in the shower or whatever. She smiles at us when she wakes up in the morning and from naps. And she seems to be very curious. We are so lucky to have been blessed with yet another wonderful child. I'm not sure how we got so lucky twice. But I'm certainly not about to complain!

Tomorrow we head to the airport at 6am (that's 5pm, Wednesday afternoon, EST). We fly from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, HK to Chicago, Chicago to Indy. We'll be home a little after 3pm on Thursday. Home Sweet Home! We can't wait!

See you soon! Zai jian! Auf wiedersehen!

(And thanks [Xiexie!] again to everyone who kept us in your thoughts and prayers. Our trip could not have gone any better. And for that, we thank you! We are lucky to have such great family and friends, and we can't wait for you to meet the newest member of our family.)

Look Out America, Here I Come!

Well, I think Miss Keira is ready for her American debut. She was busy checking out our luggage earlier today. And since she chose checking out luggage over eating noodles, she must really be ready!

We had a pretty relaxing and free day today, which was good, since K is fighting a cold or something, and we needed the rest and downtime. We did have our consulate appointment today. This used to mean that each family would have to go to the consulate for an actual interview of some sort. But now, the guides just take all the paperwork and call us if there is anything that needs corrected or clarified. We cleared that hurdle this morning, and then found out that the "swearing in" ceremony would be this afternoon instead of tomorrow. So, off we all went to the consulate - 45 minute bus ride, cleared security, and swore that all the info we provided throughout this process was correct. We did this swearing in as a big group of about 50 or so families. Then, congrats all around and visas were issued for the babies. We are now cleared for launch back to the US. We officially adopted Keira last week, and now this week the US government agrees that she can immigrate to the US to become a US citizen. This (becoming a US citizen) will officially happen on Thursday, when we clear customs at O'Hare Airport in Chicago - our first port of entry into the US after the adoption. At this time, her Chinese citizenship will also be revoked, since China does not allow dual-citizenship. Their loss - she's a really cool girl.

Anyway, we are looking forward to going home. This has been a fabulous trip and we've enjoyed learning as much as we could about Keira's birthland, but we can't wait to get back to ours and settle back into our nest as a family of 4 (six if you count the furry family members...who are in for something they probably won't be too wild about!).

And by the way, for those who have asked: K passed her medical exam yesterday. They weigh and measure the babies (she tipped the scales at 16 pounds and change), check their ears and eyes, and then also listen to their hearts and give them a general visual once-over. Apparently, this is a US requirement to issue a visa to the kiddos.

Tomorrow, we pack and pack and pack all of our goodies. One of Chris' favorite parts of the trip has been haggling with the shopkeepers. That suitcase K is playing in above he purchased for a mere 60RMB (that's about 8 USD!).

Guangzhou-Ho-Ho!

Sheng Dan Kuai Le! Merry Christmas!

Did I mention in my last post that the Chinese have really taken to celebrating Christmas? Of course, it's all Santa and no baby Jesus, as far as I could see at least. Anyway, it was a New Year's Eve-like atmosphere around the hotel last night. All sorts of celebrating by the locals and visitors from other provinces. The place was packed with people looking at the lights and decorations. There was even a gingerbread house with a live Santa in a park near the hotel. After a short walk around the hotel in the evening, we stayed put in our room, put Keira to bed (no crying at all!! woo-hoo! a first!), and later I watched a webcast of the Sunday morning Christmas Eve service at our home church. I needed a taste of home and some real Christmas spirit.
Earlier in the evening, our whole travel group had Christmas Eve dinner at a Thai Restuarant nearby - The Cow and Bridge. The food was good, and even Santa stopped by to give the kids candy.

Keira cried when she saw him, so there's no cute photo to show there (all Chris got on the camera was the back of her head, as she turned away from Santa and towards me with arms outstretched!)
Here's the view (the Pearl River) from our hotel room on Christmas Eve night:
Here's Miss K ready for bed on Christmas Eve, playing with a Santa bag of cookies (love the turn-down service here at the White Swan!):

And now, Christmas morning view, from the 14th floor:

All dressed up for Christmas morning, although still a bit of bed-head:

I used to tease Chris about having pretty funny looking bed-head, but this girl takes the cake. One of the other moms here describes it best: firecracker hair! Seems Keira's not the only one with this problem.

And here is what I call our Three-quarters Bright Family Photo:

This picture was taken here in the hotel lobby. I can't wait until we take a photo with FOUR of us in front of a not-so-big tree in Indiana! (xoxoxo to you, Q! We miss you like crazy!)

And, last photo for today:

This is the pandemonium of trying to get 11 girls onto the infamous Red Couch here at the White Swan. There was actually minimal crying by all, and Keira sat so nicely, taking it all in. After this photo, we had to take right off to have their physical exams done, so we don't have any photos of her alone on the couch....maybe another day. And we actually don't yet have a photo of all 11, unobscured by mommy-bottoms. There was a "professional" photographer there, so I hope he got something good.

We hope you are all enjoying Christmas where you are. It seems that Santa has completed his ride over southeast Asia, so I'm sure he's had plenty of time to visit you all in North America!

Merry Christmas!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

...and all 'round Guangzhou, many new families were out on the go.
OK - I can't keep up the rhyming much longer, so I'll get down to business.
First, new photos of Keira having fun. She's been such a joy and is taking more interest in other babies now. She wakes up happy to see us and loves to go for rides on the bus.
Here's a photo especially for Grandpa N -- she is walking with daddy's help:

Love that sunlight pouring into our room? Did I mention it is in the 70s here? Supposed to be about 80 tomorrow, I think. If you have to be away from home for Christmas, this is the way to go! And by the way, the service here at the White Swan has been great so far. My favorite part has been the evening turn-down service. They bring a newspaper, turn down your bed if you want, and give you CHOCOLATE! Yum!! A close second is the great breakfast buffet. I've read rave reviews, and am now happy to say I concur. Can't wait for more French toast tomorrow, and fresh fruit, and pastries, and bacon and eggs, and...and...and!

Anyway, back to K. Here she is, living on Easy Street:

What a life! And by the way, have I mentioned that she loves noodles??

Here she is, playing with daddy in the morning. Note that lovely ONU outfit she has on. This little genius is hoping there are more women and minorities on the ONU Board of Directors by the time she's choosing universities....or maybe it's been her mom saying that....

Now a few pix of the Chen Family Temple, otherwise known as the Guangdong Provincial Folk Art Museum. We visited there this morning. Cindy says that Chen is the Chinese equivalent of the name Smith or Jones in the US. The Temple is very, very beautiful - the photos don't do it justice, but I tried.
This is the main gate:

Here I tried to capture some of the ornate carvings on the roofline. Cindy said that the carvings have to be repainted every couple of years or so because the pollution is so bad here. The carving all tell a story of some sort, some part of their history. The whole Temple is like this. Very impressive.

A peek through a doorway:

After touring the Temple, we did some shopping for jade and porcelin. We got some nice keepsakes for Keira. Apparently, diamonds weren't available in China until about 100 years ago, so jade was their precious stone. It is not quite as hard as a diamond, but still a hard gemstone and the Chinese used to use it in tools. And then they discovered that, hey, this stuff is pretty and we could use it for jewelry too.

We also learned today that Guangdong province is the wealthiest in China. For a long, long time, Guangzhou (capital of Guangdong province) was the only port of entry open to foreigners, and as a result, the economy here has done quite well. And now, foreign families here to adopt babies do their part to keep it that way.

Cindy also shared this with us, regarding eating. She says that we tend to think that Chinese people will eat everything. Actually, it is the Cantonese who eat everything (Guangzhou used to be called Canton; the people in this province are therefore called Cantonese), she says. Other Chinese have a saying that Cantonese people will eat anything that flies, except an airplane; anything with legs, except the table and chairs; and anything that swims, except a submarine. And from what we've seen on our trip, I think this is true! Oh where, oh where is that Christmas ham?!

Happy Holidays to you all!

Almost Home

We've arrived safe and sound in Guangzhou. Keira did fabulously on her first airplane flight. We lucked out and were directed to the back of the plane where there were extra seats, so we had plenty of room for the 3 of us. Hope the 16 hours of flying later this week goes as well. One can dream, anyway. And by the way - K did fly sedative-free. No such promises can be made come Thursday.

It feels a bit closer to home here because....

...there are adoptive families everywhere, (all US families must pass through Guangzhou before going home), so we aren't quite as much of a spectacle as we were in Nanning.

....Lucy's down the street has great cheeseburgers and fries.

....Diet Coke is a bit more readily available.

....we can say we are going home "in a few days".

Still not quite home because....

...ESPN on the TV is actually some British guys giving soccer ("fuut-ball") reports. It should be called ESPN-light or E(as in England)SPN.

....someone makes the bed for me.

....there is a waterfall in the entryway (and no dustbunnies).

It really is loverly here on Shamian Island in Guangzhou. Although the local shopkeepers giving you the hard sell if you even remotely cast a glance at their goods gets a bit old.
The weather here is so fabulous that I still really can't grasp the fact that tomorrow is Christmas Eve! (And Happy B-day today, bro!) Our guide is taking us to a Thai restaurant tomorrow to "celebrate", since she knows that Christmas Eve is a big family day in the US. Christmas Day itself will include a medical exam for the girls....I guess that would be the adoptive equivalent of coal in their stockings. But somehow, I'm pretty sure the parents will manage to make up for it.
Sweet baby Keira is still doing great. She is getting a couple of teeth on the bottom, but that's not slowing her down much. She's laughing and smiling more than ever and seems to have a pretty nice disposition, unless you try to take away food before she's done. I think "noodle" is the first English word she recognizes!

Here she is, wondering.....well, what do you think she's contemplating?

"Boy, that Nanning traffic sure is something!"???"Does the Colts defense have what it takes this year?"????"Who are these people?"???

And yet, another of the faces of Keira (probably after further contemplation of the Colts D or after realizing that she's stuck with us, or maybe.....??)

Unfortunately, our camera is dying a slow death here, so you may have to entertain yourself by coming up with captions for the above photos in the meantime. Hopefully we will have new pix tomorrow, but I'm not pulling a Joe Namath and making any guarantees.
Mingtian jian! See you tomorrow!

Zai Jian, Nanning

Ni hao, for the last time, from Nanning. At 6am tomorrow morning we leave for the airport to catch our flight to Guangzhou. So, since packing is still to be completed, this will be a short one...or as short as I can be (there is so much to tell!!)

First, and most importantly of course, pictures of Miss K.

When I grow up I want to be.....
...a circus act?
...a championship eater?

....a pharmacist?
(and don't write in about this, please....the bottle was empty!)

Here she is, pleased with herself for something:

Earlier today, we went to the Minorities Museum here in Nanning. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Guangxi has a larger minority population that most other provinces in China. Even then, I think that the Han people make up something like 90% of the Chinese population as a whole; so the overall minority population is small. But here in Guangxi, minorities make up like 40% of the population or something. So, some of us have wondered if our daughters might be minorities. Cindy, our guide, says that there is no way to tell by just looking at them, but she doubts that they are, because the minorities value girls and women more than the Han traditionally do. So, she thinks that if they were minority girls, they would not have been abandoned.
Here is a photo behind the Museum. This shows a replica of a Wind and Rain Bridge that is typically built by the Dong minority.

Also behind the museum, we got to see a performance by some minority musical groups - including some Zhuang dancers doing a traditional harvest celebration dance, some Zhuang girls doing another dance, and some singers from the Dong minority. It was all very beautiful.

Later in the afternoon, we filled out the last of our paperwork, including paperwork to request a visa for the babies. We now have their Chinese passports, and so off we go to Guangzhou to get their visas. Part of the paperwork also included having to fill out the circumstances around how they became orphans. I've read Keira's story several times now, but me having to write it out myself was a little emotional, particularly since this is the one year anniversary of her being foung in Guigang City. I'm not sure what circumstances surrounded her birthmother on that day, but one year later, we feel sad for her loss, sad for the losses Keira has had so far, and yet so happy that we found our way to each other.

Oh - one last thing: it just keeps getting better and better. Today, real giggles!! We had been trying to tickle her for a couple of days. Nothing. She had no reaction. But today - oh my! What fun. She is crawling and pulling up more and more, as well. And she nearly dove head first into a bowl of noodles at dinner. A little hungry I guess (maybe b/c someone's daddy forgot the post-nap bottle while mom was out doing the paperwork???!). And to cap it off, I got to put her to bed tonight. No wailing for daddy and turning away from me because I'm not "ahma". Nope. It was all me tonight. And it felt great.

All's Quiet on the Eastern Front

Quiet, because she's snoozing now! (It wasn't quiet just a bit ago - although we had a great day today, she still grieves a lot at night and still calls out for her earlier caretakers.) But for the most part, we've had a great day today and continue to make progress. Keira seems to trust us more and more. We had so many firsts today - first day waking up without crying, first diaper change with no crying, first real crawling (K-style), and first pulling up to standing and then walking while holding hands! She's also been babbling and smiling more and more. She likes to say guh-guh, guh-guh...which is the Mandarin way to say "big brother". She must remember from when we look at Q's pix. Well, at least that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
We had a fun time at breakfast this morning, where she ate her favorite: congee. I'm going to have to figure out how to make this stuff when we get home, although I'm giving serious consideration to substituting Quaker instant oatmeal to see if she notices. Ha!
Here she is, happy to be dining:
And later, playing in the room. She loves the Elmo phone, things that make noise, and the ever-so sophisticated empty water bottle.

Warning: pictures from another park to follow. A different park this time. But read on at your own risk!

This morning, we went on a little jaunt to Qingxiushan (Qingxiu Mountain Resort). It was lovely there, although we didn't get to see all there is to see. We did get to hike up to this pagoda, and then climb the 9 flights to the top, where we had a great view of Nanning and the surrounding area. I'm glad we had K in the Baby Bjorn carrier, instead of in a stroller. It made navigating the hike much easier!

A view from the top - you can see the mountains and some of Nanning in the background.

Here's another view from the top. This time a look at the Yongjiang (Yong River). Nanning was named Yong city wayyyyy back when, before it was given its current name. (Nan means south, ning for peace; as in peaceful, southern city...so sayeth our guide.)

You may notice the, um, haze in the photos. Not camera trouble this time. Just how the city looks from high up. Pollution, I think, although Guangxi province, in general, isn't as industrial as other provinces, but still...It was, however, much worse in Beijing.

Another Guangxi tidbit: it is one of the top 10 sugar-producing areas in the world (the top in China). No wonder we've got such sweetie! Other than sugar cane, other important crops in Guangxi are bananas and other fruit, spices, and rice.

Tomorrow we will visit the Minorities Museum here in Nanning. This province is actually not technically a province but an Autonomous Region - the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, so named because it has a high percentage of minorities living here. Not over 50%, but very high compared to most other areas.

Tomorrow afternoon, the babies' passports should be ready, so we can leave Guangxi and head to Guangdong province, to the city of Guangzhou. We will fly out on Saturday morning. K's first plane ride in about 36 hours. So, I'll be signing off now to look up the dosing of Benadryl....which I may or may not be joking about.