Today was our only day to truly sleep in. Brandon got up first at 7:30. I couldn't believe that the kids stayed asleep too! We headed up to breakfast at 8:30. Ugh - I have been eating way too much for breakfast. Since it is included, we have been loading up and having smaller lunches and dinners. It will be a shock to my system to go back to only eating two eggs when I get home!
When we got back to our room, Courtney came down. They have been receiving emails all morning on their flight. They have a connecting flight home to Houston, Texas tomorrow through Newark, New Jersey. Well, bad weather is expected to come through tomorrow. Their flight has already been delayed twice. They used airline miles from a friend to book their flights. She tried to see if she could change their flight online, but couldn't get the website to work. So she has been using WeChat with her friends in the US while they have been on the phone with the airline. Hopefully they can connect through a different location to at least get back to the US tomorrow. I am saying a little prayer for them! Us? Well, we have an extra day in China to make our miles work with Business Class. So we are headed up to Beijing tomorrow and then our flight back to the US leaves at like 5:00pm the following evening. So we get another full day in Beijing. With a Noon checkout, though, I am predicting a LOT of waiting around. Let's see if we can find ways to entertain these kiddos in a city with a high of only 12!
To kill time this morning, we walked with the Albright's over to the Aeon shopping center. Courtney stayed in the room to work on the flight arrangements and Nora didn't want to leave Mommy, so she stayed as well. We needed to get a few supplies before the long road home and their little girls had some extra spending money that they wanted to use. Brandon finally located the trash bags. (We have only had KaiLin 11 days and have already gone through 2 rolls of scented trash bags! They were only used on poopy diapers. We couldn't find scented ones here, but beggars can't be choosers.) We picked up some more snacks and Pepsi's for me, as well.
Then we headed up to the 3rd floor to see if we could find something for the girls. Macy found some Frozen masks, Leila purchased a journal, and MeiLin got a sticker book. We headed back to the hotel at Noon. I took all of the girls up to the rooms while the guys went to McDonalds to pick up a light lunch. KaiLi fell asleep in the elevator - sigh. I let her sleep until Brandon returned with the food.
I broke my cardinal rule and we paid for it dearly. I should have stopped to let KaiLi have a snack, but we had had a late breakfast and there wasn't really a convenient time/place to stop. I woke her up to eat, and she went into a full blown tantrum and wouldn't even calm down to eat. UGH - I know better; totally my fault. Boo! She rolled around on the floor and finally ended up at her toys. That distracted her and she finally stopped screaming and crying. After a few minutes she came to the table, and then we were able to feed her.
We thought MeiLin held the Guiness World Record for the slowest eating, but it appears KaiLi is now the reigning champ. She takes the most impossibly small bites and then plays with it in her mouth before chewing and swallowing. OMG - this makes meal times take forever. And for lunch, we were already finished since she was having her tantrum so it was an hour plus event.
After lunch, we put KaiLi down for a nap while Brandon took MeiLin to 7-Eleven for ice cream on her Special Day. Poor KaiLi is all out of whack. She was still whining when they got back. It is 2:00 and she still isn't asleep yet. If we can't get her to go down, then one of us will need to stay with her tonight while the rest go out for our last dinner in Guangzhou with Jack. I won't want to wish that tantrum on anyone...
Luckily, KaiLi finally fell asleep and we let her sleep until 3:30. While she was sleeping, we went ahead and gave MeiLin a bath. Abbe Maron private messaged me yesterday that their kiddo (from the same orphanage as KaiLi) that they adopted two weeks ago tested positive for an intestinal parasite even though he didn't have any symptoms. The parasite can be passed by bathing together. Awesome, that is what we have been doing this whole trip! So I asked Brandon to take the precaution and not bathe them together again until we have confirmed. (He is annoyed, but I feel it is prudent!) Randomly, Abbe Maron was one week ahead of us when we adopted MeiLin three years ago from Shanghai and they adopted Jack. For this trip, they were two weeks ahead of us adopting Connor from yet again the same orphanage. Isn't that uncanny?!?!
When KaiLi woke up, it was her turn for a bath. I took MeiLin down to the Albright room since she was getting bored. Luckily they were able to switch their flight to a connection out of San Fransico to avoid the potential weather delays. The downside is that only 2 of the 5 seats they need are together, the others are singles. Pretty sure that when they offer people to either switch seats or baby sit a 6 or 7 year old on a 12 hour flight that they will get some takers. Though this flight leaves a bit later, the layover is shorter so they get home sooner. Score!
At 4:30, we all headed downstairs to meet up with Jack. He had what we had been waiting for...passports with US Visas for the girls! Too bad we have to stay an extra day in China! The guys ran the documents up to the safes in our rooms and then we headed out to dinner. It was the same Cantonese restaurant that Jack took us to three years ago, and it was still just as yummy. Especially KaiLi, she ate and ate and ate! After the rough afternoon, we thought KaiLi might be down and out. She surprised us by being in the best mood yet! She laughed and laughed, it was great! Courtney joked that as KaiLi has less and less tantrums that Nora was having more and more. Hopefully that passes quickly!
We headed back to the hotel to pack. The Albright's did a last hurrah at the castle, but they had been packing all afternoon. The Waldecks had yet to pack a thing. The girls played together (so adorable) while we packed around them. I am trying to do two different piles. The 'I don't need to see this until Dallas' pile and the 'I need this in Beijing' pile. After Brandon gave KaiLi her bottle, she went down super easy. He said she pointed to her crib, he put her in, walked out, and not a peep! Much different from nap time today!
Brandon finished packing what we could tonight while I worked on the blog. I still need to shower in the morning and we all need to get ready before heading out. Praying for safe travels for the first leg our our long journey home into the Arctic tundra!
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