Nanning and Guilin

Tuesday we spent our last day in the capital city of the Guangxi Province, Nanning.  Our guide David took us to dinner in the mall connected to our hotel for some traditional Catonese cuisine.  Afterwards he suggested we go outside and play in the water fountains.  We didn't really want to let the kids get wet as we were packing up to leave the next morning and clothes wouldn't dry out.  However we realized we really hadn't explored the outside at all because it is so hot and humid.  So we ventured out of the mall and went straight for the water fountain.  It was the best water fountain for kids to play in that I have ever seen. Music played in the back ground and lights lit up around the fountains to coincide with the music.  It was very cool.  We stood and watched for a little bit.  We decided we had to let the kids play as they would never have an opportunity like this again.  Clothes and all Grace and Jack hit the water and were soaked head to toe. It didn't take Casey too long to decide he would join the fun.  I had Brooklyn in the baby carrier and she enjoyed from a distance. We did not think she would like the water as she freaked out at the bath and was nervous just being near the pool watching the rest of the kids swim.  But we decided to let her down and see what she would do.  She loved it!

Wednesday morning we packed up and left for Guilin via high speed train.  It was a 2.5 hour ride and Brooklyn was a champ.  She ate some snacks and took a nap for about an hour. We played a little bit and then we were in Guilin.  Doug noticed the temperature kept rising higher as we neared our destination.  Have we mentioned it is HOT here!?  We sweat everyday as soon as we go out....it's pretty miserable.  However, I would rather sweat than be in the bad air quality of Beijing or Zhengzhou like we did when we adopted Jack.  We arrived and checked into out hotel and then went out for lunch.  Behind our hotel is a a fun little market to bargain and shop around.  We didn't do any shopping after lunch.  We wanted to get back and go swimming.  We decided to get Brooklyn in her swimsuit too.  As we slowly introduced her to the water she warmed up very quickly.  By the end of our time she was sticking her face in the water trying to drink it.

We came back to the room and got ready to hit the market and eat dinner.  After eating our KFC we walked back to the hotel.  We were all so hot and sticky!  I decided Brooklyn needed a bath.  I started it up and she freaked out.  I gave her a bath the best I could with her screaming.  This is the first time she really has cried so hard and long.  I bathed her as quick as possible  which wasn't fast enough.  After I got her out and changed she was still hysterical and I couldn't calm her down.  She was probably very tired and possibly grieving too.  She hasn't been very emotional the last couple of days.  I know it is so hard on her being taken from her foster family.  Finally right after I started singing Jesus Loves Me in her ear she calmed down.  There is just something sweet about Jesus name.  She feel asleep and is now sound asleep.

Here are a few pics from last night:

Favorite T-shirts of the day: "Mohawks Asfathy" & "Light Flash With Clay"