What a busy day we had today. First on the docket was our only adoption/visa related thing: the medical check for the visa papers. They first checked RJ's tb test to make sure he hadn't had a reaction...nope, all clear. The medical check really doesn't consist of much: An eyes, ears and nose check. How do they check his hearing? By pounding on a little toy instrument while he is looking somewhere else to see if he turns his head. Check. Then he was weighed and measured...25 lbs and 34 inches, according to their scales and so on. Then I had to answer some questions about his general health and his cleft palate. They measured his head (can't remember that one) and checked out his heart, lets, arms, private parts, etc.....and that was that!
As we walked back, I thought that maybe since we were already out and about, we would try crossing the bridge and going off our little island for a walk down the pedestrian shopping street, which was supposedly about a 10 minute walk. Maybe if you are an adult, without two kids and a stroller and it isn't a thousand degrees with 95% humidity, its a ten minute walk...but for us it took like 30 minutes, felt like an eternity and I was dripping with sweat by . But of course by that time, I wasn't going to just turn around. So, we walked down the street and found the McDonalds (which I though would be a nice cool rest from the blasted heat)...so up the stairs to the 2nd floor (it seems like all the restaurants are always up a flight of stairs). It was terribly crowded, and I didn't notice at first because of the general state of heat stroke I was feeling...but the air conditioning wasn't working. After getting the food, finding a table and sitting down...it dawned on me that I was still dripping with sweat. Of course about that time RJ woke up (he had fallen asleep, probably due to the temperature) and immediately made the sign to go potty...and before I could even stand up to go find a bathroom (which there wasn't one in the McDonalds anyway)...while standing on a chair at the table, he squatted and TADA! There is was again. Hmmmm....now we are in a dilemna...aren't we. So, back into the stroller...with soaking wet pants. I go to find someone to tell them that our 'drink' had spilled and we try to 'enjoy' the experience of McDonalds. Emma of course, who really wanted to go there, didn't have a single bit of her hamburger and my chicken sandwhich was disgusting. Hows that for a positive attitude? But we did enjoy the sprite, WITH ICE! That was the highlight. Then we started back down the street for the return trip. We did stop and shop a little. I bought the kids some Chinese looking outfits and each a pair of sandals. Then it was back up over the thousand stairs...across the bridge over the highway...to the bridge over the water and back to the hotel. How happy I will be to have a car again!
The kids immediately got into the tub, but because it took us so long, we had to hurry and get ready for the famous 'red couch' photo. There is a couch in one of the other hotels nearby where most adoptive families will go to take pictures of the babies of the group and so on. It is always quite an experience, and usually unsuccessful, to get 10 or 12 babies to sit together for a picture without crying, moving, etc. We had no real luck either. RJ sat pretty still, but was distracted by the baby who was screaming sitting next to him. It was really quite funny.
One of the other families who I met in Beijing (and whom I had met via the internet before coming) had a five year old boy. He and Emma had become fast friends in Beijing and were happy to see each other again. His family invited us to come back to the hotel to swim with them. Even though we were tired, Emma really wanted to and it did sound like a nice relief from the heat. We ended up swimming for like three hours. I wasn't sure that RJ would like it, after our first swimming experience. But, he loved it. It was a big outdoor pool, beautiful with a waterfall, warm and a little kiddie pool, that RJ could stand up
in. Once he got his arm floaties on...he was unstoppable. We even went to the deep part and he wasn't afraid to swim out with me holding him. It was a success. Emma of course loves the water and she had a great time. There were a bunch of different adoptive families there with their little ones, and it was nice to get to know some of them and swap some stories.
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